The Best To-Do List Apps of 2026: Our Top Picks for Staying Organized (and Secure)

Introduction

Choosing a to-do list app used to be about little more than interface and feature count. In 2026, that’s no longer enough. Recent data breaches and growing awareness of how apps monetize personal information have pushed privacy and security near the top of the checklist for many users. Wirecutter, the product review site owned by The New York Times, updates its recommendations annually after rigorous testing. This year’s picks for the best to-do list apps include three familiar names, but their approach to protecting your data differs significantly. Here’s what you need to know to pick the one that fits your workflow and your privacy standards.

What happened

Wirecutter published its updated guide to to-do list apps in December 2025 (the guide remains current for early 2026). The site’s experts tested dozens of apps on criteria such as reliability, cross-platform compatibility, and ease of use. The three winners, as in recent years, are Todoist, Things 3, and Microsoft To Do. Each earned top marks for core task management, but the security and privacy landscape around these apps has shifted since earlier reviews.

  • Todoist continues to lead in cross-platform support and features. It encrypts data in transit using TLS and at rest with AES-256, but it does not offer end-to-end encryption. The company states in its privacy policy that it does not sell personal data, but it does collect usage analytics and metadata for product improvement.
  • Things 3 (Apple-only) is praised for its clean design and focused workflow. It syncs via iCloud and inherits Apple’s strong encryption standards for data in transit and at rest. Because sync is handled through the user’s own iCloud account, the app developer (Cultured Code) does not have direct access to task content—a notable privacy advantage. The trade-off: it works only on Apple devices.
  • Microsoft To Do is deeply integrated with Office 365 and the Microsoft ecosystem. It uses the same enterprise-grade security as other Microsoft services, including encryption at rest and in transit. However, as a cloud-first service, Microsoft processes task data on its servers, and the company’s privacy policy permits data use for service improvement and—with consent—personalized ads (though this can be controlled in account settings).

Why it matters

Productivity apps handle sensitive information: project deadlines, personal reminders, even passwords or private notes buried in task descriptions. A breach or misuse of that data can have real consequences. In the past year alone, several third-party cloud services have suffered breaches that exposed user-generated content. Choosing an app that minimizes data exposure and encrypts sensibly reduces your risk.

Moreover, many free to-do apps rely on data monetization to fund development. The apps on Wirecutter’s list are paid or supported by subscription fees—Todoist charges $5/month for premium, Things is a one-time purchase, and Microsoft To Do is free with an ad-free experience for personal accounts—so the incentive to sell data is lower than in ad-supported alternatives. Still, the level of privacy differs: Things offers the strongest guarantee by relying on Apple’s infrastructure and not holding your data on its own servers. Todoist and Microsoft To Do are more feature-rich but require you to trust their companies’ data handling.

What readers can do

Evaluate your own needs against these three picks:

  • If you value maximum privacy and work exclusively on Apple devices, Things 3 is the safest bet. Its local-first sync through iCloud means the app developer sees almost nothing.
  • If you need cross-platform access (Windows, Android, web) and can accept a service that collects metadata but promises not to sell it, Todoist provides a solid balance of features and security.
  • If you are already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem and don’t mind Microsoft processing your data for service improvement (you can opt out of personalization), Microsoft To Do is a capable, zero-cost option that benefits from regular security audits.

Before committing, check each app’s privacy policy for recent updates—especially around data sharing with third parties. And consider enabling two-factor authentication on the account you use to sign in, whether that’s Google, Apple, or Microsoft.

Sources

  • Wirecutter, “The 3 Best To-Do List Apps of 2026,” The New York Times, December 2025.
  • Todoist Privacy Policy (todoist.com/privacy), accessed April 2026.
  • Cultured Code Privacy Policy (culturedcode.com/privacy), accessed April 2026.
  • Microsoft Privacy Statement (privacy.microsoft.com), accessed April 2026.