Searching for a free to do list chrome extension gets annoying fast because “free” can mean two very different things. In one app, free means you can keep using the tool without planning around an upgrade. In another, free means you can capture tasks, then run into the paywall when you need reminders, labels, calendar view, filters, or more than a handful of projects.
For most people trying to avoid another subscription in 2026, the cleanest choices are Microsoft To Do and Google Tasks, especially when Google Tasks is used through TasksBoard for a better Chrome experience. Todoist and TickTick are still good apps, but their free tiers are strategically limited. That does not make them bad products. It does mean they should be installed with a clear idea of where the free plan stops.
Quick Verdict
Install Microsoft To Do if you want the strongest no-upgrade option. It is free with a Microsoft account, has no paid personal tier, and covers the everyday work most people actually need: lists, due dates, reminders, recurring tasks, subtasks, shared lists, and sync across devices. That is the rare free plan that does not feel like a demo.
Use Google Tasks with TasksBoard if your work already lives in Gmail and Google Calendar. The important caveat is that TasksBoard is a third-party Chrome extension and web app built around Google Tasks, not an official Google-made Chrome extension. Google Tasks itself is free with a Google account and syncs with Google Calendar, but TasksBoard is what gives many users the fuller board-style browser experience.[1]
Choose TickTick free if you want a more polished third-party app and its limits do not touch your workflow. It is more generous than Todoist free because it includes tags, filters, calendar view, and a limited Pomodoro timer, but heavier users run into Premium around list limits and habit tracking.[2]
Treat Todoist free as a capable entry point, not the best long-term free pick. The Chrome extension is strong, and the public signal is real: Todoist’s Chrome Web Store listing showed a 4.7 out of 5 rating with more than 51,300 ratings as of May 2026.[3] But the free tier is capped at 5 active projects and excludes reminders, filters, labels, and calendar view, with Pro priced at about $4 to $7 per month in 2026 comparisons.[4]
Where the Free Plan Actually Stops
| Extension or setup | Price in 2026 | Chrome usefulness | Reminders | Lists or projects | Calendar view | Labels, tags, or filters | Best ecosystem fit | When payment becomes necessary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft To Do | Free with a Microsoft account; no paid personal tier cited in the provided comparison material | Works well for browser-first users through Microsoft’s web app and account sync; Chrome extension availability may depend on the extension used | Included | Multiple lists for everyday personal use | Useful through Microsoft account integrations rather than a standalone task-app calendar view | Organized mainly through lists, steps, due dates, and account-level task features | Outlook, Microsoft 365, Teams, Planner-oriented work | Usually not necessary for personal task management |
| Google Tasks via TasksBoard | Google Tasks is free with a Google account; TasksBoard adds a third-party Chrome/web layer | Good if you want Google Tasks in a more usable browser board | Supported through Google Tasks and Google Calendar behavior | Task lists connected to the Google account | Strongest when paired with Google Calendar | More limited than full third-party task managers | Gmail and Google Calendar | Payment may matter if the third-party TasksBoard features you rely on move beyond its free offering |
| Todoist | Free tier plus Pro at about $4 to $7 per month | Very strong Chrome extension with Quick Add, Gmail integration, and natural language input | Not included in free | 5 active projects on free | Not included in free | Labels and filters not included in free | Cross-platform users who may later pay | When you need reminders, labels, filters, calendar view, or more than 5 active projects |
| TickTick | Free tier plus Premium at about $2.79 to $3.99 per month | Strong third-party task manager experience | Available on free according to the provided comparison direction | Free tier is useful but restricted by list limits | Included on free | Tags and filters included on free | Cross-platform users who want more structure than Google or Microsoft’s basic task tools | When list limits, habit tracking, or heavier planning needs become important |
| Any.do | Free tier with paid plans for more integrations and customization | Useful for light daily planning | Basic planning support | Enough for casual use | Less central than Google Calendar-first or full task-manager options | Customization is limited on free | Casual planners who like a guided daily routine | When integrations and customization become part of the workflow |
The table is the part worth lingering on. A Chrome extension can be beautifully rated and still be the wrong free choice if it withholds the one feature that keeps your system from falling apart. For a student, that might be reminders for deadlines. For a freelancer, it might be labels or filters across clients. For an office worker living in Gmail, it might be turning messages into tasks without rebuilding the task somewhere else.
Microsoft To Do Is the Best No-Upgrade Choice
Microsoft To Do is not the flashiest answer, which is part of why it is easy to underestimate. Its advantage is simpler: the personal task app is free, tied to a Microsoft account, and not built around a paid personal tier. For people using school or work machines where installing software is restricted, that account-level continuity matters more than a clever interface.
It is a practical fit for Outlook-heavy users, Microsoft 365 users, and anyone who wants lists that follow them from a browser to a phone without having to remember which features are premium. A shared family list, a coursework list, a recurring bill reminder, and a simple “today” plan are all ordinary uses rather than upgrade triggers.
The tradeoff is that Microsoft To Do is less appealing if you want a power-user task database with elaborate tags, saved filters, and a polished Chrome extension workflow built around web clipping. It is better understood as a durable free task manager than as a productivity playground. For the reader who just wants the system to keep working after the first week, that is a good bargain.
Google Tasks Works Best When Gmail and Calendar Already Run Your Day
Google Tasks has the same kind of boring strength as Microsoft To Do, but with a different home base. It is free with a Google account and syncs directly with Google Calendar.[1] That makes it a natural fit for people whose real task flow starts in Gmail, class schedules, shared calendars, or meeting-driven workdays.
The Chrome-extension part needs care. When people talk about a better Google Tasks browser setup, they often mean TasksBoard, which gives Google Tasks a fuller board-style experience. That is useful, but it is not the same as Google shipping an official standalone Chrome extension for a full task manager. If you install it, you are choosing a third-party layer around Google Tasks.
That distinction matters for trust and longevity. Google Tasks itself has the advantage of living inside the Google account many people already depend on. TasksBoard can make it more comfortable to use in Chrome, but anyone trying to stay strictly inside first-party tools should understand what is Google and what is added by the extension.
Todoist Free Is Useful, Then Suddenly Too Small
Todoist has one of the best Chrome extension experiences in this group. The official extension supports Quick Add, adding websites as tasks, Gmail-related task capture, and natural language input, according to its Chrome Web Store listing.[3] If the only question were “Which extension feels the most polished?”, Todoist would be much harder to argue against.
The free-plan problem is not polish. It is timing. A new user can set up a few projects, capture tasks quickly, and feel settled. Then the missing pieces appear: no reminders, no filters, no labels, no calendar view, and only 5 active projects on the free tier.[4] Those are not decorative extras for many users. They are the features that keep a school term, a client load, or a job search from becoming one long miscellaneous list.
A Chrome Web Store rating is still useful evidence that many people like the extension. It is not evidence that the free tier is enough. Todoist free is a reasonable choice if your task life is intentionally small or if you already expect to pay for Pro. It is a poor choice for someone trying to avoid subscriptions and relying on reminders or labels from the start.
TickTick Free Gives More Room, With Different Walls
TickTick free deserves a more generous reading than Todoist free because the included feature mix is better for structured planning. In the provided 2026 comparisons, TickTick free includes filters, tags, calendar view, and a limited Pomodoro timer, while Premium is priced around $2.79 to $3.99 per month.[2] For a user who wants a third-party task app but cannot pay right now, that is a real difference.
The limits show up when the task system expands. TickTick pushes heavier users toward Premium through restrictions around lists and habit tracking.[2] That may not matter to someone managing errands, assignments, and a light work list. It can matter quickly for a freelancer separating clients, a student separating courses and extracurricular work, or anyone using habits as part of the same planning system.
The clean way to judge TickTick is to count your real containers before installing. If you only need a few lists and you care about tags, filters, and calendar view, TickTick free may be the best third-party option here. If you already know you will build a large, separated system, the free tier is probably a waiting room for Premium.
Any.do Is Fine for Light Daily Planning
Any.do is easiest to recommend to people who want a light daily planning routine rather than a full task architecture. Its free plan includes the “Plan My Day” style of guided daily organization, but integrations and customization are limited in the free version according to the provided 2026 research brief.
That makes it less central for someone specifically searching for the best free Chrome task setup. If your main need is deciding what to do today, it can work. If your main need is a durable free system across classes, projects, clients, labels, and calendar planning, Microsoft To Do, Google Tasks with TasksBoard, or TickTick free give you a clearer reason to install.
Why This Matters More in Chrome
Chrome is where a lot of task capture happens because it is where the work already is. DemandSage reported Chrome at 73.22% global browser share and more than 111,933 extensions in its 2026 Chrome data.[5] That size makes the Chrome Web Store useful, but also noisy. A popular productivity extension can be popular because the capture flow is excellent, because the paid version is excellent, or because the brand is familiar. None of those automatically answers whether the free plan can carry a real week of work.
Broad productivity-extension roundups are helpful for discovery, and 2026 testing roundups from sites such as WorkOrbit and Nexasphere point to a crowded market for Chrome productivity tools.[6][7] But the install decision for a budget-conscious user is narrower. The decisive question is whether the free tier includes the features that prevent missed deadlines and messy lists.
Which One Should You Install?
If you use a Microsoft account for school, work, or personal email, start with Microsoft To Do. It is the strongest free recommendation because the basic promise is clean: you are not arranging your task system around a personal Pro tier.
If Gmail and Google Calendar are already the center of your day, use Google Tasks and consider TasksBoard when you want a better Chrome-based view. Just keep the product boundary straight: Google Tasks is the underlying free Google tool; TasksBoard is the third-party enhancement around it.
If you want a polished independent app and can live within its free caps, TickTick is the more forgiving third-party choice. Its free plan keeps enough organizing features available that a careful user can make it work.
Install Todoist free only if your setup is small or you are comfortable treating it as the front door to Pro. The extension is good. The free tier is where the caution belongs.
Pricing and feature gates should be rechecked before installing or publishing a final recommendation, especially because app plans can change quietly. As of Q2 2026, the practical answer is still to choose by the first limit likely to matter: reminders and no-upgrade use point to Microsoft To Do, Google-centered work points to Google Tasks with TasksBoard, tags and filters in a capped third-party app point to TickTick, and Todoist free fits only when its missing reminders, labels, filters, calendar view, and project limit will not get in your way.
References
- Google Tasks vs Microsoft To Do, TasksBoard.
- TickTick vs Todoist, Morgen.
- Todoist for Chrome, Chrome Web Store, May 2026.
- Todoist vs Microsoft To Do, Morgen.
- How Many People Use Google Chrome (Updated 2026 Data), DemandSage, 2026.
- 53 Chrome Extensions for Productivity, Tested: 15 Won (2026), WorkOrbit, 2026.
- 10 Best To-Do List Chrome Extensions in 2026 (We Tested Them All), Nexasphere.io, 2026.