Tasks · checked 2026-10-19Can I vibecode 3 and Done?
YES· one-shottable
Three tasks a day is a small product: a pile of items, one model call each morning that returns three ids with a sentence of reasoning, and an email. An agent writes that in one sitting on SQLite and nodemailer, with a plain scoring rule as the fallback when the model fails. What you take on yourself is keeping it running: the job must fire every morning, the email must reach your inbox, and the picking prompt needs a few weeks of your own tuning. Voice capture from your phone becomes an iOS Shortcut.
$9.99/moprice
$120you'd save a year
one sittingbuild time
—people replaced it
What you need on hand.
DifficultyIntermediate · Some system setup or keys.
Time2–3 hours; SMTP and keeping it running take the longest
- Claude Code, Codex or CursorAny of them can run the prompt.
- Node.js 22better-sqlite3 compiles a native module, so build tools must be installed.
- SMTP credentialsA transactional email provider's free tier covers one email a day.
- A language modelAn OpenAI-compatible API key, or Ollama if the list should stay on your machine.
- Somewhere it runs every morningA machine that is awake at the pick time, or a $5 VPS.
Before you buildThere is no free plan, but the /try page shows a sample of the idea without signing up, and the trial lasts 14 days (a card is required).
- 1. Install one agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
- 2. Make an empty folder and open it in the agent.
- 3. Paste the prompt below, press enter, and answer its questions as it builds.
The prompt
Build me a daily top-three task app to replace 3 & Done. Requirements: - Node.js 22 + TypeScript: a Fastify server with server-rendered pages (Eta) and a little vanilla JS. `npm start` serves http://127.0.0.1:4880 with a dump box, today's three and the full list. - Storage: better-sqlite3 in ./data/three.db. items (text, title, project, due date, minutes, status open, done or retired, snoozed_until, created_at) and picks (date, item, position, reason, outcome) so history stays. - Dump: one big text box; each pasted line becomes an item. An OpenAI-compatible endpoint (LLM_BASE_URL, LLM_MODEL, LLM_API_KEY in .env; Ollama works) turns it into title, due date, project and minutes as JSON checked with zod, and the raw text is kept if the call fails. `POST /add` with a bearer token takes the same text, so an iOS Shortcut can dictate into it. - Pick: every day at PICK_TIME (default 06:30, node-cron) send all open items with age, due date, times already picked and recent completions to the endpoint, which returns exactly three item ids and a one-sentence reason each. Reject duplicates and unknown ids, retry once, then fall back to overdue first, due soonest, oldest. - Email: nodemailer (SMTP_* in .env) sends the three with their reasons at pick time. Each line carries a signed link (HMAC token, no login) that marks it done, plus a link to the full list. - Control: today's page has Done, "Not today" (snooze one day) and "Swap" (next best item). After the email is sent the three never change on their own. An item picked 5 times without being done is offered for dropping or splitting. - Single user, one password in .env (signed cookie). No accounts, no telemetry, local-first. Outbound calls: SMTP and the endpoint only. - Out of scope: teams, sub-tasks, recurring tasks, a mobile app, calendar sync. - README: SMTP setup, the Shortcuts recipe for POST /add, keeping it running all day (launchd or a small VPS) and a warning that task text goes to the endpoint unless it is a local Ollama.
Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.
Then keep going
Next prompts, same folder.
The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own 3 and Done.
Extend the top-three app in this folder. Requirements: - Every Sunday at 18:00 send an email listing the picks of the week with their outcome (done, skipped, swapped). - Add the items picked three or more times without being done, each with a drop, split or keep link. - Add a one-paragraph summary from the model endpoint, with the numbers computed in code, not by the model. - Update the README.
Make the daily pick in this folder calendar-aware. Requirements: - Read today's events from an .ics URL or a CalDAV calendar set in .env and compute free minutes between 09:00 and 18:00. - Pass free minutes to the model and tell it that the three picks must fit in them using the item minutes; fall back to one pick on days with under 60 free minutes. - Show the free-minutes figure in the email. - Update the README.
Add recurring items to the top-three app in this folder. Requirements: - A dump line such as "pay rent every 1st" becomes a recurring item parsed with `rrule`; show the next date in the list. - When a recurring item is marked done, create the next occurrence instead of closing it for good. - Items due today or earlier get extra weight in the pick prompt and in the fallback ranking. - Update the README.
What you lose
- Hosted delivery: the email arrives even when your own machine is off
- Capture by voice from anywhere; the copy relies on an iOS Shortcut
- The vendor's tuning of what counts as mattering today
- Automatic grouping of items into projects and resurfacing of old ones
- The team option
Why people still pay
The pitch is no upkeep: nothing to host, no list to groom and no prompt to repair when the picks drift. People who have abandoned several task apps pay $9.99 so the choosing happens for them, and the email arrives whether they opened the app or not.
3 and Done or your own copy?
Over
Your usage
3h ×$/h
3 and Done, 1 yr$120
Your own copy, 1 yr$40running + build session
You keep$80pays for itself in the first month
Estimate · One model call a day costs cents, or nothing with Ollama; SMTP at one email a day fits free tiers. The $6 is a small VPS if your own machine is not always on. The build is token usage on your agent plan.
Take your data, then cancel.
1 · Take your data out of 3 and Done
- 1The pages we read describe no export button.
- 2The privacy policy says you can request a copy of your personal information by emailing questions@3anddoneapp.com.
- 3After a subscription ends, your tasks are kept for up to twelve months so you can download your data or resubscribe, and a reminder is emailed before deletion.
- 4As a fallback, copy the full list from the app into a text file before you cancel.
2 · Cancel 3 and Done
- 1Open the app and go to settings, then billing; this opens the billing portal.
- 2Choose cancel there; no email or phone call is needed.
- 3Cancelling during the free trial means you are never charged.
- 4You keep access through the period you have already paid for.
- Payments are non-refundable except where the law requires it, and partial periods are not credited, so cancel before the renewal date.
- You can delete individual items or the whole account at any time; the terms say account data is then deleted as the privacy policy describes.
- Billing records are kept for tax and legal reasons even after the account is gone.
- Move your open list into the new tool first and keep both running for a week before cancelling.
The escape hatch
Don't feel like building it? These are already free.
Super ProductivityOpen sourceMIT to-do app with a daily planning view, timeboxing and time tracking; you choose the day yourself, it does not pick for you.★ 23k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, AndroidVisit ↗VikunjaOpen sourceAGPL-3.0 self-hosted task manager with lists, labels, reminders and CalDAV; no automatic daily picks.★ 5.8k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗TaskwarriorOpen sourceMIT command-line task manager whose urgency score ranks the list, so `task next` shows what to do first.★ 6.1k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
macOS, Linux, WindowsVisit ↗
Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, AndroidVisit ↗VikunjaOpen sourceAGPL-3.0 self-hosted task manager with lists, labels, reminders and CalDAV; no automatic daily picks.★ 5.8k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗TaskwarriorOpen sourceMIT command-line task manager whose urgency score ranks the list, so `task next` shows what to do first.★ 6.1k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
macOS, Linux, WindowsVisit ↗
The numbers
3 and Done pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual, per month | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $9.99 | — | The whole app: unlimited items, the daily email of three with a reason for each, and the full list underneath. |
| Yearly | — | $8.25 | Same app as monthly. |
- Billing
- Monthly or yearly, renewed automatically until you cancel. The trial needs a card and nothing is charged for 14 days; the company emails you before it ends. Payments are non-refundable except where the law requires it.
- Hidden costs
- A team option exists but is handled by email and has no listed price.
- Source
- 3anddoneapp.com
Also on the list
Related apps
No free plan. A 90-second demo at /try needs no sign-up, and both plans start with a 14-day trial.
Yes. An AI coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex or Cursor can build a usable personal version in one session with the prompt on this page, running on your own machine.
About $9.99 a month on the Monthly plan, $119.88 a year (checked 2026-10-19).
Hosted delivery: the email arrives even when your own machine is off; Capture by voice from anywhere; the copy relies on an iOS Shortcut; The vendor's tuning of what counts as mattering today; Automatic grouping of items into projects and resurfacing of old ones; The team option. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.
Yes: Super Productivity (open source), Vikunja (open source), Taskwarrior (open source).