Big 3 daily planner for Mac What would make today a win?
Keep your tasks in Things, TickTick, Todoist or Linear. Plan the day on one page.
Compass is a daily planner for Mac. Each morning it opens on a clean page with your calendar and three empty lines. Below them is a short list of what's due, dated or left over in those apps. Pick three. What you finish syncs back.
macOS 15 or later · Free during alpha · No credit card
or get updates by email
Your Today list is not a plan.
Task apps let you put anything on today, so you do. The three tasks that mattered end up somewhere in the middle. Compass leaves your tasks in those apps and adds one page a day, with room for three.
The Planner: your day on one screen
Big 3 and Other sit on top, Inbox and every pillar below. Drag a task up to plan it, for today or any day ahead. You plan by hand here, with or without Finn.
What is Compass?
Compass for Mac is a Big 3 daily planner that works on top of Things 3, TickTick, Todoist and Linear. Your tasks stay in those apps. Each morning Compass opens on one page with three lines for your Big 3, the three tasks that would make today a win, and a short list of what's due, dated or left over. What you change syncs back. The Planner shows the whole day on one screen. Finn, the AI assistant, is optional: it proposes a Big 3 with a reason for each pick, and once a week it asks about the tasks you keep skipping. Compass needs macOS 15 or later and is free during alpha.
How a day goes
Today opens on a clean page. Drag, star or type three tasks onto the lines.
The rest goes in Other. Aim for six. Evening holds what can wait until tonight. A finished Big 3 task frees its line.
Unfinished tasks come back as suggestions. Tasks whose day passed wait in one list: give each a new day, move it to Someday, or let it go.
What else is in Compass
Pillars and goals
Pillars are the parts of your life you plan for, like work, health and family. Give each a share of your week. In the Planner, a row of dots shows how each one is doing. Goals sit in a panel on the right. A task that serves a goal carries a small ◎.
Notes that format as you type
Notes format as you type: headings, lists, checkboxes and links you can click. The text underneath stays plain, so your other apps get the same words. Drop a file into a note. On a TickTick or Linear task, it attaches there too.
Finn, if you want it
Turn Finn on and it reads your apps and calendar each morning. It proposes a Big 3 with a reason for each pick: “Andrew asked yesterday. It blocks the release.” Once a week it goes through the tasks you keep skipping and asks: is this still you? On days with nothing to say, it stays quiet. Turn it off and everything else works the same.
Works with Things, TickTick, Todoist and Linear
Sync is two-way. Finish a task in Compass and it's done in TickTick too.
Your tasks stay in the apps you already use.
How Compass treats your data
- Two-way sync with TickTick, Todoist and Linear. Things 3 gets titles, notes, ticks and deadlines through Things itself, while it's open. Compass never writes to the Things database.
- Compass sends only what you changed. A newer edit you made on your phone is never overwritten.
- If a change can't be saved, Compass names the task and offers Try again. Finn only says a change is done when it happened.
- Google Calendar is read-only. Compass never edits your events.
- Your tasks live on your Mac and sync to your Compass account. Usage and crash reports never include what you write, and one switch turns them off: Settings ▸ Account ▸ Privacy.
The Method
Ideas behind the product
The Daily Big 3: Pick Three Tasks Each Morning
What the Daily Big 3 is, why three works, and how to pick your three in two minutes each morning.
The Boundaries Problem
Stale tasks stay on your list because each one belongs to someone you once meant to become.
The Freedom Trap
Why independence often creates less freedom than the job you left.
That task has been sitting there for 4 months.
You've never touched it. You keep it because letting it go feels like giving up. In Compass, a task whose day has passed waits for your answer: give it a new day, move it to Someday, or let it go.
or get updates by email
From the founders
Alex Tinyaev
Co-FounderBuilt Compass after he went independent and drowned in admin. He wrote about it in The Freedom Trap.
Andrew Kozey
Co-FounderAn engineer who designs. He is building the planner he wanted when he went solo.
Questions
Is Compass another task manager?
No. Compass is a daily planner that sits on top of the task managers you already use: Things 3, TickTick, Todoist and Linear. Your tasks stay where they are. Compass gives you one page to plan the day and syncs your changes back.
Which apps does Compass integrate with?
Things 3, TickTick, Todoist, Linear and Google Calendar. Sync is two-way for TickTick, Todoist and Linear. Things 3 gets titles, notes, ticks and deadlines through Things' own automation, while Things is open. Google Calendar is read-only.
What is the Big 3?
Each morning you choose the three tasks that would make today a win, and you do those first. Three fits what working memory can hold. Compass gives you three lines and a short list to pick from. With Finn on, Finn proposes three and says why. More in The Daily Big 3.
Do I have to use the AI?
No. Finn, the assistant, is optional. Turn it off in Settings and you still have Today, the Planner and your synced tasks. You can turn it back on any time.
How much does Compass cost?
Compass is free during alpha, with no credit card required. Pricing will be announced before general availability.
Is my data private?
Your tasks live on your Mac and sync to your Compass account, on servers in the EU. Usage and crash reports never include what you write, and you can turn them off in Settings ▸ Account ▸ Privacy. With Finn on, your tasks go to Anthropic or OpenAI to write its answers. Turn Finn off and they don't. Privacy policy.
What platforms does Compass run on?
Compass is a native Mac app for macOS 15 or later. iPhone, iPad and Windows versions are not available yet.
How is Compass different from Motion or Sunsama?
Motion fills your calendar for you. Sunsama walks you through a timeboxed plan and has no built-in TickTick or Things integration. Compass gives you one page with three lines, fed by the apps you already use, and syncs back to them.
Join the alpha
Free during alpha. Download it, connect your apps, and open it tomorrow morning.
macOS 15 or later · Free during alpha · No credit card