Every January, app stores fill with planners that promise a new personality by February. Most get deleted by March. The apps on this list are the opposite kind: free tools that people keep on their home screens for years, because the free tier is genuinely useful and not a fourteen-day demo wearing a costume. That is the bar we used — would a reasonable person still be happily using the free version six months from now?
This roundup is for students, solopreneurs, creators, and anyone whose productivity system currently lives in scattered screenshots and good intentions. We judged each app on what the free tier really includes (not what the landing page implies), how gracefully it handles the jump from twenty tasks to two hundred, and whether your data can leave with you if you ever move on. Everything here is free to keep, not free to try.
Quick picks
If you install only two, make it Todoist for tasks and Obsidian for notes; add TickTick if you want a calendar and habit tracker folded into the same free app.
| Pick | Tool | Best for | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall | Todoist | A task manager you will actually open daily | 9.0 |
| Runner-up | Obsidian | Notes you own, in plain files, forever | 8.8 |
| Also consider | Raycast | A Mac launcher that saves minutes daily | 8.5 |
The full comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Score | Official site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Todoist | A task manager you will actually open daily | Free plan; Pro $5/mo billed annually ($60/year) | 9.0 | Visit site |
| Obsidian | Notes you own, in plain files, forever | Free for personal use; optional Sync $4/mo (billed annually) | 8.8 | Visit site |
| Raycast | A Mac launcher that saves minutes daily | Free plan; Pro $8/mo (billed annually) | 8.5 | Visit site |
| TickTick | Tasks, calendar, and habits in one app | Free plan; Premium $49.99/year | 8.3 | Visit site |
| Notion | Notes, docs, and projects in one workspace | Free plan; Plus $10/mo per user (billed annually) | 8.2 | Visit site |
Todoist
9.0 / 10A task manager you will actually open dailyTodoist's free tier covers the fundamentals without nagging: up to five active projects, quick add with natural-language dates ('call accountant tomorrow at 9am #admin'), and apps on every platform that stay in sync reliably. What it withholds is mostly power-user surface — more projects, filters, and reminders. For most people, five projects is a feature disguised as a limit: it forces the system to stay simple. Todoist has been the default recommendation in this category for years because it respects your time more than it courts your wallet.
Who it’s for: Anyone who wants one dependable to-do list across phone, laptop, and browser, and does not need their task manager to also be a calendar, habit tracker, and database.
Pros
- Fastest task entry in its class
- Natural-language dates that just work
- Apps everywhere, all solid
Cons
- Habit tracking is not its job
- Calendar view is basic on free
- Best filters and labels need the paid tier
Pricing note: The free plan is a complete task manager, not a teaser. Pro is $5/mo billed annually ($60/year) since the December 2025 price rise, and mainly adds projects, reminders, and filters — worth it for power users, unnecessary for most.
Obsidian
8.8 / 10Notes you own, in plain files, foreverObsidian stores your notes as Markdown files on your own device, which sounds like a footnote and is actually the whole point: no subscription can hold your archive hostage, and the files will open in any text editor in twenty years. The free core is powerful — backlinks, canvas, thousands of community plugins. The honest trade-offs: syncing across devices takes a decision (paid official Sync or a DIY route), and the app happily lets you spend a weekend customizing instead of working. Keep the setup boring and it is the best free notes app available.
Who it’s for: Writers, researchers, students, and creators building a long-term knowledge base who are comfortable choosing how their files sync.
Pros
- Your notes are local Markdown files — no lock-in
- Linking and graph tools reward long-term thinking
- Huge plugin community extends everything
Cons
- Sync between devices takes setup (or a paid add-on)
- Collaboration is not its strength
- Interface rewards tinkerers; defaults are plain
Pricing note: Personal use is free, full stop. Official Sync started at $4/mo billed annually at the time of writing, but free alternatives exist (iCloud, Syncthing, Git). A commercial license is only needed for work use at companies, per Obsidian's terms — check current terms if that is you.
Raycast
8.5 / 10A Mac launcher that saves minutes dailyRaycast replaces Spotlight on the Mac and earns the spot: launching apps, searching files, managing windows, checking your calendar, and pasting from clipboard history all happen in a few keystrokes. The free tier includes the core launcher and a large extension library, which is why it stays installed — it saves seconds dozens of times a day. It is Mac-only, and its AI features are paywalled, but neither fact diminishes the free product. For Mac users who live on the keyboard, it is the highest-leverage free install on this list.
Who it’s for: Mac users who prefer keyboard-driven workflows and want one fast command bar instead of a dock full of utilities.
Pros
- App launching and search feel instant
- Clipboard history and window management free
- Extensions store covers niche workflows
Cons
- Mac only — no Windows or Linux version
- Free tier limits clipboard history
- Power features sit behind Pro pricing
Pricing note: The free tier is the full launcher experience most people need. Pro, from $8/mo billed annually at the time of writing, adds AI features, cloud sync, and unlimited clipboard history — nice, and easy to live without.
TickTick
8.3 / 10Tasks, calendar, and habits in one appTickTick is what people usually want when they say they want Todoist 'but with a calendar.' Tasks, a proper calendar view, habit tracking, and a Pomodoro timer live in one app, and the free tier includes a working slice of each rather than disabling them entirely. The cost is focus: TickTick does four jobs decently instead of one job superbly, and the interface can feel busy. If your current system is three apps that do not talk to each other, consolidating into TickTick's free tier is a real upgrade.
Who it’s for: People who think in days and weeks, not just lists — and who want habits and time-blocking next to their tasks without paying for three separate apps.
Pros
- Calendar view built in, not bolted on
- Habit tracker and Pomodoro in the same app
- Generous free tier for a combined tool
Cons
- Interface is busier than Todoist
- Desktop apps lag the mobile ones slightly
- Free tier caps lists and habit counts
Pricing note: Premium is $49.99/year (about $4.17/mo, no monthly option) — inexpensive as these things go, and the free tier's caps (lists, habits) are the main push toward it. If you only need tasks plus a calendar view, free may genuinely be enough.
Notion
8.2 / 10Notes, docs, and projects in one workspaceNotion's free plan remains the best starting point for people whose work mixes notes, documents, simple databases, and project pages. A creator can run a content calendar, sponsor tracker, and idea bank in one workspace without paying anything. The known weaknesses apply double on the free tier: it is slower than a dedicated notes app, page history is limited, and the flexibility invites building elaborate systems you then avoid using. Used plainly — a few pages, a couple of databases — it is a lot of free product.
Who it’s for: Solopreneurs and creators who want notes plus light project organization in one place and prefer visual structure over plain text files.
Pros
- Flexible pages for notes, docs, and trackers
- Templates for almost any personal system
- Free for individuals with real functionality
Cons
- Free tier limits block history and file uploads
- Slower and heavier than a dedicated notes app
- Easy to over-build and under-use
Pricing note: The free personal plan is real but keeps some history and upload limits in reserve. Plus started at $10/mo per user billed annually at the time of writing; most individuals should exhaust free before considering it, and many never need to.
Verdict: who should choose what
If your life needs sorting, start with Todoist and Obsidian: tasks in one, notes in the other, both free, both exportable, both boring in the best way. That pair covers eighty percent of people who read an article like this one. Add TickTick instead of Todoist if your brain runs on a calendar, and Notion instead of Obsidian if your notes are really project pages that other people occasionally touch.
Whatever you choose, choose once. The productivity loss is rarely the app — it is the quarterly migration between apps. Every tool here can be exported from, so the risk of trying one properly is low. Install it, move your real tasks and notes in, and judge it in a month by a simple test: did you open it without thinking? The keepers pass that test. These five do.
FAQ
Which of these is worth paying for first?
Usually one paid anchor is enough. Most people get the most from upgrading their note or task app, because those hold daily work; calendar and launcher tools tend to work fine free. Upgrade the app you open twenty times a day before the one you open twice.
Should I use all five apps together?
Rarely. Every app here duplicates something the others do, and overlap creates two places to check instead of one. Pick one task manager and one notes app from this list, give them a genuine month, and only add another tool when a specific job is homeless.
Are these free tiers actually sustainable, or will they disappear?
Strong free tiers survive because these companies sell team and pro plans; the free personal tier is their funnel. That is stable economics, but features do migrate behind paywalls over time. Export your notes and tasks periodically so a pricing change is an inconvenience, not a hostage situation.
How do I avoid over-engineering my productivity setup?
Use the spreadsheet test: if your system needs a manual to explain where things live, it is too complicated. These five apps earned their place by doing one job with little setup. Start with paper-simple defaults, and add structure only when something specific goes missing twice.
How does ATIV score free apps?
Scores here weight how much of the core product the free tier genuinely gives you, how predictable the limits are, and whether the app respects your data with export options. A generous free tier on a mediocre app still scores below a tighter tier on an excellent one.