tingdo and FacileThings, compared
Two task managers, both built on GTD, both organized around the question that matters: "what's next?", not "what's due?". They take very different routes to get there. Here's an honest look, so you can pick the one that fits how you work.
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First, credit where it's due
FacileThings is probably the most thorough GTD implementation you can buy. The whole methodology is built in: capture, a guided processing workflow, context-based lists, a real weekly review, a mind sweep, natural planning, and the higher horizons, where you connect daily tasks to goals, areas of focus, and a sense of purpose. It's also a teacher. Contextual help, a tutorial, and a guided setup walk you through GTD until the habits stick. It connects to Google and Outlook calendars, Evernote, Drive, Dropbox and more, lets you delegate tasks and share agendas, and tracks your activity with statistics. If you want the complete framework with a coach built in, FacileThings gives you a lot.
tingdo goes the other way on purpose. It's a calm, opinionated app with one view of what you can do next. Fewer settings, fewer decisions, less to learn. The constraints are the product.
The short version: FacileThings teaches you the entire method and hands you every part of it. tingdo takes the part you use every day and leaves the rest out. Both are honest approaches. They just suit different people.
The core difference
FacileThings is built around the full GTD ladder and a calendar. Its agenda blends a date-based view with your lists, due dates come with reminders, and it asks you to link today's tasks up to goals, areas of focus, and purpose. That structure is powerful if you want to run the whole methodology and see how a small task ladders up to the bigger picture.
tingdo keeps dates at the edges and skips the higher-horizons machinery. Your home screen is your next actions, grouped by context (#home, #computer, #errands), not a timeline. A scheduled date is something you choose for the rare task that truly needs one, not the default. Nothing turns red because a date passed. Items you scheduled for an earlier day appear quietly under "Earlier", with no guilt attached.
So the real fork is this: do you want the complete methodology, taught and tracked, with a calendar at the center, or a calm next-actions view that organizes around where you are and what you can act on right now?
Side by side
| Feature | tingdo | FacileThings |
|---|---|---|
| Organizing principle | Next actions, grouped by context | The full GTD workflow, with higher horizons, guided step by step |
| Dates | Optional, kept at the edges. No "late" list, no red badges | First-class: calendar, agenda view, due dates, reminders |
| Higher horizons (goals, areas, purpose) | Not in v1, by design | Yes, align daily tasks with goals, areas of focus, and purpose |
| Built-in GTD coaching | Light onboarding, then out of the way | Contextual help, tutorial, and a guided setup |
| Weekly review | Guided, one item at a time | Weekly review, plus a mind sweep |
| Project planning | A project with a clear next action | AI-assisted natural planning |
| Capture | The next bar: one field to search, create, and navigate | Capture from anywhere, web and mobile |
| Delegation and sharing | No, single-user focus today | Yes, delegate tasks and share agendas |
| Statistics | No, by design | Activity tracking and progress statistics |
| Calendar | Calendar feed (ICS) today, two-way sync planned | Google and Outlook calendars in one view |
| Integrations | ICS feed today, more planned | Email, Google and Outlook Calendar, Evernote, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box |
| Notes and tasks | Same entity, notes and tasks live together | Reference notes plus 5GB file storage |
| AI | Assistant in development, hosted, included in paid plans | AI-assisted natural planning |
| Platforms today | Web and installable PWA on any device, native apps in development | Web, plus iOS and Android apps |
| Works offline | Yes | Browser-based, needs a connection |
| Data | Hosted, GDPR, operated from Germany | Hosted, daily backups |
| Free option | Free to start, paid plans at 49€ and 69€ a year | 30-day free trial, then paid only, from $7 to $12 a month |
A few of those tingdo "no" rows are deliberate. No higher horizons, no statistics, no delegation, no calendar at the center. tingdo stays light because completeness is where most GTD tools quietly fall apart.
What tingdo does differently
Dates stay at the edges
There's no agenda driving your day and no count of things you're behind on. You open tingdo and you see what you can do next, filtered by where you are. The feeling tingdo is after isn't "I'm behind", it's "I know where I stand."
Less to learn, less to maintain
FacileThings rewards setup. You wire up calendars and integrations, define your goals and areas of focus, and let the app teach you the method. That's real value if you want it. tingdo asks for none of it. You sign in and start. One opinionated way of working, no horizons to define, nothing to wire together.
One bar for everything
The next bar is a single input that searches, captures, and navigates. Type to find anything, add + to create a task, # to jump to a context, / to open a project. Capture takes about two seconds: a title is all you need, and you can fill in the rest later, or not at all.
Notes and tasks in one place
A reference note and a next action can sit in the same project, and search reaches both. You don't keep a second app for the things you want to remember.
Where FacileThings is the better pick
Honesty is part of the point here, so this section is real.
Choose FacileThings if you want to actually learn GTD and have the app coach you through it. Choose it if you run the full methodology, higher horizons included, and want today's tasks connected to your goals, areas of focus, and purpose. Choose it if a calendar and a daily agenda are central to how you work, if you delegate tasks and share agendas with collaborators, or if you want statistics on your activity and deep integrations with Evernote, Drive, Dropbox, and your Google or Outlook calendar.
FacileThings is built to be complete and to teach. If that's what you're looking for, it's a strong, well-made tool, and you'd be in good hands.
Where tingdo fits
tingdo is for you if the completeness is the thing that keeps tripping you up. If every GTD tool you've tried asked you to set up horizons, connect calendars, and learn a workflow before you felt any calmer, tingdo is the lighter answer.
It takes the part of GTD you use every day, next actions and contexts and a quiet weekly review, and leaves the scaffolding out. It keeps dates at the edges. It shows you what's next and gets out of the way. You give up some breadth and some guidance in exchange for a system you can trust to stay quiet.
tingdo. Know what's next.
Try tingdo freeNo sign-up, no credit card.
Common questions
Is tingdo a full GTD app like FacileThings?
Not in the same way. FacileThings implements the entire methodology, higher horizons included, and coaches you through it. tingdo takes the part you use every day, next actions, contexts, and a quiet weekly review, and leaves the higher-horizons machinery out. If you want the complete framework taught and tracked, FacileThings is the better fit.
Does tingdo have a calendar and due dates?
Dates live at the edges. You can schedule the rare task that truly needs one, but there's no agenda at the center and nothing turns red when a date passes. FacileThings puts a calendar and a daily agenda front and center, which is the right call if deadlines shape your days.
Does tingdo do delegation and statistics?
No, by design. tingdo is single-user focused today and keeps no activity statistics. FacileThings lets you delegate tasks, share agendas, and track your progress with stats. If those matter to you, it's the stronger pick.
Can I move my data from FacileThings to tingdo?
Direct import is on the way, and CSV import from common task apps is planned. For now you can recreate your projects and contexts quickly through the next bar. A title is all you need to capture something.
What does tingdo cost?
There's a free tier to start, with paid plans at 49€ and 69€ a year. FacileThings offers a 30-day free trial, then runs from about $7 to $12 a month.
The short answer
If you want to learn GTD in full, with a coach, a calendar, higher horizons, and every part of the method in one place, FacileThings is excellent, and built to teach.
If you want a calm app that organizes around what's next instead of what's due, leaves the scaffolding out, and stays quiet, that's tingdo.
No sign-up, no credit card.