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ByDesign

Comparison

ByDesign
Any.do

ByDesign vs Any.do

Any.do keeps your lists. ByDesign plans your life around them.

Any.do is a clean to-do list: My Day, lists, subtasks, reminders by time, location or WhatsApp, a mirrored calendar, and Workspace boards for teams. ByDesign starts from the goal. The AI builds the tasks, schedules them around your hours with a preview you approve, syncs your calendar both ways, and adds habits, goal pages, notes, a Pomodoro timer and a year-to-day canvas.

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What you get with ByDesign that Any.do doesn’t offer

  • AI that plans, not just suggests

    Say a goal and ByDesign writes the tasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines and places them on your calendar for your approval. Any.do’s AI suggests subtasks, fills lists and generates boards on paid plans, and captures tasks by voice; nothing schedules the work for you.

  • Scheduling that does itself

    ByDesign places tasks around your hours, breaks and buffers, shows the proposed week and waits for your OK. In Any.do you drag tasks into time slots yourself on web and desktop, with one Google, Outlook or iCloud account connected; mobile mirrors your device calendars.

  • Habits, goals, notes and a year canvas

    A habit tracker with streaks, goal pages with progress, nested pages, and a canvas from the year to the day. Any.do has tasks, subtasks and notes with size caps on the free plan; no habits, goals, pages or year view.

  • Focus tools on every plan

    A Pomodoro timer and time tracking on any task come with ByDesign. In Any.do, Focus Mode is a paid, mobile-only timer and time tracking is Workspace-only.

ByDesign vs Any.do, feature by feature

Only the differences. What both apps do the same is listed underneath.

  • Included
  • Limited
  • Not available

AI planning

  • AI goal plans

    ByDesign

    Included: Built and scheduledTasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines land on your calendar; AI and AI Plus plans

    Any.do

    Not available: AI suggestionsSuggests subtasks and fills lists on Premium, generates boards on Workspace; no plan built from a goal

  • AI scheduling with a preview you approve

    ByDesign

    Included: Preview, then acceptConflicts shown; nothing saves until you say so; AI and AI Plus plans

    Any.do

    Not available: Smart Suggestions and MomentAI prioritises My Day and Voice Mode can move a task to tomorrow; Moment sorts today’s tasks on mobile; no schedule built for your approval

  • Auto-schedule around your hours

    ByDesign

    Included: Rules you setWork hours, breaks, buffers, max hours a day, split long tasks

    Any.do

    Not available: Drag by handDrag tasks into time slots on web and desktop

  • Planning assistant chat

    ByDesign

    Included: In the app, full contextSees your calendar, goals, habits and notes; moves and reschedules items; AI and AI Plus plans

    Any.do

    Limited: MCP connector and Voice ModeFree MCP for ChatGPT and Claude in beta; AI Voice Mode captures tasks on paid plans; no assistant inside the app that plans your week

  • Voice control

    ByDesign

    Included: Mic and hands-freeOptional wake phrase; AI and AI Plus plans

    Any.do

    Limited: Voice Mode and SiriAI Voice Mode on paid plans, limited to 20 sessions a day; Siri adds to one Any.do list through Apple Reminders on iOS

Calendar and views

  • Two-way calendar sync

    ByDesign

    Included: Google and AppleEdit events in either place; Outlook and ICS subscriptions too

    Any.do

    Limited: One accountConnects one Google, Outlook or iCloud account on web and desktop; mobile mirrors your device calendars

  • Year-to-day planning canvas

    ByDesign

    Included: Year to dayYear, quarter, month, week and day on one zoomable surface; AI and AI Plus plans

    Any.do

    Limited: Day, week and month calendarPlus lists and My Day; no year view

  • Kanban boards

    ByDesign

    Included: Custom columnsMain board plus boards per page

    Any.do

    Limited: Family and Workspace boardsKanban on Family; table, calendar and Gantt views need Workspace

  • Sticky notes, images and pinned pages on the calendar

    ByDesign

    Included: Yes

    Any.do

    Not available: No

  • Customisable dashboard

    ByDesign

    Included: Drag-and-drop widgetsScore board, tasks, habits, inbox, pinned pages, Kanban

    Any.do

    Limited: Workspace board views and reportsCustom board views and completed-task reports on the Workspace plan

Habits, notes and focus

  • Habit tracker

    ByDesign

    Included: Check-ins and streaksSkip a day, stats, habits with friends

    Any.do

    Not available: Recurring tasks instead

  • Goals with progress

    ByDesign

    Included: Goal pagesTasks, resources, percent complete, shareable

    Any.do

    Not available: No

  • Notes and pages

    ByDesign

    Included: Nested pagesTables, code, embeds, sub-pages, backlinks; publish to the web

    Any.do

    Limited: Notes on tasksFiles up to 1.5 MB each on Free; no standalone pages

  • Courses and roadmaps from the Hub

    ByDesign

    Included: The HubCourses, roadmaps and a habit library; schedule a roadmap straight onto your calendar

    Any.do

    Not available: Board templatesFamily and Workspace plans; 100+ on Workspace

  • Pomodoro timer

    ByDesign

    Included: Built in25/5/15 cycles with a floating timer

    Any.do

    Limited: Focus ModeTimed sessions with a growing tree on Premium, Family and Workspace; mobile only, no break cycles

  • Time tracking on tasks

    ByDesign

    Included: Start and pause on any taskTotals per task; “most tracked” filter

    Any.do

    Limited: Workspace onlyTime tracking comes with the Workspace plan

Collaboration and platforms

  • Built-in chat

    ByDesign

    Included: Direct and groupThreads, reactions, polls

    Any.do

    Limited: Chat threads on tasksA conversation thread inside each task on Family and Workspace; no direct or group chat

  • Share pages and assign tasks

    ByDesign

    Included: View, comment or editAssign tasks; @mention in comments

    Any.do

    Limited: Shared lists and boardsFamily Shared Space for up to 4; task assignment on Family and Workspace boards

Any.do column based on plans explained, Any.do AI, calendar integration, Moment, Voice Mode, Siri, platforms and pricing on October 26, 2026. If something has changed, email info@bydesign.io.

Both apps cover the basics

  • Natural-language dates
  • Tasks with subtasks, lists and basic recurring reminders
  • Time blocking
  • Reminders
  • MCP server for AI assistants
  • Per-seat team plans
  • Home-screen widgets
  • Dark mode
  • Web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android apps
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Why people switch from Any.do to ByDesign

Say the goal. Get a scheduled plan.

Tell ByDesign what you want to achieve. It asks a few questions, then builds the tasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines and schedules them around the life you already have. Replan in one message.

Any.do: In Any.do you write the task, pick a list and set a reminder. The AI can suggest subtasks or fill a list on Premium, and Moment helps you sort today’s tasks into Today or Later on mobile. Nothing is built from a goal or placed on a calendar.

ByDesign AI goal plan with tasks, tags and durations

Your calendar, both ways

Connect Google or Apple Calendar and edit an event in either place, with Outlook and ICS subscriptions too. Auto-scheduling fills the real gaps around the meetings already there.

Any.do: Any.do’s calendar integration connects one Google, Outlook or iCloud account on web and desktop, where you can add events and drag tasks into time slots; mobile mirrors your device calendars. It is free on every plan, but nothing schedules the work around your hours.

Google, Microsoft and Apple calendars syncing with ByDesign

Your whole year on one surface

The planning canvas zooms from the full year down to a single day. Pin goals, notes and milestones where they belong, drag anything, and the plan keeps up.

Any.do: Any.do shows lists, My Day and a calendar; Family boards get a Kanban view, and Workspace adds table, calendar and Gantt views. There is no year view, no canvas and no sticky notes on the plan.

ByDesign planning canvas showing a full year of plans

Habits, goals and focus, built in

Track habits with streaks and stats, keep goal pages with progress, run a Pomodoro and track time on any task. Open ByDesign in the morning and it already works.

Any.do: Any.do has no habit tracker or goal pages. Focus Mode comes with Premium, Family and Workspace plans, and time tracking is a Workspace feature.

ByDesign reminders, habits and deadlines on iOS

Don’t take our word for it.

  • From Daniel

    Honestly, Notion was really exhausting for me... Your product works in the simplest way. I’m a product designer, and I’d love to share my feedback with you after using it more :)

  • From E

    I really like ByDesign - a lot. I was looking for something that works for me but is also simple and intuitive enough to work for my 12 yr old daughter who needs to start planning out her homework and chores around her other calendar events. I think this is it - and I have looked at a lot of your competitors - Notion, Motion, Tick Tick, To-Do, Todoist. None have the simplicity of user interface combined with the rich features (but not overly complex). love it😍

  • From TuneOutlyson003

    I just wanna say that I have FINALLY found a to-do list app where I can have recurring tasks and habit/org systems in one place. This is awesome because I keep wondering if one day my autonomous self will break....this is awesome so far!

See All The Love →

Make the switch in three steps

No setup project. Start free, connect the calendar you already use, and give ByDesign your first goal.

  1. Start your free trial. No credit card.
  2. Connect your Google, Apple or Outlook calendar.
  3. Say your first goal and watch the plan land on your calendar.

Ready to plan the goal, not just keep the list?

Start free. No credit card. Tell ByDesign a goal and watch the plan land on your calendar.

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