You have an iPhone full of apps. One for your tasks, one for your calendar, one for the weather, and another for notes. Every morning you jump between four screens to see what your day brings. Finalist throws that overboard and puts everything in one simple timeline.
Who is behind Finalist?
Finalist is the brainchild of Slaven Radic, who launched the app in 2023 through his company Diversion Marketing Inc. in Vancouver, Canada. The story begins with frustration with existing to-do apps. Radic missed the simplicity of paper planners, where you can see your entire day at a glance without having to navigate through menus.
He built Finalist as a “love letter” to those physical notebooks, but with the benefits of a digital tool. No complicated project management features or collaboration tools. Just a place where you plan your day the way you would on paper. The app is fully developed with native Apple technologies like SwiftUI, which explains why it feels so smooth on iOS and macOS.
The app has now collected more than 400 reviews and especially attracts users who have had enough of bloated productivity tools. Radic continues to actively develop and regularly responds to user feedback.
Who is Finalist for?
Finalist targets a specific group of people. If you’re a fan of paper planners but miss the practical benefits of digital, then this is exactly what you’re looking for. The Apple ecosystem is a hard requirement, so you must use an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
Minimalists feel at home here. No endless settings, no complex project structures, no teams or collaboration features. You plan your day, jot down a note, and get to work. The app works perfectly for people who want to organize their personal life without it becoming a project in itself.
But there are clear boundaries. Android users can’t participate. Teams working together on projects need to look elsewhere. And if you’re a project manager who needs subtasks, dependencies, and Gantt charts, then you’re looking for the wrong tool. Finalist deliberately does less, and that’s exactly the point.
What can Finalist do?
The free version offers the basic features, but for features like Reminders integration and unlimited lists you need a paid plan. Here’s what you get:
- Combined timeline: Your tasks and calendar appointments appear in one chronological view. No split screen, no separate tabs. You see your entire day at a glance, exactly like you would on paper.
- Hourly weather forecast: The weather is directly in your schedule. Handy when you’re planning a walk or need to decide whether to take your bike. You don’t have to switch to a separate weather app.
- Habit tracker with streaks: Track habits and see how many days in a row you keep something up. The streak counter motivates you to continue without it becoming a game show.
- Markdown support: You write notes with Markdown formatting. Headers, lists, and links work like you’re used to from other text editors. No WYSIWYG editor trying to fix things for you.
- Interactive Widgets and Live Activities: Your home screen shows your upcoming tasks and appointments without opening the app. Live Activities keeps you updated on what’s happening now, directly visible on your lock screen.
- iCloud synchronization: No account creation, no password to remember. Everything syncs through your own iCloud between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Your data stays with you.
- Drag-and-drop planning: Drag tasks to a different time or day. It feels intuitive, as if you’re crossing things out on paper and rewriting them, but without messy scribbles.
- Calendar integration: Finalist displays all calendars you’ve added to your Apple device. Google Calendar, Outlook, or your default Apple Calendar, it doesn’t matter. Everything comes together in that one timeline.
The interface remains intentionally simple. No color codes for 47 different project categories. No priority levels from 1 to 10. You write down what you need to do, drag it to the right time, and you’re done. That limitation is exactly what many users are looking for after years of overly complex tools.
How much does Finalist cost?
Finalist has a free version that lets you try out the app. You get the basic features, but run into limitations with advanced features. If you want the full experience, you choose from three paid options.
The monthly subscription costs $1.99. That’s on the high side for a simple planning app, especially when you compare it to TickTick or Todoist. The annual subscription makes more sense: $1.99 per year, which comes down to $1.33 per month. You save almost half compared to paying monthly.
But the most interesting option is the lifetime license for $1.99. Pay once and you’re done. No subscriptions you need to remember to cancel, no price increases in two years. For people who hate subscription fatigue, this is a relief. After two years, you’ve already earned back the cost of the annual subscription.
There is no free trial period in the traditional sense. You can use the free version as long as you want, but you don’t see all features. It’s more a limited version than a temporary trial. So you have to gamble a bit whether the paid version is worth your money.
What should you watch out for?
The biggest limitation is platform support. Finalist only exists for the Apple ecosystem. No Android, no Windows, no web version. If you use even one device outside the Apple world, you can’t access this app everywhere. That’s a deliberate choice by the developer, but it excludes a large part of the market.
There is no native Apple Watch app. You can receive notifications on your watch, but you can’t check off tasks or view your schedule without grabbing your iPhone. For an app that’s all about quick access to your day, that feels like a missed opportunity.
Users with extremely long task lists report that the app gets slower. If you have hundreds of tasks, scrolling and loading starts to stutter. Finalist is clearly built for people who clean up their list daily, not for digital hoarders who keep everything.
Complex recurring tasks are difficult. You can make tasks repeat, but advanced patterns like “every second Tuesday of the month” don’t work well. If you regularly need these kinds of schedules, you run into the app’s limitations.
The weather display sometimes has bugs. Users report that the forecast doesn’t always match other weather apps, or that the location isn’t recognized correctly. It’s a nice extra feature, but you can’t blindly trust it.
Collaboration is completely absent. You can’t share tasks with others, manage lists together, or leave comments for team members. Finalist is strictly personal. For work projects, you need to use another tool alongside it.
Finalist alternatives
Finalist is not the only minimalist planning app. Here are three alternatives you should consider:
- TickTick: Choose this if you also work on Windows or Android. TickTick has more features than Finalist, such as Pomodoro timers and location-based reminders. It feels less minimalist, but you do get cross-platform support and better collaboration tools.
- Todoist: Go for this if you manage complex projects with subtasks and dependencies. Todoist is more powerful for task management, but lacks the combined calendar view that makes Finalist so convenient. It’s more of a to-do app than a day planner.
- Apple Reminders: Choose this if you don’t want to install an extra app and don’t want to spend money. Apple Reminders is free, already on your device, and works fine for basic task management. But you miss the timeline that combines tasks and calendar, and the interface is less pleasant for day planning.
Each alternative has its own strengths. TickTick wins on versatility, Todoist on power, and Apple Reminders on convenience. Finalist wins on focus and simplicity, but only if you’re fully in the Apple ecosystem.
Frequently asked questions
Here are the most frequently asked questions about Finalist:
Is Finalist available for Android?
No, Finalist is exclusively developed for the Apple ecosystem. The app works on iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS. No plans have been announced for an Android version, because the app is completely built with Apple-specific technologies like SwiftUI.
Do I need an account to use Finalist?
No, you don’t need to create an account. Finalist automatically syncs all your data through your own iCloud account. This also means you don’t need to remember a separate password and that your data is not stored on third-party servers.
Can I see my Google Calendar in Finalist?
Yes, Finalist shows all calendars you’ve added to your iPhone or Mac. If you’ve linked Google Calendar or Outlook to your Apple device, those appointments automatically appear in the Finalist timeline. You don’t need to set up anything extra.
Conclusion
Finalist is an excellent choice if you’re fully invested in the Apple ecosystem and tired of bloated productivity tools. The combined timeline for tasks and calendar works exactly as you’d hope, and the lifetime option means you don’t have to pay for a subscription forever. But the limitations are clear: no Android, no web version, no collaboration. For personal planning on Apple devices, it’s a breath of fresh air. For anything beyond that, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
