Excalidraw

VS

Things 3

Business & Productivity Comparison

Excalidraw vs Things 3: Side-by-Side Comparison

Excalidraw
Things 3
Rating
★★★★★★★★★★
4.7/5
★★★★★★★★★★
4.8/5
Free Tier
Yes
No
Trial Days
None
None
Pricing
Completely free. Excalidraw+ at $7/month for additional cloud storage.
Mac app at $49.99, iPhone at $9.99, iPad at $19.99 (one-time purchases, no subscription).
Company
Excalidraw
Cultured Code
Founded
2020
2007
Best For
Engineering teams sketching architecture diagrams and technical ideas in informal hand-drawn style
Apple-only power users wanting a beautifully designed personal task manager without subscriptions

Pros & Cons

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Excalidraw

Open-source with completely free self-hosted option for privacy-conscious teams
Hand-drawn visual style reduces pressure and encourages rough ideation thinking
No account required to start drawing and collaborating with shared link
End-to-end encryption on collaboration links protects confidential diagrams
Limited shape library compared to professional diagramming tools
No data linking or advanced automation capabilities

Things 3

Award-winning design with the most polished UI in task management apps
Apple Watch, Siri, and iOS Shortcuts deep integration for hands-free capture
Areas organize projects by life domain for balanced personal and work planning
One-time purchase with no subscription required, unlike most competitors
Apple ecosystem only with no Android or web app available
No collaboration features making it unsuitable for team project management

Use Case Analysis

Which is better for Team Collaboration?

Both Excalidraw and Things 3 support Team Collaboration workflows. Things 3 has a slight edge with a 4.8 rating and Only premium task manager requiring a one-time purchase with Apple ecosystem-native integration. If Team Collaboration is your primary use case, Things 3 is the safer pick.

Which is better for Project Management?

Both Excalidraw and Things 3 support Project Management workflows. Things 3 has a slight edge with a 4.8 rating and Only premium task manager requiring a one-time purchase with Apple ecosystem-native integration. If Project Management is your primary use case, Things 3 is the safer pick.

Which is better for Note Taking?

Both Excalidraw and Things 3 support Note Taking workflows. Things 3 has a slight edge with a 4.8 rating and Only premium task manager requiring a one-time purchase with Apple ecosystem-native integration. If Note Taking is your primary use case, Things 3 is the safer pick.

Verdict

Things 3 edges out Excalidraw with a 4.8 vs 4.7 rating. Things 3's main advantage: Only premium task manager requiring a one-time purchase with Apple ecosystem-native integration. That said, Excalidraw may still be the better choice if Engineering teams sketching architecture diagrams and technical ideas in informal hand-drawn style.

Try Them Yourself

The best way to choose is to trial both. See full details on each:

Use Excalidraw Free Get Things 3

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