Eric Schoon
Microsoft is retiring Wunderlist on May 6th, 2020, leaving many users without a to-do list app. If you’re an active Wunderlist user, don’t wait until the last minute to find a replacement.
What to Look for in a Wunderlist Replacement
Depending on how you used Wunderlist, different apps make suitable replacements. Here are a few broader categories that you can think about when testing apps.
- Wunderlist Importing: If you are coming directly from Wunderlist, being able to transfer your lists and tasks from Wunderlist to your new app will save you a lot of time. Not every app on this list has this feature, but we make a note of the ones that do.
- Design: Every app’s design is different, and you’re not going to find anything that looks or feels precisely like Wunderlist. Still, look at screenshots and mess around with the free version of the apps to see which one fits your tastes.
- Features: Every app varies when it comes to its feature set. Some may have deep options for setting reoccurring tasks and templates, while others have extensive customization and organization options. What you need to decide is what’s most important for you and what you’re willing to do without.
- Cross-Platform Support: If you are serious about using to-do lists, you don’t want it limited to only being on your phone. For this list, we made sure every app is usable on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and the web.
Now that you know what to look for, here are the best Wunderlist alternatives available right now.
The Best Option: Microsoft To Do
Microsoft bought Wunderlist in 2015, and since then has been slowly phasing it out while building its features into its own app named To Do. To Do almost perfectly mirrors Wunderlist in features and UI. You can group tasks, create “steps” or subtasks, attach files, and easily share lists with other users. It’s also easy to import from Wunderlist into To Do.
Also, since it’s part of Office365, you can use To Do in tandem with Microsoft’s other programs (such as labeling an email in Outlook as a task in To Do). You can use To Do for something as simple as a grocery list or make it an integral part of your working life. You can also customize the app so that everything looks exactly how you want.
You can learn more about To Do or sign up for an account here.
A More Robust Alternative: Todoist
Todoist was Wunderlist’s primary competitor, boasting a similarly large feature set and focusing on the same power-user audience. If you want to try something a bit different from Wunderlist, Todoist should meet most of your needs.
You can easily organize and prioritize tasks and lists, create reoccurring tasks, and filter out tasks, so you only see what you need to at that moment. Todoist comes with comprehensive collaboration systems to make working with others a breeze, and you can easily get an overall view of your team’s work (or your own if you’re using it alone) through Todoist Karma—their system for allowing users to track their progress and general productivity.
Todoist recently added Wunderlist importing, so you can bring all of your tasks and lists over without worry. You can use Todoist for free, but you will be limited to 80 projects. We recommend getting the Premium subscription ($3 per month) to bump that up to 300 and also get all of Todoist’s features.
Even if it is more expensive than To-Do, if you are serious about task management, we recommend at least trying Todoist. You can learn more about it here.
Best for Simple To-Do Lists: Any.do and Google Keep
If you’ve reevaluated your list-making needs or have just recently gotten into the to-do life, you may be looking for some simpler apps. These two apps fill that need.
Google Keep will come pre-installed on any Android device, so you might already have it. While its list-making is quite limited, Keep makes up for that with its non-bloated UI. It’s perfect for people who only need to make the simplest of lists. It also has the advantage of being completely free.
Unfortunately, you cannot import from Wunderlist into Keep.
If you want something more mid-range (not as deep as Todoist, but more than Keep) Any.do might be the app for you. Any.do is the simplest one-stop-shop for your task management you can use—it unifies your calendar, daily planner, reminders, and to-do lists in one app. The design is clean and easy to use, perfect for those who want to stick their feet into task management, but aren’t ready (or don’t need) to fully dive in.
There’s no direct import from Wunderlist to Any.do, but if you have a premium Any.do subscription, there is a workaround using Zapier that might fit the bill.
The app is free, but you can get more out of Any.do with its premium plan—location-based reminders, better organization of tasks, customization of the app, more collaboration options, and unlimited attachments—which costs $5.99 a month. Learn more about Any.do here.
Honorable Mentions: Habitica and Remember the Milk
While these two apps may not be the best in class or might not work for everyone, they are certainly worth taking a look at.
Remember The Milk is another long-standing to-do list app that has many of the same features as Wunderlist and Todoist, along with a couple of unique features such as smart lists (lists of your postponed tasks that the app automatically creates). But, while its features don’t make it stand out, it does have Wunderlist importing available, which means it’s certainly worth at least trying out.
The Pro version is $39.99 a year and gives you access to unlimited sharing, further customization and organization options, additional widgets, and Apple Watch functionality. You can learn more about Remember The Milk here.
Habitica is the opposite of Remember The Milk. While Remember The Milk is very similar to Wunderlist and Todoist, Habitica handles task management differently. The app’s tagline of “Gamify Your Life” is more literal than you might expect because Habitica aims to turn your task management into an RPG. You have a customizable avatar, level up by completing tasks, and there are even group raids for collaborative work.
It’s unorthodox, but that might be precisely what you need. If you’ve always had problems with task management, whether that be sticking with it or remembering to do it, Habitica might be the app to make it a regular part of your life.
Habitica is free to use, and you can get its subscription for five dollars a month, which gives access to exclusive items for your avatar and lets you archive old tasks. You can sign up for and learn more about Habitica here.
