At a glance

Todoist TickTick
Best for Individuals and small teams wanting a clean task manager Productivity enthusiasts wanting tasks + habits + calendar
Starting price Free Free
Free tier
Open source
Free tier available
Open source
Calendar View
Filters
Habits
Kanban
Karma System
Labels
Natural Language
Pomodoro

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

TickTick

Strengths

  • Built-in calendar view shows tasks alongside your schedule for easier planning
  • Habit tracking is built in — no need for a separate app to track daily routines
  • Free with limits — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
  • Established product with 13+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

  • Free plan has meaningful restrictions: free with limits
  • 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

The bottom line

Pricing: Both tools offer free tiers, so you can test each before committing. Todoist's free plan: Free for 5 active projects. TickTick's free plan: Free with limits.

Feature gaps: Todoist offers Filters, Karma System and Labels that TickTick lacks. TickTick brings Calendar View, Habits and Kanban that Todoist does not have.

Team fit: Both tools target individuals teams, so the decision hinges on features and workflow fit rather than scale.

Where each tool shines: 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. TickTick's biggest strengths are: built-in calendar view shows tasks alongside your schedule for easier planning. habit tracking is built in — no need for a separate app to track daily routines.

Watch out for: With Todoist, users commonly note that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade. With TickTick, the main complaint is that free plan has meaningful restrictions: free with limits.

Choose Todoist if...

  • You need a tool built for individuals and small teams wanting a clean task manager
  • You specifically need Filters and Karma System
  • You care about flexible label system makes it easy to filter and organize tasks your way
  • The free tier works for you: free for 5 active projects

Choose TickTick if...

  • You need a tool built for productivity enthusiasts wanting tasks + habits + calendar
  • You specifically need Calendar View and Habits
  • You care about habit tracking is built in — no need for a separate app to track daily routines
  • The free tier works for you: free with limits

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