Hyperfocus
A free macOS planner that starts from your goals instead of a to-do inbox — you define what you're trying to achieve, and it helps you break that into weekly and daily plans.
🔗 Visit Hyperfocus
Description
Most task managers start from an inbox: you dump in everything you need to do, and the app helps you sort and prioritize it. That works fine for reactive work, but it doesn't naturally connect a Tuesday task back to the actual goal it's supposed to serve. Hyperfocus flips the order: you start by defining a goal, and the app helps you break it down into a weekly plan, then a daily plan, with focused time blocks for the actual work.
An optional AI layer gives feedback on whether a goal is clearly scoped and realistic before you commit to it — useful for catching a goal that's actually three goals, or one that's too vague to plan around. Everything is stored locally on the Mac, works offline, and the core planner is entirely free; the AI feature runs on a 14-day trial and then, if you want to keep using it, you connect your own OpenRouter account and pay the AI provider directly, with no markup from the developer.
💬 Our review
The short version: Hyperfocus is a small, genuinely free, indie-built planner whose goal-first structure is a real philosophical difference from inbox-first tools like Todoist or Things 3, not just a different skin on the same idea.
Things 3 and Todoist are both excellent at capturing and organizing tasks, but neither forces you to connect a task back to a defined goal the way Hyperfocus's connected planning levels do — if you've ever finished a week of "productive" work that didn't actually move anything forward, that's the specific gap this fills. Being macOS-only and built by a single developer is a real constraint: there's no Windows, Linux, or web version, and long-term support depends on one person continuing to maintain it. The pay-as-you-go AI model (no markup on your own OpenRouter usage) is an unusually honest pricing choice worth calling out.
💰 Pricing
📊 Global score
🤖 AI-enriched data
Planificateur de base entièrement gratuit, sans abonnement. Fonctions IA : essai gratuit de 14 jours, puis connexion à son propre compte OpenRouter et paiement direct au fournisseur IA, sans marge prise par le développeur.
Pros
Entièrement gratuit, aucun palier payant caché
Approche objectif-d'abord, différente des outils inbox-d'abord
Stockage local, fonctionne hors-ligne, données sur l'appareil
Tarification IA transparente, sans marge sur l'usage OpenRouter de l'utilisateur
Cons
macOS uniquement, pas de version Windows/Linux/web
Développé par une seule personne, risque de continuité
Pas open source