Google Tasks vs. Microsoft To Do Summary
Who is Google Tasks for?
Google Tasks is a task management app that is simultaneously extremely easy to use, but also very simple and limited in what features it offers. It does however have an excellent integration with Google Calendar.
This ease of use and limited features makes Google Tasks perfect for users who just need an app where they can write down a task, set a reminder and have it synchronized with Google Calendar.
In exchange for this simplicity, users sacrifice various features such as customization, collaboration, complex calendar views, organization and filters etc.
Who is Microsoft To Do for?
Microsoft To Do is a completely free task management apps with a decent number of features, but with the mention that Microsoft To Do wants to be used in a certain way. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending if your needs fit what Microsoft To Do can offer.
Microsoft To Do is also integrated with the Microsoft software ecosystem, but in our experience this integration isn’t as good as how Google Tasks is integrated into Google’s ecosystem.
Unfortunately, the interface isn’t as simple to use as other to-do apps. Because of this fact alone, we think only people and organizations that are deeply integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem should use this app.
Ease of use
Google Tasks ease of use
Google Tasks is probably one of the easiest to use task management currently available.
You open the app and all you see is a simple screen where you see:
- Your lists of tasks.
- Favorite tasks.
- An Add Task button
- Completed tasks.
That’s it.
No tagging features, no collaboration, no calendar view, no filters etc. Google Tasks doesn’t even have a Settings button.
On a psychological level, this makes Google Tasks feel very low stress since opening and using the app doesn’t feel like work.
Microsoft To Do ease of use
The biggest problem with Microsoft To Do is its user interface. Most task apps let you see or create a task from the first screen when opening the app.
Microsoft To Do does things differently, and the first screen you see in the app shows you various subdivisions such as My Day, Important, Planned etc.
These subdivisions cause confusion whenever you open the app, since you spend a second or two each time trying to remember what each section does, or where a task is located.
Another problem with Microsoft To Do is that many common actions require extra clicks, taps or swipes compared to competing apps.
Over time, this creates frustration and makes using the app feel like work rather than as a tool to write stuff down quickly.
For example, creating a task requires two clicks in Microsoft To Do instead of a single one in most other to-do apps.
This is because you first click on a task list, and then click on the add task button.
Organization
Google Tasks organization
Google Tasks lets you organize tasks in 3 ways:
- Lists
- Subtasks.
- Tasks saved to Favorites.
The absence of a tagging feature is very noticeable, since many users rely on that feature to better sort and organize their tasks.
You can however save certain tasks to a Favorite list which can contain tasks from all of your lists.
Google Tasks lets you create subtasks for each task. However, the app does not let you create a chain of subtasks.
For example, in Todoist and TickTick, you can attach a subtask to a subtask, and then another subtask to that subtask.
In Google Tasks, this is not possible and you can only have a main task/sub task organization.
Very importantly however, subtasks in Google Tasks function as normal tasks, meaning you can attach individual descriptions and reminders for every subtask.
Although these features might seem basic, not all task management apps allow such features for subtasks.
Finally, Google Tasks only has basic sorting features where you can sort tasks by date, title, default order or recently saved.
Microsoft To Do organization
Microsoft To Do has the following task organization options for tasks:
- Groups
- Lists
- My Day
Groups contain lists, and lists contains tasks. My Day is a pre-built filter that shows tasks that are due within 24-36 hours.
Microsoft To Do doesn’t have a tagging feature, which can be a valuable feature for some users since it helps them better organize and filter their tasks.
Another big missing feature is subtasks. In Microsoft To Do, you can break down a task into steps, but these steps mostly work as a simple checklist, instead of actual tasks that are subordinate to a main task.
In other to-do apps, subtasks have the same features as regular tasks: reminders, labels, priority signs, descriptions, file attachments etc.
For finding tasks, Microsoft To Do has a built in search where you can quickly navigate to tasks or lists. We like this feature, it’s very handy and surprisingly rare among task management apps.
Each task list also has a sorting feature for organizing tasks based on the following criteria: importance, due date, tasks in My Day section, alphabetically or by task creation date.
A minor criticism here is that Microsoft To Do doesn’t have a unified task list that contains all of your tasks from every group or list.
This would have been nice so you could see all your active tasks in one place, without constantly switching from one task list to another.
Scheduling and reminders
Google Tasks scheduling and reminders
Google Tasks scheduling and reminder features is better than nearly every other to-do app on the market.
Tasks can be scheduled to be either one time only, or to repeat themselves at regular intervals.
Repeating tasks can be scheduled in every possible configuration:
- Repeats every week, but only on Fridays and Saturdays.
- Repeats once every 3 months
- Repeats every month on the last Friday
- Repeats every 3 weeks.
- Etc.
We would have liked it if Google Tasks had the option to attach multiple reminders to a single task (such as 1 hour before start, 30 minutes before start, 10 minutes etc.) but that’s a minor complaint.
Microsoft To Do scheduling and reminders
In Microsoft To Do, tasks can have both a reminder and a due date. The Due Date feature is mostly used to organize tasks based on urgency and when they must be completed.
The reminder feature lets you create single use or repeat tasks.
Reminders for tasks that repeat daily or weekly work great. However, repeating reminders for monthly and yearly tasks is a bit more limited.
Here are some of the configurations you can schedule a task in Microsoft To Do:
- Repeat every week, but only on certain days such as Wednesday or Tuesday.
- Repeat every 5 weeks, but only on certain days.
- Repeat every month, but only on a certain calendar day (the 3rd for example).
Monthly reminders could be better. For example, Google Tasks or Todoist lets you customize a monthly reminder to receive a notification on the first Monday of the month, or the last Tuesday of the month, or a certain day of the month, etc.
Finally, it would have been nice if Microsoft To Do let you attach multiple reminders to a single task, like 3 hours before, 2 hours before, on time of task etc.
Calendar and other integrations
Google Tasks calendar and other integrations
One of the biggest advantages of using Google Tasks is its deep integration with Google Calendar. This integration is automatic, you don’t need to do anything.
Adding a reminder to a task automatically creates a Google Calendar entry, without you having to synchronize Google Tasks and Google Calendar.
Unfortunately, Google Tasks doesn’t provide the option to directly integrate with other calendar apps such as iCal or Outlook Calendar,
Finally, Google Tasks doesn’t directly integrate with other programs such as Notion, Evernote, Slack etc.
Instead, you will have to integrate other apps with Google Calendar, and any information those other apps save into Google Calendar should be viewable into Google Tasks as well.
Microsoft To Do calendar and other integrations
One reason to use Microsoft To Do is its integration with the Microsoft ecosystem, in particular with Outlook and Microsoft Teams.
Problem is that this integration isn’t automatic. Creating a task in Microsoft To Do and adding a due date and reminder to it doesn’t automatically add it to Outlook Calendar.
We’ve investigated this a bit more and it turns out that you must manually copy/paste tasks from the Microsoft To Do app to the Outlook Calendar as if it’s the year 2000.
Integrating with other calendars such as Google Calendar or iCal also isn’t possible directly, but requires complex workarounds.
Overall, we’ve found Microsoft To Do to poorly integrate with calendars, including Microsoft’s own Outlook Calendar.
AI Features and Integrations
Google Tasks AI Features and Integrations
Google Tasks doesn’t have any AI features within the app, meaning there aren’t any buttons or options where you can ask an AI to create tasks or reminders.
Instead, Google Tasks integrates with Gemini or Google Assistant, and you can create or read tasks from those apps.
Based on our usage, Google’s own Gemini app seems to work best with Google Tasks, but it does have limitations. For example, Gemini can’t break down a large task into subtasks.
Other AI tools such as ChatGPT or Claude can also be integrated into Google Tasks/Calendar, but requires you to setup a Zapier account to do so.
Microsoft To Do AI Features and Integrations
Microsoft To Do doesn’t have any AI features built into the app.
However, Microsoft does offer some basic natural language processing features on the Windows and iOS versions of the app, but is only available in English.
This natural language feature recognizes certain words such as “tomorrow”, “Friday” or “11 PM” and automatically transforms them into reminders.
Special or unique features
Google Tasks special or unique features
Google Tasks is very simple compared to many of its competitors, but it still has a few, highly distinct features:
- Integration with Gemini/Google Assistant. It feels very nice to chat with an AI about your tasks, or to ask the AI to create new tasks itself. Unfortunately, you have to use Gemini for this to work properly.
- Excellent integration with Google Calendar. Google Tasks has the best integration with Google Calendar out of any task management app we’ve tested.
- Overall simplicity. Google Tasks has very few features compared to competitors, but this also makes the app very simple to use and understand.
Microsoft To Do special or unique features
Microsoft To Do feels distinct in comparison to its competitors, with a very particular philosophy on how tasks should be done.
Below are the features that make it stand out:
- The “My Day” list. We like this feature, it automatically lets you view tasks that are due today or a bit later than that. It’s simple and clean.
- Integration with the Microsoft ecosystem. We wish the integration with Outlook Calendar would have been better, but overall this is a big advantage of Microsoft To Do.
- Flagged email. If you use Outlook as your main email client, this feature allows you to flag an email and it automatically appears in Microsoft To Do as a task. It’s a great feature that helps organize your tasks and declutters your emails.
Cross-platform compatibility
Google Tasks cross-platform compatibility
Google Tasks can be downloaded on the following platforms:
- Mobile: Android and iOS.
- Other: Android and iOS smartwatches.
Importantly, Google Tasks doesn’t have a downloadable version for Windows or macOS. For those platforms you will have to use the web version instead.
Microsoft To Do cross-platform compatibility
Microsoft To Do can be downloaded on the following platforms:
- Desktop/laptops: Windows and macOS.
- Mobile: Android and iOS.
Microsoft To Do also has web versions for both mobile and desktop.
Collaboration and sharing
Google Tasks collaboration and sharing
Google Tasks has no built-in collaboration features. This means you cannot share a shopping list with your partner, or share a list of work tasks with your colleagues.
Any task saved into Google Tasks is yours and only yours.
The only exception to this is for companies that have paid for and set up a Google Workspace. From within Google Workspace, a person can share or assign tasks to others from within Gmail, Google Chat etc.
Microsoft To Do collaboration and sharing
Microsoft To Do lets you collaborate with others by sharing task lists, but only to other users who have a Microsoft account.
The feature is also quite limited however since you cannot leave comments or assign tasks to different people.
We’ve found the feature to mostly be useful for families, or small projects with 2-3 people.
Microsoft To Do is only worth using for collaboration if your organization or company uses Microsoft for day-to-day operations. Apps such as Planner, Teams, Sharepoint or Outlook work well with Microsoft To Do, and allow users to send, assign or share tasks directly to the users todo app.
Pricing
Google Tasks pricing
Google Tasks is completely free.
Microsoft To Do pricing
Microsoft To Do is completely free.