Choosing a task app comes down to two competing philosophies. Todoist strips away extras and focuses on clean, fast task entry and project organization. TickTick bundles a Pomodoro timer, habit tracker, and calendar views into one app, aiming to be your complete productivity system. Both handle the basics well, but the right choice depends on whether you want a focused tool or a feature-packed suite. I've tested both extensively to see which tradeoffs actually matter and where each app justifies its price.
At a glance
What it is: Two competing task management apps with different scopes. Best for: Todoist suits minimalists who want fast task capture; TickTick fits users who want timers, habits, and calendars in one place. Pricing: Todoist Pro is $5/month annual ($7 monthly); TickTick Premium is $35.99/year ($3.99 monthly). Strength: Todoist has best-in-class natural language parsing; TickTick bundles tools that Todoist lacks entirely. Limitation: Todoist's free plan caps you at 5 projects; TickTick's free plan limits you to 9 lists and 99 tasks per list.
What you get on the free plan
Todoist's free tier, called Beginner, gives you 5 active personal projects. That constraint hits faster than you expect. A single project for work, one for home, one for errands, one for a side project, and you've used all five slots. The free plan also lacks custom reminders, meaning you can only set location-based or time-based alerts tied to a task's due date. You can't, for example, remind yourself the night before a task is due.
TickTick's free plan allows 9 lists and 99 tasks per list. That's 891 total tasks if you max out every list, a ceiling most people never approach. You also get basic calendar views, two reminders per task, and limited access to the habit tracker. The built-in Pomodoro timer is available on the free plan, though you can't customize focus and break lengths without Premium.
For solo users experimenting with task management, TickTick's free plan is objectively more generous. You can build a functional system without paying. Todoist's free tier feels more like a trial than a viable long-term option unless your workflow is exceptionally simple.
How task entry and organization differ
Todoist's strength is speed. Its natural language input is the best I've tested. Type "meeting with Alex tomorrow at 2pm #work p1" and Todoist instantly parses the date, time, project tag, and priority. The interface stays clean because it hides complexity until you need it. Projects nest three levels deep, and sections inside projects let you group tasks without creating extra folders.
TickTick's task entry works but feels slower. You can use natural language for dates ("next Friday"), but it doesn't parse projects, tags, or priority in one line the way Todoist does. You add those details through separate taps or clicks. Where TickTick wins is layout flexibility. It offers a kanban board view, a timeline view, and multiple calendar views that Todoist only provides in its Pro plan.
Both apps handle subtasks, recurring tasks, and labels (TickTick calls them tags). Todoist's filters are more powerful if you use boolean logic, letting you create custom views like "all high-priority tasks in Work projects due this week." TickTick's Smart Lists cover most common scenarios but don't offer the same query flexibility.
The bundled tools that separate them
Todoist doesn't include a Pomodoro timer or habit tracker. It's purely a task manager. If you want those features, you connect external apps. That keeps the interface uncluttered but adds friction when you need to jump between tools.
TickTick bundles both. The Pomodoro timer sits inside each task. Tap it, and you start a focus session with automatic break intervals. Stats track how many sessions you complete per day and per project. The habit tracker lives in a separate tab, letting you build daily, weekly, or custom routines. Free users get one habit; Premium subscribers track unlimited habits and see long-term streaks.
These extras shift TickTick's identity. It stops being just a task app and becomes a productivity suite. If you already use a separate timer or habit app, that's redundant. If you don't, it eliminates two extra subscriptions.
Pricing and plan differences
Todoist's Pro plan jumped from $4 to $5 per month (billed annually) in December 2025, bringing the annual cost to $60. Monthly billing costs $7. Pro unlocks custom reminders, calendar layout, up to 300 personal projects, and Task Assist, an AI feature that writes task descriptions and suggests deadlines. The Business plan adds team features like shared projects and member roles, but individual users don't need it.
TickTick Premium costs $35.99 per year or $3.99 per month. That's $24 cheaper than Todoist Pro on an annual basis. Premium removes all task and list limits, adds multiple calendar views, gives you detailed productivity statistics, and unlocks the full habit tracker. There's no separate business tier; teams share the same Premium plan.
On pure cost, TickTick wins. The gap narrows if you pay monthly, but most task app users stick with annual billing to save money.
Where it falls short
Todoist's free plan is too restrictive for real use
Five active projects sounds workable until you try to organize your life. If you separate tasks by client, by life area, or by timeframe, you hit the limit immediately. Upgrading to Pro for 300 projects is overkill for most users, leaving a dead zone where the free plan is too small and the paid plan feels like paying for features you won't use. Competitors like TickTick or Microsoft To Do offer far more headroom on free tiers, making Todoist's restriction feel artificial.
TickTick's natural language input lags behind
Typing a task in TickTick requires more manual steps. You can't add a tag, set priority, and assign a project in a single line the way Todoist allows. For users who batch-add tasks or dump ideas quickly, this slows you down. The mobile app partially offsets this with quick-add buttons, but on desktop, the extra clicks add up. If fast capture is your priority, Todoist's parser is noticeably better.
Neither app handles attachments or notes elegantly
Both let you attach files and add comments to tasks, but neither makes it feel natural. Todoist limits file uploads to 100MB per file on Pro, which rules out video or large design files. TickTick Premium allows 100MB per file as well. If you treat tasks as mini-documents or want to store reference material alongside action items, you'll end up linking to external storage like Google Drive or Dropbox instead of embedding files directly.
FAQs
Can you switch between Todoist and TickTick without losing data?
Both apps let you export tasks. Todoist exports to CSV or a proprietary JSON format. TickTick exports to CSV as well. Neither provides a direct migration tool for the other, so you'll manually import the CSV and recreate project structures, tags, and recurring task rules. Subtasks and comments often don't transfer cleanly. Budget a few hours if you're moving years of tasks.
Does Todoist's AI feature justify the price increase?
Task Assist, Todoist's AI tool, can draft task descriptions and suggest deadlines based on context. It's useful if you manage complex projects where tasks need detailed instructions, but it doesn't replace your own thinking. Most users I know ignore it after the first week. The recent price jump to $5 per month makes Todoist Pro more expensive than TickTick Premium annually, and the AI feature alone doesn't close that gap.
Which app works better offline?
Both Todoist and TickTick cache your tasks locally, so you can view and edit them without internet. Changes sync once you reconnect. Todoist's offline mode is slightly more polished on mobile, with fewer sync conflicts when you batch-edit tasks while disconnected. TickTick occasionally duplicates tasks if you edit the same item offline on two devices, though this is rare.
Can you use TickTick with a team?
Yes. TickTick Premium includes shared lists where you can assign tasks to collaborators, add comments, and track progress together. It lacks advanced team features like permission levels or activity logs, so it works for small groups but not for formal project management. Todoist's Business plan offers more granular controls, making it a better fit if you manage a larger team or need audit trails.
Do either of these apps integrate with calendar apps?
Todoist Pro syncs tasks with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, and Outlook as a one-way feed, showing your tasks on your calendar but not pulling calendar events into Todoist. TickTick Premium does two-way sync, meaning calendar events appear in TickTick's timeline view and tasks show up on your calendar. If you want your schedule and tasks in one view, TickTick handles it natively while Todoist requires you to open both apps.
Bottom line: Choose Todoist if you want the fastest task capture available and don't need timers or habit tracking. Pick TickTick if you want a complete productivity system with generous free limits and a lower annual cost. Skip Todoist's free plan entirely unless you genuinely need only five projects.
