Damn they're making todo lists a subscription service now??

To answer the question: anything that provides a CALDAV backend (e.g. Nextcloud, Etesync, Radicale). Some are free with limited storage, but some are subscription based, but you get calendar, storage, other stuff too. You can additionally self-host a CALDAV server or Nextcloud to use these services gratuit. For a more minimal implentation, try plain text, markdown, orgmode, etc., and use Syncthing to sync between devices.

Tasks.org

Tasks.org app because it syncs across Nextcloud or Apple Reminders or Android or Linux, and more.

Apple reminders (has gotten better and better, syncs, gets updates, is 100% free, sharing, built in, …).

Things is also great.

These are both iOS/macOS though, so sry if you were looking for something else

I use Obsidian for note taking, and I downloaded an extension for the ability to turn any note into a task.

Might not be exactly what you're looking for, but it's FREE and locally hosted on your PC.

The best piece of software I’ve ever used, which also happens to be an excellent todo list is org-mode. It has a very steep learning curve, but it is obscenely flexible.

Apple Reminders, which I now keep in a widget on my phone & iPad home screens. This is mainly for repeating items, like shopping, since I can turn on "show completed" and then uncheck them to put back on the list.

Or paper notebook, which I normally have in my pocket. This is for more serious things where I need to write some procedure or notes.

Used to use Things, which is great, but it's overkill for my current needs.

2Do - has so many features that I don’t even use half of. Very powerful and I believe it is just a one time charge. Ive been using it for almost a decade now

Free as in a standalone app or as in its part of something you already own?

The gmail and Microsoft both have apps that are not only cross-platform, web-accessible, and cloud sync’d but they integrate with native apps in your phone.

Wow I just mucked around with this just an hour ago because I wanted to swap off ToDoist...

I found Google Tasks has a bunch of cool apps that work great with its API (including a cool Raycast plugin for Mac users), apps like ToDoist and TickTick do a lot but they had too many features for my liking. I wanted something that was just a simple list like TeuxDeux which can sync between my Mac and Android.

Settled on the Microsoft ToDo app for ephemeral tasks and I plan to beef up my obsidian vault a little to use it for more long-term tasks. Ultimately it really depends what you're looking for because there's so many options

I just use Google Tasks, and it works very well. Got a widget on my home screen with open tasks and I can manage them via my desktop as well.

I know this will probably be unpopular, but that’s part of why I’m throwing it in here. Microsoft ToDo started out as a hot pile of garbage after they took over a great to-do app. These days it’s genuinely pretty great, though. Especially if part of what you do involves Outlook or Exchange. You can flag mails and have them show up in a to-do section, it will semi-intelligently suggest things to do next based on things in your to do-list, if you use planner or tasks at work, your things will show up in ToDo as well. I don’t use it for personal stuff, because having the option to quickly have Siri add something in Reminders is super convenient, but other than that it’s definitely a useful option - especially if you don’t use a voice assistant.

(I use Todoist.)

Have you considered rolling your own? The defacto starter project for basically any application framework is a ToDo app. If you have any interest in learning a new language / framework, check out TODO MVC.

I have a pretty straightforward solution. I keep a text file called 'todo' in my Syncthing sync folder, and I added 'cat Sync/todo' to my Fish greeting.

I use Dynalist. It's an outliner, not strictly a to-do app but functions well enough as one. Also useful for notes, brainstorming, project management, or anything where you want text in a tree structure.

On desktop, emacs + org, on phone, obsidian. Maybe if I figure out how to put emacs properly on the phone, then will move all to org..

What features that you want are missing from the free versions of ticktick and todoist?

I'm currently using todoist and the 5 project limit is my main problem.

Before switching to TickTick I found Google Tasks to be a decent option

have you tried notion?

I‘m using Due on the iPhone. It can be purchased per one-time payment and won’t get new features added then (bugfixes are still coming) but that’s fine since there are not so many new features. Plus, it syncs to the Mac (additional purchase needed).

Things. It’s a one-time purchase but if you’re using it on iPhone, iPad and Mac it’s 3 one-time purchases and they are not cheap. But for me personally it feels and works exactly as I need it and after trying a bunch of others, I decided Things is the one. And I’ve used it long enough now that the price doesn’t hurt anymore.

I use ticktick free mode. The best what I have found for my needs. I do miss few features from tasks.org, but ticktick advantages are more important for me.

I use Tiddlywiki, which is free, archives last forever, you own all your data, and it does way more than just todos!

https://www.tiddlywiki.org

I use Skiff Calendar they are very privacy friendly and have React Apps for every major platform skiff.com

Trello and the samsung notes for my galaxy tablet with pen.

FWIF I've tried TickTick and Todoist with paid plans, Google Tasks, Microsoft Todo and probably a few other free apps, and personally have settled on HedgeDoc for lists and Telegram for reminders. Nothing beats their simplicity and reliability.

Dooit. It's a terminal based todo list, so simple but amazing.

https://github.com/kraanzu/dooit/