Todoist vs TickTick on an iPhone One plans the project, one plans the day.

Both turn a typed sentence into a dated task. They part ways on the calendar, on how hard a reminder pushes, on focus and habits, and on what the paid plan costs.

Jacky Fakkeldij Building Driftto, on his own · Updated 20 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 and TickTick are both places it writes to. So I had a reason to read both apps closely, and people weigh these two against each other more than almost any other pair.

In October 2026 I went through Todoist's help center and pricing FAQ, TickTick's help center and upgrade page, and both US App Store listings. Everything below comes from those pages. Where a page didn't say which plan a feature sits on, I left the plan out rather than guess.

The short answer

Todoist suits people who think in projects: a richer quick add syntax, up to 150 filter views on Pro, and apps on more platforms, Wear OS and Linux included. TickTick suits people who plan the day on a calendar and want tasks, a Pomodoro timer and habits in one app, with a basic calendar on the free plan and a cheaper paid tier.

The catches. Todoist's calendar layout, custom reminders and location reminders all sit behind Pro. TickTick's free plan stops at nine lists, 99 tasks per list and five habits.

Typing a task in one line

Both apps read dates out of what you type. In Todoist you can write "tomorrow at 4 PM" or "every other Tuesday" in the task name. The rest of the line can carry more: # for the project, % for a label, p1 to p3 for priority, / for a section, + for a person in a shared project, ! for a reminder and curly braces for a deadline. Todoist notes that @ for labels still works but is set to retire by the end of 2026. Two of those shortcuts need Pro: the reminder shortcuts and deadlines.

TickTick calls it Smart Recognition. Type "Meeting at 9 tomorrow" and it sets the date and the reminder. You can choose to strip the date out of the task text, and # adds a tag as you type. Its pricing page lists this natural language parsing on the free plan.

For voice, Todoist has Ramble: you talk and it sorts what you said into tasks with projects and due dates. Beginner gets a limited number of Ramble sessions, Pro gets unlimited. In TickTick you long press the + button and speak.

The calendar, and which plan has it

This is the clearest split. Todoist's calendar layout is on Pro and Business only. On an iPhone it offers Agenda and Week; Week shows three days upright and seven in landscape. Month is only on the web and desktop apps, and showing every future occurrence of a repeating task is web and desktop only too. Task durations, which make the calendar useful for time blocking, are also Pro.

TickTick puts a basic calendar on the free plan and calls Premium's "multiple calendar views". Its help center describes week, month and year views, plus an agenda view on the desktop app. The App Store listing marks the grid view as Premium. TickTick also has help pages for bringing in Google, iCloud, Outlook and Exchange calendars, so your meetings sit next to your tasks.

If you want to see your tasks on a calendar without paying, only TickTick does that.

Reminders that won't let go

On Todoist's free plan you get automatic reminders for tasks that have a date and a time. Custom reminders, time-based reminders and location reminders are Pro. In the mobile apps you can only add a date and time reminder; the "before task" option is on web and desktop. A location reminder fires on your phone when you arrive at or leave a place. On iOS 26 and later there is an Urgent toggle.

TickTick allows two reminders on the free plan and five on Premium. It has location reminders on iOS and Android, a reminder at the end of a task's duration, and email reminders on Premium. Its strongest tool is Constant Reminder, which keeps notifying you until you act. On iOS 26 you can have it come as a system alarm: full screen on the Lock Screen, ringing through Silent mode and Do Not Disturb, once you grant TickTick alarm permission.

If you miss notifications, TickTick's alarm option is the harder push of the two.

Focus timer and habits

TickTick has both built in. The Pomodoro tab runs 25 minutes of focus and a 5 minute break, or a stopwatch that counts up, and you can start it from a task or from a reminder pop-up. Habits sit in their own tab, with a gallery of ready-made habits and a frequency like three times a week. The free plan holds five habits; Premium holds up to 299.

I found no focus timer or habit tracker in Todoist's help center. You can make a repeating task, which covers simple routines, but there is no streak view or timer. If you want those, you'd add a second app.

Sharing a list with other people

Todoist lets you share projects on every plan, with up to five people in a personal project. Everyone you invite gets the tasks, comments and files, and can add, assign and complete tasks. Each person's paid features follow their own plan. For bigger groups, Business adds a team workspace with up to 250 people per team project.

TickTick shares lists you created yourself; the Inbox and smart lists like Today can't be shared. You invite by email or with a link. Any member can assign tasks and comment, and an @ mention sends a notification. TickTick's pricing page lists two members on the free plan and 29 on Premium, and you can choose which changes notify you per list.

For a couple or a small group, both work. For a team that needs more than 29 people on one list, Todoist Business is the one built for it.

Everything else, side by side

The rest, from both help centers, pricing pages and App Store listings in October 2026.

Which one I'd pick

If your work comes in projects with sections, labels and deadlines, or you share projects with a team, pick Todoist. Its one-line syntax and filter views pay off once you have a lot of tasks, and it runs on nearly every device, Wear OS included. Budget for Pro if you want the calendar or location reminders.

If you plan by the day and the hour, want a focus timer and habit tracking in the same place, or keep missing reminders, pick TickTick. It gives you more on the free plan in the areas that touch a calendar, and Premium is $10 a year less than Todoist Pro in the App Store.

Either way, a list only helps if things get into it. The slow part is often the moment before: finding the app, waiting for it to open and choosing the project.

Capture into the one you picked, in one step

Into Todoist: open the app and type the whole task in one line, like "Call the garage tomorrow at 9 #Errands". Its App Store listing also names Siri and the Apple Watch app as ways to add a task.

Into TickTick: long press the + button and speak, or turn on Add tasks via Siri under Settings, Import & Integration, Siri, and then add a task by voice.

With Driftto, you open it to a capture field with the keyboard already up, type or say the thought and tap a destination. It lands in the project or list you set once for Todoist or TickTick, and one capture can go to both. In Todoist the whole note becomes the task title. 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.