Ao

Ao is a free, open-source desktop client for Microsoft To-Do that brings the task-management service out of the browser and into a dedicated, keyboard-friendly Mac window.

What is Ao?

Ao is an unofficial native-feeling desktop wrapper for Microsoft To-Do, built on Electron and maintained as an open-source project on GitHub. Rather than living inside a cluttered browser tab, your to-do lists get their own focused window, their own menu bar, and a tight set of keyboard shortcuts that make wrangling tasks genuinely fast. If you already rely on Microsoft To-Do — perhaps because your workplace runs Microsoft 365 — Ao is the missing app that Microsoft itself never shipped for the Mac.

What does Ao do best?

Ao excels at getting out of your way. The interface inherits Microsoft To-Do's clean card layout but strips every distraction the browser version carries — no pinned tabs, no notification banners from other sites, no accidental navigation away. You stay in the list.

• Global keyboard shortcut to show or hide the window instantly — I keep it on ⌥Space and it never conflicts with Raycast.
• Dark mode that follows macOS system preference, so the window doesn't blast you at midnight.
• Sepia and black themes for when you want something warmer or starker than the default palette.
• Compact mode collapses the sidebar so only your active list fills the window — great on a 13-inch screen.
• Auto-launch at login and a menu-bar icon so your tasks are one click away, always.

The keyboard shortcut coverage is genuinely thoughtful. New task, new list, jump to My Day, mark complete, toggle sidebar — none of these require the mouse. After a week of muscle memory it feels closer to a text editor than a to-do app, which is exactly the right direction.

Is Ao free?

Yes — Ao is completely free to download and use. The source code is published under the MIT licence on GitHub, so there are no subscriptions, no upsell tiers, and no telemetry you haven't opted into. The only account you need is a Microsoft account to sign in to To-Do itself; Ao is just the shell around it. You can install it via Homebrew Cask (brew install --cask ao) or grab a release build directly from the GitHub releases page.

Who should use Ao?

Ao is the right choice if you are already invested in the Microsoft To-Do ecosystem and find yourself spending any meaningful time in a browser tab to manage your tasks. That description covers a lot of people: anyone on a Microsoft 365 team, anyone whose tasks sync with Outlook, or anyone who migrated from Wunderlist when Microsoft absorbed it years ago.

If you are still shopping for a task manager, Ao is not the place to start — the app is only as good as the service underneath it. For that decision, the real comparison is between Microsoft To-Do, Things 3, OmniFocus, and Todoist. Things 3 wins on native feel and one-time pricing; OmniFocus wins on power-user depth; Todoist wins on cross-platform reach. Microsoft To-Do wins on price (free) and Outlook integration. If To-Do has already won that argument for you, Ao makes it dramatically more pleasant on the Mac.

What are the best Ao alternatives?

The closest direct alternative is simply the Microsoft To-Do web app in a pinned Safari tab — functional but graceless. Beyond that, the honest alternatives are native task managers that do not depend on the Microsoft cloud:

• Things 3 — the gold standard for Mac-native task management. One-time purchase, no subscription, deeply integrated with Shortcuts and Focus modes. No Microsoft sync.
• OmniFocus 4 — for GTD practitioners who need project hierarchies, custom perspectives, and AppleScript hooks. Expensive, but it earns it.
• Todoist — strong cross-platform story (Windows, Android, web) with a generous free tier. If you need tasks on every device including non-Apple hardware, this beats To-Do for most people.
• Reminders — Apple's built-in app improved dramatically in recent macOS releases and now handles tags, smart lists, and grocery-style sections. Free, zero setup, Siri-native. Underrated.

None of these replace Ao if your workflow is tied to Microsoft To-Do specifically. They are alternatives to the underlying service, not to Ao itself.

How actively is Ao maintained?

Ao is an open-source community project, not a commercially backed product. Development activity has been intermittent — the core feature set is stable and the app works well, but do not expect rapid iteration or a dedicated support channel. For most users this is fine: Electron apps of this type tend to keep working across macOS releases as long as the underlying web API doesn't change. If the project ever goes fully dormant, the Microsoft To-Do web app remains your fallback and you lose nothing except the desktop polish Ao provides.