Softwr

Productivity · head to head

Any.do vs Microsoft OneNote

Any.do logo

Any.do

Productivity

To do list & planner

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Microsoft OneNote logo

Microsoft OneNote

Productivity

Microsoft's free-form notebook, free with a Microsoft account and synced through OneDrive

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Any.do bare-bones free plan: lacks recurring tasks and third-party integrations available only in paid plans; Microsoft OneNote notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
  • They diverge on capability: Any.do covers Task lists, Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Any.do and Microsoft OneNote actually diverge.

Attributes where Any.do and Microsoft OneNote differ
AttributeAny.doMicrosoft OneNote
Pricing modelUnknownfreemium
PlatformsWeb, macOS, Windows, iOS, AndroidWeb, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows
Founded20111975

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Any.do

  • Task lists
  • Calendar integration
  • Reminders
  • Daily planner
  • Voice input
  • Drag and drop
  • Smart suggestions
  • Focus mode

Only in Microsoft OneNote

  • Free-form page canvas
  • Notebook hierarchy
  • Indexed handwriting
  • Audio recording
  • Web clipper and Outlook capture
  • Shared notebooks
  • Cross-platform clients
  • Tags and cross-notebook search

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Any.do

  • Personal task managementnot Microsoft OneNote
  • Daily planningnot Microsoft OneNote
  • Shopping listsnot Microsoft OneNote
  • Project managementnot Microsoft OneNote
  • Team collaborationnot Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft OneNote

  • Handwritten notes on a pen tablet that you still need to find months later by searching for a word you wrote.not Any.do
  • Lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time.not Any.do
  • A team already inside Microsoft 365 that needs a shared notebook without buying anything or seeking approval.not Any.do
  • Collecting mixed material such as screenshots, clippings and sketches on one page, where a document editor would force a linear structure.not Any.do

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Any.do

  • Bare-bones free plan: lacks recurring tasks and third-party integrations available only in paid plans
  • Short planning window: only allows planning up to seven days ahead, limiting long-term project planning
  • Limited desktop performance: web and desktop versions struggle with functionality and responsiveness
  • Slow customer support: email support takes approximately 48 hours to respond
  • Missing drag-and-drop: inability to drag tasks between lists creates workflow friction

Microsoft OneNote

  • Notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
  • Personal notebooks consume OneDrive quota, which is 5 GB on a free Microsoft account, so a notebook full of scans, images and recordings quietly exhausts the whole account including the space Outlook needs for mail.
  • Sync happens at section level and conflicts are resolved by placing both versions on the page, so simultaneous edits to a large or media-heavy section produce duplicated content that somebody has to merge by hand.
  • Search behaves differently across clients, so what the Windows desktop app finds inside handwriting, images and attachments is not necessarily what the browser or mobile version finds, and the same query gives different answers on different devices.
  • There is no relational structure, no database and no properties, so anything that needs a table of records with fields has to be maintained by hand or moved elsewhere, and OneNote's own tables cannot be queried or filtered.

Pricing, plan by plan

Any.do

Free
  • Premium$7.99/month
    • Recurring tasks
    • Location reminders
    • WhatsApp reminders
  • Family$9.99/month
    • All Premium features
    • Family sharing space
    • Up to 4 members

Microsoft OneNote

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft OneNote review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Any.do if

  • You need task lists.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android.
  • You also want calendar integration.
Any.do review

Choose Microsoft OneNote if

  • You need free-form page canvas.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
  • You also want notebook hierarchy.
Microsoft OneNote review

Questions people ask

Is Any.do or Microsoft OneNote better?
Neither clearly leads. Any.do starts at Free and Microsoft OneNote at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Any.do or Microsoft OneNote?
Any.do starts at Free and Microsoft OneNote at Free.
Does Any.do or Microsoft OneNote run on more platforms?
Any.do runs on Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android. Microsoft OneNote runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
Can I use Any.do for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Any.do best used for?
Any.do is most often used for personal task management, daily planning, shopping lists, project management. Of those, personal task management and daily planning are not what Microsoft OneNote is typically brought in for.
What can Any.do do that Microsoft OneNote cannot?
Any.do covers Task lists, Calendar integration, Reminders, Daily planner. Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Notebook hierarchy, Indexed handwriting, Audio recording.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Any.do: Does Any.do have a free version?

Yes, Any.do offers a free plan with no time limit or credit card required. The free plan includes basic tasks, lists, calendar sync, and daily planner features. Premium features like recurring tasks, location reminders, and AI features require a paid subscription starting at $4.99/month.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: Is OneNote really free?

Yes. The application is free with a Microsoft account, with no time limit and no feature gate. What you may end up paying for is the OneDrive storage the notebooks consume.

Any.do: Can you share tasks with other users?

Task sharing is limited on Any.do. With a single-user license, you cannot share personal tasks. Team collaboration requires purchasing additional licenses at $5 per user per month on top of your base plan.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: Can I keep notebooks off Microsoft's cloud?

The Windows desktop app can keep local notebooks, but they will not sync to other devices and any shared access requires OneDrive or SharePoint.

Any.do: Does Any.do integrate with Google Calendar?

Yes, Any.do syncs with Google Calendar, Outlook, and iCloud. However, users report some difficulties with the depth of Google Calendar integration compared to competing products.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: How do I get my notes out?

Section by section as a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document. A OneNote package preserves a whole notebook but only for another copy of OneNote. Third-party converters exist and the page layout usually does not survive them.

Any.do: Does Any.do work offline?

Any.do is primarily a cloud-based application and does not have robust offline functionality. The web and desktop versions sometimes struggle with performance when offline.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: Which version should I install?

Microsoft consolidated onto a single OneNote application on Windows after retiring the Store version, so install the one distributed with Microsoft 365 rather than looking for an alternative.

Any.do: What platforms does Any.do support?

Any.do is available across desktop (Mac and Windows), web browsers, iOS, and Android, providing cross-platform access to your tasks and calendar.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Any.do

More on Microsoft OneNote

Keep looking

Other head to heads