Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Courier VS Things

Compare Courier VS Things and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Courier logo Courier

Courier is a notification API built for developers. Design once, and deliver to any channel โ€“ email, Slack, SMS, push, and more โ€“ all through a single API.

Things logo Things

Things is an easy to use task manager.
  • Courier Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-06
  • Things Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-17

Courier features and specs

  • Multi-channel Support
    Courier allows you to send notifications across multiple channels including email, SMS, push notifications, and more, all from a single API.
  • Unified API
    With a single, unified API, developers can manage notifications on various platforms, simplifying the integration process.
  • Customizable Templates
    The platform offers customizable templates for different types of notifications, making it easier to maintain consistent branding and message formatting.
  • Scalability
    Courier is designed to scale with your application, ensuring that your notification system can grow as your user base increases.
  • Developer-Friendly
    Courier provides comprehensive documentation and tools to help developers implement and manage their notification systems efficiently.
  • Analytics and Tracking
    Courier offers analytics and tracking features to monitor the delivery and engagement of notifications, providing insights into user interactions.

Things features and specs

  • User Experience
    Things is known for its clean, intuitive, and beautifully designed user interface, making it easy to use.
  • Integration with Apple Ecosystem
    Seamlessly integrates with macOS and iOS devices, offering features like Handoff and deep Apple Calendar integration.
  • Powerful Task Management
    Supports projects, areas, headings, and tags, providing a robust system for managing complex tasks and workflows.
  • Quick Entry
    Provides a quick entry function allowing users to capture tasks efficiently, which can later be categorized and detailed.
  • Updates and Support
    Regularly updated with new features and enhancements, backed by reliable customer support.
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
    Offers extensive keyboard shortcuts for power users to navigate and manage tasks quickly.
  • Natural Language Processing
    Allows users to input tasks using natural language, which is then intelligently parsed and scheduled.

Possible disadvantages of Things

  • Cost
    Things requires a one-time purchase for each platform (macOS, iOS), making it relatively expensive compared to some subscription-based competitors.
  • Platform Limitation
    Only available on Apple devices (macOS and iOS), making it inaccessible for users on Windows, Android, or other platforms.
  • No Collaboration Features
    Lacks built-in collaboration tools, which can be a drawback for teams looking to share and manage tasks collectively.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While the basic interface is user-friendly, fully utilizing advanced features can require time and a deeper understanding.
  • Limited Automation
    Offers fewer automation options and integrations compared to some competitors like Todoist or Microsoft To Do.

Analysis of Things

Overall verdict

  • Things is widely regarded as an excellent productivity tool, especially for Apple ecosystem users. It combines elegance with functionality, making it a top choice for those who prefer a minimalist but powerful task manager.

Why this product is good

  • Things by Cultured Code is highly acclaimed for its clean, intuitive design and effective task management features. It provides a seamless user experience with its natural language input, powerful integration with macOS and iOS, and features like projects, areas, deadlines, and reminders that help users organize their tasks efficiently. The app is particularly praised for its focus on simplicity and ease of use, which allows users to focus on their tasks without being overwhelmed by features.

Recommended for

    Things is ideal for individuals who are deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem and appreciate a minimalist design approach. It's perfect for users who prefer a straightforward, no-frills task management system that emphasizes ease of use, efficiency, and aesthetic appeal.

Courier videos

The Courier.com Notifications API Demo

Things videos

Brandon's Cult Movie Reviews: THINGS

More videos:

  • Review - Things 3: Full Review (2019)
  • Review - OmniFocus vs. Things 3 review: which is best for you?

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Courier and Things)
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Task Management
0 0%
100% 100
Notifications And Alerting
Project Management
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Courier and Things

Courier Reviews

6 Best Notification Infrastructure for Modern Applications
Courier follows the Design Once Deliver to Many approaches, which makes it possible to design notifications using a single API and deliver them to several channels such as push notifications, direct messages for Slack or Facebook Messenger, SMS, and email. That eliminates the need to integrate APIs for each provider separately.
Source: geekflare.com

Things Reviews

11 Ayanza Alternatives
Things 3 is a multi-award-winning personal task manager that assists you in keeping track of your tasks. The environment of the application is attractive with a fresh new look, delightful integrations, and powerful features. It has been completely effective to boost efficiency with easy to use and is attractive to the eye. The themes are a creative and powerful feature that...
Five of the Best To-Do Apps for iOS
Things 3 is one of the few to-do apps that's not subscription based, and it costs $9.99 to purchase. Things 3 is also available for Mac and iPad, though each app must be purchased individually.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Things seems to be a lot more popular than Courier. While we know about 58 links to Things, we've tracked only 3 mentions of Courier. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Courier mentions (3)

  • The application I used to get into YC as a solo founder and no revenue, AMA
    Background: I'm the solo founder of Courier (courier.com). We build APIs that help developers easily build notifications for their products for any channel - email, SMS, Slack, push, inbox, etc. These days we're ~40 people, Series B, with almost $50M raised from Google Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, Twilio, Slack, and a bunch of amazing angels. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Push Notifications: 3rd Party Service vs Roll Your Own
    Roll your own like me so far, or do you use 3rd-party notification tools like Courier or Knock? Source: over 3 years ago
  • Develop a Cryptocurrency Tracking WebApp with Instant Email Notifications
    Courier is ideal for this kind of application since it makes it simple to integrate notification systems. We will be using the Courier API to send email notifications for now, but it is quite easy to extend it to use SMS or other communication channels. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago

Things mentions (58)

  • We don't need startups, we need Digital-Mittelstand
    Correct: https://culturedcode.com/things/ Looks like the different apps (desktop, mobile, iPad) have different prices, but all are one-time payments of $10-$50. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Essential Software for Mac Users: Three Recommended Efficient Tools
    Things 3is an award-winning task management application known for its clean, elegant interface and intuitive usability. It employs a minimalist design style, allowing users to easily add, organize, and view tasks, helping individuals efficiently manage daily affairs. While Things 3 does not support team collaboration features, it provides a smooth user experience on macOS as a personal task management tool. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Show HN: I built a task manager that separates "Do" & "Due" dates
    How badly do Twos want to SEO rank on searches for Things? https://culturedcode.com/things/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: What macOS apps/programs do you use daily and recommend?
    Alfred - Productivity App for macOS [1] iTerm2 - macOS Terminal Replacement [2] Dropshare App - upload anything anywhere on macOS [3] Mimestream - A native macOS email client for Gmail [4] Things - To-Do List for Mac & iOS [5] [1] https://www.alfredapp.com [2] https://iterm2.com [3] https://dropshare.app [4] https://mimestream.com [5] https://culturedcode.com/things. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Ready to advance from Evernote, looking at Obsidian
    Currently, I use Things (https://culturedcode.com/things/) for tasks and Evernote for notes, and experimented with Freeform (I love the visual aspect and simplicity). At work, I've used Notion, Mural, Miro, LucidChart, Quip, and many other collaboration-based knowledge systems. I never researched the best of personal knowledge systems until now. Source: almost 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Courier and Things, you can also consider the following products

Novu - The ultimate library for managing multi-channel transactional notifications with a single API.

Todoist - Todoist is a to-do list that helps you get organized, at work and in life.

Knock App - Power your product notifications with Segment and Hightouch.

TickTick - TickTickis a cross-platform to-do list app & task manager helps you to get all things done and make life well organized.

SuprSend - Single Notification API for Every Channel (SMS, Slack, Whatsapp, Email, SMS, Push, App Inbox)

Remember The Milk - Remember The Milk is a task and time management application for mobile devices.