Most of them are just bad, or they charge outrageous subscription fees for basic functionality.
I tried Trello, Workflowy, Todoist, Remember The Milk, Ticktick, Everdo, and more before I got into Orgmode and gave it a chance. It does everything I want except push notifications, and Orgzly (Android Orgmode based app) does that.
Is it hard to learn? Yes. It's worth it though, once you get it configured to your liking. At least it is for me. You don't have to learn much emacs to use it, just a few basics.
Todoist started out great and had promise but blocked a bunch of features behind premium.
I finally settled on orgmode as well. For work and personal.
I found the best way for me was to just have a giant .org file with everything in it.
At the top level I have * 2021 and * 2022 and then keep monthly subdivisions.
Other things get their own top level node like reading lists etc.
The great thing about orgmode is it can be the dumping ground for everything. If you make something a TODO then it shows up in the agenda view and you can see everything that is going on (across all the subdivisions and even in multiple different files).
But it can also be the place where you keep your longer form writing, your evergreen notes etc.
I have a * how to do stuff in emacs top level node for example.
This is a good thing. We should pay (with money) for the things that are valuable to us. If the features are good but you’re frustrated you have to pay for them, then I guess the features weren’t that good.
I love todoist. I pay like $30 a year and get a great app with actual people doing support.
Windows and multiple mobile platforms have Microsoft To Do, also free.
Google offers Tasks, free, cross-platform.
An easy Google search will find many free to-do list apps.
Where are the "great apps?" I suppose that depends on your definition of "great." The apps I listed and many others easily available do the job of maintaining lists. A spreadsheet can do that as well.
What makes a to-do list app "just bad?" You should list your requirements, what you've tried, and why those don't work for you rather than just dismissing every app in what looks like a pretty full stable.
Trust me: maybe nothing short of actually using at least a dozen of them for some time will help you find the one that works for you.
And I'm not talking about mindlessly jumping from one to the next.
what is "just bad" anyway ?
I think this is just “one of those things.” Stop screwing around with task managers, get your work done.
I wanted something more than just a list, so I built https://todo3d.app
Hasn't cured me of procrastination though.
But it depends, who likes what.
I'm maintainer of WeKan.
Apparently slack used it for their internal project tracking while they were getting started.
Pressing
[] - TODO #1
[] - TODO #2
Radar
[] - TODO #3
[] - TODO #4