Can I vibecode Things 3?

YES · one-shottable
price variesbuild time one sittingcategory ✅ tasksreplaced by 0 people

The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For Things 3, build a polished personal task manager with areas, projects, tags, deadlines, and a today view. The hard boundary is exceptional native design, apple-device sync, shortcuts, and long-term maintenance, plus cross-device reliability and workflow polish.

the prompt
Build a personal replacement for Things 3 in an empty repository.
Use Tauri 2, React, TypeScript, SQLite, and desktop notifications; do not offer alternative stacks.
The core loop is: capture tasks into areas and projects with tags and deadlines, schedule or repeat them, work from a focused today view, and keep history locally.
Make the first run work locally with one documented command.
Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward.
Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials.
Create inbox, today, upcoming, someday, and completed views with fast keyboard capture.
Support projects, tags, due dates, start dates, priorities, notes, subtasks, and attachments.
Implement robust daily, weekly, monthly, and custom recurring rules with tests.
Add a focus view with one active task, timer, and optional desktop notification.
Provide search, saved filters, undo, and a completed-task archive.
Export and import a documented JSON format and make automatic local backups.
Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states.
Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs.
Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path.
Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps.
Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane.
Deliberately leave out team assignment and comments.
Deliberately leave out two-way calendar or email synchronization.
Deliberately leave out native mobile apps and cloud accounts.
Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used.

$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter) or copy it raw · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR

why people still pay

People still pay for Things 3 because task software is sticky because trust, speed, and ubiquitous capture matter more than the database schema. The recurring cost buys recurrence edge cases, notifications, sync conflicts, calendar APIs, mobile capture, and backups, not just the visible interface.

what you lose

xexceptional native design, Apple-device sync, shortcuts, and long-term maintenance

xperfect mobile sync

xcalendar and email integrations

xshared workspaces

xbehavioral coaching polish

share on X ↗"I just replaced Things 3 with one prompt"
the escape hatch

Don't feel like building it? These folks already made it free.

Super ProductivityA local task manager with timeboxing, Pomodoro, and no account begging to be created21kaug 2026open sourceVikunjaA capable Todoist replacement once you accept becoming its hosting department5.0kaug 2026open sourceApple RemindersThings minus the polish tax, provided every device in sight has an Apple logo$0free

all 4 free alternatives to Things 3 →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real

the numbers

Things 3 pricing

planmonthlyannual (per mo)what you get
things for maccustom1 Mac App Store license; 15-day direct-download trial.
things for iphone & apple watchcustom1 iPhone/Apple Watch App Store purchase.
things for ipadcustom1 iPad App Store purchase.
things for apple visioncustom1 Apple Vision App Store purchase.

free tierno free tier

billingone-time purchase per Apple platform; no subscription or annual plan

hidden costsMac, iPhone/Watch, iPad, and Vision are separate purchases; there is no cross-platform bundle, though Things Cloud sync is free.

verified 2026-08-14 · source ↗

questions
Can I vibecode Things 3?

Yes. A competent AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) can build a usable personal Things 3 replacement in one session with the prompt on this page. It runs on your own machine or server with no subscription.

How much does Things 3 cost?

Things 3's pricing is usage-based or varies by plan · Sold as separate one-time app purchases; canonical monthly price is null..

What do I lose by replacing Things 3?

Honestly: exceptional native design, Apple-device sync, shortcuts, and long-term maintenance; perfect mobile sync; calendar and email integrations; shared workspaces; behavioral coaching polish. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.

Is there an open-source alternative to Things 3?

Yes: Super Productivity (A local task manager with timeboxing, Pomodoro, and no account begging to be created) Vikunja (A capable Todoist replacement once you accept becoming its hosting department) Apple Reminders (Things minus the polish tax, provided every device in sight has an Apple logo) All 4 curated free alternatives are at canivibecodeit.com/things-3/alternatives. The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.

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