A GTD app for Windows
Two of the best-known GTD apps, OmniFocus and Things, have no Windows app. Microsoft To Do is free on Windows, but it is a list app, with GTD left for you to build on top. Relay is a full Getting Things Done system with a native Windows app, in the Microsoft Store.
What a GTD app on a Windows PC has to get right
- Capture from whatever you are working in
- Most of what you need to remember turns up while you are in another app: an email, a call, a document. If capturing it means finding a window and then the right list, you will keep it in your head instead.
- Files and email as ways in
- On a computer, a lot of what needs doing arrives as a file or an email. Both should reach the Inbox without retyping.
- Room for the weekly review
- The weekly review is easiest at a desk, with time and a big screen. The app should take you through it step by step, with your projects, calendar and lists in front of you.
- The same system on your phone
- Your PC is one device among several. What you capture on it has to be waiting on your phone, and the other way round.
Relay on Windows
Relay for Windows is in the Microsoft Store.
- Capture from any app. Ctrl+Alt+N opens a capture box over whatever you are working in. Type, press Enter, and it closes again. The item waits in your Inbox.
- Ready in the system tray. Closing the window hides Relay to the tray, so the shortcut keeps working. You can also have it start when you sign in to Windows. That setting is off until you turn it on.
- Files straight into the Inbox. Pick a watch folder, and new files saved into it land in the Inbox within about eight seconds. Dragging a file onto the Relay window does the same.
- Email to Inbox. Forward an email to your own private Relay address and it arrives as an Inbox item.
- Lists in their own window. Any list, Engage or a review can open in a small window of its own, so you can park Next Actions beside the work it is about.
- Outlook and Microsoft To Do. Outlook Calendar events show in Engage beside your next actions. Tasks from the To Do lists you pick arrive in the Inbox, and ticking one off in Relay ticks it off in To Do.
- Reminders as Windows notifications. Reminders to process the Inbox and to do the daily and weekly reviews arrive as Windows notifications.
- The full system. Clarifying, contexts with energy and time, projects, horizons, and the guided daily and weekly reviews, the same as on every other device.
- Sign in with Google or Microsoft. Either works in the Windows app, in a browser and in the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android apps. If you created your Relay account with Apple, it works in a browser on Windows but not in the Windows app.
- Everywhere else too. Sign in with Google or Microsoft and the same account runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android, and in any browser, and your lists stay in step across all of them.
If you would rather not install anything, the web app at app.relaygtd.com runs in any browser, and Edge or Chrome can install it as an app with its own window. A browser cannot hold a shortcut across all your apps, keep a tray icon or watch a folder, so those come with the Windows app only.
Other GTD apps on Windows
We make Relay, so read this section with that in mind. These are the other apps people most often consider on Windows, and what each is good at.
| App | On Windows | Good for | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft To Do | Free app in the Microsoft Store | Lists, tasks and reminders, a My Day list, and email you flag in Outlook showing up as tasks. | A list app, with GTD left for you to build. Relay can pull tasks in from the To Do lists you pick. |
| Todoist | Windows app | Fast, polished lists on every platform. On Windows, Ctrl+Space opens Quick Add while the app is minimised, and you can change its shortcuts. | No start dates that hide a task until its day. Free plan, and a paid Pro plan. Moving from Todoist. |
| TickTick | Windows app | Lists with a calendar, habits and a Pomodoro timer. On Windows, Alt+Shift+A captures from any app, and there are desktop widgets and sticky notes. | Tags and smart filters can carry contexts, and the GTD lists are yours to set up. Free plan, Premium US$49.99 a year. |
| Nirvana | Available for Windows | A GTD app with contexts, and filters for the time and energy you have. Also on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and the web. | A free plan with up to 5 projects and 2 areas, then Pro at $36 a year. Moving from Nirvana. |
| Everdo | Desktop app for Windows, Mac and Linux | GTD that works fully offline with no account, with contexts, sequential projects, and filters for time and energy. | Pro is a one-time $99.99. Sync over your local network is included; encrypted online sync costs extra. |
| FacileThings | In the browser | Being guided through GTD, with a weekly review, a mind sweep, and goals and areas of focus. | Apps for iPhone and Android. $12 a month, or $7 a month on a year's plan. |
OmniFocus and Things are not on the list because neither has a Windows app. Things runs on Apple devices only. OmniFocus has a web version, which comes with an OmniFocus subscription or as a paid add-on for people who bought a licence, and Omni lists Review among the features it does not support yet. Omni says it has no plans for a Windows version. If you are coming from one of them, see OmniFocus for Windows and Android or Things for Windows and Android.
Where the others are stronger
- Free to start
- Microsoft To Do is free, and Todoist, TickTick, Nirvana and Everdo all have free plans. Relay has no free plan: after a 30-day trial it is €8 a month, or €5 a month billed yearly.
- Paying once, with your data on your own PC
- Everdo works fully offline with no account, and Pro is bought once. Relay keeps your system online so every device stays in step, and it is a subscription.
- Outlook flags as tasks
- If your email is with Microsoft and you flag messages in Outlook to remember them, To Do turns those flags into tasks. In Relay you forward the email to your Relay address instead.
- Shortcuts and desktop extras
- Todoist lets you change its global shortcuts, and TickTick on Windows adds desktop widgets and sticky notes. Relay's capture shortcut is fixed at Ctrl+Alt+N.
- Track record
- Relay is a young app, released in 2026.
If plain lists are enough, Microsoft To Do is free and works with your Outlook flags. If you want your data on your own machines and a one-time price, Everdo suits you better. If you want a calendar, habits and a focus timer in the same app as your tasks, look at TickTick. Relay is for running the whole method, reviews included, on a Windows PC and every other device you use.
Sources
Checked against each app's own site on 8 October 2026: Microsoft To Do platforms, Microsoft To Do in the Microsoft Store, To Do and flagged Outlook email, Todoist downloads, Todoist keyboard shortcuts, Todoist on start dates, Todoist pricing, TickTick for Windows, TickTick features, TickTick pricing, Nirvana, Nirvana apps, Nirvana pricing, Everdo, Everdo pricing, Everdo projects, Everdo tags, Everdo filtering, FacileThings, FacileThings pricing, Omni on Windows and Android versions, OmniFocus pricing, OmniFocus for the Web manual, Things platform support. All product names are trademarks of their owners, none of whom is affiliated with Relay.
Get Relay for Windows
Install it from the Microsoft Store, or start in your browser and add the Windows app later. Sign in with Google and the same account works on every device.
30 days free, no card needed. Start in your browser or install the app.
Relay runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and Windows, and in any browser. To see how it compares with other GTD apps, see Compare GTD apps.