Can AI replace Things 3?
The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For Things 3, build a polished personal task manager with areas, projects, tags, deadlines, and a today view. The hard boundary is exceptional native design, apple-device sync, shortcuts, and long-term maintenance, plus cross-device reliability and workflow polish.
01What it costs
Checked Aug 14, 2026 · source: culturedcode.com.
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Things for Mac | — | — | 1 Mac App Store license; 15-day direct-download trial. |
| Things for iPhone & Apple Watch | — | — | 1 iPhone/Apple Watch App Store purchase. |
| Things for iPad | — | — | 1 iPad App Store purchase. |
| Things for Apple Vision | — | — | 1 Apple Vision App Store purchase. |
Hidden costs: Mac, iPhone/Watch, iPad, and Vision are separate purchases; there is no cross-platform bundle, though Things Cloud sync is free.
02Could AI build it for you?
The core job: Capture tasks into areas and projects with tags and deadlines, schedule or repeat them, work from a focused today view, and keep history locally.
What a working version needs:
- macOS, Windows, or Linux
- notification permission
- local SQLite database
Editorial comparison targets the Mac license plan and a personal desktop task manager DIY substitute. Recheck price before merge.
03What you'd give up
- exceptional native design, Apple-device sync, shortcuts, and long-term maintenance
- perfect mobile sync
- calendar and email integrations
- shared workspaces
- behavioral coaching polish
People still pay for Things 3 because task software is sticky because trust, speed, and ubiquitous capture matter more than the database schema. The recurring cost buys recurrence edge cases, notifications, sync conflicts, calendar APIs, mobile capture, and backups, not just the visible interface.
04Free and cheaper alternatives
Things minus the polish tax, provided every device in sight has an Apple logo
Versus paying: Apple Reminders is less coherent and polished than Things for organizing Areas, multi-step projects, headings, start dates, deadlines, and the Today-to-Upcoming flow.
apps.apple.com →A polished free task manager, paid for with a Microsoft account rather than money
Versus paying: Microsoft To Do lacks Things’ refined Areas-and-project hierarchy, headings, start-versus-deadline distinction, and Apple-native interaction polish.
microsoft.com →A local task manager with timeboxing, Pomodoro, and no account begging to be created
Versus paying: Super Productivity is busier and more time-tracking-oriented than Things and lacks its exceptionally polished native Apple quick-capture and planning flow.
super-productivity.com →A capable Todoist replacement once you accept becoming its hosting department
Versus paying: Vikunja feels like a hosted web task system and cannot match Things’ native offline polish, frictionless capture, or elegant Today and Upcoming experience.
vikunja.io →05The build prompt
Paste this into an AI coding tool (such as Claude, ChatGPT, Lovable or Replit) to build your own version.
Build a personal replacement for Things 3 in an empty repository. Use Tauri 2, React, TypeScript, SQLite, and desktop notifications; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: capture tasks into areas and projects with tags and deadlines, schedule or repeat them, work from a focused today view, and keep history locally. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create inbox, today, upcoming, someday, and completed views with fast keyboard capture. Support projects, tags, due dates, start dates, priorities, notes, subtasks, and attachments. Implement robust daily, weekly, monthly, and custom recurring rules with tests. Add a focus view with one active task, timer, and optional desktop notification. Provide search, saved filters, undo, and a completed-task archive. Export and import a documented JSON format and make automatic local backups. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Deliberately leave out team assignment and comments. Deliberately leave out two-way calendar or email synchronization. Deliberately leave out native mobile apps and cloud accounts. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used.
06Open-source starting points
- Vikunja: Mature open-source task and project manager with lists, kanban, and recurring work.
App prices, verdicts, alternatives and build prompts are adapted from Can I Vibecode It? (MIT License, © 2026 Rob Hallam). Each price shows the date it was checked and its source. Prices change; confirm on the vendor's site before you decide.
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