Todoist vs Microsoft To Do in 2026 One sorts into projects. The other follows your Outlook.

Both turn a typed line into a task with a date. They differ on how much structure a list can hold, how well they fit Outlook and what you pay for the extras.

Jacky Fakkeldij Building Driftto, on his own · Updated 23 October 2026

I build Driftto, an iPhone app for getting a thought into the right place without first finding the app, waiting for it to open and picking a project. Todoist is one of the places it writes to and Microsoft To Do is not, so I wanted to know what you gain or give up by choosing one over the other.

In October 2026 I went through Todoist's help center and pricing page, Microsoft's To Do help pages, and both US App Store listings. Where a page says nothing about a feature, I say so instead of guessing.

The short answer

Pick Microsoft To Do if your work runs through Outlook and Microsoft 365. The iPhone app costs nothing, flagged emails become tasks, and My Day starts each morning empty. Pick Todoist if you want projects, sections, typed repeats and deadlines, and accept that the extras need the paid Pro plan.

Typing a task with its date

Todoist reads dates out of the task name. Its help center gives examples like "tomorrow at 16:00", "Fri 7pm" and "in 5 days", and repeats work the same way: "every other Wednesday" or "every 3rd Tuesday starting Aug 29 ending in 6 months". The App Store listing shows a full line, "Submit report every Friday at 4pm #Work", where the date, the repeat and the project all come out of one sentence.

Microsoft To Do has a similar feature called smart due date. You type "Friday", "tomorrow 5pm" or "every Monday" with the title, and To Do highlights it and applies it when you save. Microsoft's page lists Windows (version 2.66 and later) and iOS, and says other platforms are in progress. It says the feature works in English only on Windows and gives no language list for iOS. Recognition doesn't work when you edit a task in the details view. You can turn it off in Settings, or press backspace on one highlighted word to keep it as plain text.

Tags work in both. In To Do you add a hashtag such as #work to the task name. In Todoist you type % to add a label. The older @ shortcut still works, but Todoist says it plans to retire it by the end of 2026.

Outlook, email and calendars

This is where Microsoft To Do is strongest. Microsoft's help says your tasks are stored on Exchange Online, so they also show up in Outlook Tasks. Flagged Outlook messages can become tasks: the task takes the email's subject, and Open in Outlook takes you back to the message. You turn it on from the list menu with Flagged email, then Create. At first it fills with your 100 most recently flagged emails from the last 30 days. It only works with Microsoft-hosted accounts such as Outlook.com, Hotmail.com and Live.com, and with work or school accounts on Microsoft's servers. It reads your primary mailbox only, not shared folders or shared mailboxes.

Categories go further. You use the same categories as in Outlook, and they sync between the task and the email. If you assign new categories in To Do, they overwrite the categories on the linked email.

Todoist connects to calendars. You link Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar, one at a time, and your events show in the Today and Upcoming views. With Sync tasks to calendar on, tasks with a time appear as events in a separate calendar called Todoist. That works on every plan. Only the calendar layout inside Todoist needs Pro. Adding an event to that calendar doesn't create a task. For Outlook, your Microsoft admin may need to allow Todoist. The pages I read describe no flagged-email feature for Todoist.

Projects and labels versus lists and tags

Microsoft To Do keeps it plain. You have lists, and you can drag lists into list groups. Each task can have steps, a star for importance, notes, tags, categories and file attachments. Starred tasks collect in the Important smart list. Steps are a checklist inside a task: a counter under the task name shows how many are done. Microsoft's help states no limit on steps, notes or tags.

Todoist has more layers. Projects hold tasks, sections split a project into parts, and labels cut across projects. Sub-tasks go four levels deep. Filters build views across everything, and the plan decides how many you get: 3 on Beginner, 150 on Pro. Projects can show as a list, a board or a calendar.

On files, Microsoft says To Do supports all file types, up to 25 MB per task. Todoist's listing mentions comments and file uploads. I didn't check its size limit.

Planning the day

My Day is the feature To Do is known for. It is a smart list that resets every night. You add tasks to it from any list through Add to My Day, or create them there. A light bulb icon shows suggestions. Tasks you didn't finish move back to your Tasks list, and they show up in the next day's suggestions. Microsoft's page doesn't say where other suggestions come from.

The Todoist pages I read describe Today and Upcoming views, with your calendar events next to your tasks, but no list that empties itself each night.

Repeats, reminders and deadlines

In Microsoft To Do you open a task and choose Add due date, Remind me or Repeat. Due dates offer today, tomorrow, next week or a date you pick. Reminders offer later today, tomorrow, next week or a date and time. Repeats offer daily, on weekdays, weekly, monthly, yearly or a custom pattern. The page doesn't say what time a reminder gets by default. It also describes no deadline separate from the due date.

Todoist repeats through the typed phrase, and a repeating task can keep its sub-tasks: when you complete the parent, they reset, though Todoist notes their order isn't kept. Reminders come in four kinds: automatic, custom, recurring and location. On iOS 26 and later, an Urgent reminder shows a full-screen alarm through silent and Do Not Disturb modes. More than one custom reminder per task needs Pro.

Todoist also has a deadline that sits apart from the date, so a repeating task can carry a fixed deadline while its date moves on. Deadlines are on the Pro plan.

Sharing and assigning

Both share a whole list or project. In To Do you open the sharing icon on a list you created, choose Create Invitation Link and send the link. Microsoft names two cases: sharing between personal Microsoft accounts, and sharing between accounts at the same workplace or school. You can assign a task to any member, yourself included. Moving an assigned task to another list removes the assignment. You can limit access to current members or stop sharing. Microsoft's page states no maximum number of members.

In Todoist you open a project, choose Share and invite by name, email or link. Everyone you invite gets edit access, and everyone in a shared personal project has the same rights, including adding and removing people. A task has one assignee, who gets an email or push notification. Sub-projects aren't shared automatically.

Price and where each one runs

Microsoft To Do is listed as Free in the US App Store, with no in-app purchases mentioned. You need a Microsoft account. A work or school account needs a qualifying Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription that includes a To Do license, and sync needs an Exchange Online license. Microsoft's welcome page doesn't state a price.

Todoist's Beginner plan is free, with 5 personal projects, 3 filters and a week of activity history. Pro gives 300 projects and 150 filters, and adds deadlines, custom reminders, the calendar layout, task duration and full reporting history. In the US App Store, Pro is $6.99 a month or $59.99 a year, and the listing offers a 7-day Pro trial. Todoist's own pricing page showed no dollar figure when I checked.

On devices, the Microsoft listing shows iPhone (iOS 17.6 or later), iPad and Apple Watch. Microsoft's system requirements page adds Windows, Android, Mac and the web, though it still names iOS 13 as the minimum, which the listing contradicts. Todoist has apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple Vision, Android, Wear OS, Mac, Windows and Linux, plus browser extensions.

Everything else, side by side

The rest, checked against Todoist's and Microsoft's help pages and App Store listings in October 2026.

Which one I'd pick

If you work in Outlook and want flagged emails to land in a list you also open on your phone, use Microsoft To Do. It costs nothing on an iPhone, My Day gives you a fresh list each morning, and you don't have to decide which plan you need.

If you think in projects, want a task like "take out the recycling every other Wednesday" to be one line, or need a deadline beside a repeating date, use Todoist. Start on Beginner and see whether you hit the five-project limit or miss deadlines before paying for Pro.

If you are still comparing, I looked at Todoist against Google Tasks and Apple Reminders too, and listed the field in best to-do list apps for iPhone. Whichever list you choose, it only works if things actually get into it.

Capture into the one you picked, in one step

Into Todoist: on iOS 18 and later, add Todoist's Add task control to Control Center or the Lock Screen, or put it on the Action button, which only iPhone 15 Pro and later models offer. Or say "Add a task in Todoist" to Siri. In Quick Add, type the date and project in the same line.

Into Microsoft To Do: open any list, type the title in the add-task field and press Return, and the task goes to the bottom of the list. Type the date in the title and smart due date picks it up. In Outlook, flag an email once the Flagged email list is on.

With Driftto, you open it to a capture field with the keyboard already up, type or speak the thought, and tap where it goes. Todoist is one of those places: the whole note becomes the task name in the project you set once, with an optional due date, and nothing goes into the description. Driftto does not write to Microsoft To Do, so it can't help you there. It only adds new tasks and never reads or changes what is already in Todoist. You can also say "Hey Siri, new capture in Driftto" and it goes to the destination you picked for Siri.

Questions

Driftto is in the App Store now.