What is the difference between Jira and Todoist?

Jira is best for Large engineering teams that need customizable workflows and reporting, while Todoist is best for Individuals and small teams wanting a clean task manager. Jira starts at $7.75/user/mo and Todoist starts at Free.

Is Jira or Todoist cheaper?

Jira starts at $7.75/user/mo with a free tier. Todoist starts at Free with a free tier.

Is there a free alternative to Todoist?

Both Jira and Todoist offer free tiers.

Jira vs Todoist

Jira is enterprise project management and issue tracking for software development teams, while Todoist is task management app with natural language input, labels, filters, and cross-platform sync. The biggest difference up front: Todoist is free, while Jira starts at $7.75/user/mo. Jira is built for large engineering teams that need customizable workflows and reporting, whereas Todoist targets individuals and small teams wanting a clean task manager.

At a glance

	Jira	Todoist
Best for	Large engineering teams that need customizable workflows and reporting	Individuals and small teams wanting a clean task manager
Starting price	$7.75/user/mo	Free
Free tier	✓	✓
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	✓	✓
Open source	—	—
Custom Workflows	✓	—
Dashboards	✓	—
Filters	—	✓
Karma System	—	✓
Labels	—	✓
Marketplace	✓	—
Natural Language	—	✓
Roadmaps	✓	—
Sprints	✓	—

Jira

Strengths

Extremely customizable workflows and fields
Advanced reporting and dashboards
Massive marketplace of add-ons
Handles complex enterprise requirements

Weaknesses

Slow and bloated interface
Overwhelming complexity for small teams
Configuration often requires a dedicated admin
Simple tasks take too many clicks

Try Jira → Full review

Todoist

Strengths

Natural language input lets you type tasks in plain English and auto-parse dates and priorities
Flexible label system makes it easy to filter and organize tasks your way
Free for 5 active projects — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Established product with 19+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Migrating existing projects from another tool can be time-consuming
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Todoist → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Todoist is completely free (Free for 5 active projects), which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Jira starts at $7.75/user/mo, but Free for up to 10 users. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Jira offers Custom Workflows, Dashboards and Marketplace that Todoist lacks. Todoist brings Filters, Karma System and Labels that Jira does not have.

Team fit: Jira is geared toward enterprise teams, while Todoist is aimed at individual users and small setups. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Where each tool shines: Jira's biggest strengths are: extremely customizable workflows and fields. advanced reporting and dashboards. Todoist's biggest strengths are: natural language input lets you type tasks in plain english and auto-parse dates and priorities. flexible label system makes it easy to filter and organize tasks your way.

Watch out for: With Jira, users commonly note that slow and bloated interface. With Todoist, the main complaint is that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade.

Choose Jira if...

You need a tool built for large engineering teams that need customizable workflows and reporting
You specifically need Custom Workflows and Dashboards
You care about advanced reporting and dashboards
Your team size fits the enterprise profile Jira is designed for
The free tier works for you: free for up to 10 users

Choose Todoist if...

You need a tool built for individuals and small teams wanting a clean task manager
Budget is a hard constraint — Todoist is free, Jira is not
You specifically need Filters and Karma System
You care about flexible label system makes it easy to filter and organize tasks your way
Your team size fits the individuals profile Todoist is designed for