Outgrowing Google Tasks

When a Task List Stops Being Enough

Google Tasks is a good list. The trouble starts when the work belongs to more than one person, depends on other work, or has to be reported on.

Orangescrum Pro Unlimited$69/month flatUnlimited users

Google Tasks None, included with a Google Workspace seatNo separate pricenot sold separately, licensed as part of a Google Workspace seat

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14 day trial. No credit card. Cloud or self-hosted.

The short answer

Google Tasks is free, instant, and already sitting in your inbox and calendar. For one person keeping track of their own week it is hard to beat and we would not try to talk you out of it. It starts to strain the moment work has to be handed to someone else, waits on something else finishing, or has to be reported to a client or a manager. There is no assignee, no dependency, no view across projects, and nothing to report from. If that is where you are, Orangescrum gives you shared projects, owners, dates that other people can see, and reporting, at a flat $69 a month with unlimited users. If you are one person with a list and nobody is waiting on you, stay on Google Tasks. You do not need us yet.

When Google Tasks is the better choice

We would rather you find this out here than three weeks into a trial.

You are one person with a listGoogle Tasks is free, opens instantly, and needs no setup at all. If the only person who needs to see your tasks is you, a project tool is overhead you are paying for in attention rather than money.
Your tasks come out of email and calendarTasks lives inside Gmail and Google Calendar. Turning an email into a task without leaving the tab is a genuinely good loop and we do not sit in your inbox. If that is how your day works, that alone is a strong reason to stay.
You want nothing to learnThere is no admin, no onboarding, no configuration, and nothing to get wrong. Every project tool including ours asks for some setup before it pays you back. Google Tasks asks for none.
You already pay for Google WorkspaceIf you have a Workspace seat, Tasks is included at no extra cost. Adding a second subscription to keep a personal checklist is not a sensible trade, and we would rather you spent the money when the work actually needs it.

The signs a list has stopped being enough

More than one person is involved

The moment work has to be given to somebody, a list needs an owner column. Google Tasks has no assignee, so handovers happen in chat and get lost there.

Work waits on other work

If the design has to be signed off before the build starts, that is a dependency. Orangescrum draws it, warns you when the first date moves, and shows what slips.

Somebody asks how it is going

A client, a manager, or a board wants a status. A checklist cannot answer that. Reports, dashboards, and burndown come from the work itself rather than from a Friday afternoon of writing an update.

You need to know where the time went

Time tracking, timesheets, and cost sit against the same tasks, so effort and budget come out of the work instead of being reconstructed later.

You need to see everything, not just today

Boards, a Gantt chart with critical path, a calendar, and a workload view across every project. A list shows you one line at a time.

The work needs a record

Comments, attachments, and history stay on the task, so six months later you can see what was decided and who decided it rather than searching a chat thread.

Orangescrum compared with Google Tasks

Google Tasks figures were read from their pricing page on 2026-08-03. Prices change, so check before you decide.
	Orangescrum	Google Tasks
Personal to-do list	Yes	Yes
Due dates and reminders	Yes	Yes
Subtasks	Yes	Yes
Works inside Gmail and Google CalendarTasks is built into Google's own apps and we are not	No	Yes
Assign a task to another person	Yes	No
Shared projects with a team	Yes	No
Dependencies between tasks	Yes	No
Kanban board	Yes	No
Gantt chart with critical path	Yes	No
Comments and attachments on a task	Yes	No
Time tracking and timesheets	Yes	No
Reports and dashboards	Yes	No
Sprints, backlogs, story points	Yes	No
PriceIncluded with a Google Workspace seat and free with a personal Google Account	$69 per month, flat, unlimited users	Not sold separately
Free plan	1 project, 1 user	Free with a personal Google Account
Self-hosted edition	Yes	No

What it costs as the team grows

Google does not sell Tasks on its own, so there is no per-seat price to put beside ours. It is a core service included with a Google Workspace seat and free with a personal Google Account. Quoting a Workspace price here would be wrong, because that seat buys Gmail, Drive, Meet, and everything else, not Tasks. The honest version is this: Google Tasks costs you nothing extra, and Orangescrum Pro Unlimited is $69 a month for the whole team however many people are in it. What you are deciding is not price against price, it is whether a shared list is now costing you more in chasing than $69 a month.

Bringing your lists across

This is the easiest migration we do, because a task list is a small amount of data. Most teams are working the same afternoon, and there is no charge for the help.

Decide what is actually a projectMost Tasks lists are a mix of real projects and personal errands. We help you split them, and the errands are usually better left where they are.
Export your listsYour tasks come out of Google Takeout. Send us the file, or copy the lists in by hand if there are only a few, which is often quicker.
We set up the projectsLists become projects, tasks become tasks, and due dates carry over. We add owners and statuses with you so the board reflects how your team actually works.
Invite everyoneEvery plan has unlimited users, so there is no reason to leave anyone out. Keep Google Tasks for your own personal list if you like it there, plenty of people do.

Google Tasks and Orangescrum <em>FAQ</em>

When should I move off Google Tasks?

Three triggers, and one of them is usually enough. More than one person needs to see or own the work. The work has dependencies or dates that matter to somebody else. Or somebody has started asking for a status report. Until one of those is true, a list is fine and cheaper.

How much does Google Tasks cost?

Nothing on its own, because Google does not sell it on its own. It is free with a personal Google Account and included as a core service with a Google Workspace seat. Any per-seat figure you see belongs to the Workspace plan, not to Tasks.

What does Google Tasks do better than Orangescrum?

It is free, it opens instantly, it needs no setup, and it lives inside Gmail and Google Calendar where a lot of work actually arrives. For a single person tracking their own week, that combination is better than anything we offer.

Can I move my Google Tasks into Orangescrum?

Yes. Export your tasks through Google Takeout and send us the file, and our team maps lists to projects and brings the tasks and due dates across at no charge. If you only have a few lists, copying them in by hand is often faster than any import.

Can I keep using Google Tasks alongside Orangescrum?

Yes, and many people do. Team work and anything with an owner or a deadline someone else depends on lives in Orangescrum. Your own personal reminders can stay in Tasks. The two are not in competition for the same job.

Is Orangescrum too complicated for a small team?

It does not have to be. Start with one project, a board, and owners, and nothing else. Sprints, Gantt, time tracking, and reporting are there when you need them and stay out of the way until then.

Is there a free version of Orangescrum?

Two. A free forever cloud plan for one project and one user, and the Community Edition, which is free and open source under AGPL with no limit on users or projects. If you want to try a shared project without paying, the Community Edition is the honest route.

How many people can use Orangescrum?

As many as you like. Every plan has unlimited users, including the $29 Basic plan, so the price does not change when the team grows or when you add a client to a project.

Try it when the list stops holding

Free 14 day trial, no credit card. Every plan includes unlimited users, so bring the whole team.

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