Everyone wants to improve their productivity and get more done in the day. It’s not about working more, but improving the way we work—managing our tasks more efficiently, improving our focus, and automating repetitive activities. Fortunately, this list of the best free productivity apps is here to help.
Because is there anything worse than discovering an app or a piece of software that looks like it’ll change your life, but then realizing it costs actual money? (In this economy! Outrageous.)
No worries, though. We’ve done the work of digging through the app stores to find the best of the best free productivity apps. Whether you want to avoid distractions, organize and manage your workflows, or better track your time and budgets—you can get started with one of these tools without ever needing to pull out your credit card.
Free apps vs. free plans
In general, you won’t find productivity apps that don’t have some kind of monetization. While there are some apps that are totally free, many paid apps come with free plans. Other paid apps have restricted free plans to encourage users to sign up for paid tiers.
But, there are lots of productivity apps with generous free plans—enough for individual use, and sometimes sufficient for small teams, too. In this article, we’ve prioritized productivity apps that are either completely free to use, or offer generous free plans.
The 25 best free productivity apps
We’ve reviewed 25 free apps to help you jump-start your productivity.
For improving focus
Block out distractions and gamify your work sessions with these free apps.
1. Engross
Free plan or free app? Free app!
Engross is a 100% free productivity app with loads of features to help you focus, organize tasks, and manage your time. The app includes a Pomodoro clock, inspired by the Pomodoro Technique time management methodology, and a customizable stopwatch to track time the way you want.
Engross’s planner and calendar lets you organize your tasks and create to-do lists, and the app allows you to create recurring tasks and events for regular activities. The statistics and analysis features help you track your work time and optimize your productivity, too.
2. Forest
Free plan or free app? Free app (costs $3.99 on iOS).
Forest is another free app (or mostly free—the iOS app costs $3.99, but the Chrome extension and Android app are free) for improving productivity. The app helps you focus by gamifying your experience. First, you take a personality test to help Forest determine your focus needs. The app then lets you plant a virtual tree that grows while you work.
If you get distracted, or abandon the app, the tree dies. So, you stay productive by keeping yourself away from distractions. Forest offers a fun way to improve your focus, but understandably, it’s not for everyone.
3. Brain HQ
Free plan/app?: No free plan. Paid app costs $8 per month (yearly subscription).
BrainHQ is a brain training program designed to improve cognitive functions. It adjusts difficulty based on performance to provide a tailored experience and offers a wide range of exercises targeting attention, speed, memory, people skills, navigation, and intelligence. This tool is developed and tested by a team of neuroscientists.
For managing tasks
Manage and organize your everyday tasks with these free productivity apps.
4. Todoist
Free plan or free app? Free plan.
Todoist is a mature, easy-to-use task management app with a really straightforward, intuitive interface. The app works across all devices, allowing users to organize their daily activities and stay productive wherever they are.
Todoist’s free plan lets users create and manage five projects, collaborate with up to five people, and access a week’s worth of activity logs. If you like, you can always upgrade to the paid plan (starting at $5/month) for better limits.
What users are saying:
5. Habitica
Free plan or free app? Free app!
Habitica is a task management app that lets you gamify your daily activities. You can set up “positive” and “negative” tasks of varying difficulty levels, and Habitica sets up a gamified experience. You then gain—or lose—“health” and “mana” points as you complete positive and negative tasks, respectively.
The app defines recurring activities as “dailies”—although they can be scheduled less often than daily, like every three days or once a week. One-time tasks are called “to-dos”, and you can make your own to-do lists. The app is open source and free to use, although users can subscribe to contribute to its development.
Habitica is a fun, free productivity app if you like gamified experiences. Otherwise, users that aren’t into games might find the app a bit distracting.
What users are saying:
For time tracking
Find out which projects take up most of your time with these great time-tracking apps.
6. Toggl
Free plan or free app? Free plan.
Toggl is a powerful time-tracking tool with a free plan for up to five users. Compared to many other time-tracking tools, Toggl’s interface is simple and very easy to use. The free plan gets you unlimited time tracking, projects, clients, and tags. You can also track desktop activity, set automated time-tracking triggers, and detect idle time (like when you space out for a bit too long).
Toggle integrates with over 100 popular apps, allowing users to track time and activity across them. The free plan supports reports to help you track productivity, and can import CSV files. To access billing features and other advanced capabilities, however, you’ll need to subscribe to a paid plan (starting at $8/user/month).
7. MyHours
Free plan or free app? Free plan.
MyHours has been around for more than two decades, and the software is one of the most mature time-tracking apps in the business. The best part? Its free plan has very generous limits, with unlimited team members and projects.
MyHour’s free plan lets users track time with the app, or manually log their time. It also includes weekly timesheets for tracking, and a daily timer with “start” and “stop” buttons. The free version also lets users create tasks and manage billables, and it comes with basic reporting features, too.
MyHour’s free plan is more than enough for individuals and growing teams, but if you’d like to take advantage of its more advanced features, the paid plans start at $7/user/month (or $6/user/month for annual billing).
What users are saying:
8. Harvest
Free plan/app?: Free trial and app. Plans start at $10.80 per seat per month (billed annually).
Harvest is a time tracking and invoicing tool known for its simplicity and effectiveness in managing work hours and project billing. It offers easy-to-use time tracking for both individual tasks and larger projects and detailed reports providing insights into project time and budget status.
What users are saying:
For project management
Manage personal and team projects better with Trello and Asana.
9. Trello
Free plan or free app? Free plan.
Trello gained its reputation as the Kanban board app. And while it did originate as a Kanban app, it has evolved into a fully fledged project management tool. Its generous free plan offers unlimited cards and power-ups (Trello’s term for integrations), and access to Trello’s web, desktop, and mobile apps.
Trello’s free plan is a great option for individuals and small teams, but it restricts you to one view—Kanban—and the free customization and team management features are limited, too. We’re also not big fans of Trello for managing teams. For us, Asana is better designed for team management.
What users are saying:
10. Asana
Free plan or free app? Free plan.
Like Trello, Asana is a household name in project management software. It’s a mature, feature-rich platform with an intuitive, friendly interface. The app manages to do everything you need it to, without overwhelming users with complex or clunky interfaces.
Asana’s free plan is also very generous, with unlimited projects, tasks, messages, file storage (100MB/file on the free plan relative to Trello’s 10MB/file), and collaboration with up to 15 members. And, unlike Trello, Asana’s free plan supports different project views—and let’s face it, the Calendar view has become essential.
Asana offers over 100 free integrations (including for time tracking), and it has web, desktop, and mobile apps. Overall, it's one of the best free productivity apps for growing teams.
What users are saying:
For improving sales productivity
Try these sales productivity tools to improve your team’s workflow.
11. Calendly
Free plan or free app? Free plan.
Calendly is a great scheduling software for sales teams that eliminates lots of back and forths. Instead of trying to figure out the ideal time to schedule a meeting, people can check your availability through a unique Calendly link and book a slot that suits them (and you!). The tool really helps sales teams save time, stay organized, and improve productivity.
Calendly’s free plan is enough for individual needs: it lets you connect one calendar (it supports Office365, Google, iCloud, and Outlook), customize your booking link, and create as many one-to-one meetings as you need. The paid plans offer more advanced features and let users create group events and one-off meetings, among other things.
What users are saying:
12. Klyck
Free plan or free app? Free plan.
Klyck is a document creation and management platform designed specifically for B2B needs. The platform helps sales teams create interactive sales presentations to engage prospects and nurture them. The app is also great for creating and managing knowledge bases as it includes pre-made templates, permissions management, and advanced search features.
Klyck’s free plan is ideal for individual use, with unlimited pages, and it lets you invite up to five guests to your workspace. However, the free plan has a 5MB file upload limit, so it’s not great for larger files.
What users are saying:
13. Slack
Free plan/app?: Free plan and app. Prices start at $7.25 a month for the Pro level and $12.50 a month for Business+.
Slack is a popular team collaboration and communication tool that facilitates real-time messaging in channels or direct messages. This tool enables easy sharing and access to files and documents and allows users to quickly find messages, files, and content.
What users are saying:
For automating repetitive tasks
Save loads of time with these easy-to-use, no-code automation apps.
14. Magical
Free plan or free app? Free app!
Magical is a free Chrome extension that helps sales pros, recruiters, and customer service teams save seven hours a week by automating repetitive tasks. The tool includes a text expander that lets you save anything from short phrases to whole email templates, making it much easier to respond to conduct outreach, send follow-ups, and respond to customers
Magical also comes with a transfers feature that helps you save even more time by automating boring, repetitive data entry tasks, like updating your CRM or ATS. Transfers frees users from repetitive copy-pasting by transferring data from your open tabs to the destination in record time.
Plus, unlike other popular automation tools, Magical doesn’t require any integrations. There’s no extensive setup involved, and the app works where you do. Just add it to Chrome and start automating.
What users are saying:
15. IFTTT (If This, Then That)
Free plan or free app? Free plan.
IFTTT’s free plan is super generous: it gives you access to all the app’s existing automations, and lets you create up to five custom ones. The app is very mature and versatile, supporting integrations with hundreds of popular apps. Its web and mobile apps are both stable, with great interfaces, allowing users to conveniently automate tasks across different devices.
IFTTT goes all in on automation by supporting connections with smart devices. So, users can use it to automate smart devices and use the voice assistant to manage task automation. If you need a free app to automate various tasks, IFTTT is one of the best options.
What users are saying:
16. Evernote
Free plan or free app? Free plan
Evernote is a productivity tool that can revolutionize the way you manage your day. This powerful application comes with numerous features designed to streamline your tasks and boost your efficiency, whether you're working remotely or in an office setting.
The free version of Evernote, known as Evernote Basic, offers several key features. You can create notes and organize them into notebooks for easy retrieval. These notes could be text-based, but they also support attachments like images and PDFs. Moreover, the app's search functionality allows you to quickly locate any note based on its content or tags.
If you need more advanced capabilities, consider upgrading to EverNote Premium or Business versions. The premium version includes all the basic features plus additional perks such as offline access to notes on mobile devices and enhanced search options for Office documents and PDFs.
17. Notion
Free plan or free app? Free plan and free app
In the quest for productivity, many tech workers and remote employees have turned to AI and automation software like Notion. With its comprehensive features, this app is a potent tool that can help you schedule your day effectively.
At its core, Notion serves as an all-in-one workspace where you can write notes, manage tasks, set goals, create databases and even collaborate with team members. Its flexibility allows users to customize their workspace according to their needs.
The good news is that Notion offers both free and paid plans. The free plan includes unlimited pages & blocks but has limited file uploads (5MB/file) whereas the paid versions offer larger upload sizes along with advanced permissions & admin tools ideal for businesses who need more robust functionality.
18. Dropbox
Free plan or free app?
If you're in the tech industry or work remotely, chances are you've heard about Dropbox. It's a cloud-based storage solution that helps individuals and businesses keep their files organized and accessible from anywhere. Let's delve into its features to understand why it is a popular choice among professionals.
One of the main attractions of Dropbox is its seamless file synchronization feature. You can access your files on any device where Dropbox is installed, ensuring your data stays up-to-date across all platforms. This collaborative workspace lets teams create documents together in real-time, making it ideal for brainstorming sessions or project planning.
The good news? You can start using Dropbox Basic plan, which offers 2GB free storage space - perfect for individual use! For more advanced needs like increased storage capacity or additional sharing controls, they offer paid plans such as Plus, Professional and Business at different price points.
19. TickTick
Free plan or free app? Free plan
If you're looking for a comprehensive tool to help schedule your day, TickTick is an excellent choice. This robust software offers both free and paid plans, catering to different user needs.
The core feature of TickTick is its task management capability. You can create tasks with due dates, set reminders so you never miss a deadline again, and prioritize tasks according to their importance or urgency.
TickTick isn't just about individual productivity; it's also great for team collaboration. The app enables sharing of lists and assigning tasks among team members - perfect if you're working in customer support or sales teams that require close coordination.
20. Bloks
Free plan or free app? Fre plan and free app
Bloks is a powerful software packed with features designed to optimize your daily schedule. Bloks offers an intuitive scheduling system that allows you to organize your day efficiently.
You can set reminders for meetings, deadlines, or any important events in just a few clicks. The task management feature lets you create lists of jobs, assign them to team members if needed, and monitor their progress.
The power of AI lies at the heart of Blok's automation features. It enables users to automate repetitive tasks thereby saving valuable time which could be utilized on more critical activities. From sending out emails at specified times to organizing files automatically based on preset rules; Blok’s automation capabilities are vast.
21. Briefly
Free plan or free app? Free plan
In the bustling world of tech and remote work, staying organized is paramount to productivity. One such tool that can help streamline your day-to-day tasks is Briefly. Whether you're a customer support representative juggling multiple queries or a salesperson tracking leads, Briefly's features are designed to keep you on top of your game.
Briefly is an AI-powered scheduling software aimed at helping individuals manage their time effectively. Its smart algorithms understand your work patterns and optimize your schedule for maximum productivity.
Briefly offers both free and paid plans catering to different user needs. The free plan includes basic scheduling features suitable for individual users while the premium plan unlocks more advanced functionalities ideal for teams working collaboratively.
22. Guidde
Free plan or free app? Free plan and browser extension
In the era of remote work and digital offices, having a reliable scheduling tool is more important than ever. One such software that has been making waves in the productivity world is Guidde. It's an innovative AI-powered platform designed to help you organize your day better.
One of the most striking features of Guidde is its intuitive interface. The design is clean and user-friendly, making it easy for anyone to navigate through their tasks and appointments with ease. This saves time which would otherwise be spent on figuring out complex functionalities.
23. ZCal
Free plan or free app? Free plan and free app
ZCal is an innovative scheduling software that can revolutionize the way you manage your day-to-day tasks. Whether you are a customer support agent, sales executive, or remote worker in tech and office jobs, ZCal offers numerous features to streamline your daily schedule and enhance productivity.
The first feature that stands out about ZCal is its user-friendly interface. It's designed with simplicity in mind so users can easily navigate through different functionalities without any hassle.
ZCal provides both free and premium versions. The free version comes with basic scheduling capabilities while the premium version unlocks more advanced features for comprehensive task management.
24. nTask
Free plan or free app? Free plan
nTask is a project management software comes packed with a range of features designed to streamline your workflow and boost efficiency. It allows users to create, assign, schedule, and monitor tasks all from one place. The ability to set due dates, priorities, and dependencies helps keep everyone on track. Plus, its Gantt chart feature provides a visual representation of your entire project timeline.
This platform also excels in facilitating team collaboration. You can share files directly within tasks or meetings for easy access by all team members. Additionally, comments can be added to any task or issue for effective communication among teams.
A unique aspect about nTask is its built-in risk management system which enables you to identify potential risks early on so they can be addressed before they become major issues.
25. Any.do
Free plan or free app? Free plan
Any.do is a popular productivity tool that can help you schedule your day effectively. Whether you're working in customer support, sales, or tech, this software offers features designed to streamline your tasks and boost productivity.
With Any.do's list creation feature, organizing your daily chores becomes a breeze. You can create separate lists for different projects or parts of your life (like work vs personal), making it easier to prioritize activities.
The good news is that Any.do comes with both free and paid plans. The free plan provides basic task management features such as creating lists, adding tasks, setting reminders and sharing tasks with others. However, if you want to access more advanced functions like location-based reminders or customizing recurring tasks then the premium plan would be more suitable for you.
26. ClickUp
Free plans or free app? Free plan
ClickUp is a robust project management and productivity tool that has been making waves in the tech industry. It's designed to simplify task management, document sharing, and team collaboration. Whether you're part of a customer support team or work in sales, this platform can help streamline your daily tasks.
The core feature of ClickUp is its comprehensive task management system. You can create individual tasks with detailed descriptions, assign them to different members of your team, set due dates, and even prioritize them based on urgency or importance. The task manager also allows for subtasks and checklists within each main task which helps break down larger projects into manageable parts.
27. Google Keep
Free plans or free app? Free plan and free app (through Google Suite)
If you're looking for a tool to help organize your thoughts, ideas, and tasks in one place, then Google Keep might be the solution. It's a free note-taking service provided by Google that allows users to make lists, jot down ideas or save images and web pages from the internet.
The first thing you'll notice about Google Keep is its user-friendly interface. The notes are displayed as cards which can be easily moved around and categorized according to your needs. This makes it easy for anyone - even those who aren't tech-savvy - to use this tool effectively.
If typing isn’t convenient at times, don't worry! Google Keep has got you covered with its voice note feature where all you need is speak out loud what’s on mind & it will transcribe it into text form for future reference.
Apart from that, you can also set reminders for your tasks so you never miss out on anything important. These reminders can be time-based or location-based.
Ready to boost your productivity?
There are lots of ways to improve productivity, such as:
- Organizing tasks and projects better.
- Tracking and optimizing your time.
- Automating repetitive tasks.
- Improving your focus.
And, fortunately, there are lots of free productivity apps to help you save time, organize your workflow, and get more done. On average, individuals save around 2 hours per day by using productivity apps.
Still have a few questions?
What are people asking about productivity apps?
Let’s take a look at any outstanding questions you may have.
What is the #1 productivity app?
There isn’t a specific #1 productivity app, but Todoist, Asana, Engross, and Magical are all popular options. Check out our list for more great picks.
What is the most useful productivity tool?
It depends on your needs. If you’re looking to improve focus, Engross is a great free app, but if you need to manage tasks better, Todoist is a solid choice.
What apps increase productivity?
Any app that improves the way you work can increase productivity! This includes apps that help you focus, automate repetitive activities, and manage tasks and workflows.
