A task manager is software which enables users to compile a list of tasks to be completed. This list is also known as a to-do list or things-to-do. For the purposes of this article, the term ‘task manager’ should not be confused with monitoring software which provides information about programs and processes running on a computer.
The list of activities that may form a to-do list include chores, grocery lists, reminders for important events (such as purchasing wedding presents or birthday gifts), self management, software development, project / business management, and so on. Task managers help to organise your day, ensuring that you know in an instant what you need to do.
Linux has a large range of open source task managers, in part because many of them have a limited feature set and hence are relatively quick to code. This feature selects our personal favorites, including both console based applications and software sporting an attractive graphical user interface.
To be productive, you may need more than a task manager. Our features on Productivity Tools and Personal Information Managers help to organize your day in other ways.
To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 21 proficient task managers. Hopefully, there will be something of interest here for anyone who wants to avoid that sinking feeling of remembering (albeit too late) something important that needs to be actioned. And this Group Test would not be complete without our legendary rating chart.
Here’s our verdict captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion.
Click the links in the table below to learn more about each task manager.
| Task Managers | |
|---|---|
| Taskwarrior | Manages your TODO list from the command line |
| Makagiga | To-do manager, RSS reader, notepad, widgets, image viewer |
| TreeSheets | Free form data organizer |
| Planner | Keep track of all your tasks, projects, and goals |
| Org Mode | Emacs major mode for keeping notes, maintaining to-do lists, and more |
| Todoman | Simple, cli, standards-based task manager |
| Task Coach | A friendly and extremely useful todo manager with composite tasks support |
| Zanshin | KDE software to manage your day to day actions |
| Taskell | Command-line Kanban board/task manager |
| sleek | todo manager based on the todo.txt syntax |
| GTG | Personal tasks and TODO list items organizer |
| dstask | Similar to Taskwarrior but uses git to synchronise instead of a special protocol |
| Dooit | Billed as a to-do manager that you didn’t ask for, but needed |
| Todoist | TODO list web application |
| OpenTodoList | Simple todo and task management |
| Yokadi | SQLite powered TODO list tool |
| Endeavour | Personal task manager for GNOME |
| FromScratch | Auto-saving scratchpad built with Electron |
| Aion-Task | Cyclic TODO task manager |
| todo | Lightweight and fast CLI-based todo program |
| Done | To-do lists reimagined |
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