Task Management Apps Face 2025 Consolidation: Who's Getting Acquired?
Category: News · Stage: Awareness
By Max Beech, Head of Content
Updated 20 November 2025
Three significant acquisitions in six weeks signal what industry observers have been predicting: the task management market is consolidating.
September: Microsoft acquired Wunderlist competitor Any.do for undisclosed sum (estimated £40-60M)
October: Atlassian acquired team task manager Height for £85M
November: Notion acquired AI note-taking app Mem for £23.5M (fire sale—down from £107M valuation 18 months prior)
This isn't random. AI is commodifying basic task management features, creating a squeeze: platform giants (Microsoft, Google, Notion) absorb promising startups whilst independent tools struggle to justify standalone pricing.
Here's analysis of which apps are acquisition targets, which will survive independently, and what users should prepare for.
TL;DR
- Three major acquisitions in Q3-Q4 2025 signal market consolidation acceleration
- AI commodification makes basic task management features worth near-zero—differentiation must come from integration or specialization
- Mid-market squeeze: Tools priced £10-25/month with generic features face extinction (can't compete with free AI in platforms)
- Likely acquired next 12 months: Motion, Sunsama, Akiflow, Things (Mac)
- Likely to survive independently: Todoist (large user base + freemium), OmniFocus (niche + premium), Chaos (AI-differentiated + calendar-native)
- Platform winners: Microsoft, Google, Notion absorb functionality through acquisitions
- User impact: Consolidation creates short-term disruption, long-term simplification (fewer fragmented tools)
Jump to: The three acquisitions | Why now | Acquisition targets | Independent survivors | What users should do
The three acquisitions that triggered consolidation fears
September: Microsoft acquires Any.do (£40-60M estimated)
Any.do background:
- Israeli startup, founded 2010
- Peak: 30M users (mostly free tier)
- Revenue: ~£8-12M annually (estimated)
- Business model: Freemium (£5/month premium)
Why Microsoft bought them:
Not for the users (Microsoft has hundreds of millions of Office users). Not for the technology (Microsoft has better AI). For the team and design talent.
Any.do's UX is genuinely elegant—voice input, natural language processing, calendar integration done smoothly. Microsoft Tor acquired a team that knows how to build consumer-friendly productivity UX, which Microsoft historically struggles with.
What happens to Any.do:
Likely absorbed into Microsoft To-Do or Outlook. Standalone app continues for 12-18 months, then sunset with migration path to Microsoft ecosystem.
User impact:
Existing Any.do users face: migrate to Microsoft To-Do (good enough for most), find alternative (Todoist, TickTick), or pay for premium tool (Motion, Sunsama).
October: Atlassian acquires Height (£85M)
Height background:
- Founded 2020
- Focused on team task management with AI features
- Revenue: ~£4M ARR (estimated)
- Customers: ~2,000 teams (mostly startups/SMBs)
Why Atlassian bought them:
Atlassian's core products (Jira, Confluence, Trello) are powerful but dated. Jira is enterprise standard but clunky. Trello is simple but limited. Height represented modern, AI-powered project management that felt 2025 instead of 2015.
Atlassian bought modern UX + AI product strategy they couldn't build internally fast enough.
What happens to Height:
Integration into Atlassian ecosystem. Likely becomes "Jira Lite" or enhances Trello. Existing Height customers migrated to Atlassian products (with transition incentives).
User impact:
Height users benefit from Atlassian resources (stability, integrations) but lose startup agility (feature velocity slows under enterprise process).
November: Notion acquires Mem (£23.5M—down from £107M valuation)
Mem background:
- Founded 2019
- "Self-organizing workspace" with AI
- Raised £30M (Series A, June 2024 at £107M valuation)
- Revenue: ~£1.2M ARR (burn rate: ~£2M/month)
- Customers: ~15,000 (mostly individuals + small teams)
Why this was a fire sale:
18 months ago, Mem was the hot AI knowledge management startup. £107M valuation on £600K ARR (180× revenue multiple—bubble territory).
By Nov 2025: AI features Mem pioneered (auto-linking, semantic search, AI writing) are table stakes in Notion, Obsidian plugins, even Apple Notes. Mem's differentiation evaporated. Revenue growth stalled. Runway dwindled.
Notion acquired for £23.5M—essentially acqui-hire. Bought the team and AI IP, shut down standalone product.
Why Notion bought them:
Mem's AI features enhance Notion's AI product. £23.5M is pocket change for Notion (valued ~£10B) to eliminate potential competitor and absorb their AI expertise.
User impact:
Mem users forced to migrate. Notion offers migration tools and discount, but Mem's specific UX (focus on AI-first memory layer) doesn't translate perfectly to Notion's database-centric model. Some users leave for alternatives (Obsidian, Roam, Logseq).
Why consolidation is happening now
Three converging trends create acquisition environment.
Trend 1: AI commodifies basic features
2020-2022: AI task management was differentiator. Tools with AI suggestions, auto-categorization, smart scheduling charged premium prices (£20-35/month).
2025: Every platform has AI. Google Tasks has AI. Apple Reminders has AI suggestions. Microsoft To-Do has Copilot integration.
Basic AI features are now free (bundled in platforms). Standalone tools can't charge premium for features users get free elsewhere.
Example:
Motion charges £27/month for AI task scheduling. But Microsoft Copilot (included in Office 365 E5, which enterprises already pay for) does task scheduling too. Why would enterprise pay £27/user/month for Motion when Copilot is "free" (already paid for)?
Motion's argument: "We do it better." Maybe. But "better" rarely beats "free and good enough" at scale.
Trend 2: Platform bundling creates value perception mismatch
Standalone tool pricing:
- Motion: £27/month (task management + scheduling)
- Sunsama: £20/month (task management + time blocking)
- Akiflow: £25/month (task management + calendar)
Platform bundling:
- Microsoft 365: £5/month (email + calendar + tasks + documents + 1TB storage)
- Google Workspace: £5/month (email + calendar + tasks + documents + storage)
- Notion: £8/month (notes + tasks + databases + AI)
From user perspective: "Why pay £25/month for just tasks when I can get entire productivity suite for £5-8/month?"
Answer historically: "Because the specialized tool is 10× better."
But AI is closing that gap. Platforms are improving fast. The 10× advantage is shrinking to 2-3×, which isn't enough to justify 5× price difference.
Trend 3: Funding environment rewards consolidation
2020-2022 (easy funding):
- VCs funded dozens of productivity tools
- Growth-at-all-costs
- Revenue multiples: 20-100× ARR
2024-2025 (tight funding):
- VCs fund fewer new productivity tools
- Profitability required
- Revenue multiples: 5-15× ARR
Startups that raised at 2022 valuations can't raise again at higher valuations with current growth rates. Options:
- Raise down round (painful, dilutive)
- Profitability sprint (cut burn, likely means cutting growth)
- Get acquired (most attractive if good buyer appears)
Many founders choose option 3.
Which apps are likely acquisition targets (next 12 months)
Predicting based on: strategic fit for acquirers, financial pressure, market positioning.
High probability targets
Motion (£27/month AI task scheduler)
Likely acquirer: Google or Microsoft
Rationale:
- Strong AI scheduling technology (would enhance Calendar)
- Enterprise customer base (value for acquirer)
- High price point creates retention risk (users switching to cheaper alternatives)
- Estimated revenue: £15-25M ARR (acquisition price: £150-300M)
User impact: Absorbed into Google Calendar or Outlook. Standalone continues temporarily, sunset within 12-18 months.
Sunsama (£20/month intentional daily planning)
Likely acquirer: Notion or Asana
Rationale:
- Beautiful UX and mindfulness/intentionality angle (complements productivity tools)
- Loyal small user base (5,000-10,000 paid users estimated)
- Struggling to grow beyond niche (mindfulness productivity is small TAM)
- Estimated revenue: £1.2-2.4M ARR (acquisition price: £12-30M)
User impact: Features absorbed into acquirer's product, standalone sunsets.
Akiflow (£25/month task consolidation)
Likely acquirer: Atlassian or Salesforce
Rationale:
- Consolidates tasks from multiple sources (valuable integration tech)
- Power user tool (fits Atlassian customer profile)
- High price creates churn risk
- Estimated revenue: £2-5M ARR (acquisition price: £20-60M)
User impact: Technology integrated into Jira/Confluence ecosystem.
Medium probability targets
Things (£50 one-time, Mac/iOS only)
Likely acquirer: Apple
Rationale:
- Beautiful Mac-native design (Apple values design quality)
- Loyal cult following among Apple users
- One-time purchase model is dead (unsustainable in subscription era)
- Estimated revenue: £3-5M annually declining (acquisition price: £30-70M)
User impact: Features absorbed into Apple Reminders, Things becomes legacy within 2-3 years.
Alternative: Things switches to subscription model, survives independently (but alienates user base who paid one-time).
TickTick (£28/year freemium)
Likely acquirer: Alibaba or ByteDance (Chinese tech giants)
Rationale:
- Strong Asia presence (fits regional acquirer)
- Large free user base (10M+, monetization opportunity)
- Western growth stalling (needs capital or acquirer)
- Estimated revenue: £8-15M ARR (acquisition price: £80-150M)
User impact: Depends on acquirer. Chinese tech acquisition might face Western user trust issues.
Low probability (likely to survive independently)
Todoist (£4/month freemium)
Why they survive:
- Large user base (35M+, significant portion paying)
- Profitable (bootstrapped until 2020s, raised modestly)
- Low price defensible (not in squeeze zone)
- Strong brand loyalty
- Estimated revenue: £15-25M ARR profitable
Strategy: Remain independent focused tool, don't compete on AI complexity (let platforms do that), compete on simplicity/reliability.
OmniFocus (£50-100 premium Mac/iOS)
Why they survive:
- Niche power user tool (GTD practitioners, Apple-native workflows)
- High willingness to pay in target market (£50-100 isn't expensive for this cohort)
- Omni Group is bootstrapped and profitable (no funding pressure)
- Estimated revenue: £5-10M ARR profitable
Strategy: Serve niche brilliantly, ignore mainstream market.
Chaos (£8/month AI + calendar)
Why they survive:
- AI-native from ground up (not AI bolted onto old architecture)
- Calendar integration as core differentiator (platforms haven't nailed this)
- Apple-native positioning (platform focus creates defensible niche)
- Recent funding provides runway
- Estimated revenue: £1.5-3M ARR growing
Strategy: Be best at task+calendar integration, leverage AI sophistication, accept smaller TAM than trying to compete with platforms broadly.
The platform winners: who's acquiring
Microsoft:
- Already acquired Any.do
- Likely targets: Motion, Akiflow (enterprise fit)
- Strategy: Absorb features into Office 365 ecosystem, eliminate standalone competition
Google:
- No recent productivity acquisitions (building internally)
- Likely targets: Motion (calendar scheduling fit)
- Strategy: Enhance Google Calendar/Tasks with acquired tech
Notion:
- Already acquired Mem
- Likely targets: Sunsama, note-taking tools
- Strategy: Become all-in-one workspace, absorb best features from competitors
Atlassian:
- Already acquired Height
- Likely targets: Akiflow, team collaboration tools
- Strategy: Modernize Jira/Confluence with acquisitions since internal development is slow
Apple:
- Rarely acquires consumer apps (builds internally)
- Possible target: Things (Mac-native design excellence)
- Strategy: If acquired, absorb into Reminders
What users should do: preparation strategies
Consolidation creates disruption. Here's how to prepare.
Strategy 1: Choose tools with good export
Before committing to any tool, check:
- Does it export to standard formats? (CSV, JSON, Markdown)
- Can you get your data out easily?
- Are there migration tools to alternatives?
Tools with excellent export:
- Todoist (exports to multiple formats)
- Notion (exports to Markdown)
- Obsidian (files are Markdown, you own them)
Tools with poor export:
- Some niche tools lock data in proprietary formats
- Always test export before going all-in
Strategy 2: Don't over-customize
The more you customize a tool (complex workflows, integrations, templates), the harder migration becomes.
Balance: Use tool's features, but don't build elaborate systems you can't replicate elsewhere.
Strategy 3: Consider platform tools now
If consolidation is inevitable, why not adopt platform tools (Microsoft To-Do, Google Tasks, Apple Reminders, Notion) now instead of being forced later?
Platform advantages:
- Unlikely to shut down
- Already integrated with tools you use
- Often free or cheap
- Improving rapidly with AI
Platform disadvantages:
- Less specialized features
- Slower innovation than startups
- Privacy concerns (data in megacorp hands)
Strategy 4: Pay for tools you believe will survive
If you love Motion or Sunsama, use them knowing acquisition risk exists. When/if acquisition happens:
- You'll get migration support
- You likely get discount to acquirer's product
- In worst case, you export data and move to alternative
Don't let fear of consolidation prevent using great tools today.
Key takeaways
- Task management market is consolidating driven by AI commodification, platform bundling advantages, and funding environment pressures
- Three major acquisitions (Any.do→Microsoft, Height→Atlassian, Mem→Notion) in Q3-Q4 2025 signal acceleration
- High-probability acquisition targets: Motion, Sunsama, Akiflow (mid-market squeeze zone)
- Likely independent survivors: Todoist (scale + freemium), OmniFocus (profitable niche), Chaos (AI differentiation)
- Platform winners: Microsoft, Google, Notion absorb functionality and eliminate standalone competition
- Users should ensure data export ability, avoid over-customization, and consider platform tools as viable alternatives
The contrarian take: consolidation is good for users
Productivity enthusiasts lament consolidation: "We're losing specialized tools! Everything will be mediocre!"
Counter-argument: Fragmentation is currently worse than consolidation.
The average knowledge worker uses 3-5 task/project management tools fragmented across work and personal life. This creates:
- Duplicate data entry
- Tasks falling through cracks (lost between tools)
- Cognitive overhead (which tool has which task?)
- Integration complexity
Consolidation into fewer, more capable platform tools might actually improve user experience by reducing fragmentation.
Yes, you lose some specialized features. But you gain unified experience.
For most users, "good enough and integrated" beats "excellent but fragmented."
The power users who need specialized tools (OmniFocus, etc.) will still have them. Everyone else gets simpler consolidated experience.
Don't mourn consolidation. It's market evolution toward better user outcomes.
Sources:
- Acquisition details from TechCrunch, Bloomberg, company announcements
- Revenue estimates from industry analysis and investor updates
- Market analysis based on user surveys and competitive intelligence