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The best to-do list apps for students

Paula Beaton
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As the end of summer vacation looms and back-to-school time is right around the corner, there’s no time like the present to start getting organized. Whether you’re returning to high school or college for another semester or just starting your studies, organizing your life starts with to-do lists. Forget pen and paper, though — there are some great to-do list apps that can make your life easier, helping you to plan your day, schedule study sessions, and even remember important tasks in your personal life.

To save you time trying out each app, we’ve picked some of the best to-do list apps for students currently available on Android and iOS. So reduce your stress, boost your productivity, and divein to our selection to find the app that’s right for you.

While you’re here, why not check out the best productivity apps to boost your productivity and manage your time?

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Todoist (free/premium)

Todoist is one of the best to-do list apps for students, and there’s a reason it’s so popular. The intuitive UI makes it easy to navigate through the app, and you can quickly set deadline due dates and reminders for upcoming assignments or tests. When you’ve completed a task, just tick the box to the side of the task. Color-coded boards make kanban-style organization a breeze, grouping your to-dos into categories so you can have multiple to-do lists for home, school, and whatever else you need. But one of the best things about Todoist is how easy it is to collaborate with others. Working on a project with a friend? Just assign them tasks from the to-do list, and you’ll be able to see when they’re completed. Todoist also lets you track your productivity trends, so you can see when you’re most motivated and when you might need a little boost.

The app also integrates with all your favorite tools, from Gmail to Slack, Amazon Alexa, and more. Basic use of the app — creating new tasks, setting deadlines, and assigning priorities — is free, but to access all Todoist’s features, you’ll need to sign up for Premium, which costs $4 per month or $36 per year.

Habitica

Habitica to-do list app.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Whether you’re the type of student who just isn’t motivated by a to-do list or you simply prefer a more fun approach to ticking things off that list, Habitica is the app for you. This app gamifies your tasks to make collaborating with friends and ticking off your to-do list actually fun. In the app, you’re represented by a character that looks like it’s straight out of an RPG, and if you’re a gamer, what follows will seem familiar. Tick off tasks on your list, and your character will gain experience as well as gold to spend — and even collect cute pets as you progress. But fail to complete a task before the deadline, and your character sustains damage.

It takes a while to set up your task list and get going with Habitica, but with different sections for Habits, Daily Goals, and your To-Do list, you’ll be organized before you know it. One of the app’s best features is teaming up with friends to fight monsters and keep each other accountable for tasks, and you can enjoy the app for free. There’s also a premium subscription, which starts at $5 per month.

Memorigi

If you like your apps colorfully coordinated, try Memorigi. This Android-only app is a to-do list, task manager, and planner all-in-one, making it easy to keep track of your studies and other commitments. Create your to-do list, then add reminders for classes, projects, or study sessions; create goal lists for the week, month, or semester; or even create lists of books to read. The My Day feature prioritizes the tasks you need to do today, so you’ll never feel overwhelmed seeing a huge list of things you need to do, while the Upcoming view makes it easy to plan the week or month ahead. Memorigi lets you create tasks and to-do lists across various categories, each with fun, colorful icons, and you can attach pictures and files to your lists and tasks, too. Memorigi also offers cloud sync, so you can access your lists, projects, and tasks across any of your devices.

Memorigi is free to use, but you can upgrade to Premium to integrate your tasks with Google Calendar and access the Nag me feature, great if you’re prone to procrastination. Premium members can also track their progress with productivity statistics.

2Do

What app helps you stay organized and works across Android, iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, and WatchOS? 2Do! This app may have a simplistic design, but don’t be fooled. Quickly and easily create tasks, checklists, and projects, set reminders and alerts, and add notes and attachments. It’s easy to work on projects with others, thanks to simple sharing, and the tag and search features make finding tasks a breeze. You can set up password protection to keep your lists and tasks safe and even integrate with your email to add tasks on the go (for an additional $4). 2Do is one of the most popular to-do list apps, and you can use it offline, too.

It’s free to use 2Do, but a Premium subscription is available for $20 per year, which unlocks features like Cloud and Dropbox sync, multiple reminders, and the location feature. You can also sign up for a 14-day trial of Premium before committing to a membership. The aforementioned location feature is pretty nifty — just add a location to your task, and the app will alert you when you’re in the vicinity. That’s great for reminding you to check out that book from the college library or pick up milk on your way home past the store.

 

Remember the Milk

For most students, “busy” doesn’t even begin to define how hectic life can get, which is why you need Remember the Milk. This quirkily-named app makes it so simple to create to-do lists and share them with others, great for collaborating on projects or working through tasks lists as a team. Once you’ve set up tasks and reminders, the app pings you via notifications, IM, Twitter, text, or email — or all of these, if needed — to keep you on track. Remember the Milk syncs across all your devices and integrates with a whole host of tools like Twitter, Gmail, and Google Calendar, too — and it makes it easy to set due dates, priorities, and repeat tasks. Easily organize your to-do list and tasks with tags, and find tasks with the handy search function.

The app is totally free, but upgrading to a Pro subscription for $40 per year gives you access to advanced features like unlimited storage and sharing, an Apple Watch app, colored tags, file attachments, and more.

Kids ToDo List

The last app on our list is aimed at younger students going back to school — or starting school this semester. Kids ToDo List is a fun picture-card scheduler that lets kids quickly put together a to-do list based on their morning routine: Wash face, brush teeth, eat breakfast, get the bus to school, and so on. All picture cards let you record a voice saying what the task is, and you can even create your own picture cards and sounds. When you’ve finished a task, just tap the stars, and you’ll be awarded fish to collect. This app is a fun way for young children to learn about routines and organizing their day — and it starts off healthy to-do list habits for the future.

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Paula Beaton
Paula Beaton
Freelance tech and travel writer living in (somewhat) sunny Scotland. Gamer, tea addict, never without a good book.
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