Compare · Papertray vs Microsoft To Do

More than lists.
Still just as simple.

Microsoft To Do is a free, friendly list app that fits right into Outlook. Papertray adds what lists alone don't give you: areas and projects, a view of what's coming, and a calendar, shared with whoever you like.

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At a glance.

Feature	Papertray	Microsoft To Do
Price	Free, or Pro at $4 (€4 in the EU) per person per month	Free with a Microsoft account
Share lists and assign to-dos	Yes	Yes: Assign to members of a shared list
Areas, projects and headings	Yes	Partly: Lists and groups of lists
Share a whole area of projects at once	Yes	No
Upcoming, Someday and Logbook	Yes	Partly: My Day, Planned and Completed
Month calendar you can drag to-dos around	Yes	No
Progress rings that count real to-dos	Yes	No
Steps (a checklist) inside a to-do	Yes	Yes
Works with Outlook and flagged email	No	Yes
Works on every device	Yes	Yes

Checked on 4 November 2026 from Microsoft's own pages (sources below). Apps change; if something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.

Why people choose Papertray

What you get with Papertray.

Room for real projects.

Areas hold projects, projects hold headings and to-dos. A kitchen renovation gets its own place, with its own ring.

See what's coming.

Upcoming lists everything with a date, and the Calendar shows the month. Drag a to-do to another day and it moves.

Share the whole thing.

Share an area like Home and everyone sees every project in it, now and later. No list-by-list invites.

In fairness

Where Microsoft To Do is the better choice.

Microsoft To Do is free, with no paid plan.
It is built into Outlook and Microsoft 365: flagged emails become tasks, and tasks show up in Outlook.
It has My Day suggestions for planning the day.
If your day already lives in Outlook, To Do fits right in.

Moving over

Bring your lists with you.

Paste your tasks into Papertray's Settings → Import, one to-do per line, or import a spreadsheet saved as CSV. You will see a preview before anything is added.

Questions.

Is Papertray a good Microsoft To Do alternative for families?

Yes. You can share one project, or a whole area like Home with all its projects, with family members by email or invite link, on any phone or computer, and assign to-dos to each other on Pro.

Does Papertray have a calendar view?

Yes. The Calendar shows the whole month with the day you pick beside it. You can add to-dos on a day with a time and drag them to another day.

Is Papertray free like Microsoft To Do?

Papertray has a free plan with every view, unlimited projects and areas, the calendar and sharing with one other person. Pro, for sharing with up to 5 people and assigning, is $4 (€4 in the EU) per person per month.

Sources: Microsoft To Do · Assign tasks in shared lists (Microsoft Support)

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