Our civilization took a huge step forward when tools were invented. Many years later, when apps came around, we found them useful at first but were overwhelmed soon after. Apps became a distraction, mainly because there are so many of them, and most of them are designed to be addictive. However, amongst the myriads of apps and computer programs, there are still useful tools and software to improve our productivity and assist us in our daily tasks.
Whether you come short in time management or get lost in to-do lists, whether you want to improve focus or better collaborate with your team, the following productivity apps fit any purpose, workflow, and preference. Read along to find what productivity apps we’ve tried and enjoyed.
The following productivity apps are structured in six categories: 1. Task management, 2. Note taking, 3. Scheduling, 4.Time tracking, 5. Focus Collaboration, 6. Assistive as follows. After the summary table, you will find individual reviews and our recommendations.
App | Best Feature | Category | Price |
Todoist | To-do lists | Task Management | From $4/user/month with a free limited version |
Habitica | To-do lists, habit tracker | Task Management | Free |
Plaky | Visual boards, Gantt view, charts, file management | Task Management | From $3.99/user/seat/month with a free limited version |
Notion | AI-based tools for taking notes, building workflows, and researching | Note-Taking | From $9.50/member/month with a free limited version |
Instapaper | Saving files and research data from websites and social media, making notes and comments | Note-Taking | From $5.99/month with a free limited version |
Calendly | Scheduling tasks and events, sharing calendars and availability | Scheduling | From $10/seat/month with a free limited version |
Google Calendar | Calendars | Scheduling | Free with Premium Google Workspace options from $7/user/month |
Clockify | Time tracking (manual and automated) | Time Tracking | Free |
Toggl Track | Time tracking (manual and automated) | Time Tracking | From $9/user/month with a free version for up to 5 users |
Sunsama | Daily planner | Time Tracking | From $16/month |
StayFocused | Website blocker | Focus / Distraction Blocker | Free |
Forest | Focus timer | Focus / Distraction Blocker | Free for Android, $3.99 for iOS |
Miro | Intelligent canvas | Collaboration | From $8/member/month with a free limited version |
Pumble | Â | Collaboration | Free |
ChatGPT | AI-based conversational agent | Assistive | Free limited version and Premium versions from $23/month |
Otter.ai | AI-based meeting note-taking | Assistive | From $8.33/user/month with a free version |
Key Features: to-do list, calendar view, shared space, templates, reminders
Pricing: From $4/user/month with a free limited version
Available for: Desktop, Android, iOS, Wearables, as a browser extension, as an email add-on
Pros: Fast setup, customizable workflow
Cons: The interface is a bit outdated
If your daily agenda is chaotic and you are drowning in to-do lists, Todoist is the best productivity app for you. This well-put-together to-do list app highlights how you do things and helps you organize work-related tasks, projects, habit-forming activities, and teamwork. Adding tasks to your list is a breeze, and thanks to Todoist’s filters and sorting tools, you can find what you need when you need it. You’ll also appreciate the customizable reminders, calendar views, and shared space for collaboration with coworkers or family members. To get you started in seconds, the app provides 50+ templates for every scenario you might imagine.
Tip: Discover our selection of the best to-do list apps.
Key Features: to-do list, habit tracker, in-game features
Pricing: Free
Available for: Android and iOS
Pros: It’s reward-based, which motivates you to achieve your goals
Cons: Its simplistic approach doesn’t fit a work environment
Habitica is a great habit-building and productivity app for improving your task management skills and creating a healthier lifestyle. Whether you want to become more productive at work, eat better, exercise more, or avoid procrastination, Habitica is on your side. The app rewards you with games and in-game features to motivate you to pursue your goals. In addition, you can share the experience with other users, which is another way to stay accountable and use your time where it matters.
Key Features: visual boards for projects, templates, detailed task descriptions and organization, customizable automations
Pricing: From $3.99/user/seat/month with a free limited version
Available for: Android and iOS
Pros: Visual tools for task/project tracking and customizable user roles
Cons: Automations and many other advanced features aren’t included in the free version
Platky is more work-oriented than other productivity apps. It aims to help you easily manage projects and tasks, meet deadlines, get status reports in seconds, and collaborate with your coworkers. It includes plenty of boards and templates for a quick start, allows you to add and share files, comment on a task or project, and set up notifications, and provides strategic tools, such as Gantt views and charts. Platky has a very visual interface and workflow, saving you administration time.
Key Features: Note-taking, automated workflows, and flowchart generating
Pricing: From $9.50/member/month with a free limited version
Available for: Desktop, Browser, Android, iOS
Pros: Makes research and document creation very easy, regardless of the type
Cons: Expensive
Notion is the ultimate note-taking app. It uses AI to take notes by itself during meetings, acts as a translator, and provides an advanced text editor. It also generates diagrams, flowcharts, summaries, and roadmaps. It’s beneficial during research stages when you deal with a lot of data that needs to be categorized and organized. It’s also very efficient during busy meetings, project planning stages, and even creating shopping and to-do lists. The many pre-built templates will help you get on board instantly.
Tip: It is a smarter, more flexible version of Google Sheets.
Key Features: note-taking, resource saving, resource quoting, customizable reading experience
Pricing: From $5.99/month with a free limited version
Available for: Browser, Android, and iOS
Pros: Straightforward to use, even offline
Cons: Advanced search features are not included in the free version
If you work a lot with digital resources, you need a productivity app like Instapaper to take notes, save articles and other materials, and easily manage everything. You can go through the materials later, even when you are offline. Instapaper also provides all the tools you need to manage your notes, from highlights and comments on text in articles to tools for quoting. Full-text search, text-to-speech playlists, and a permanent archive of files will allow you to clear the administrative tasks in seconds and be more productive at work.
Key Features: scheduling tools, multiple calendars, user roles, customized events, performance tracking
Pricing: From $10/seat/month with a free limited version
Available for: Browser, iOS, Android
Pros: Powerful scheduling tools for enterprise-level
Cons: Minimal free version
Navigating meetings and appointments takes a lot of time and energy. Therefore, one way to become more productive is to use an app such as Calendly to deal with all the scheduling, work, and personal life. The app can connect up to six calendars and multiple conference tools, share your schedule, inform people of your availability, and create customized events. You also get a dashboard to have everything in one place and avoid missing meetings or clashing activities.
Key Features: multiple customizable calendars, integration with Google apps, to-do lists, and instant email-to-calendar scheduling
Pricing: Free with Premium Google Workspace options from $7/user/month
Available for: Browser, Android, iOS
Pros: Free and very easy to use for both personal and work agendas
Cons: Limited features for task management and other productivity skills
Google Calendar is part of the Google suite of apps, which you can access by simply creating a Google account. It’s a free calendar app you can use for to-do lists, task scheduling, meeting scheduling, and daily agenda. Of course, it integrates smoothly with the rest of Google’s apps, such as Google Meet and Gmail. Google Calendar allows you to use multiple calendars to help you prioritize your tasks and share different agendas with different people. Navigating the app is intuitive; its simple interface resembles the printed calendar we’ve all used at some point.
Read on: Find our selection of the Best calendar apps.
Â
Key Features: Time tracking (manual and automated), timer, kiosk, reports, dashboard, calendar, invoicing, time off management
Pricing: Free
Available for: Desktop, Browser, iOS, Android
Pros: Simple and efficient time tracking tools
Cons: Many features are designed for small businesses and teams
One of the best software for time tracking, Clockify is free, intuitive, and rich in useful tools. The app features a timer, a calendar, a kiosk, automatic time tracking, reports, scheduling tools, and even tools for managing time off. It works smoothly both for tracking personal tasks and work-related tasks. The dashboard is complex and provides all the necessary information in one place. Clockify helps you understand how you spend your time and improve your habits or work routine accordingly.
Key Features: Time tracking (manual and automated), 100+ integrations, custom reports
Pricing: Free for up to 5 users, from $9/user/month for over 5 users
Available for: Desktop, Browser, Android, iOS
Pros: Fast and efficient automated time tracking
Cons: It’s designed for a busy work environment, not for individuals
Toggl Track aims to increase productivity at work and help your team be more efficient and organized. Its main feature is automated time tracking, which automatically records all the work an employee does in a day. As a result, the company can bill clients accurately. Project management is streamlined thanks to the app’s more than 100 integrations with other management tools, such as Asana, Google Calendar, Jira, QuickBooks, and more. Toggl Track also features invoicing, complex analytics, and reports.
Related: Our overview of the best time-tracking apps (and yes, Toggl and Clockify are in).
Â
Key Features: daily planner, task scheduling, calendars, integrations
Pricing: From $16/month
Available for: Desktop, Android, iOS
Pros: It’s an intuitive way to block time for what’s important to you
Cons: It doesn’t have a free version
If you want to improve your work-life balance and become more productive and present in both areas of your life, try Sunsama. It’s a simple daily planner app that helps you focus and stay on track, saving you from procrastination and delays. Sunsama encourages you to build a step-by-step routine and stick to it throughout the day. You can add information from other management tools, such as Gmail, Asana, and Trello, set up goals, schedule tasks in your calendar, review your week, and look for patterns using complex analytics.
Hot: Learn more tips about time-blocking.
Key Features: Distraction blocker
Pricing: Free
Available for: Browser
Pros: Free browser extension
Cons: You can go around it by using a different browser
StayFocused is a distraction blocker app that restricts the amount of time you spend on websites. It shows you a timer to know how much time you can spend on social media websites, for instance, and even blocks certain websites altogether. As a result, you will stay focused on your work and avoid distractions. You can use the app for working days or, on the contrary, to ensure you stay away from the internet on weekends and holidays. Less screen time is always a good idea.
Key Features: focus timer, challenges
Pricing: Free for Android, $3.99 for iOS
Available for: Android, iOS
Pros: Environmentally friendly focus app
Cons: The app’s success is based on your good behavior
If you want to improve your focus while saving the planet, try Forest. It’s an app that motivates you to stay away from distractions by promising to plant trees on your behalf (and doing it). The app features a timer. You can set how long you want to remain focused, and then watch a tree grow while you work on your task. If you leave halfway, the tree will die. People behind Forest partner with a real-tree-planting organization, Trees for the Future, and plant trees based on how much time you stay focused.
Related: Chrome productivity extensions.
Â
Key Features: Intelligent canvas for collaborative work, communication tools, templates
Pricing: From $8/member/month with a free limited version
Available for: Desktop, Android, iOS
Pros: AI-based templates and widgets for a smooth and fast workflow
Cons: Designed for large teams and enterprises
Miro is a virtual workspace that uses AI to provide a collaboration platform like no other. You and your team can use Miro to collaboratively work on documents, diagrams, slides, tables, and many other types of content. You can iterate as many times as you need, use AI-based templates for speedy workflows, benefit from lots of intelligent widgets, and smoothly communicate with everyone involved. Miro provides solutions for the tasks that take a lot of time, such as brainstorming, meetings, Agile practices, planning, diagramming, and conceptualization.
Key Features: chat platform, voice and video messaging, file sharing
Pricing: Free
Available for: Desktop, Browser, Android, iOS
Pros: Unlimited free version, easy file sharing, customized chats, and messages
Cons: Limited number of participants in meetings, few integrations
Pumble is a free communication app that allows you to chat one-to-one or in groups, send files, have private or public conversations, launch calls with one click, branch conversations into threads, send voice and video messages, and much more. With Pumble, remote work will feel like working in an office. The app makes navigating through past messages and conversations easy and keeps everything well-organized and at hand.
Key Features: AI-based conversational agent
Pricing: Free limited version and Premium versions from $23/month
Available for: Desktop, Browser
Pros: Easy to use and knowledgeable
Cons: You have to double-check some responses
We’ve all heard much about ChatGPT, but not so much about its benefits as a productivity tool. ChatGPT is an AI conversational agent that has evolved into a versatile, know-it-all app. It can answer your questions, draft emails and notes, write software code, provide ideas and inspiration, and develop solutions. ChatGPT may be the starting point for your research or the go-to app for DIY tasks.
Key Features: AI-based meeting note-taking, transcriptions, summaries, and AI-based conversational chat
Pricing: From $8.33/user/month with a free version
Available for: Browser, Android, iOS
Pros: Fast data acquisition, customized agent for different jobs
Cons: Transcriptions may have errors and need to be double-checked; the free version is very restrictive
Otter.ai is the ultimate AI assistant. It will take notes during meetings, create summaries and overviews, produce live transcriptions, capture and assign action items, and pull out important information based on keywords. It can also answer questions like an AI conversational agent and integrates with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams for improved collaborative work.
Choosing the right productivity apps may enhance your work and personal life and even create a better balance between the two. Consider your workflow and what each tool is best at. Don’t be afraid to use more than one productivity app if you find that one can’t check all your boxes. From notetaking and project management to time tracking and AI-based assistance, tailor your digital toolkit to suit your needs.