ALT vs Things 3
A Things 3 alternative for Mac
A personal task manager for Apple devices, organized into areas, projects and lists. [1] [2] [3] ALT is for people who want a native Mac planner with hours, projects and an assistant whose proposals they review. ALT is in private beta.
At a glance
| What matters | Things 3 | ALT |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A personal task manager with areas, projects and lists. [1] [3] | AI planner and time blocking app for Mac. Private beta. |
| Platforms | Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. Apple devices only. [2] | Mac now. iPhone and iPad join the beta in December, Apple Watch later. No sync between devices yet. |
| How the Mac app is built | Native Mac app. [4] | Native, SwiftUI |
| Calendars | Shows events from Apple Calendar. Cannot send to-dos back to the calendar. [5] | Reads the calendars in Apple's Calendar app, including iCloud, Google and Outlook (Exchange). Move a meeting on your day and it moves in your calendar too; a meeting can also become a task. Task blocks stay in ALT. |
| Hours (planned against available) | No built-in task duration or planned-hours budget. [5] [3] | Yes. Each day and week shows planned hours against your working window minus meetings, and how much it's over. |
| Time blocking | No built-in time slots. Calendar events show in Today and Upcoming; an Apple Shortcut can block calendar time for a task. [5] [3] | Yes. One task can take several blocks in a day, numbered block 1 of 2. |
| AI assistant | No built-in AI assistant. Since Things 3.24 (September 2026), Apple's Siri AI, in beta and English only, can add and schedule to-dos in Things. [6] | Chat on the Mac, typed or dictated. It creates and re-plans tasks with times. Every change is a proposal you Apply or Reject, and Undo puts it back. Uses your own Anthropic, OpenAI or OpenRouter key in the beta. |
| Claude and Codex (MCP) | No official MCP server. Community-built servers connect Claude through Things' URL scheme. [11] | Yes, a local MCP server on your Mac: Claude Code and Codex read and change tasks, projects and notes. Works while ALT is running. |
| Projects | Areas, projects, tasks and headings within projects. [3] | Areas, projects (two levels), sections, a result line per project, notes as an outline on the Mac. |
| Week, month and year | Upcoming is a timeline of to-dos by start date, deadline and repeat. No week board, month or year planning views. [7] | Day, week, month and year views, with hours. |
| Price | One-time purchases: Mac $49.99, iPad $19.99, iPhone $9.99. Each platform is sold separately. A free 15-day trial on the Mac. Checked October 21, 2026. [2] [4] [8] [12] | Free during the beta. Paid plans after it. |
| Status | Available as a one-time purchase per platform. [2] | Private beta. |
Where Things 3 is ahead
Where ALT is different
- A native SwiftUI Mac app with areas, projects, sections and notes as an outline.
- Each day and week shows planned hours against your working window minus meetings.
- The Mac assistant proposes changes with times. You Apply or Reject them, and Undo puts them back.
- The Things keyboard shortcuts for tasks, and Quick Find with Cmd-F.
What ALT doesn't do yet
- No sync between Mac, iPhone and iPad yet.
- No reminders before a time block starts.
- No writing task blocks to your calendar yet.
- The assistant uses your own Anthropic, OpenAI or OpenRouter key during the beta.
Choose ALT if ...
You want a native Mac planner that adds up your tasks and meetings in hours, with projects and AI proposals you review. You're comfortable testing a private beta with your own AI key and no device sync yet.
Sources
Checked on October 21, 2026. Sources: