BetterKeeper vs Apple Reminders: when the built-in app is no longer enough
BetterKeeper
A full productivity app with projects, rich-text notes, time tracking, and a calendar view — built for people who've outgrown simple to-do lists and need a proper system for their work and life.
Apple Reminders
Apple's built-in task app. Free, simple, and great for grocery lists, quick reminders, and shared shopping. When your tasks get more complex — projects, deadlines, notes, and priorities — it starts to show its limits.
Feature comparison
| BetterKeeper | Apple Reminders | |
|---|---|---|
| Task management | ✓ Yes, with priorities & labels | ✓ Yes (basic) |
| Built-in notes | ✓ Rich text notes on tasks & projects | Notes field — plain text only |
| Project management | ✓ Projects with % progress tracking | ✗ Lists only — no progress tracking |
| Time tracking | ✓ Built-in timers per task | ✗ Not available |
| Calendar view | ✓ Built-in calendar with task overlay | ✗ No calendar view |
| Recurring tasks | ✓ Daily / weekly / monthly / custom | Basic recurrence — limited options |
| Data storage | Your iCloud only | Your iCloud only |
| No account needed | ✓ Apple ID only | ✓ Apple ID only |
| Home screen widgets | ✓ Today, Projects, Dashboard widgets | Basic badge widget only |
| Pricing | $4.99/mo or $29.99/yr (30-day free trial) | Free — included with iPhone |
Where they really differ
Projects in BetterKeeper show live completion percentage, have their own deadlines, and can hold notes and file attachments. You can see at a glance how far along each project is — without counting completed tasks manually.
Reminders has lists, not projects. There's no progress indicator, no project-level deadline, and no way to see completion status without scrolling through the list. For simple checklists it's fine. For tracking a project with ten moving parts, it's not built for that.
Every task and project has a full rich-text note — bold, italic, lists, headings. Attach a project brief directly inside the project. Write meeting notes on the relevant task. No context switching, no copy-paste between Apple Notes and Reminders.
Each reminder has a Notes field — plain text only. Once your context grows beyond a sentence or two, you're opening Apple Notes (or Notion) alongside Reminders and managing the link manually. It's the most common reason people look for a Reminders alternative.
BetterKeeper has a dedicated calendar view that shows all your tasks on the days they're due. You can see your whole week, spot overloaded days, and drag tasks around to replan. It's a view Apple Reminders simply doesn't offer.
Reminders has no calendar view. Scheduled reminders appear in the Calendar app's Today summary, but you can't see your upcoming tasks on a calendar inside Reminders itself. Planning your week means manually looking across two apps.
Every task has a built-in timer. Start it when you start working, stop when you're done. Time logs per task roll up to the project — useful for anyone who bills by the hour, wants to improve estimates, or simply wants to know where their time goes.
Apple Reminders has no time tracking whatsoever. It's a reminder and checklist tool. If you want to track how long tasks actually take, you need a separate app entirely.
Which one is right for you?
You've outgrown simple checklists and need a real system — projects with progress tracking, notes attached to your work, a calendar view to plan the week, and time tracking to stay accountable. BetterKeeper is still native, still iCloud-synced, still Apple-first. It's what Reminders would be if Apple built it for serious work.
Your needs are genuinely simple — a grocery list, a few personal reminders, or a shared household checklist. Reminders is free, already on your iPhone, and perfectly good for that use case. No need to pay for more than you need.