To-do list app without a subscription: buy once (lifetime) or subscribe
Free to use. Premium is a one-time lifetime purchase or a subscription, bought separately in each store. One App Store purchase covers iPhone, iPad, and the Mac App Store build, for good. No monthly fee, no account, no cloud lock-in. Or subscribe monthly or yearly if you prefer. Monthly and yearly plans start with a 7-day free trial; the lifetime purchase has none.
Why subscription task apps add up
Todoist Pro runs around $5 per month billed annually, or $7 per month billed monthly. TickTick Premium is around $35.99 per year. Both are subscriptions with no lifetime alternative. Over five years, Todoist costs roughly $300 billed annually and TickTick costs around $180, at current pricing.
That math is not an argument against subscriptions by itself. Software costs real money to maintain and the recurring model funds ongoing development. But if you use a task app as a personal productivity tool rather than a team collaboration platform, the economics of a one-time purchase look different.
There is also a data question. Subscription apps typically store your tasks in their cloud. If you stop paying, you lose access to your history. With TaskForge, your tasks are plain markdown files on your device. Stop using the app and the files stay.
TaskForge: pay once, keep it
$49.99 one-time, all your Apple devices
One purchase on the App Store covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It covers every future update. There is no annual renewal. The free tier is not crippled: you get core task management, reading and writing your Obsidian vault, and offline access without paying anything. Premium adds unlimited custom filters, custom kanban boards, creating calendar events, the Spaces and calendar widgets, and notifications.
7-day free trial on monthly and yearly plans
Monthly and yearly plans start with a 7-day free trial; the lifetime purchase has none.
$19.99 per year or $1.99 per month if you prefer
The subscription options exist if you would rather not pay upfront. They cover the same premium features as the one-time purchase. The lifetime purchase costs about as much as two years of the monthly plan or two and a half years of the yearly plan, so it pays off after that.
Your files, not our database
Tasks in TaskForge are lines of markdown in your Obsidian vault. They look like: - [ ] call the plumber [due:: 2026-06-25]. Open the same file in Obsidian and the task is there. Open it in any text editor and it reads fine. No export step, no account to delete, no migration if you leave.
- [ ] call the plumber [repeat:: every month] [due:: 2026-06-25]
Works offline
Because tasks are local files, the app reads and writes them with no network connection. Vault sync (iCloud Drive, Obsidian Sync, or Dropbox) runs separately in the background.
The honest catch
The $49.99 one-time purchase covers the Apple ecosystem only: iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Android and Windows are each a separate purchase (Google Play, or a direct web checkout on Windows), because there is no shared account system linking them.
Things 3 is also a one-time purchase, and it is worth naming because it is the most common comparison. Things 3 charges separately for Mac ($49.99), iPhone ($9.99), and iPad ($19.99), so the full suite is around $80. TaskForge's one-time covers all three for $49.99. Things 3 does not support Android at all.
The free tier in TaskForge is genuinely usable for straightforward task management. Where it draws the line: unlimited custom filters, custom kanban boards, creating calendar events, Spaces and calendar widgets, and notifications are premium. Monthly and yearly plans start with a 7-day free trial; the lifetime purchase has none.
Subscription vs one-time: the field
A clear comparison of the main options and what they actually cost.
| App | Pricing model | Approx. 5-year cost | Your data |
|---|---|---|---|
| TaskForge | $49.99 one-time (Apple), $19.99/year, or $1.99/month. Free tier available. | $49.99 one-time, or 5 yearly payments of $19.99 | Plain markdown files in your vault |
| Todoist | Subscription only. Around $5/month (annual) or $7/month (monthly). No lifetime option. | Around $300 (annual billing) | Cloud database; export manually to leave |
| TickTick | Subscription only. Around $35.99/year. No lifetime option. | Around $180 | Cloud database; export manually to leave |
| Things 3 | One-time, per device. ~$80 for Mac + iPhone + iPad combined. | $80 (no renewals, but also no Android) | Proprietary database; Apple ecosystem only |
When a subscription still makes sense
Subscriptions are not inherently bad. A few situations where they fit better than a one-time purchase:
- Team use Todoist's collaboration features (shared projects, task assignments, comments) require a subscription and genuinely work well. TaskForge is a personal productivity tool; it does not have team sharing.
- Web access If you need to reach your tasks from a browser on any computer, Todoist and TickTick have web apps. TaskForge is iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Android, and Windows. No web version.
- Linux TaskForge does not run on Linux. If you need a task app on Linux specifically, Todoist is the practical choice. Linux is coming soon.
- You want the subscription Some people prefer to pay monthly because it feels lower-commitment. The $1.99/month plan is there for exactly that, and the yearly plan at $19.99 sits in between.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a task app you can buy once?
Yes. TaskForge is $49.99 one-time for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with no annual renewal. Things 3 is also a one-time purchase but charges separately for each device (Mac, iPhone, and iPad sold individually, totalling around $80 for all three). Most other popular task apps, including Todoist and TickTick, are subscription-only.
Does TaskForge have a subscription?
It offers three plans. $49.99 one-time covers all your Apple devices with no renewal. $19.99 per year and $1.99 per month are there if you prefer a subscription. All three unlock the same premium features. Monthly and yearly plans start with a 7-day free trial; the lifetime purchase has none.
What does the one-time purchase include?
The $49.99 purchase covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac within the Apple ecosystem. It unlocks unlimited custom filters, custom kanban boards, calendar integration, the Spaces and calendar widgets, and notifications. Future updates are included at no extra cost. Android is a separate purchase through Google Play, and Windows is a separate purchase through a web checkout.
Is the free version enough?
For straightforward task management it is. The free tier gives you core task management, reading and writing your Obsidian vault, and offline access. Monthly and yearly plans start with a 7-day free trial; the lifetime purchase has none.
What happens if I stop paying?
If you are on the monthly plan and cancel, you drop to the free tier. Your tasks stay exactly where they are: plain markdown files in your vault. Nothing is deleted. If you bought the lifetime option, nothing changes. Either way, your files remain yours.
Does Things 3 have a lifetime option?
Things 3 is entirely one-time, with no subscription at all. The catch is per-device pricing: Mac ($49.99), iPhone ($9.99), and iPad ($19.99) are separate purchases, totalling around $80 for the full Apple suite. It does not support Android. TaskForge covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac for $49.99 in a single purchase, and also runs natively on Android and Windows.
Try TaskForge free for 7 days
Download for free. Monthly and yearly plans start with a 7-day free trial; the lifetime purchase has none. Then $49.99 once, $19.99 per year, or $1.99 per month, or keep the free tier.
