Microsoft To Do alternative: tasks compared – tasks
Microsoft To Do is free and closely tied to Outlook. tasks is free too and keeps work, family and private life in separate workspaces with one shared overview, whatever your mail provider. Here they are side by side, every Microsoft To Do fact with its source.
tasks and Microsoft To Do side by side
| Feature | tasks | Microsoft To Do | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (CHF 0), every feature included | Free | support.microsoft.com |
| Platforms | Web app (installable) in any current browser, tsk for Linux, macOS and Windows, iPhone shortcut | Apps for Windows, iOS and Android (according to this support page) | support.microsoft.com |
| Sharing | Shared workspace, members see only that one; Up for grabs | Shared lists between personal Microsoft accounts, or within the same workplace or school | support.microsoft.com |
| Email to task | Personal address per workspace, from any mail account; senders checked with DMARC | Mail flagged in Outlook shows up as a task; only for Microsoft-hosted accounts | support.microsoft.com |
| Data location | Servers at Hetzner in Germany; provider Squibble GmbH, Switzerland | In the Exchange Online mailbox; European data stays in the EU region by default | support.microsoft.com |
When tasks fits
You want to collect tasks from different mail accounts, not just Outlook: every workspace has its own address you forward to. Work and family stay apart, and you still see everything on one page. On top come tsk on the command line, Claude through MCP and calendar feeds, all in the browser and without a Microsoft account.
When Microsoft To Do is the better choice
When your mail already runs on Outlook with a Microsoft-hosted account and you want flagged mails to show up as tasks, or when you share lists inside your company or school. Your tasks then live in your Exchange Online mailbox, which for European accounts stays in the EU region by default.
Frequently asked questions
Who can see the tasks in my workspaces?
Only the members of that workspace. Every workspace is its own privacy boundary, enforced in the database itself. Whoever belongs to your family workspace sees nothing of your work workspaces, and the other way round. Your Inbox is yours alone and cannot be shared.
You can also restrict access tokens and calendar feeds to single workspaces.
How does an email become a task?
You create a personal address for a workspace and forward mails to it. The subject becomes the task and understands the same quick add as the app, such as tomorrow or !p1. The mail’s text goes into the description; you choose how much of it per address. A confirmation with the task number and a link comes back.
Only mails from senders you allowed, and whose sender passes the DMARC check, create tasks. Everything else goes to quarantine. You can renew or revoke an address at any time.
Where is my data stored?
In the EU, on servers in Germany. The website, the application and the database run on servers that Squibble GmbH rents from Hetzner Online GmbH and operates itself. The database is backed up every six hours, and an encrypted copy goes to another Squibble backup system every day.
All connections are encrypted with TLS. Access tokens and calendar feed addresses are stored only as digests. The details are in the privacy policy.