TickTick is the best to-do list app for ADHD for most people: the free plan covers reminders and sync, and Premium is $49.99 a year with calendar views, task duration and a Pomodoro timer. Pick Todoist for the fastest capture, Structured for a free visual timeline, Llama Life for a countdown on every task, or Things 3 for a one-time Apple purchase with no subscription to forget.
Ten apps matched to time blindness, capture friction and visual planning, with free, one-time and subscription costs side by side.
Most to-do apps fail the same way for a distracted brain: adding a task takes too many taps, the list gives no sense of how long anything takes, and the day never becomes a picture you can follow. We think the right app fixes whichever of those three hurts you most, and costs little enough that you will not abandon it when a renewal lands. That is why a $50-a-year app tops this list ahead of tools that cost four times more.
Toolradar data: our task management category tracks 221 tools, and 66% of them offer a free or freemium plan, which matters when you want to test a habit before paying for it. The task management statistics show the wider category; this guide narrows it to ten apps that address time, capture or visual planning directly.
Methodology: we compared ten catalog apps, chosen from the 221 task tools we track, on vendor-published plans, prices and feature lists, all checked October 28, 2026. Nothing here is medical advice: the features are matched to everyday friction, not to treatment. For a general ranking without the ADHD lens, see our task management apps guide.
Top Picks
Selected by comparing vendor-published plans, prices and features against three common friction points: losing track of time, capturing tasks fast and seeing the day laid out. How we rate
A full-featured to-do list with reminders, a Pomodoro timer and habit tracking, at a low annual price.
Starting price
Free; Premium $49.99/yr
4.6 (242 reviews)
Best for
Most people who want one app for tasks, timers and habits on a small budget.
The fastest way to get a thought into a list, with natural-language Quick Add and Ramble voice capture.
Starting price
Free; Pro $5/mo yearly or $7 monthly
4.6 (3,494 reviews)
Best for
People who lose ideas before writing them down and want capture in seconds.
A day planner that places every task on one visual timeline, free on iOS, Android and the web.
Starting price
Free; Pro priced by region in the app
4.9 (73 reviews)
Best for
Visual thinkers who need to see the day as blocks rather than a list.
| Tool | Starting price | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| TickTick | Free; Premium $49.99/yr | 4.6 242 reviews | Most people who want one app for tasks, timers and habits on a small budget. |
| Todoist | Free; Pro $5/mo yearly or $7 monthly | 4.6 3,494 reviews | People who lose ideas before writing them down and want capture in seconds. |
| Structured | Free; Pro priced by region in the app | 4.9 73 reviews | Visual thinkers who need to see the day as blocks rather than a list. |
| Llama Life | $6/mo monthly; $39/yr list | n/a | People who start tasks more easily with a visible countdown and one item at a time. |
| Amazing Marvin | $8/mo billed $96/yr | 4.9 16 reviews | Tinkerers who want to build a system around their own executive-function habits. |
| Things 3 | One-time: Mac $49.99, iPhone $9.99 | 4.4 29 reviews | Apple users who want no subscription and a clean Today view. |
| Any.do | Free; Premium $4.99/mo yearly | 4.5 1,317 reviews | People who ignore app notifications but answer messages. |
| Sunsama | $17/mo yearly; $22/mo monthly | 4.7 27 reviews | Professionals who need a morning ritual that limits the day to what fits. |
| Akiflow | $34/mo monthly; $19/mo yearly | 4.7 330 reviews | Knowledge workers whose tasks are scattered across many work apps. |
| Motion | Pro AI $19/seat/mo annual | 4.5 155 reviews | People who want the app, not themselves, to decide when each task happens. |
- Starting price
- Free; Premium $49.99/yr
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.6 (242 reviews)
Best for: Most people who want one app for tasks, timers and habits on a small budget.
- Pro: Free plan includes 9 lists, 99 tasks per list, reminders and cross-platform sync.
- Pro: Premium adds multiple calendar views, task duration and 299 lists on the annual plan.
- Pro: Pomodoro timer and habit tracker sit in the same app, with 5 habits on the free plan.
- Con: Free allows 2 reminders per task and 1 attachment per day.
- Con: The pricing page lists Premium as an annual plan only, so there is no low-commitment monthly option to try.
TickTick's pricing is quite generous, offering a robust Free tier that covers essential task management needs.
- Starting price
- Free; Pro $5/mo yearly or $7 monthly
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.6 (3,494 reviews)
Best for: People who lose ideas before writing them down and want capture in seconds.
- Pro: Smart Quick Add and task reminders are on the free Beginner plan.
- Pro: Recurring due dates are free, so routines work without paying.
- Pro: Pro adds calendar layout, task duration and unlimited Ramble voice sessions for $60 a year.
- Con: Beginner caps you at 5 personal projects and limited Ramble sessions.
- Con: Task duration and the calendar layout, the main time-blindness aids, require Pro.
Todoist's pricing is quite generous, especially with its robust free tier offering significant functionality.
Watch out
Pro tier requires annual commitment for $5/mo price.
Structured
A day planner that places every task on one visual timeline, free on iOS, Android and the web.
- 4.9 on G2 (73 reviews)
- Starting price
- Free; Pro priced by region in the app
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.9 (73 reviews)
Best for: Visual thinkers who need to see the day as blocks rather than a list.
- Pro: Timeline, inbox tasks, subtasks and widgets are free on iOS and Android.
- Pro: An energy monitor on the free plan helps match tasks to the day's capacity.
- Pro: Pro is sold as a monthly or yearly subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase.
- Con: Recurring tasks and calendar import require Pro.
- Con: The vendor sets Pro prices by region and shows them in the app or app store rather than on its website.
Structured offers a very generous freemium model, providing core planning features at no cost.
Llama Life
A timeboxed to-do list where every task gets its own countdown, built by a founder diagnosed with ADHD.
- Starting price
- $6/mo monthly; $39/yr list
- Free plan
- Yes
Best for: People who start tasks more easily with a visible countdown and one item at a time.
- Pro: Every task gets a countdown timer with start and end times and chimes to stay on task.
- Pro: A random-task button and overtime counter help when the whole list feels too big.
- Pro: 7-day trial starts with no credit card, on desktop, iOS and Android.
- Con: After the 7-day trial it is paid: $6 a month, or $39 a year at list price.
- Con: Built for working through today's list; projects and long-range planning need a second app.
Amazing Marvin
A highly customizable planner with time estimates and gamification, marketed to people who think differently.
- 4.9 on G2 (16 reviews)
- Starting price
- $8/mo billed $96/yr
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.9 (16 reviews)
Best for: Tinkerers who want to build a system around their own executive-function habits.
- Pro: One plan with 100+ features, including time estimates, time tracking and gamification.
- Pro: Students get 50% off, and the vendor offers pay-what-you-can on request.
- Pro: 14-day trial without a card, on web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android.
- Con: There is no free plan; after the trial you cannot add or complete tasks until you subscribe.
- Con: 100+ features mean real setup time before the system pays off.
Amazing Marvin's single subscription tier at $8/month is fair for the comprehensive set of features it offers, especially given its focus on personalized productivity and behavioral psychology.
Watch out
No annual-only discount mentioned for lower price
- Starting price
- One-time: Mac $49.99, iPhone $9.99
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.4 (29 reviews)
Best for: Apple users who want no subscription and a clean Today view.
- Pro: One-time purchase: no renewal to forget, and an unused copy costs nothing more.
- Pro: Today and This Evening lists show calendar events above the day's to-dos.
- Pro: 15-day full-feature trial on Mac before you buy.
- Con: Apple only: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro, with each platform bought separately ($19.99 for iPad).
- Con: No trial on iPhone or iPad, so mobile-only users pay before trying it.
Things 3 is a rare premium app that respects your wallet: one-time purchases of $49.99 (Mac), $19.99 (iPad), and $9.99 (iPhone) with zero subscription fees.
Watch out
No web app means you cannot access your tasks from a Windows PC, Chromebook, or any non-Apple device. If you switch platforms, your investment is lost.
Any.do
A simple to-do list and daily planner with reminders that can reach you on WhatsApp.
- 4.7 on Capterra (1,115 reviews)
- 4.2 on G2 (197 reviews)
- 4.4 on SourceForge (5 reviews)
- Starting price
- Free; Premium $4.99/mo yearly
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.5 (1,317 reviews)
Best for: People who ignore app notifications but answer messages.
- Pro: Free plan includes tasks, reminders, a calendar and a daily planner.
- Pro: Premium adds WhatsApp reminders, location reminders and AI features.
- Pro: Family plan covers 4 members for $8.33 a month on annual billing.
- Con: Recurring tasks are Premium-only.
- Con: Monthly Premium costs $7.99, about 60% more than the annual rate.
This is a competitive price point for a feature-rich to-do list app.
- Starting price
- $17/mo yearly; $22/mo monthly
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.7 (27 reviews)
Best for: Professionals who need a morning ritual that limits the day to what fits.
- Pro: Guided daily planning sets a realistic workload before the day starts.
- Pro: Tasks can be timeboxed directly on the calendar, with daily shutdown and highlights.
- Pro: 14-day trial with no credit card, on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Linux.
- Con: No free plan, and the price is several times TickTick's.
- Con: The pricing FAQ quotes $25 a month ($20 yearly), unlike the plan card, so confirm the charge at checkout.
While it offers a comprehensive daily planning experience, these prices might be considered expensive for users primarily seeking basic task management.
Watch out
Monthly plan is 25% more expensive
Akiflow
A universal inbox that gathers tasks from email, chat and other apps, then time-blocks them on your calendar.
- 4.5 on Trustpilot (125 reviews)
- 4.7 on Capterra (106 reviews)
- 4.8 on G2 (99 reviews)
- Starting price
- $34/mo monthly; $19/mo yearly
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.7 (330 reviews)
Best for: Knowledge workers whose tasks are scattered across many work apps.
- Pro: Universal inbox with 2-way sync collects tasks from other apps in one place.
- Pro: Time blocking puts inbox items straight onto the calendar.
- Pro: Yearly billing is $228 a year, 44% less than paying monthly.
- Con: No free plan, and the 7-day trial needs a card and converts to a paid plan unless cancelled.
- Con: At $34 on monthly billing it is the priciest monthly plan here.
While not the cheapest on the market, the feature set justifies the cost for serious professionals.
- Starting price
- Pro AI $19/seat/mo annual
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.5 (155 reviews)
Best for: People who want the app, not themselves, to decide when each task happens.
- Pro: AI task planner and AI calendar place tasks into open calendar slots.
- Pro: Pro AI includes 7,500 AI credits per seat per month.
- Pro: iOS, Android and desktop apps on every plan.
- Con: Pro AI costs $29 per seat on monthly billing, with no free plan.
- Con: Built for projects and teams, so a personal to-do list carries features you may never use.
Motion's pricing is on the higher side for individual users at $19/month, especially compared to many task managers or calendar tools.
Other Task Management tools worth considering
More published tools from our Task Management category, ordered by our category ranking. They are not part of the editorial picks above.
What makes a to-do app work for an ADHD brain
An ADHD-friendly to-do app is a task list built to cut three frictions: losing track of time, losing a thought before it is written down, and facing a wall of tasks with no shape. Most apps on the market handle one of these well and the others poorly, so the useful question is which one costs you the most.
Time blindness is the gap between how long you think a task takes and how long it really takes. Apps attack it with countdowns on each task (Llama Life), task durations that fill a timeline (Structured, TickTick Premium, Todoist Pro) or a calendar that blocks time automatically (Motion). A visible clock matters more than a clever priority system.
Capture friction decides whether a thought survives the next ten seconds. Look for natural-language entry, voice input and widgets. Todoist's Ramble turns spoken sentences into tasks, and Akiflow pulls items from email and chat into one inbox so nothing waits in five places.
Visual planning turns a list into a schedule you can follow. Structured lays tasks on a single timeline, Things 3 groups calendar events above the day's to-dos, and Sunsama walks you through a guided plan each morning. Two well-known ADHD planners sit outside our catalog: Tiimo, a visual planner with a focus timer that Apple named iPhone App of the Year 2025, and Goblin Tools, a free web toolkit whose Magic ToDo breaks a vague task into steps.
How much does a to-do app for ADHD cost over three years?
The cheapest app is the one you keep using, but the spread is wide: from $0 to $684 over three years for a single person, using list prices read on October 28, 2026. The figures below are our arithmetic on the vendors' printed prices, before tax.
- Things 3 on Mac and iPhone: the Mac app plus the $9.99 iPhone app, so $59.98 once, with no renewal on the vendor's one-time purchase model.
- Llama Life annual: a $39 list price per year, $117 over three years. The page currently shows a 30% discount, which we treat as limited-time.
- TickTick Premium: about $150 over three years ($149.97 by our arithmetic).
- Todoist Pro on yearly billing: $60 a year, $180 over three years. On monthly billing at $7, the same three years cost $252.
- Amazing Marvin on annual billing: $96 a year, $288 over three years.
- Sunsama on yearly billing: $17 a month is $204 a year, $612 over three years.
- Akiflow or Motion on yearly billing: both work out to $228 a year, so $684 over three years.
The pattern matters for ADHD in a practical way. A subscription renews whether or not you opened the app last month, and a forgotten trial can turn into a charge: Akiflow asks for a card before its 7-day trial and starts the plan unless you cancel. Sunsama, Amazing Marvin and Llama Life start trials without a card. If you have abandoned apps before, a free plan or a one-time purchase caps what an abandoned app can cost you.
Key Features to Look For
Timers and task durations (Essential)
A countdown or a duration on each task makes time visible. Check whether the timer runs on the free plan: Todoist and TickTick put task duration on their paid tiers, while Llama Life builds every task around one.
Fast capture (Essential)
Natural-language quick add, voice entry and home-screen widgets decide whether a thought makes it into the app. Test how many taps it takes to add 'call dentist Tuesday 3pm' from a locked phone.
Reminders that interrupt (Important)
Reminders only help if they arrive in a channel you notice. Compare reminder caps (TickTick Free allows 2 per task), WhatsApp reminders on Any.do Premium and location reminders before choosing.
Recurring tasks (Important)
Routines such as bills, refills and laundry depend on repeats, so check where the paywall sits. Structured and Any.do keep recurring tasks behind Pro or Premium, while Todoist lists recurring due dates on its free Beginner plan.
Task breakdown and one-thing focus (Important)
Breaking a big task into steps and showing one item at a time reduces the freeze in front of a long list. Llama Life offers a random-task button; Goblin Tools' Magic ToDo splits a task into steps.
Cross-device sync (Nice to have)
A list that lives on one device is a list you forget. Things 3 is Apple-only, while Amazing Marvin lists web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android apps.
Choose by the friction that costs you most
-
Name your biggest friction first: losing time, losing thoughts, or losing the shape of the day. Rank apps on that one before comparing extras.
-
Start on a free plan or a no-card trial, and put the trial end date in your calendar the day you sign up.
-
Prefer yearly billing only after a month of daily use; a cheaper annual plan is money lost if the app is abandoned by spring.
-
Check where your tasks already arrive. If they come from email and Slack, an inbox tool like Akiflow saves more than a prettier list.
-
Keep the setup small. An app with 100+ features can turn configuration into a new way to avoid the actual tasks.
Evaluation Checklist
Add five real tasks by voice or quick add in under a minute, from your phone's lock screen or a widget.
Set a duration on one task and check whether the free plan shows it on a timeline or calendar.
Create a weekly recurring task and confirm the plan you are on allows it.
Set two reminders on one task and see whether the plan's reminder cap blocks the second.
Open the app on every device you use and confirm the same list appears within a minute.
Write down the renewal date and the exact yearly charge before entering a card.
Pricing Overview
Free plans
TickTick, Todoist, Structured and Any.do: capped lists, projects or reminders, enough to test the habit before paying.
$0
One-time purchase
Things 3: no renewal, but a separate purchase for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro.
From $9.99 per device
Budget subscription
Llama Life, TickTick Premium, Todoist Pro and Amazing Marvin: timers, durations, calendar views and full feature sets for one person.
$39 to $96 a year
Pricing Comparison
| App | Free option | Paid price (billing) | ADHD friction it targets |
|---|---|---|---|
Free: 9 lists, 99 tasks per list | Premium $49.99/yr | Reminders, Pomodoro timer, task duration on Premium | |
Todoist | Beginner: 5 personal projects | Pro $5/mo yearly ($60) or $7/mo monthly | Fast capture with Quick Add and Ramble voice entry |
Structured | Free timeline, inbox and widgets | Pro priced by region in the app (monthly, yearly or lifetime) | Visual timeline of the day |
7-day trial, no card | $6/mo monthly; $39/yr list | Countdown timer on every task | |
14-day trial, no card | $8/mo billed $96/yr | Time estimates, gamification, customizable workflows | |
15-day Mac trial | One-time: Mac $49.99, iPhone and Watch $9.99, iPad $19.99 | Today and This Evening lists with calendar events | |
Free: tasks, reminders, daily planner | Premium $4.99/mo yearly or $7.99/mo monthly | WhatsApp and location reminders on Premium | |
Sunsama | 14-day trial, no card | $17/mo yearly or $22/mo monthly | Guided daily planning and timeboxing |
Akiflow | 7-day trial, card required | $19/mo yearly ($228) or $34/mo monthly | Universal inbox for tasks from other apps |
Motion | Free trial | Pro AI $19/seat/mo annual or $29 monthly | AI auto-scheduling into the calendar |
Prices checked October 28, 2026 on TickTick pricing, Todoist pricing, Structured Pro help article, Structured free vs Pro features, Llama Life, Amazing Marvin pricing, Things, Things trial support page, Any.do pricing, Sunsama pricing, Akiflow pricing and Motion pricing. Promotions and regional prices can differ.
Mistakes to Avoid
- ×
Buying the most powerful planner first. A suite with AI scheduling and dozens of views takes setup energy that a new habit cannot spare.
- ×
Paying annually on day one. Use the free plan or the full trial for a month before committing to a yearly charge.
- ×
Starting a card-required trial without a calendar reminder for its last day, then paying for an app you stopped opening.
- ×
Keeping tasks in three places (notes app, email flags, the new to-do app) so none of them is the real list.
- ×
Treating an app as a fix. The best tool removes friction; it does not replace support, routines or professional help where those are needed.
Expert Tips
- →
Put the capture widget on your phone's first home screen and the lock screen, where a thought arrives, not inside a folder.
- →
Give every task a duration for one week, even a guess. Comparing guesses with reality is the quickest way to see your own time estimates.
- →
Cap today's list at three to five items and park the rest in a someday list; a short list gets started.
- →
If the free plan's limits bite, compare Todoist and TickTick head to head before paying for either.
- →
For a timer-first setup, pair a plain list with an app from our focus and Pomodoro category.
Red Flags to Watch For
-
A trial that requires a card and auto-renews into a yearly plan without a reminder email.
-
Core routine features, such as recurring tasks, locked behind the paid tier when routines are your main use.
-
A pricing page whose FAQ and plan card show different prices: confirm the charge at checkout.
-
An app available on only one platform when your day is split across a work PC and a personal phone.
The Bottom Line
Start with TickTick if you want one app that does most things: a free plan with reminders and sync, and an annual upgrade under $50 for calendar views and task duration. Choose Todoist if capture is your weak point, Structured or Things 3 if you need to see the day, and Llama Life if a countdown is what gets you moving. Sunsama, Akiflow and Motion suit people whose tasks pour in from work tools and who will use a daily planning ritual or auto-scheduling enough to justify $200 or more a year.
Whatever you pick, test it for a week on the one friction that hurts most, and only then pay. For broader options, see our free task management apps guide, the calendar apps guide, and comparisons of Things 3 and Todoist, Akiflow and Sunsama and Motion and Sunsama. If Motion's price is the obstacle, our Motion alternatives page lists cheaper options.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best to-do list app for ADHD in 2026?
TickTick is our top pick for most people. Its free plan includes reminders, list and Kanban views and cross-platform sync, and Premium, which the vendor puts at less than $4.17 a month on its annual plan, adds calendar views and task duration, with a Pomodoro timer and habit tracker on its feature list. Todoist is the stronger choice when quick capture matters most.
Is there a free to-do list app for ADHD?
Yes. TickTick, Todoist, Structured and Any.do all have free plans, with limits: TickTick Free caps you at 9 lists and 2 reminders per task, and Todoist's Beginner plan at 5 personal projects. Structured's free plan includes the visual timeline itself. Goblin Tools, a web toolkit that breaks tasks into steps, is also free and funded by sponsors.
How much does an ADHD to-do app cost?
Which app helps most with time blindness?
Apps that make time visible: Llama Life puts a countdown on every task, Structured places tasks with durations on a daily timeline, and Motion schedules tasks into calendar slots automatically. TickTick and Todoist add task durations on their paid plans. None of this is treatment; it is a way to see the clock.
Is a one-time purchase better than a subscription for ADHD?
It removes the cost of forgetting. Things 3 is a one-time purchase per device, $59.98 for the Mac and iPhone apps together, so an abandoned copy costs nothing more. The trade-off is that Things 3 runs only on Apple devices and has no trial on iPhone or iPad.
Is Sunsama or Motion worth it for ADHD?
Only if you will use their planning model daily. Sunsama costs $17 a month on yearly billing for a guided morning plan and timeboxing, and Motion's Pro AI plan costs $19 per seat a month on annual billing for AI auto-scheduling. Both cost several times more than TickTick or Todoist Pro.
Cite this page: Toolradar, "Best To-Do List Apps for ADHD in 2026", updated October 2026, https://toolradar.com/guides/best-to-do-list-apps-for-adhd
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