Why people leave Todoist
Todoist remains one of the cleanest task apps on Android, but the reasons to look around keep piling up:
- Pro pricing sits at $5/month billed monthly, or $48/year, which is a lot for a to-do list once you notice free rivals shipping the same features.
- The free tier caps you at five personal projects and five collaborators. Anyone doing family or team lists hits the wall fast.
- Reminders, filters, and full themes are all Pro features. On the free tier, the app feels intentionally trimmed.
- Natural-language input is great when it works and frustrating when it misfires. Non-English input still lags English behavior.
If any of that pushed you to look, here are 7 Todoist alternatives worth trying on Android in 2026.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Paid starts at | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TickTick | Free tier depth | Free, generous | $3/mo Premium | Built-in habit tracker + Pomodoro |
| Microsoft To Do | Windows and 365 users | Free full features | Included in 365 | Deep Outlook + Teams sync |
| Any.do | Family task sharing | Free, ad-optional | $3/mo Premium | Voice-first entry |
| Google Tasks | Google Workspace users | Free | Included in Workspace | Native Gmail + Calendar sidecar |
| Google Keep | Notes + quick to-dos | Free | Included in Google One | Location + time reminders |
| Trello | Kanban visual planners | Free | $5/mo Standard | Boards and card automation |
| ClickUp | Solo power users | Free tier | $7/mo Unlimited | Docs, chat, and tasks in one |
The alternatives
1. TickTick -- best for the most generous free tier
TickTick is the direct competitor. Free users get subtasks, tags, reminders, natural-language input, and a Pomodoro timer. The paid tier adds calendar view, custom filters, and duration tracking.
Where it falls short: The calendar view sits behind Premium, which is the one place TickTick teases as much as Todoist. Widgets are decent but not as polished.
Pricing:
- Free: subtasks, reminders, up to 9 lists, habit tracker
- Premium: $3/month or $28/year
- vs Todoist: cheaper Premium, better free tier, similar polish
Migrating from Todoist: Todoist export as CSV, then import in TickTick’s settings under ‘Import from other apps.’ Subtasks and due dates carry over.
Bottom line: TickTick is the pick for most people leaving Todoist over price.
2. Microsoft To Do -- best for Outlook and Microsoft 365 users
Microsoft To Do is fully free and syncs against your Microsoft account. It handles subtasks, recurring items, and flagged Outlook emails as tasks. The ‘My Day’ surface promotes daily planning.
Where it falls short: No natural-language input. Filters are basic. Team and family sharing require lists to be opened one by one.
Pricing:
- Free: all features
- Bundled in Microsoft 365 subscriptions
- vs Todoist: free vs Pro, less nuanced project management
Migrating from Todoist: Import via the Wunderlist-era importer, or copy Todoist lists using CSV export and manual paste. Simple lists move cleanly.
Bottom line: Microsoft To Do is the pick if you already live in Outlook.
3. Any.do -- best for voice input and family sharing
Any.do is built around voice-first entry and a shared family list. The Moments view forces you to triage every item once a day. Calendar view is included on paid plans.
Where it falls short: The free tier now runs occasional interstitial ads. Some notification behaviors need Premium unlocked.
Pricing:
- Free: lists, reminders, ad-supported
- Premium: $3/month with location reminders and recurring tasks
- vs Todoist: similar Premium price, more focus on shared and voice
Migrating from Todoist: Import via CSV or bulk-paste from Todoist’s export. Any.do keeps priorities and due dates but drops sub-project structure.
Bottom line: Any.do is the pick for families that shout tasks at their phones.
4. Google Tasks -- best for Gmail and Calendar users
Google Tasks is bare-bones on purpose. It shows up as a sidecar in Gmail and Calendar, syncs across devices, and treats every task as a checkbox with an optional date.
Where it falls short: No natural-language input, no recurring beyond simple daily/weekly, no shared lists. It is deliberately minimal.
Pricing:
- Free: all features
- Included with Google Workspace at no extra cost
- vs Todoist: much simpler, but the sidecar in Gmail is the killer feature
Migrating from Todoist: Todoist export as CSV, split by project, then paste into Google Tasks list-by-list.
Bottom line: Google Tasks is the pick if your inbox is your primary to-do list.
5. Google Keep -- best for notes with a checklist
Google Keep blurs the line between notes and to-dos. Every note can become a checklist. Location-based reminders trigger when you arrive at a store or leave the office.
Where it falls short: No project or tag hierarchy — everything is colored labels. No custom sort, no calendar view.
Pricing:
- Free with a Google account
- Storage counts against Google One
- vs Todoist: great for shopping lists and reminders, weak for anything with structure
Migrating from Todoist: Copy short lists over; there is no formal Todoist importer. Best for the errand-list part of your workflow.
Bottom line: Google Keep is the pick for people who mostly need reminders, not projects.
6. Trello -- best for visual kanban planners
Trello is a board rather than a list. Cards move across columns you define, checklists live inside cards, and automation via Butler handles recurring boards without paid tiers.
Where it falls short: It is not a to-do list first. Reading 40 tasks means scrolling a board. Notifications feel noisier than Todoist’s.
Pricing:
- Free: unlimited cards on up to 10 boards per workspace
- Standard: $5/user/month, Premium: $10/user/month
- vs Todoist: very different shape, better for planning than daily execution
Migrating from Todoist: Todoist projects map to boards, sections to columns, tasks to cards. Import via the Trello CSV pipeline or use a Zapier hop.
Bottom line: Trello is the pick if visual pipelines beat text lists for you.
7. ClickUp -- best for one app for tasks, docs, and chat
ClickUp bundles tasks, docs, sprints, and chat into a single workspace. Free users get unlimited tasks, custom views, and enough structure to run a small team.
Where it falls short: The app feels heavy on Android. Loading a workspace with lots of custom fields takes a moment. Not the fastest for a quick capture.
Pricing:
- Free: unlimited tasks and members, capped custom fields
- Unlimited: $7/user/month
- vs Todoist: much more app, much less focus, but genuinely free
Migrating from Todoist: Native Todoist importer under Settings → Import. Projects, sections, and tags come across cleanly.
Bottom line: ClickUp is the pick if you want tasks plus a project management platform.
How to choose
- Pick TickTick if you just want a better Todoist for less. Same shape, deeper free tier.
- Pick Microsoft To Do if you live in Outlook or 365. Free, and Teams integration is a bonus.
- Pick Google Tasks or Keep if you live in Gmail. No app switch needed.
- Pick Any.do for shared family lists or if you input tasks by voice all day.
- Pick Trello or ClickUp if you’re running projects, not errands. Different tool for a different job.
- Stay on Todoist if natural-language input is central to your capture flow. Nothing else here parses English the same way.
FAQ
What is the best free Todoist alternative?
TickTick and Microsoft To Do are the two free options that come closest to full Todoist on the free tier. Google Tasks is the simplest free pick.
Can I import my Todoist tasks into another app?
Yes. Todoist exports each project as CSV. TickTick, ClickUp, and Any.do all have importers that ingest these files. Trello imports via CSV with a mapping step.
Which alternative has the best natural-language input?
TickTick comes closest to Todoist’s parser. Any.do handles voice best. Google Tasks and Keep don’t parse phrases at all.
What do most people use instead of Todoist?
By install base, Google Tasks and Microsoft To Do lead among free apps. TickTick leads paid Todoist defectors.
Is Todoist worth the price?
For heavy natural-language capture and multi-project daily use, yes. If you mostly use two lists and reminders, TickTick or Microsoft To Do do the same job for free.