Todoist vs. TickTick vs. Microsoft To Do: Which Task Manager Actually Sticks

The best task manager isn't the one with the longest feature list. It's the one you'll still open a month from now — on a tired Tuesday morning, wedged between two meetings, when you don't feel like doing anything. Most people don't switch apps because the old one couldn't do what they needed. They switch because they stopped writing into it, the system went stale, and opening it started to feel unpleasant.

This piece compares three apps that between them cover the overwhelming majority of real-world needs: Todoist, TickTick, and Microsoft To Do. It's not a contest over who has more buttons. Each has a legitimate audience, and each is the wrong choice for somebody. The goal is that by the end, you'll know which one you'll still be writing into a month from now — and why.

At the end you'll find a comparison table, a pick based on your specific situation, and a migration guide so recurring tasks and notes don't vanish in the move. We deliberately leave out prices: they change, and they vary by country and promotion. We only describe the plan structure — what's free and what each app keeps behind a paywall — and link out to the official pricing pages.

How we compared

Ten criteria that decide whether a system survives its first demanding week. These aren't every feature the apps have — they're the ones things usually break on.

• Capture speed. How many seconds and clicks it takes to get a thought inside the system. Decided by a global keyboard shortcut, a phone widget, sharing from another app, and whether you have to think about categorization while typing.
• Natural language. Whether the app understands a sentence like “send the report Friday at 10, every other week” and pulls out the date, time, and recurrence on its own. This is the single biggest difference between fast entry and annoying entry.
• Recurring tasks. Not just “every week,” but also “the last business day of every month” — and above all, completion-based recurrence, where the next due date is calculated from the moment you check the task off, not from the original date.
• Projects, labels, and filters. Structure for longer-running commitments, contexts that cut across projects, and the ability to build a custom view like “everything due today, not delegated, and belongs to work.”
• Calendar integration. Whether you see tasks and meetings together, whether you can drag a task onto an open slot in the calendar, and whether syncing is two-way.
• Collaboration. Shared projects, assigning a task to a person, comments, and whether the other side needs a paid account.
• Platforms. Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, watch, browser extension. And whether it works offline.
• Fit for GTD. Whether the app can carry the full by-the-book methodology — Inbox, projects, contexts, “waiting for,” someday/maybe, and a weekly review. The basics of the method are covered in the Getting Things Done handbook.
• AI features. What they actually do, and whether they save time or just look good in marketing. In 2026 this is the fastest-changing part of the entire comparison.
• Plan structure. What you get for free, what costs money, and whether the free tier stops you dead in the middle of setup.

A note on how current this is: it reflects the state of things as of August 2026. Task managers change on a monthly cadence these days, especially around AI features and calendar views. Verify the details on the maker's site before you decide.

Todoist: precision capture and filters

Todoist is the oldest of the three, and it shows: it's spent decades tuning one thing — the path from your head into the system. Its natural-language recognition is the yardstick the other two get measured against — you type the whole sentence, project and priority included, and the app pulls out what it needs. This is covered in detail in the tip on capturing a task in a single sentence.

Where it excels. Recurrence handles irregular patterns too, and distinguishes recurrence from a fixed date versus recurrence from completion. Since 2025 it also separates the start date from the deadline — a task can carry a date you'll begin working on it, and a separate date it has to be done by. That's exactly the distinction other apps lack, and its absence is why people end up seeing things in their overview either too early or too late.

The second strength is filters — a custom query language you use to build a view exactly to spec. You combine dates, labels, projects, and priorities with “and”/“or” operators. Once someone builds a “today, minus anything delegated, work only” view, they never want to go back. Its assistant can now write the query for you from a plain-language description too, so you don't have to memorize the syntax.

Its integration ecosystem is the widest of the three — calendars, communication tools, automation services, developer tools. Calendar integration shows events from Google Calendar or Outlook right inside the Today and Upcoming views, so you can see how much real time you have left between meetings.

Among its AI features, the most interesting one in 2026 is voice capture, which turns a spoken sentence into a structured task with a due date and project, plus an assistant that breaks a big task into subtasks or turns a forwarded email into a task. Treat it as an accelerator for capture, not a planner that decides for you — a suggested due date is always just a suggestion, and you're the one who approves it.

Where it falls short. Todoist is a pure task manager. No pomodoro timer, no habit tracking, no full calendar for planning your day in half-hour blocks. The free tier is more of a taste — a handful of projects and filters, with the calendar view locked behind paid. Anyone who wants to build a complete GTD system won't avoid the paid plan. Current plan details live at todoist.com/pricing.

Who it's for. People who above all want reliable capture and sorting, run a lot of projects, and want to build their own views. Teams that need shared projects with comments. And anyone who does a lot of capturing from their phone on the move.

TickTick: five tools in one app

TickTick is the answer to “what if I don't want five apps.” One interface holds a task manager, a calendar, a pomodoro timer with statistics, habit tracking, and an Eisenhower matrix. For plenty of people that's the difference between a system they use and a system they have to force themselves into.

Where it excels. Calendar views feel right at home here — month, week, three-day, day — and a task with a set duration can be dragged onto an open slot. Anyone planning with time blocking will appreciate this: no jumping between task manager and calendar, since both live in the same window.

The pomodoro timer isn't bolted on top — you start it directly on a specific task, and the accumulated time feeds into focus statistics. Habit tracking is its own section with its own streaks and reminders. The Eisenhower matrix is a ready-made view where you drag tasks according to urgency and importance.

Custom smart lists do similar work to Todoist's filters, but you set them up by clicking through a dialog instead of typing a query. For most people that's more approachable; for power users it's less precise.

Where it falls short. Natural-language recognition is weaker — it understands a simple “tomorrow at 3pm” fine, but with a more complex sentence combining recurrence and a project at once, you have to double-check what the app decided on its own. AI features are narrower than the competition's for now: they'll help break a task into steps, but they're not full assistants.

The free tier has hard caps — nine lists, ninety-nine tasks per list — and the key features sit behind Premium: calendar views beyond the list, task duration, custom smart lists, two-way calendar sync, more than one reminder per task, more than five habits, and sharing a list with a larger team. Verify the caps directly at ticktick.com and in the help center, since they shift from time to time.

One last detail that will put some people off: the company is less forthcoming about security certifications than its competitors. For personal lists it doesn't matter; for business data with sensitive content, it's worth checking into.

Who it's for. Students, independent professionals, and productivity enthusiasts who want one tool instead of five. People helped by pomodoro sessions and habit streaks. And anyone who plans their day in a calendar rather than a list.

Microsoft To Do: an unassuming layer over Microsoft 365

Microsoft To Do is the simplest of the three, and that's by design. Lists, tasks, steps inside a task, reminders, recurrence, and one daily view called My Day, which empties out every morning and forces you to pick what you'll actually work on today. Nothing more.

Where it excels. Its strongest argument is the tie to Outlook. Flag an email and it shows up as a task in its own list — subject as the title, a text preview in the detail view. Tasks assigned through Microsoft's team tools converge into an assigned-to-you view. If your company runs on Microsoft 365, you get a task manager you don't need anyone's sign-off for, no extra account to add, and your data stays exactly where it already lives.

The second advantage is that it's entirely free with a regular Microsoft account. No caps on the number of lists, no features hidden behind a paywall. That's a rarity in this category.

The My Day view is more habit-forming than it looks. The morning ritual of “what can I realistically get through today” is half the work of any methodology, and To Do enforces it on its own.

Where it falls short. Structure tops out at lists inside folders and steps inside a task — no multi-level project hierarchy. There are no custom filters or query language, so a view like “everything tagged phone across every list” isn't buildable. Natural-language recognition is basic. There's no calendar view inside the app. And native export is missing — the only way data gets out is through the developer API or community tools, which is the single most unpleasant finding in this whole comparison if you ever plan to move.

On top of that, Microsoft has spent 2026 rearranging the team layer around Planner and Copilot assistants. To Do remains the personal layer, but if you're planning to build team workflows on Microsoft too, expect that part of the ecosystem to keep shifting.

Who it's for. People at a company running on Microsoft 365, for whom a task manager is an add-on to their mail, not a standalone system. Those with a simple workload where any extra feature would just be a distraction. And anyone who doesn't want to pay for a task manager.

When Apple Reminders or Google Tasks is enough

Sometimes the answer is “none of the three.” Apple Reminders is now a full-fledged personal task manager: lists, subtasks, tags, smart lists, attachments, sharing with assignment to a specific person, time- and location-based reminders, and voice capture through Siri. If you have an iPhone, iPad, and Mac and don't need to share with anyone outside the Apple ecosystem, there's no reason to look elsewhere.

Google Tasks, on the other hand, is deliberately minimalist: lists, due dates, one level of subtasks, a note. Its whole point is where it lives — as a sidebar in Gmail, Calendar, and other Google tools, with the option to have Gemini add or break down tasks for you. For someone who has Gmail open all day and whose workload fits into twenty items, it's about as low-friction as it gets.

Both are free, and both share the same limitation: they can't carry a more elaborate system with dozens of projects and custom views. They're great starting points and poor destinations once your workload grows.

Comparison table

| Criterion | Todoist | TickTick | Microsoft To Do | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Capture speed | excellent, strong shortcuts and widgets | very good | good, simple interface | | Natural language | best in class | basic to moderate | basic | | Recurring tasks | most flexible, including completion-based | flexible | common patterns | | Project structure | projects, sub-projects, sections | lists, folders, tags | lists inside folders | | Custom filters | query language, even via the assistant | smart lists via clicking (Premium) | none | | Calendar view | yes (paid plan) | yes, multiple views (Premium) | no | | Calendar integration | events shown in views, linked with Google and Outlook | two-way sync (Premium) | via Outlook, no dedicated view | | Collaboration | shared projects, assignment, comments | shared lists, member limit by plan | shared lists, assignment | | Pomodoro and habits | no | yes, including statistics | no | | Fit for GTD | high | high (with Premium) | low to moderate | | AI features | voice capture, task breakdown, filter creation, email-to-task | task breakdown into steps, voice input | via assistants in Microsoft 365 | | Plan structure | limited free tier, personal and business plans | free tier with caps, one paid plan | entirely free with a Microsoft account | | Data export | yes, by project and as a full backup | yes, including import from other apps | no native export |

Choose based on your situation

Instead of a general recommendation, specific situations. Find yours.

You want to run GTD by the book. Todoist. You need an Inbox, projects, contexts as labels, a “waiting for” list, and a weekly review over a custom view — and all of that stands or falls on filters. TickTick can do it too, but custom smart lists sit behind the paid tier and are less precise. To Do can't carry the methodology without filters; you'll end up manually flipping through lists. What the first step looks like is shown in the tip on the Inbox and sorting it in the evening.

Your company runs on Microsoft 365 and you can't add more tools. Microsoft To Do. Zero friction on approvals, a direct tie to flagged emails and assigned tasks, no extra password. Accept that the structure will be flat, and don't try to turn To Do into a project management tool.

You want pomodoro and habit tracking in one place. TickTick. A timer running on top of a specific task and habit streaks are features neither Todoist nor To Do has, and features people usually stop using within three weeks when they're stuck in a second app.

Your day is run by a calendar, not a list. TickTick, if you want to plan by dragging tasks into your day. Todoist, if it's enough to see events alongside your list and you draw your blocks in the calendar anyway.

You capture a lot from your phone, often by voice, on your way out the door. Todoist. Its sentence recognition is the most accurate, and voice capture turns speech into a finished task with a due date. The seconds you save add up across the dozens of tasks a day that would otherwise never get written down.

You're sharing a household, not a project. Apple Reminders, if everyone's on Apple devices. Microsoft To Do or TickTick, if the family's on a mix of systems. A shared grocery list doesn't need filters — it needs the other person to open it without creating an extra account.

Your workload fits into twenty items and you don't want a system, you want peace of mind. Google Tasks or Apple Reminders. Deploying a full-blown task manager for this is a sure way to end up using nothing a month from now.

You're a student dealing with a semester, not a career. TickTick. The combination of calendar, pomodoro, and habits covers three different needs of one person, and the free tier is usually enough for a single semester as long as you keep an eye on the list cap.

Migration without losses

Moving is the riskiest moment in the whole process — and the most common place people give up and go back to their old app. Here's a process that works.

Clean up first, export second. Don't export a mess. Go through your lists and delete what's dead — a task older than three months that you've postponed five times doesn't belong in the new system. Migration is the best opportunity you'll get to shrink two hundred items down to seventy real ones.

Export. Todoist can produce a backup as well as export a single project to a spreadsheet. TickTick has a backup-and-import section in settings, including direct import from other apps. Microsoft To Do has no native export — data comes out through the developer API or community tools, so set aside more time for that path and expect to retype some of it by hand.

Import. The destination app usually offers import right in its settings. Always import a single test project first, not everything at once — you'll see what got lost before it happens to twenty projects at once.

What typically doesn't survive the move. Prepare for it now, don't discover it a month later:

• Recurrence rules. The most common loss. More complex patterns get converted into a one-off task or the nearest simple recurrence. Go through every recurring task by hand after import — there are usually fewer of them than you expect.
• Completed-task history. It stays behind in the old app. If you need it for invoicing or reporting, export it to a spreadsheet and file it away separately.
• Comments, attachments, and file links. These transfer unreliably. For important projects, check whether attachments ended up as dead links.
• Priorities and colors. The scales don't match across apps, so they map approximately. After import, check that priority one didn't turn into priority four.
• Sharing and assignments. Collaborators never carry over. Shared projects have to be recreated and people re-invited by hand.
• Reminders. Especially location-based ones and multiple reminders on a single task. Go through critically important tasks and set them up again.

Let the old app sit for a month. Don't delete the account right away. Leave it in archive mode until you're sure nothing's missing. The cost of a month of inactivity is zero; the cost of deleted history can be a week of tracking things back down.

The most common mistakes when choosing

• Choosing based on a feature list. A feature you don't use has no value. What decides it is how many times a day you open the app, not how much it can do. Trial a candidate for two weeks on your real workload, not made-up tasks.
• Migrating instead of finishing the system. When a system stops working, the app is rarely to blame. Usually there's no regular review and the Inbox overflowed. A new tool won't fix that problem — it'll just mask it for two weeks with the feeling of novelty.
• Carrying the old structure over one to one. Thirty projects, fifteen of them dead, will be just as dead in the new app. Migration is the one moment when you can simplify the structure without penalty.
• Underestimating who you'll be sharing with. If you need to share with a colleague, partner, or client, check beforehand whether the other side needs a paid account and whether they're even willing to install the app. A shared list the other person never opens is worse than a scrap of paper on the counter.
• Paying before you've exhausted the free tier. A paid plan doesn't solve problems, it just removes caps. If the free tier didn't stop you because of a limit but because you stopped writing into it, the paid version won't change that.
• Treating AI features as the main criterion. Assistants in task managers change on a monthly cadence in 2026, and whatever one can do today, the other will be able to do in six months. The fundamentals — capture speed, reliable recurrence, and views that make sense to you — don't change, and they're what carries a system for years.
• Looking for the perfect app. It doesn't exist. What exists is the one you'll open tomorrow morning.

Pro tip

Before you make a final call, run a one-week, three-column test. In a notes app, write three headers for your candidates and, for a full week, log exactly one thing under each: every moment the app slowed you down or annoyed you. Not missing features — actual friction. “Setting up a recurring task took me a minute.” “I couldn't find where a postponed task went.” “The widget didn't load.”

After a week, look at which column is shortest. This measurement is more honest than any table, because it measures your hands and your patience, not the software's feature list. And almost always, a different app wins than the one you'd have picked from reviews.

The final rule: you're choosing a system for years, an app for months. The habit of capturing everything in one place, sorting it once a day, and reviewing it once a week works in all three apps. The app is just the surface. If the habit holds, it'll survive even if you migrate somewhere else next year.