Grumpty vs Apple Reminders
Repeating reminders that actually repeat, and know what a house needs.
Apple Reminders is on every iPhone, it's free, and for a shopping list it's hard to beat. We won't pretend otherwise. But home maintenance isn't a shopping list, and that's where it quietly lets you down.
At a glance
| What | Grumpty | Apple Reminders |
|---|---|---|
| Knows home maintenance | ~100 jobs, sensible frequencies | Generic to-dos, you supply it all |
| Shows the next occurrence | Always, set the moment you finish | Greyed out till you tick the last |
| Lead time before it's due | Baked into every job | Manual per task, none for upkeep |
| Overdue vs upcoming | Sorted into buckets | No overdue-vs-upcoming buckets |
| Reschedules from when you did it | Yes | No, fixed schedule |
| Price | Free | Free |
Where Apple Reminders wins
It's already on your phone, nothing to install, nothing to sign up for. It syncs across your Apple kit, takes a typed or spoken note in seconds, and for one-off and everyday tasks it's genuinely good. If all you want is a nudge on Tuesday, use it.
Where Grumpty wins
Grumpty actually knows home maintenance. It starts you off with around a hundred common jobs at sensible frequencies, including the ones you never knew were jobs. Every job carries its own lead time, so it grumbles while there's still time to book someone, instead of leaving you to set an advance alert on each task yourself. It sorts what's overdue from what can wait. And when you mark a job done, it schedules the next one from the day you actually did it. Free, and it stays free.
So which one?
Keep Apple Reminders for the milk and the dentist. For the gutters, the water heater and the dozen other jobs the house won't remind you about, that's Grumpty's whole job.
Questions people ask
Can Apple Reminders handle recurring home maintenance?
It can repeat a reminder, but it greys out the next one until you complete the current one, and it has no built-in lead time for upkeep. You can set an early alert on a single task by hand, but you'd have to know how far ahead each job needs booking. For something that needs a contractor weeks ahead, that's the gap Grumpty fills.
Is Grumpty free like Apple Reminders?
Yes. The reminders, the starter list and the daily grumble are all free, no card. Apple Reminders is free too; the difference is what each one knows about a house.
Do I need an iPhone to use Grumpty?
No. Grumpty runs in any browser, installs to any phone's home screen, iPhone or Android, and it emails you, so it works wherever you read your email.
Compare with others
Stop keeping the house in your head
Grumpty is a free home-maintenance app: add a job once, it tracks the date, grumbles when it's due, and rolls it forward the moment you mark it done. No card.
Sign up free