Search the Play Store for “to-do list” and you’ll get thousands of results, most of which are free in the way a car is free before you learn it has no engine. The list loads, you add three tasks, and then a paywall appears the moment you try to set a reminder.
So we did the tedious part. Below are six genuinely free to-do list apps for Android in 2026 — what each one actually gives you without paying, where the ceiling sits, and who each one is right for. No app wins for everyone, so we’ve been specific about the trade-offs instead of crowning a single champion and moving on.
What “Free” Should Actually Mean
Before the list, it’s worth agreeing on the standard. A free to-do list app is worth installing if it clears four bars:
You can capture a task in under five seconds. If adding a task requires picking a project, a label, and a date before it will save, you’ll abandon the app within a week. Friction at capture is the single most common reason task apps die on people’s phones.
Reminders and due dates aren’t paywalled. These are the core of a to-do list, not premium extras. Any app that charges for a due date isn’t a free app.
It syncs. Your phone is not the only screen you use. A task list trapped on one device is a notepad.
The free tier is usable, not a demo. There’s a real difference between a free plan with sensible limits and a 7-day trial wearing a disguise.
With that framework, here’s how the field looks in 2026.
1. TASKn — Best Free App for People Who Want the App to Do the Thinking
TASKn is built around one idea: your task list should tell you what to do next, not just store everything you wrote down.
Its smart priority algorithm continuously reorders your list based on deadlines, urgency and context, so the top of your screen is always the thing that actually matters right now. Most free apps hand you a flat list and leave the triage to you at 8am on a Monday. TASKn does that work in the background.
The free tier covers 50 tasks and 5 projects, with nested tasks and nested projects included — so you can break “Launch the website” into real sub-steps rather than flattening a project into one vague line item. Sync between iPhone and Android is included at no cost, which matters if you carry an Android phone but use an iPad, or share a household list with someone on iOS.
If you outgrow the free limits, TASKn Pro is $2.99/month or $24.99/year and unlocks unlimited tasks and projects plus the AI task creator, which turns a plain-language description of a project into a structured, nested task list automatically.
Best for: anyone whose real problem isn’t writing tasks down — it’s deciding which one to do first.
Limitation to know: the free tier’s 50-task cap means TASKn is designed for an active working list, not an archive of every idea you’ve ever had.
2. Google Tasks — Best Free App If You Live in Gmail
Google Tasks is free with any Google account, full stop. There is no premium tier, which is refreshing.
Its real strength is location: it lives inside Gmail and Google Calendar, so you can turn an email into a task without leaving your inbox, and tasks with dates appear on your calendar automatically. For anyone whose day already runs through Google Workspace, that integration is hard to beat.
The trade-off is depth. Google Tasks offers subtasks and due dates, but no priority levels, no tags, and no meaningful way to sort a long list. Once you pass roughly fifty items, it becomes a wall of text.
Best for: Gmail-centric users who want capture and calendar sync, and nothing more.
3. Microsoft To Do — Best Free App for Outlook Users
Microsoft To Do is also fully free with a Microsoft account, and it’s noticeably more polished than Google Tasks. You get lists, steps within tasks, due dates, reminders, recurring tasks and file attachments without paying anything.
Its “My Day” feature is the standout: each morning it presents a clean slate and suggests tasks to pull in from your lists. It’s a nudge toward daily planning that most free apps don’t attempt.
The catch is that My Day requires you to do the selecting. The app suggests; it doesn’t prioritize. If you’re indecisive at 8am, you’ll spend that indecision inside the app.
Best for: Outlook and Microsoft 365 users who want a solid, genuinely free daily planner.
4. Todoist — Best Free Tier for Natural-Language Capture
Todoist’s free plan gives you 5 personal projects and its excellent natural-language input: type “call the dentist Tuesday at 3” and it parses the date and time correctly. That parser remains one of the best in the category.
The free plan covers list and board views and is perfectly usable for personal task management. Reminders and more advanced features sit behind Todoist Pro, which runs about $5/month billed annually ($60/year) following a price increase in late 2025 — making it one of the pricier options once you upgrade.
Best for: people who think in sentences and want the app to parse them.
5. TickTick — Best Free Tier If You Want a Habit Tracker Too
TickTick packs an unusual amount into its free plan: tasks, lists, a Pomodoro timer and habit tracking all included. If you want your to-do list and your habit streaks in one app, TickTick is the most complete free option here.
Free-tier limits apply to list counts, task counts per list and calendar views. TickTick Premium is $35.99/year (about $2.99/month billed annually, or $5.99 month-to-month), which unlocks the full calendar, the Eisenhower Matrix view and higher limits.
Best for: habit-builders who want tasks and routines in a single app.
6. Tasks.org — Best Free App for the Privacy-Minded
Tasks.org is free, open-source and Android-native, with CalDAV sync so your data can live on a server you control rather than a company’s. It’s the most private option on this list and has no upsell pressure.
It also looks and feels like an open-source app: functional, configurable, and not especially warm. Setting up CalDAV sync assumes some technical comfort.
Best for: users who want ownership of their data and don’t mind configuring it.
So Which Free To-Do List App Should You Install?
Match the app to the actual problem:
- You have too much to do and don’t know where to start → TASKn. The smart priority algorithm is the only feature on this list that answers that question for you.
- Your day runs through Gmail → Google Tasks.
- Your day runs through Outlook → Microsoft To Do.
- You want to type tasks in plain English → Todoist.
- You want habits and tasks together → TickTick.
- You want to own your data → Tasks.org.
The honest truth about free to-do list apps is that most of them are storage. They hold your tasks faithfully and then hand the hard part — deciding — straight back to you. That decision is where productivity actually breaks down, and it’s the specific problem TASKn was built to solve.
Try TASKn Free
TASKn’s free tier includes 50 tasks, 5 projects, nested tasks and projects, and sync across iPhone and Android — enough to run your week without paying anything. If you outgrow it, Pro is $2.99/month or $24.99/year for unlimited tasks and projects plus the AI task creator.
Download TASKn free on Google Play, or grab it on the App Store if you also carry an iPhone. You can learn more at taskn.app.
Your list already knows what you need to do. TASKn tells you what to do first.
