The Best Productivity Apps We've Tested for 2026 | PCMag
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{ $el.closest('[data-content-container]').querySelectorAll('a:not(.sticky a)').forEach((link) => link.setAttribute('target', '_blank')); $destroy(); })()"> Categories Assistive Apps Automation Apps Communication Apps Project, Work, and Task Management Apps Office/Work Apps (Credit: René Ramos; Lucyroes, Inni / Adobe Stock) You shouldn't try to be more productive just for the sake of working harder or making someone else richer. Being more productive is about improving your own life. The point of productivity apps is to cut down on tedium and free you to spend time and energy on the things you actually enjoy doing. Some apps handle repetitive tasks for you, such as transcribing audio, while others help you organize your life. You might use productivity apps by yourself or, in many cases, to collaborate with other people in a work environment. PCMag has been reviewing productivity apps for well over a decade, so we know what's worth your time and what isn't. Read about all our favorite productivity apps below across a few diverse categories, and make sure to click through to our in-depth reviews for the full details of each entry.
Assistive Apps
Abbyy FineReader 4.5
ABBYY FineReader turns pictures of words into typed text you can edit. The PDF editor is well worth the money for hefty optical character recognition (OCR) jobs, such as scanning entire books, long legal files, or old documents with potentially blurry images or text. ABBYY FineReader's screen capture utility is also unbeatable for extracting text from anything visible on your Windows PC.
Per Year, Starts at $99.00 Per Year, Starts at $99.00 Visit Site at ABBYY See It
ABBYY FineReader Review DocuSign
If you've had to sign anything in the last decade, chances are you know about DocuSign, an online system for managing contracts and other documents that require electronic signatures. DocuSign makes it easy to review a file and sign it, whether you're on a computer or a phone. Even if you don't need DocuSign in your work life, the app can come in handy for anything from signing a lease to a permission slip. If you just need to sign forms, the app is free. For collecting signatures and sending documents, you need to pay for a subscription plan.
MSRP $10.00 MSRP $10.00 Free Trial at DocuSign See It
Grammarly 4.0
Unlike basic spell checkers, Grammarly is a complete writing assistant. You configure it to give you advice about whatever type of writing you're doing, and the app suggests not only corrections to grammar and spelling but also style changes. For example, you could set it up for working on a dissertation in a highly formal style or a blog post with shorter sentences and informal language. Either way, it's a wonderful and versatile tool.
MSRP Free MSRP Free $0.00 at Grammarly See It
Grammarly Review Gemini 4.0
If you're interested in using AI, Gemini has powerful, responsive models and arguably the most features of any chatbot, thanks to exhaustive integrations with Google's many apps and services. It gets things wrong sometimes, but Gemini can still be a much more effective digital assistant than Alexa or Siri, depending on what you need to do. However, you get the most out of Gemini only if you're already a habitual user of Google products and aren't deep within a competing ecosystem.
MSRP Free MSRP Free Free; Paid plans start at $7.99/month for Gemini Plus at Google Gemini See It