Keep Reminders for pings. Add Plainlist to plan the day.

Reminders is great
at reminding.
Add the planning.

Apple Reminders is free, built in, and syncs everywhere — the best place there is for a grocery list or a 3pm alert. Plainlist isn't a replacement for that. It's the surface you switch to when you want to shape a whole working day from a plain-text file you own, on your Mac, with no cloud account. Many people run both.

Get the Mac app How they fit together

Free trial · no account · pay once · macOS 12+

Mac-only today, with Windows, iOS, and Android coming soon. Reminders still wins on iPhone and Watch until then.

plainlist · today.todo

Plan · a day on a timeline, not a flat list EditorPlanFocusDone

Morning:
	- deep work: spec draft @me @est(90m) 09:00
	- reply to landlord @est(10m) 10:45

Afternoon:
	- gym @every(Mon,Wed,Fri) 17:00
	- groceries @due(today)

# All local. No iCloud account required.

Setting the record straight

This isn't a takedown of Reminders.

Reminders has grown into a strong Apple checklist and reminder system — subtasks, tags, smart lists, sections, shared lists, attachments, and location and time alerts, all free and synced instantly across your devices. If someone tells you it's “too basic,” they haven't used it lately. It genuinely covers a lot.

What it still doesn't give you is three specific things: a plain-text file you own, a time-block-style Plan view for shaping the hours of a day, and a one-task Focus mode that hides everything but the next action. Reminders can schedule and organize tasks, but it's still built around reminders and lists — not shaping one working day from a plain-text plan you control. This page is for the Mac user who wants exactly those three things, and would rather add a focused planning surface than hand more of their life to an account.

How they fit together

Keep one for pings. Use the other to plan.

You don't have to pick a winner. The cleanest setup for a lot of people is to let each tool do what it's best at.

Keep Apple Reminders for

Quick pings that must reach your phone

Time & location alerts — “remind me when I get home.”
Shared household lists — groceries, packing, errands with family.
Anything you capture on iPhone or Watch and need synced everywhere instantly.

Switch to Plainlist to

Shape and focus a working day on your Mac

Time-block the day with @start and @est on a Plan timeline.
Work one task at a time in Focus, with your goal pinned above it.
Keep it in a file you own — local, no account, yours to back up.

What Plainlist adds

The three things Reminders doesn't do.

Each is a genuine gap, not a knock on what Reminders does well.

Plan the day, not just log it

Reminders shows lists and a Today view; it doesn't lay the day on a timeline. Add @start and @est so the hours have a shape instead of an unordered pile.

Focus on one thing

Instead of the whole list at once, Focus mode surfaces only the next action — the difference between seeing your tasks and actually starting one.

Local, no account

Reminders syncing means iCloud. Plainlist keeps a plain-text file on your Mac — no account, no server — and you decide if and how it ever syncs.

Supporting detail

Plainlist vs Apple Reminders, side by side.

Reminders wins on price, reach, and alerts; Plainlist wins on day-planning depth and local ownership. Both are true at once.

Feature

Apple Reminders

Plainlist

Price

Free. Built into macOS and iOS.

Paid, pay once. One Mac purchase, no subscription.

Platforms & sync

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch; automatic iCloud sync.

Mac only today; sync via your own cloud folder.

Reminders & alerts

Excellent. Time, date, and location notifications.

None. Planning app, not an alert system.

Lists & organizing

Strong. Subtasks, tags, smart lists, sections, sharing.

Projects & @tags in one outline you type freely.

Time-block day planning

No timeline. Lists and a Today view, not timed blocks.

Plan view with @start times and @est estimates.

Focus on one task

No. You see the whole list at once.

Focus mode surfaces only the next action.

Data format & account

iCloud database; sync needs an Apple account.

One plain-text .todo file; no account at all.

Review what you finished

Completed items hide away; no daily log view.

Done view groups finished tasks by day and project.

Moving over

You don't have to move everything.

Reminders keeps tasks in Apple's database, so there's no importer. But the point isn't to migrate it all — it's to bring the working-day items into a plan. If your Reminders setup is mostly a few active lists, migration is small. If it's years of shared and recurring reminders, move only what belongs in your working plan and leave the rest where it already works.

Practical path

Open the list that's really “work,” copy the items.
Paste into a new .todo file as - lines.
Group them under project headings.

Then plan

Add @start times to today's tasks.
Use @every for recurring routines.
Switch to Focus and begin.

reminders list → plainlist outline

# Copied the "work" list, left the rest in Reminders
Errands:
	- pick up prescription @due(today)
	- return library books @start(2026-07-18)

Routines:
	- water the plants @every(3 days)
	- weekly review @start(2026-07-19T18:00) @est(30m)

Honest cons

You should NOT switch if…

Reminders genuinely beats Plainlist on several fronts. If these matter to you, keeping Reminders as your main app is the smart choice.

Stay on Apple Reminders if…

Does Plainlist work on iPhone and Apple Watch?

Not yet, but Windows, iOS, and Android are all coming soon. Reminders is everywhere in the Apple ecosystem and syncs automatically today; Plainlist is Mac-only for now.

Is Plainlist free like Reminders?

No. Reminders is built in at no cost. Plainlist is a paid app — pay once, but still a purchase.

Does Plainlist send location or time-based alerts?

No. Location and time alerts are Reminders' core strength. Plainlist doesn't send push notifications or ring alarms.

Can I share lists with family on Plainlist?

No. Reminders does shared lists and assignments well. Plainlist is single-user and single-file.

Can I import my Reminders lists automatically?

No. Migration is manual copy-and-tidy, and the day-to-day is editing a plain-text outline, not tapping checkboxes.

Reminders is greatat reminding.Add the planning.