You’re looking for the perfect task manager to fit your lifestyle.

And you’re wondering, how do TickTick and Todoist stack up?

You could download them to try out side-by-side for several days.

Or you could read this detailed TickTick vs Todoist breakdown and make a decision in the next 15 minutes.

Sound good?

Keep reading for my full review.

What is a Task Manager?

A task manager is a piece of software that helps you, well, manage your tasks.

At its core, a task manager helps you organize tasks into lists, then check them off when you’re done.

But of course, the good ones have lots of other helpful and fun features.

And TickTick and Todoist are no exception (which is why I’m writing this article!).

What is TickTick?

TickTick is a beautiful task manager app that has a lot of extra features for a productivity-minded person.

It’s not the most simple app, but you can customize it to your liking.

The app was first launched in 2013 by a global team based in Hong Kong and the United States.

TickTick’s name sounds similar to TikTok, but the apps are not related.

What is Todoist?

Todoist is a minimalist and lightning-fast task manager app.

It’s really easy to add and organize tasks with keyboard shortcuts.

Todoist never feels cluttered with lots of features. It does a few things and does them really well.

Todoist was released in 2007. Its parent company is called Doist, who also produces a collaboration-focused app called Twist.

TickTick vs Todoist: Compared

So how do these apps compare?

I’ve broken it down into each category I would consider when trying out a new task app.

These sections will be short and sweet, but we’re going to cover a lot of ground.

Platforms

You can get native apps for TickTick on Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, and Apple Watch. It’s also available as a web app and Chrome extension.

Todoist is available for Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, Apple Watch, and Wear OS. It also has a Gmail add-on, Gmail extension, and Outlook, plus browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari.

Design

TickTick has a nice white and pastel color palette, but the interface could look crowded to some people.

TickTick has a few different color options, plus illustrated backgrounds that you can use for the app.

Todoist has a more minimalist, black, white, and red design.

You can switch the red background to other colors (black and white, dark mode, neutral, and orange on the free plan, and more options on the paid plan).

Entering Tasks

To input a task in TickTick, you start typing your task in the box on the top of the screen, then press enter. It automatically goes to the top of the list. You can also use the shortcut Command/Ctrl-N.

In Todoist, you can click the plus icon at the top of the screen to add, or scroll to the bottom of the list and click “Add task.” Or press A to add a task. Tasks are added to the bottom of the list.

Quick Add

Both apps support Quick Add when the app is open.

In TickTick, it’s Option-Shift-A on Mac or Alt-Shift-A on Windows.

In Todoist, it’s Shift-Command-A on Mac or Ctrl-Alt-A on Windows.

Scheduling Tasks

You can set a due date and time for tasks in TickTick. Or you can set a duration, which includes a start and end date.

In Todoist, you can set a due date and time for tasks, but no start date.

Todoist has 2 options for time: Floating Time, which stays the same no matter where you are (for example, if you want to read a book at 7pm even while traveling), and your local time, which will always stay true to your time zone.

Reminders

TickTick will automatically remind you to complete a task if you give it a time. But you can add extra reminders for a number of days or weeks before the due date. (You can’t set a specific day, just a number of days or weeks before.)

In Todoist, reminders are a paid feature, but they allow you to set a reminder for a specific date or location so you don’t forget a task.

Natural Language Input

Both TickTick and Todoist support natural language input for dates and times.

TickTick does recognize dates, but it doesn’t always work. I find that when I input a task for the first time, it recognizes the date, but when I edit a task and add a word like “tomorrow,” it does nothing.

Todoist does a great job of picking up on dates and times. You can write things like “every Monday until July” and it will figure out what you mean. And each time you edit the task, it still works.

Recurring Tasks

TickTick has a repeat setting for due dates. You can set simple recurring tasks that recur daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. Or you can create custom schedules.

One option is to repeat tasks upon completion, like 7 days after you finish the task.

Another option is to set specific dates. You can simply click on days in the calendar where you want the task to repeat (and the interval can be totally random).

Todoist also has the ability to repeat tasks, but it’s harder to find. It’s easier to just type the interval you want, like “every Tuesday.” If you want tasks to repeat only after completion you can use the “!” symbol, like “every! 7 days” which means every 7 days after the task is completed.

In both apps, undated subtasks come back fresh when tasks repeat. (In fact, this is something you can change inside of Todoist’s general settings.)

Organizing Tasks

In TickTick, you organize tasks into lists and folders. The main list is the Inbox, where tasks go before you organize them.

You can create lists and sublists, plus add folders to store them. Inside of lists, you can create sections to keep lists organized.

When you add a task, typing ~ allows you to move the task into a specific project.

Todoist’s main lists are called projects, but they function just like TickTick lists. There are no folders in Todoist, but you can add sub-projects to any project.

When you add a task, typing # followed by the project or section name allows you to move the task to that exact location.

Task Limits

With TickTick’s free plan, you can create up to 9 lists with 99 open tasks per list.

On the Premium plan, you can create up to 299 lists with 999 open tasks per list.

Todoist’s free plan allows you to create up to 5 projects with up to 300 open tasks in each.

Todoist’s Pro plan supports 300 projects, while the Business plan supports 500. But with both, you can still only add 300 tasks per project.

(Todoist has said they’re working to increase the limit.)

Free Plan

TickTick’s free plan gives you 9 lists, 99 tasks per list, 1 attachment per day, and 1 invited member to a shared list.

Todoist’s free plan allows you to create 5 projects with up to 300 tasks each, 3 filters, and up to 5 collaborators.

Tags

Both apps allow you to tag your tasks to make it easier to sort and organize them. You can add multiple tags.

The shortcut for adding a tag in TickTick is typing # before the tag name.

In Todoist, you type @ and then the tag name.

Filters

TickTick lets you create filters that live on your sidebar so you can find specific tasks easily.

This helps you find tasks across lists that have the same characteristics.

You can filter by list, tag, date, priority, and search terms. And you can combine them with AND or OR statements for advanced filters.

Todoist takes filtering a step further and gives you a lot more options.

It’s too much to go into here, but you can see the full list on Todoist’s guide to filters.

Search

TickTick’s search feature looks through all lists, including completed tasks, plus descriptions and subtasks to find a search term.

You can filter results by date, list, tag, and status.

Todoist’s search feature searches open tasks by default, and doesn’t have options for filtering results. You can also ask it to search completed tasks.

However, it does search through comments on tasks, which could be helpful.

Sorting Lists

In TickTick, you can choose to group by date, tag, priority, none, or custom, which means by section.

You can sort by hand, or sort automatically by date, title, tag, or priority.

In Todoist, you can group tasks by assignee, due date, date added, priority, label, or project.

And you can sort by name assignee, due date, date added, priority, or project.

Kanban View

Both TickTick and Todoist support a kanban view alongside the default list view.

TickTick also has a Gantt chart view, which Todoist doesn’t have.

Prioritizing Tasks

When adding a task in TickTick, typing ! brings up the Priority menu. You can set the priority as High, Medium, Low, or None.

In Todoist, typing !! brings up the Priority menu. You can choose from Priority 1, Priority 2, Priority 3, and Priority 4 (which is the same as High, Medium, Low, and None).

Adding Information to Tasks

TickTick has a rich editor inside every task. You can add descriptions, headings, links, quotes, add attachments, and even checklists (separate from subtasks).

On the other hand, Todoist allows you to write a short description for each task, but doesn’t give you a lot of space or any formatting options.

You can leave comments and upload attachments to them, but that’s about it.

The Today View

TickTick’s Today view includes all the tasks due today, plus all calendar events for today (if you sync with your calendar). Overdue tasks show up at the top.

If you have a task due today and one of its subtasks is also due today, TickTick won’t show both of them on the list. The subtask is collapsed and shows only when you expand the parent task.

Todoist’s Today view includes all tasks due today and all overdue tasks. Overdue tasks come to the very top.

If you have a task due today and one of its subtasks is also due today, Todoist will show them both in the list as separate tasks.

Upcoming Tasks

TickTick has a list called Next 7 Days which lists all of your calendar appointments and tasks due in the next week.

You don’t have the ability to view this in a kanban style though, for some reason.

In Todoist, the view is called Upcoming. You can view this in a list or kanban view, which can help you to plan out the week ahead.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Both apps have plenty of shortcuts that should make them usable without a mouse.

You can see TickTick shortcuts inside the app under Settings.

Todoist has published a guide to its keyboard shortcuts.

Speed & Ease of Use

I’ve used both apps a lot, and they’re both lightning fast.

(I get impatient with apps that stutter and take time to load. I’m looking at you, ClickUp and Notion.)

Both apps are fast enough that I haven’t felt much friction at all.

If I had to compare the ease of use, I find TickTick to be a little bit easier, because it’s easy to expand tasks and see their subtasks quickly with a little drop down, and I can drag and drop tasks wherever I want them.

In Todoist, if I want to see subtasks or assign something as a subtask, I have to open the parent task in a new screen, which is an extra click.

Collaboration

Both apps allow you to share lists and collaborate with others.

In Todoist, you can assign tasks to team members to keep it clear.

But with TickTick, it’s not clear whether you can assign tasks. I haven’t used this feature personally, so I’m not sure how it works. It looks like someone else can edit the list, but no one will be assigned.

Templates

Both apps allow for templates, but they are slightly different.

In TickTick, you save task templates, which you can apply to any single task.

In Todoist, you can only create project templates, which applies to the entire project and not single tasks.

Motivation

Both TickTick and Todoist use gamification to motivate you to check off more tasks.

TickTick awards you badges and lets you know how much you’ve completed each week.

Todoist has something called Karma, which rewards you for completing tasks and gives you badges and things like that.

Integrations

TickTick integrates with third-party calendars from Google, iCloud, Outlook, and more.

It also integrates with Reminders for iOS, so anytime you add something to your Apple Reminders app, it’ll automatically transfer it to TickTick and delete the original.

Todoist integrates with tons of apps, like a built-in AI assistant, Google Calendar, the Fantastical calendar app, Ganttify, a Gantt chart maker for Todoist, the Sunsama daily planning app, and more.

Voice Integration

Both apps integrate with Siri. (I can’t speak for other platforms as I’m an iPhone user.)

TickTick works really well, and never has problems. I can say “Siri, add this to my shopping list on TickTick,” and it works every time.

And after I connected TickTick with reminders, saying “Hey Siri, remind me to walk the dog” automatically adds the task to TickTick instead of Reminders.

Todoist, on the other hand, doesn’t always work. Siri mistakes it for “to-do list,” so I found that I have to say “Toe-doe-eest” instead. It doesn’t have the option to sync with Reminders so you just have to try your best every time.

Browser Extensions

TickTick has a Chrome extension which basically opens a popup window with your TickTick app inside.

Todoist’s browser extensions (available for all major browsers) allow you to add tasks without opening a new window. You can even click a button to add the current website as a task.

Email Forwarding

Both apps allow you to forward emails to the app or send tasks via email.

In TickTick, you get a special email address to send tasks to, or you can send them to todo@mail.ticktick.com from your registered email address. These tasks get added to your Inbox for organizing later.

Todoist takes a different approach. Each project has its own email address, and you can email tasks directly to the project you want. Click the three-dot menu on any project to find the email address.

Unique Features

Here’s what it really comes down to for me. TickTick just provides a lot more features.

Some people might think it’s too much, but others appreciate the extra functionality.

(Todoist also has some unique features, which I’ll get to in a moment.)

Here’s a summarized list of other functions you get inside of TickTick:

• A daily planner function that runs through your overdue and unscheduled tasks for the day and asks you when you want to complete them
• A daily recap that shows you what you finished that day
• A calendar view built into the app so you can manage your calendar directly
• A habit tracker that’s separate from your tasks and has its own interface and gamification features to motivate you to keep going
• You can pin tasks to the top of lists
• You can put tasks into a sticky note that sticks to the front of your window at all times
• You can turn tasks into notes and store them in lists, too. These notes can have rich text, checklists, and dates like any other task
• The Gantt chart view comes in handy for planning projects
• A built-in pomodoro timer can help you stay focused on tasks (you can also set a stopwatch instead)
• A set of focus noises like a woodstock, a cafe, or traffic that play while you use the pomodoro
• The pomodoro timer and stopwatch also function as a time tracker for individual tasks
• And one of my personal favorites, an Eisenhower Matrix view that shows your tasks by priority in a 2×2 grid (just like the matrix itself)

There are a few extras inside of Todoist, but not as much as TickTick.

• You can use the built-in AI assistant extension to add smart descriptions to tasks or break them down into subtasks automatically
• I would say the extensive filter and due date options you get with Todoist are a unique feature you don’t get with TickTick

API

Both TickTick and Todoist provide an API for developers.

Learn more about the TickTick Open API and the Todoist APIs.

Support

TickTick has a Help page and a way to contact the team if you have more questions.

Todoist also has a Help page and a way to contact the Support team.

Community

I found a TickTick community on Reddit, but no Facebook or Discord groups that I could see.

Todoist also has a dedicated Reddit, but I couldn’t find anything else.

Reviews

TickTick has 85 reviews on G2, with an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Todoist, on the other hand, lists 754 reviews with an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars.

Tutorials

TickTick has fewer tutorials and help articles on its site than Todoist.

There seem to be more reviews, videos, and blog articles about Todoist made by users than TickTick.

A search for “ticktick tutorial” came up with 349,000 results, while a search for “todoist tutorial” came up with 366,000 results.

Settings

Both apps let you fine-tune the app experience inside Settings.

TickTick lets you turn on and off extra features like Habit Tracking and the Eisenhower Matrix.

You can also change the appearance a little bit and update the keyboard shortcuts to your liking.

In Todoist, you also get lots of control over your settings, like if subtasks should recur with a parent task or not.

Of course, you can also set the appearance of your app, change keyboard shortcuts, and other settings.

TickTick Pros and Cons

Here’s what it comes down to.

The biggest pros of using TickTick, for me, are:

• It’s more visually pleasing than other apps
• It has a lot of extra features that make planning and organizing my tasks fun
• It’s super fast

The biggest cons would be:

• The extra features can make the app feel cluttered and complicated for some users
• There is a learning curve if it’s your first time with an app like this

Todoist Pros and Cons

Here’s what I like about Todoist:

• It’s super fast and straightforward
• I can organize tasks in seconds using keyboard shortcuts and natural language input
• It just works, all the time

But these are the downsides for me:

• It doesn’t have any extra features, so I need other apps to manage my calendar, build habits, and track time
• I find it difficult to visualize my priorities without the matrix feature of TickTick
• It’s a little bit ugly (in my humble opinion)

Pricing: TickTick vs Todoist

TickTick’s Premium plan costs $2.79 per month (on a monthly payment) or $27.99 for a year. You can pay with Paypal or Stripe.

Todoist has 2 paid plans, Pro and Business. Pro costs $5 billed monthly or $48 a year. Business, for teams, costs $8 per user per month, or $72 per user per year.

Overall, TickTick is more affordable.

Final Verdict

Okay, I can finally spill the beans.

But I think you may have picked up on it by now.

I’m a TickTick user these days.

I used Todoist for many years, and it was great. No complaints.

But once I discovered TickTick, I couldn’t go back.

What about you?

Are you attracted by the simplicity and power of Todoist? Or do you fancy the extra features of TickTick?

I’d love to hear from you.

Anything I missed that you want to know about these apps? Let me know in the comments.