Any.do has been around since 2011 and it shows, in a good way. The apps are mature, the calendar sync is solid, and its signature "Plan My Day" ritual walks you through your list every morning. It's a genuinely different approach to the same problem Taskaro is solving, so here's an honest look at both.
Any.do's Real Strength: The Morning Ritual
Open Any.do in the morning and it doesn't just show you a list. It walks you through it: what's overdue, what's due today, what you want to push to tomorrow. For people who need that nudge to actually plan the day instead of reacting to it, this is a real feature, not a gimmick.
Any.do also covers more ground than most task apps: a built-in calendar, a shared family list product, and apps on every platform including Apple Watch. If you want one app to handle personal tasks, a shared grocery list, and a calendar view, it's a strong all-in-one pick.
Where It Gets Thinner
The free tier is where Any.do gets less generous than it first looks. Ads show up in the free version. Color tags, recurring reminders with custom rules, and integrations with Slack or WhatsApp all sit behind Premium, which runs somewhere around $3 to $5 a month depending on the plan. There's no kanban board at any tier, and no focus timer, so if you want to actually work a task instead of just scheduling it, you're opening a third app.
What Taskaro Does Differently
Taskaro skips the calendar-app ambitions and stays close to three things: a kanban board with Todo, Done, Cancelled and Overdue columns, a notes section with no folders to maintain, and Focus Mode, a built-in timer for actually sitting down and doing the task instead of just scheduling it. No ads on the free tier, at any point.
The free tier is tighter in a different way: 3 tasks per day and 3 notes, no ads involved. It's built to let you test the workflow, not to run your whole life on for free. Pro is $3.49 a month or $26.99 a year, which removes the limits and adds the contribution graph and PDF export.
Side by Side
| Feature | Any.do | Taskaro |
|---|---|---|
| Daily planning ritual | Yes, Plan My Day | No |
| Kanban board | No, at any tier | Yes, free |
| Built-in focus timer | No | Yes, Focus Mode |
| Calendar | Full built-in calendar | Week view, tasks only |
| Ads on free tier | Yes | No, never |
| Shared and family lists | Yes | No, solo only |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Watch | Web and Android only |
| Free tier | Unlimited tasks, with ads | 3 tasks/day, 3 notes, 2 focus sessions/day |
| Paid plan | About $3/mo | $3.49/mo or $26.99/yr |
Where They Actually Overlap
Both sync across devices and let you set due dates and reminders. Neither one requires you to build a system before you can add your first task, which already puts them ahead of anything that asks you to configure a database first. Worth saying plainly: Taskaro doesn't have an iOS app yet, while Any.do runs on everything. If you're on iPhone, that alone may decide it.
If you're comparing more than two apps, the free task manager roundup covers real free tiers, and Todoist vs Taskaro is the other head to head people ask me about.
The Honest Take
If the daily planning ritual and a calendar-first view are what keep you consistent, Any.do's years of polish are hard to beat, and its free tier, ads aside, is genuinely usable. If you think in columns instead of a scheduled list, and you want a timer built in instead of a fourth app, Taskaro is the simpler tool.
Neither app is wrong here. They're solving "I have too much to do" from two different directions: one plans your day for you, the other gets out of the way once you already know what's next.