Todoist vs TickTick: Best To-Do App in 2026?

Todoist and TickTick are the two task managers most people end up choosing between — and the choice got more interesting in December 2025, when Todoist raised its Pro price 25%. TickTick, meanwhile, keeps stuffing more features into a cheaper plan. Every price below was checked against the vendors' official pages in October 2026.

The Short Answer

Pick TickTick if you want one app that handles tasks, habits, a calendar, and a Pomodoro timer for about $50 a year: it is the better value for most individuals. Pick Todoist if you live on natural-language task capture, need deep integrations (150+ native, thousands more via Zapier), or want the strongest AI assistant in a to-do app — and you are willing to pay $60 a year for it. Teams should default to Todoist Business.

For most solo users reading this, TickTick wins on value. The rest of this comparison explains exactly where each dollar goes.

At a Glance

✓ = included/strong · ◐ = partial or limited · ✗ = not available

Pricing Compared

The headline: Todoist is now the more expensive app at every paid tier. Since the December 2025 increase, Todoist Pro costs $60 a year ($5 a month billed annually) or $7 a month billed monthly — up from $48 a year. TickTick Premium is $49.99 a year (about $4.17 a month), or $4.99 a month if you pay monthly. That is roughly a $10-a-year gap, or about 17%.

Todoist (from the official pricing page): Beginner is free and includes 5 active projects, 300 tasks per project, 3 filter views, and one week of activity history — but no custom reminders and no AI features. Pro is $7 a month or $60 a year, unlocking 300 projects, 150 filters, the calendar view, custom reminders (time, location, and repeat-based), automatic backups, and the full AI Assist suite. Business is $10 per user a month or $8 per user a month billed annually ($96 a year per user), adding a shared team workspace, up to 500 team projects, admin controls, and centralized billing.

TickTick (from the official pricing page): Free costs $0 and is genuinely usable — 9 lists, 99 tasks per list, 19 checklist items per task, 2 reminders per task, 5 habits, the Pomodoro timer, and a basic calendar view. Premium is $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, raising the caps to 299 lists, 999 tasks per list, 199 checklist items, 5 reminders per task, plus the full calendar (grid view and calendar subscriptions), custom Smart Lists, custom themes, and expanded habit tracking.

One warning while you research: a lot of older reviews still quote TickTick Premium at $35.99 a year — that price is gone. The current web price is $49.99 a year. Stale reviews are exactly why we re-check every number before publishing.

Free Plan Showdown

TickTick's free plan is one of the most generous in the category, and it wins this round outright. Nine lists with 99 tasks each is 891 tasks of headroom — more than most people will ever organize. You also get the Pomodoro timer, habit tracking, and a calendar view without paying anything, all things Todoist locks behind Pro.

Todoist's free Beginner plan is deliberately narrow: 5 active projects. That cap is the wall almost everyone hits first. One project per client, one for personal, one for the side project, one for the household — and you are done. If your life fits in five buckets, the free plan works indefinitely; if not, Todoist is effectively a $60-a-year decision. The limits that bite on TickTick's free plan are smaller and quieter: 19 checklist items inside a task, one attachment a day, and only 2 reminders per task.

Built-in Extras: Pomodoro, Habits, and Calendar

This is TickTick's home turf and the main reason people switch to it. Three whole apps live inside TickTick: a Pomodoro/focus timer with white noise and focus statistics, a habit tracker with streaks, and a full calendar view that shows all your lists at once (grid view and calendar subscriptions on Premium; a basic calendar on free). If you currently juggle a to-do app plus a habit app plus a focus timer, TickTick replaces all three.

Todoist has none of this built in. Its calendar view — Pro only — shows one project at a time, and there is no habit tracking or focus timer at all. Todoist's philosophy is the opposite: do tasks perfectly, and let other apps (or its 150+ integrations) handle the rest. That is a defensible position, but it means a Todoist setup usually costs you two or three subscriptions where TickTick costs one.

AI Features

Todoist is ahead here, and it is not close yet. The Pro plan's Todoist Assist suite includes Task Assist (breaks big tasks into subtasks and suggests scheduling), Ramble (voice notes that become tasks, unlimited on Pro), plus Email Assist and Filter Assist. Natural-language input has always been Todoist's superpower — type "submit report every Friday at 5pm #work p1" and it parses the date, recurrence, project, and priority correctly almost every time.

TickTick is catching up. Its 2026 releases added an AI Mode for voice input, MCP support, and audio transcription. It is genuinely useful for dictating tasks on the go, but it is not yet the full planning assistant that Todoist Assist is. If AI assistance is the reason you are upgrading, Todoist earns its premium.

Integrations and Automation

Todoist wins decisively. It ships 150+ native integrations (Gmail, Slack, Google Calendar, and the rest of the usual suspects) and connects to 8,000+ more apps through Zapier. For freelancers whose task list is the hub of client work — emails become tasks, calendar events sync both ways — this ecosystem is the product.

TickTick's integration story is thin by comparison: the basics are covered, but power users will feel the gap quickly. Its filter system is more approachable, though — TickTick's Smart Lists use a visual builder, while Todoist's filters use a text-based query syntax with a real learning curve. Simple to learn versus powerful to master; pick your tradeoff.

Reminders That Actually Nag You

TickTick has a cult feature Todoist cannot match: persistent "annoying alert" reminders that keep buzzing until you deal with the task, with custom reminder sounds on Premium. For ADHD users and chronic snoozers, this single feature has converted more people than any pricing table. Todoist's reminders are standard — custom time, location, and repeat reminders on Pro — polite and easy to dismiss.

If your problem is not organizing tasks but actually starting them, TickTick's nagging is a genuine therapeutic feature, not a gimmick.

Who Should Choose Which

Pick TickTick if: you are a student or on a budget; you want tasks, habits, calendar, and Pomodoro in one app; you rely on persistent reminders to get moving; or you simply want the most features per dollar.

Pick Todoist if: you capture tasks by typing fast and expect the app to parse everything; you automate your workflow across many apps; you want the best AI task assistant; or you need proper team workspaces (Todoist Business).

Consider neither if: you need project management, not task management. Gantt charts, resource planning, and complex reporting are beyond both apps — that is Asana or ClickUp territory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is TickTick really cheaper than Todoist?

Yes. TickTick Premium is $49.99 a year versus Todoist Pro at $60 a year — about $10 (17%) less. The gap widened in December 2025 when Todoist raised Pro from $48 to $60. Monthly billing shows the same pattern: $4.99 for TickTick, $7 for Todoist.

Did Todoist raise its prices?

Yes, in December 2025. Pro went from $4 to $5 a month on annual billing ($48 to $60 a year) and $5 to $7 monthly; Business went from $6 to $8 per user a month annually. Many older reviews still show the old prices — check the date on anything you read.

Which is better for ADHD?

TickTick, for most people. Its persistent "annoying alert" reminders keep buzzing until you act, which is exactly the external scaffolding ADHD brains need. Todoist's reminders are easy to swipe away. Pair TickTick's reminders with its built-in Pomodoro timer and habit tracking, and it is the stronger ADHD setup.

Does TickTick have an affiliate program?

No — TickTick has no public affiliate program, which is worth knowing for a different reason: many glowing Todoist reviews online are written by affiliates earning up to 25% commission on Todoist referrals. We disclose our own relationships below; when a review never mentions money, ask what the incentive is.