Plainlist is a paid-once planner for people who live in text files. Your tasks aren't trapped in a database you'll never see — they're one readable .todo file you own, open it in any editor, anytime.
Capture. Plan. Focus. Review. The whole workday loop in one quiet window.
— ONE FILE IS THE TRUTH —
Everything lives in a single plain-text .todo file. Open it in any editor — the app and the
text never disagree. Point it at iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or any folder you sync yourself. A
built-in watcher reloads external changes.
— CAPTURE FAST —
Hit one shortcut from any app and just type. "draft report tomorrow ! 2h /Work" becomes a task
due tomorrow, high priority, 2h estimate, filed under Work. Parsed fields show as editable
chips before save, so a wrong date is easy to fix. Paste a list and each line becomes a clean
task.
— PLAN BY DAY OR TIME —
Some work only needs a day; some needs a time. Plainlist supports both — date-only "Anytime"
planning and exact timed blocks — written as readable @start tags. A persistent side panel lets
you browse unplanned, anytime, and needs-attention work, inspect any task, and edit its plan,
estimate, due date, priority, and repeat in place. Recurring tasks use @every; finishing one
spawns the next.
— FOCUS ON TODAY —
Once the day is planned, work from a cleaner view: today's plan, needs-attention items, quick
capture, and done-today receipts. Mark done, push later, or bump to tomorrow without leaving
the keyboard.
— REVIEW WHAT SHIPPED —
The Done view shows your week by day and project, with hours and counts. Copy a day or week as
Markdown for a status update or work log. Reopen anything completed by mistake. Old completed
tasks auto-archive to keep the working file lean.
— THE FORMAT —
TaskPaper-compatible grammar: projects end in a colon, tasks start with "-", tags are plain
@words. Indentation is structure. Reserved tags do real work: @est, @start, @due, @done,
@every, @p1. Due (a deadline) and start (when you'll work) stay separate. The whole language is
readable in any editor.
— KEYBOARD-FIRST —
Global capture, a command palette, slash commands (/due tomorrow, /p1, /est 30m, /plan, /done)
right in the editor, multi-select to edit many tasks at once, a filter bar with smart tokens,
and undo that covers drag-scheduling. Fast by mouse, faster by keys.
— YOURS —
Paid once. No subscription. No account. No tracking. Just a fast native app over a file in a
folder you control.
TaskPaper users: your files open as-is