A guide to picking the right to-do app for macOS, with an honest look at the field and a clear recommendation for Obsidian users.
On Windows, Task Manager is a system utility you open with Ctrl+Alt+Delete. It shows running processes, CPU and memory usage, and lets you force-quit programs that have stopped responding. macOS has an equivalent called Activity Monitor, but the name does not match, which is why many people search for "Mac task manager" and end up on productivity app review pages instead of finding what they actually wanted.
To open Activity Monitor on a Mac: go to Applications, then Utilities, then double-click Activity Monitor. Alternatively, press Cmd+Space to open Spotlight, type Activity Monitor, and press Return. Once open, you will see a list of every process running on your Mac, with columns for CPU percentage, memory footprint, energy impact, disk activity, and network usage. You can sort by any column, filter by process name, and force-quit a frozen app by selecting it and clicking the X button in the toolbar.
If that is what you were looking for, you are set. If you came here because you want a better to-do list app for macOS, read on.
A few things actually matter when picking between them.
Keyboard shortcuts, Notification Center integration, desktop widgets you can add by right-clicking the desktop and choosing Edit Widgets. Apps that are Electron wrappers or web views often feel off on Mac, even when the feature list looks identical.
Proprietary databases are fine until the company changes its terms, raises prices, or shuts down. Plain files you can open in any text editor are still readable in ten years.
A one-time purchase that covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad is different from three separate purchases or a subscription that compounds over years. The total cost over five years is often a more useful figure than the sticker price.
If you use Obsidian, your tasks and notes are already in the same vault. An app that reads those files directly means no import, no export, and no sync gap between your notes and your to-do list.
These are the apps people most often compare against each other.
$49.99 (Mac) + $9.99 (iPhone) + $19.99 (iPad) = roughly $80 for the full suite. No subscription.
What works
Widely regarded as the best-designed task app on Apple platforms. Fast, reliable, opinionated.
What to know
No Android support. Proprietary database, so your tasks are not accessible outside Things. Three separate purchases.
Verdict
The benchmark for native Apple design. Worth every dollar if you stay in the Apple ecosystem and do not need your tasks in any other format.
Free tier limited to 5 active projects. Premium is roughly $4 to $5 per month depending on billing cycle.
What works
Available on every platform, including Windows and Android. Good team collaboration features.
What to know
Cloud-only storage. No Obsidian integration. The free tier is genuinely limited for daily use.
Verdict
Best choice if you need cross-platform including Windows, or if you are managing tasks with a team.
$35.99 per year, which works out to $3 per month. No lifetime option.
What works
Built-in Pomodoro timer, habit tracking, calendar view on all plans.
What to know
Annual subscription required for most features. No Obsidian integration.
Verdict
Good if you want Pomodoro and habits baked in. The subscription is unavoidable.
Free, built into macOS, iOS, and iPadOS.
What works
Already on your Mac. Works with Siri. Syncs across Apple devices automatically.
What to know
Limited filtering, no Obsidian integration, no kanban or calendar view.
Verdict
Hard to beat for simple lists. Falls short once you want more structure.
$39.99 one-time (covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac), or $1.99 per month. One-week free trial.
What works
Tasks live as plain markdown in your Obsidian vault. Native Mac app on the Mac App Store. Full keyboard shortcuts, desktop widgets, iCloud settings sync.
What to know
Apple ecosystem only for the one-time purchase. Android is a separate purchase. Windows and Linux are planned for late 2026 but not yet available.
Verdict
The only task manager built specifically for Obsidian users. If your notes are in a vault, your tasks should be too.
Every task is a line of markdown in a file you already own. Open tasks/this-week.md in Obsidian and the same task is there. Open it in any text editor and it is still readable. There is nothing to export.
- [ ] call the plumber 📅 2026-06-25 🔁 every month
TaskForge is on the Mac App Store (id6744716215), the same App Store listing as the iPhone and iPad version. One purchase covers all three. You get full keyboard shortcuts for all major actions: navigate between lists, create tasks, and mark things complete without touching the mouse. Desktop widgets live in the Notification Center or directly on the desktop; add them by right-clicking the desktop and choosing Edit Widgets.
Press Cmd+Plus to increase text size and Cmd+Minus to decrease it, in 10% steps from 80% to 200%. Cmd+0 resets to default. The same controls appear in the View menu and as a slider under Settings > Appearance > Layout. Only text scales. Icons and spacing stay fixed, so the layout does not shift. The setting is per Mac rather than iCloud-synced, because a 13-inch laptop and a 27-inch external monitor usually need different scales.
Tasks live in files on your disk. Open, edit, and complete tasks with no network connection. When vault sync (iCloud Drive, Obsidian Sync, or Dropbox) delivers the next file change, TaskForge picks it up automatically.
Your filter configuration, notification preferences, and custom list setup sync across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud. Set it up once.
Because tasks are plain markdown, Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI with file access can add, complete, and reschedule them. Point an agent at the same vault TaskForge is watching and the changes appear in the app the moment the file saves. No plugin or API required.
$39.99 one-time covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac. A monthly subscription is $1.99 if you prefer not to pay upfront. All new users get a one-week free trial of the full feature set. One caveat: the $39.99 purchase is Apple ecosystem only. Android is a separate purchase through Google Play, because there is no cross-ecosystem account linking the two.
TaskForge is not the right answer for everyone. A few honest scenarios where another app fits better.
TaskForge runs on macOS 10.15 (Catalina) and later, iOS and iPadOS 15.6 and later, and Android 11 and later. Windows and Linux support is planned for late 2026. For vault sync, iCloud Drive, Obsidian Sync, and Dropbox all work. The app reads and writes your vault files directly; whatever sync method you already use for Obsidian will work for TaskForge.
Not by that name. The equivalent is Activity Monitor, which you can open from Applications > Utilities or by pressing Cmd+Space and typing Activity Monitor. It shows running processes, CPU and memory usage, and lets you force-quit frozen apps. The Windows-style Ctrl+Alt+Delete shortcut does not exist on macOS; the closest equivalent is right-clicking the Dock icon of an unresponsive app and choosing Force Quit, or using the Apple menu > Force Quit.
For Obsidian users, TaskForge. It reads and writes tasks as plain markdown in your vault, runs as a native Mac app, and includes full keyboard shortcuts and desktop widgets. For people who do not use Obsidian and want the most polished Apple-native experience, Things 3 is the standard recommendation. For cross-platform teams that include Windows users, Todoist is more practical.
Apple Reminders is free and built into macOS. TaskForge is free to download with core task management features; premium features (unlimited custom lists, widgets, kanban, calendar view, custom notifications) require either the $39.99 one-time purchase or a $1.99 monthly subscription. All new users get a one-week free trial.
Yes. Point TaskForge at your Obsidian vault folder and it reads the same markdown files Obsidian reads. Tasks you create in TaskForge appear in Obsidian immediately, and tasks you write or edit in Obsidian appear in TaskForge when the file saves. There is no import step and no database to keep in sync.
Both options are available. The one-time purchase is $39.99 and covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac within the Apple ecosystem. The monthly subscription is $1.99. All users get a one-week free trial before choosing. Android is a separate purchase through Google Play.
Yes. Tasks live in plain markdown files on your disk, so the app reads and writes them with no network connection. Sync (iCloud Drive, Obsidian Sync, or Dropbox) happens separately and delivers file changes when a connection is available.
Free to download. One-week trial of all premium features. One purchase covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
Get Free - iOS & Mac 
Get Free - Android