Todoist alternatives for planning your day, not just your list
Three Todoist alternatives compared honestly, with who each one suits, real trade-offs, official prices, and how to move your projects out of Todoist.
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The short answer
Todoist is a fast, well-made task list. People usually look elsewhere when they want more around the list, such as habits, a focus timer or a daily plan tied to their calendar. Here are three options that each take a different approach, and how to move your tasks out.
1. Thendoo
Free during early access; paid plans come later
Best for: People who want one calm Today view that holds tasks, calendar, habits and money, with an ADHD mode that shows fewer things at once.
Strengths
- Today shows your meetings, time blocks, a Top 3 card, habits and bills due soon on one page, with free slots you can drag tasks into.
- Capture with ⌘K or Ctrl+K understands dates, times,
- When-then habits with a streak rule that allows one missed day a week, plus routines and a focus timer.
- Missed tasks show as Carried over, and a guided Plan my day and Close the day keep the list realistic.
Trade-offs
- No native phone app or browser extension yet; it runs in the browser.
- Imports a Todoist project CSV or backup .zip, but completed tasks stay behind because Todoist's exports leave them out.
- Single-user only, with no shared projects or collaboration.
- No AI planning yet; AI only writes optional notes from recordings. Reminders only pop up while a Thendoo tab is open.
Best for: People who want tasks, a habit tracker, a Pomodoro timer and calendar views in one app on every device.
Strengths
- Built-in habit tracker and Pomodoro timer next to your tasks.
- Yearly, monthly, weekly, daily and agenda calendar views.
- Apps for phones, computers, tablets and smartwatches.
Trade-offs
- The free plan caps you at 9 lists, 99 tasks per list and 5 habits.
- Premium is billed yearly rather than monthly.
Best for: People who want a guided daily planning ritual and an end-of-day shutdown, pulling tasks from tools they already use.
Strengths
- Integrates with Todoist, Asana, Notion, ClickUp, Gmail and Slack, so you can keep Todoist and plan on top of it.
- Timebox tasks on Google, Outlook or Apple calendars.
- Apps for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Linux.
Trade-offs
- No free plan; a 14-day trial, then a paid subscription.
- Costs more than most task apps.
Todoist has earned its place on a lot of phones. It is quick to add a task, the apps are polished, and the free plan is enough to try it properly. So when people go looking for something else, it is rarely because the list is broken. It is usually because they want something the list was not designed to do.
Common reasons people look around
- A list is not a plan. A long list tells you what exists, not what fits into today. Some people want their tasks next to their meetings so they can see what is realistic.
- Habits and focus live elsewhere. If you also run a habit tracker and a timer app, you may want them in the same place as your tasks.
- Sorting the list takes energy. For some brains, a full list is the reason a day never starts. A shorter view helps.
- Price or plan limits. The free plan allows 5 personal projects. Some people want a different price point for the features they use.
None of these mean Todoist is the wrong tool for you. If it is working, keep it.
How to choose
Pick the one sentence that sounds most like you:
- “I want everything in one app on my phone.” Try TickTick. It adds habits, a Pomodoro timer and calendar views, and it runs on phones, tablets and watches.
- “I like Todoist, I just want to plan each day properly.” Try Sunsama. It can pull your Todoist tasks into a daily ritual, so you do not have to move anything.
- “I want one calm screen for the whole day, including habits and money.” Try Thendoo, if a web app works for you. Today shows meetings, time blocks, your Top 3 today, habits and bills on one page, and ADHD mode trims the tray to three tasks. It does not have a phone app yet, but it can import your Todoist projects.
Before you switch
Give any new app one ordinary week with real tasks before you move everything. Keep your Todoist export, because the CSV leaves out completed tasks and the start dates of repeating ones. Move only what is still open. A clean start is a feature, not a loss.
Moving from Todoist to Thendoo
- 1In Todoist on the web or desktop, open each project, click the three-dot menu, choose Manage data, then Export as CSV. Completed tasks are not included, and a recurring task's start date is dropped.
- 2For a full copy that includes completed tasks, also download a backup from Todoist's account settings and keep it somewhere safe.
- 3In your new app, create one area per Todoist project first. In Thendoo that is a Space, with Lists inside it for each project.
- 4Bring in your open tasks. In Thendoo, open Settings → Import, choose Todoist and upload the CSV files or the backup .zip; you see a preview before anything is saved. In other apps, re-enter them by hand.
- 5Check repeating tasks against the Todoist app, since the CSV loses their start date. Thendoo starts each repeat from its next date after today and lists any rule it could not match exactly.
- 6Run both apps side by side for one week, then archive the old projects.
Questions
Does Thendoo import from Todoist?
Yes. Export your projects as CSV, or download a backup .zip, and upload it in Settings → Import. Projects become Lists, labels become tags, and repeat rules are translated where they match exactly. You can run it again without duplicates and undo it for 30 days.
Can I keep Todoist and still plan my day somewhere else?
Yes. Sunsama lists Todoist among its integrations, so you can keep Todoist as your list and plan each day in Sunsama. Thendoo does not connect to Todoist.
What is the cheapest alternative here?
TickTick has a free plan, and its Premium plan is $49.99 a year according to its pricing page. Thendoo has a Free plan with no card and no time limit, and a paid Pro plan; current prices are on its pricing page.