When comparing OmniFocus 2 vs Task Coach, the Slant community recommends Task Coach for most people. In the question“What are the best cross-platform task apps?” Task Coach is ranked 22nd while OmniFocus 2 is ranked 36th. The most important reason people chose Task Coach is:
With access to the source code, savvy users can make under-the-hood tweaks to suit their work style.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Organize tasks into projects
OmniFocus 2 allows you to organize tasks into Projects, allowing you to keep your tasks organized in the best way to stay efficient for that project. Each task also features summary dots. For example, red means the task is overdue and orange means its due soon. There is also a range of other dots that can be specific to projects.
Pro Forecast summary
The Forecast Summary shows a quick glance of the tasks you have that day. You can tap on any day to quickly see what tasks you have planned that day. For extra functionality you can connect the iPhones Calender app, which allows you to also see any other events you have planned that day.
Pro Excellent full stack support from phone, to tablet, to Mac
With very good synchronisation.
Pro See an overall view of tasks via "Perspective"
The Perspective section allows you to see an overall view of the tasks you have set. It also allows you to set contexts or see things you have flagged.
Pro Superbly customisable via Perspectives
Pro Picks up reminders added via Siri
Pro Best support for GTD in the marketplace
This really supports the implementation of David Allen's Getting Things Done
Pro Nearby and context-sensitive tasks
OmniFocus 2 allows you to set up contexts for tasks in certain areas. This makes sure you never miss a task when you're out running errands or happen to be near something you need to do. Just set contexts around places you frequent or set as a specific task.
Pro Client side encryption
Pro Apple Watch integration
You can send lists from your iPhone, and get notifications on your watch each morning with any tasks you have set for that day.
Pro Free and open source
With access to the source code, savvy users can make under-the-hood tweaks to suit their work style.
Pro Unlimited nesting of items and lists
When things grow in complexity, their parts can be turned into discrete task items within a hierarchical structure.
Pro Tracks hours and budget
Task Coach allows you to track how long it actually takes to complete a task and can be used to analyze the resulting impact on billing and budget.
Pro Tracks percent finished
Cons
Con Very expensive
$40 for a to-do-list app is a bit much, even with all the other features it offers.
Con Limited to Apple devices
Must be used as a native Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch app. There's no cross-compatibility with Windows, Android, or web.
Con Only one context (tag or label)
This won't stay a con for long. With the pending version (Omnifocus 3) to be launched in 2018, Contexts are being replaced by Tags. Yes, finally...you can have as many contexts as you like for a particular action.
Con Slow sync in Europe
Con No updated package for recent linux distros
deb package available to download does not install app
Con Multiple users can access a file over a network, but there’s no web-based interface for straightforward collaboration
A task file may be opened by several instances of Task Coach, either running on the same computer or on different ones (on a network share for instance). When you save, Task Coach will merge your work with whatever has been saved on the disk prior. Conflicts are automatically resolved, usually by you winning the conflict.
This serves two use cases: 1) A single user opening the task file on several computers (work, home, laptop) and 2) several users working on the same task file.
The first case is the most common and the most secure. The second case may be dangerous. Most network disk sharing protocols do not support the kind of file locking that would make this 100% secure. A list of common protocols and their behavior can be found in the Task Coach help file.