When comparing Omnifocus 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 is ranked 63rd. 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
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Pros
Pro Defer date
Omnifocus allows users to setup the "defer date" which can be treated as "start date". Tasks will not be marked as available until that date, which should help to focus on the "available" task only.
Pro Forecast summary
The forecast summary shows a quick digest of the tasks you have for the day. You can select any day to quickly see what tasks you have planned that day. For extra functionality you can connect with the iPhone’s Calender app, which allows you to also see any other events you have planned that day.
Pro See an overview of all tasks via "Perspective"
The Perspective section allows you to see an overview of the tasks you have set. It also allows you to set contexts or see things you have flagged.
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 and happen to be near something you need to do.
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 Mac and iOS only
Omnifocus doesn’t work on non-Apple platforms.
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.