Todoist vs Things vs TickTick (2026)

Everyone who has ever tried to be organized has tried at least three task apps. This is normal. The problem isn’t you — most task apps are optimized for a specific style of work, and if your style doesn’t match, they feel like fighting. Three apps consistently make the shortlist in 2026: Todoist, Things, and TickTick. They’re all genuinely good. They fit different people.

At a glance

Todoist — the cross-platform default

Todoist has been around 15 years and has quietly become the default for anyone who works across Windows + iPhone, Mac + Android, or a browser-first workflow. It syncs everywhere including a genuinely usable web app, offers real team collaboration, and its natural-language input (“buy milk tomorrow at 5pm”) is the best in the category.

• Strengths: works everywhere. Best natural-language parsing. Real collaboration (shared projects with permissions). Karma system + integrations with Google Calendar, Gmail, Slack.
• Weaknesses: the free tier caps at 5 personal projects, which is limiting once you take it seriously. Paid tier is $4/mo (Pro) or $6/user/mo (Business) — reasonable but a subscription in a category that has one-time options.

Pick Todoist if: you use mixed OSes or want collaboration.

Things — the design pick (Mac only)

Things is what task apps look like when a company obsesses over design for a decade. The Today, Upcoming, and Someday views are calm, uncluttered, and rewarding to look at. It’s widely considered the most beautiful task app made — and has an Apple Design Award to prove it.

• Strengths: exceptional design. Best-in-class Today and Upcoming views. GTD-friendly (Areas → Projects → Tasks) without demanding you follow GTD religiously. Native Apple apps feel like Apple made them.
• Weaknesses: Apple-only. No collaboration. No free tier. Pricing is per-platform (Mac $49.99, iPhone $9.99, iPad $19.99 — buy all three, $80 total). Legitimately owning the app is the point though — no subscription pressure ever.

Pick Things if: you’re on all Apple hardware and care about design.

TickTick — the feature-rich value pick

TickTick is what happens when a task app decides not to specialize. Native Pomodoro timer. Habit tracker. Calendar view. Kanban view. Voice input. Multiple reminders. Location-based reminders. Genuine free tier that’s more than usable. Feels like it does everything the other two do, plus more, for less money.

• Strengths: cross-platform (yes, including Windows and Web). Massive feature set. Genuine free tier (much more capable than Todoist’s free tier). Built-in Pomodoro is a legitimate reason to switch for people who use it.
• Weaknesses: the UI is denser than Things and busier than Todoist — some people find it overwhelming. Design language feels a step behind the other two. Some settings hide behind confusing menus.

Pick TickTick if: you want the most for the least, and don’t mind a busier UI.

Pricing (mid-2026)

The honest recommendation

Honourable mentions (why they’re not on the list)

• Apple Reminders — genuinely capable now. If you just want a checklist and are on Apple, this is enough. On the list next round if it earns its own comparison piece.
• Notion — powerful but overkill for pure task management. Sees more use as a database that includes tasks.
• Any.do — competent but has been losing ground to Todoist and TickTick.
• Google Tasks — bare-bones. Fine if you live in Gmail, otherwise skip.
• OmniFocus — GTD purist tool, Mac/iOS only, expensive. If you know what GTD is and want a real GTD system, this is where to look. Otherwise skip.

The takeaway

There is no wrong answer among these three. Pick the one that fits your platforms, budget, and design tolerance. The far bigger mistake is switching apps every 3 months looking for the perfect one — every hour spent re-configuring a new task app is an hour not spent doing the tasks.

Whichever you pick, commit for 6 months minimum before evaluating whether it’s working. That’s long enough to know honestly.