Best for Heym: People who want to plan their life, with goals, habits and time blocking on top of the daily list
Best for Things 3: People who want a calm, beautifully made to-do list with almost nothing to set up
When Things 3 is the right choice
Don't switch just because Heym does more. Here's when Things 3 actually fits you better, and when Heym does.
Pick Things 3
Things 3 wins when you want a calm, finished to-do list and nothing more
- You want a minimal, beautifully made to-do list that barely changes, with almost nothing to set up
- You plan with This Evening, Anytime and Someday rather than with times on a calendar
- You keep checklists inside your to-dos
- You automate with Apple's tools: Shortcuts, Siri, AppleScript and Mail to Things
- You'd rather pay once per device than subscribe
Pick Heym
Heym wins when you want to plan your life, not just your to-dos
- You want an opinionated, purpose-built life planner that works out of the box: you start with what you want from life, and your days follow from it
- You time-block your day: tasks and habits sit on a calendar by the hour, next to your Google Calendar events
- You plan with someone else: share a life area, goal or project and assign tasks
- You also work on Windows, Linux or a Chromebook: Heym runs in any browser
- You want priorities and a Pomodoro timer in the same app
Heym and Things 3: similarities and differences
The daily list
This part works like Things: an Inbox, Today and Upcoming, repeating tasks and tags (labels in Heym). One difference: in Heym you type the date straight into the task title.
- InboxTasks you haven't given a date or a place yet.
- TodayWhat you've planned for today.
- UpcomingEverything due in the days and weeks ahead.
Life planning
Things has Areas for the parts of your life, with projects inside them. Heym writes the life you want at the top of each area and adds goals to get you there. Projects, habits, notes and tasks can each link to a goal.
- AreasLike Things' Areas, plus a few lines on where you want that part of your life to go.
- GoalsWhat you want to reach, with a deadline and a progress bar.
- HabitsTick off or count, with streaks. Link each one to the goal it serves.
- NotesLinked to the goal or area they're about, not tucked inside a to-do.
How Heym links life areas, goals, habits and tasks
Things has Areas too. In Heym, each area also holds the life you want there, like this one for Health.
That turns into a goal with a date and a progress bar. Tasks, habits and notes all link back to it.
Things has no habit tracker, so habits become repeating to-dos. In Heym each habit keeps a streak and sits under the goal it serves.
Now your tasks have a reason. A project says where a task lives. Heym also shows the goal behind it, so you know what comes first.
Change coverHealth
Stay fit enough to say yes to anything. Strong knees at 60, energy left after work, and a race on the calendar every year.
Run my first half-marathon
Heym and Things 3, feature by feature
Planning your day
Quick add
Type details into the task title
Dates, times, priorities, labels, goals and reminders
Quick Entry from anywhere on your Mac. Plain-word dates go in the When field, not the title.
Today and Upcoming
Yes
Yes, plus This Evening, Anytime and Someday
Calendar
Your tasks laid out by day and hour
Tasks and habits on a 4-day, week or month calendar, next to your Google Calendar events
Shows your calendar events next to your to-dos, but not your to-dos by the hour
Time blocking
A start time and a length on the calendar
Yes, on every plan
No. A to-do gets a day and a reminder time.
Projects
Related tasks, grouped in sections
Yes, with a board view, milestones and notes, linked to a goal
Yes, with headings, notes and a deadline
Repeating tasks
Yes, including repeat after done
Yes, including repeat after done
Subtasks
Not yet. A task's description can hold a checklist.
Checklists inside a to-do
Priorities
High, medium and low
No priorities. Things suggests the Today list or a tag.
Reminders
Browser and Mac notifications while Heym is open
Yes, on every Apple device
Pomodoro timer
Focus on one task for a set time
Yes, on Pro
No focus timer
Planning your life
Goals with progress
A bar that fills toward a target
Yes, measured by tasks, sub-goals or a number you log
No goals. Projects show a progress pie.
Life areas
Sport & Health, Work & Career and so on
Yes, each with the life you want there
Yes, as Areas that hold projects and to-dos
Habits
Yes, tick off or count, with streaks, linked to a goal
No habit tracker
Notes
Yes, linked to a goal or life area
Notes inside to-dos and projects
Working with others
Sharing
Share a life area, goal or project as editor or viewer. Both people need Pro.
No shared lists
Assign tasks
Yes, in anything you share
No. Things is for one person.
Integrations
Google Calendar
Shortcuts, Siri, AppleScript, a URL scheme and Mail to Things
Apps
Mac
Yes
Yes
Web
Yes, in any browser
No web app
Windows and Linux
No app. Use Heym in your browser.
Not available
iPhone
Coming soon
Yes, plus iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro
Android
Planned
Not available
Price
Pro, billed yearly
Heym
€30
a year for Pro
- €5 a month, billed monthly
- €119 once, for Lifetime
- Free plan available
Things 3
US$49.99
once, for the Mac
- US$9.99 for iPhone, US$19.99 for iPad
- Paid once per platform, no subscription
- 15-day trial on the Mac, no free plan
Checked against culturedcode.com/things, Cultured Code's support pages and the Things 3 App Store listings on 6 November 2026. Prices are from the US App Store. A red cross in the Things 3 column means we couldn't find it on Cultured Code's own pages, which doesn't prove it's missing. See something wrong? Email support@heym.app. The Things 3 screenshot is from Cultured Code's press kit.
How to switch from Things 3 to Heym
01
Write your life vision
Pick the parts of your life that matter and write down where you want each one to go.
02
Set your goals
Turn each vision into goals with a date and a way to measure them.
03
Bring over what's still open
Heym doesn't import from Things, so this is a fresh start. Add the projects that serve a goal and leave the rest behind.
Frequently asked questions
Can Heym replace Things 3?
Mostly, if you plan on a Mac or in a browser. Heym has an Inbox, Today and Upcoming, projects with sections, labels, priorities, repeating tasks, habits and a Pomodoro timer. It also reads dates typed into the task title, puts tasks on a calendar by the hour and lets you share a project. It has no subtasks yet, though a task's description can hold a checklist, and reminders only arrive while Heym is open. The big gap is your phone: Heym's iPhone app is coming soon, so if your iPhone is where you plan, stay with Things for now.
Things 3 changes slowly. Does Heym?
No. Heym is younger and ships new features every few weeks. If something you need is missing, write to support@heym.app. It goes straight to the people who build Heym. Things 3 came out in 2017, and in recent years most of its updates have followed Apple's new systems and devices. Some requests take years: completing a repeating to-do early only arrived in August 2026. That steady pace is also part of why Things feels so calm and finished.
Is Heym more complicated than Things 3?
Not for the daily list. You add a task in one line and type its date, label and priority right into the title. You plan your day from Today, as you would in Things. Goals, habits and life areas sit in one sidebar above your tasks, and you can hide the ones you don't use.
Do I have to set goals to use Heym?
No. You can use Heym as a plain task list. Skip the goals step when you sign up, make Inbox or Today your start page, and hide Goals, Habits and Areas in the sidebar until you want them. Every account still starts with a set of life areas.
Things 3 has Areas. How are Heym's life areas different?
A Things Area groups the projects and to-dos for one part of your life, like Health or Work. A Heym life area does that too, and adds two things: the life you want there, written down, and goals with a deadline and a progress bar. Projects, habits and tasks link to those goals, so you can see whether this week moved anything.
Does Heym work on Windows, Android or the web?
Heym runs in any modern browser, so it works on Windows, Linux and Chromebooks today. There's also a Mac app. An iPhone app is coming soon and an Android app is planned. Things 3 runs only on Apple devices.
Does Heym sync with my calendar?
Yes, with Google Calendar. Connect one or more Google accounts and your events show up in Heym's calendar next to your tasks and habits. You can create, move, edit and delete them right there, and the change lands in Google. Apple Calendar and Outlook aren't supported yet. Things shows the events from your Apple Calendar app in Today and Upcoming, but you can't change them there, and its to-dos get a day and a reminder time, not a block of time.
Can I share a list with my partner or team?
Yes. You can share a life area, goal or project with someone as an editor or a viewer, and assign tasks to them. Both of you need Pro. Things 3 is built for one person and has no shared lists, so many Things users keep shared tasks in a second app.
Things 3 is a one-time purchase. Is Heym?
It can be. Heym Lifetime is €119, paid once. You can also pay for Pro at €30 a year or €5 a month, and the free plan has unlimited tasks and a few goals, projects and habits. Things costs US$49.99 for the Mac, US$9.99 for iPhone and US$19.99 for iPad, each bought once. See the pricing page.
Can I import my tasks from Things 3?
No. Things has no export file, and Heym imports only from Todoist and TickTick. Treat it as a fresh start: add the projects that still matter and link each one to a goal.