Todoist vs. TickTick (2026): Which Is Worth It?

Last updated: 2026-07-06

Todoist wins if AI features and integrations matter to you — Task Assist, voice-to-task via Ramble, and 8,000+ Zapier connections aren’t close to what TickTick offers. TickTick wins on price and built-in extras: $35.99/year instead of $60/year, plus a Pomodoro timer and habit tracking Todoist doesn’t have at all. The gap narrowed after Todoist’s December 2025 price increase, but for most people the AI features still tip it.

Quick Verdict

• Todoist wins on AI (Task Assist, Ramble voice-to-task) and integrations (80+ native, 8,000+ via Zapier).
• TickTick wins on price ($35.99/yr vs $60/yr) plus a built-in Pomodoro timer and habit tracking.
• If you’re price-sensitive and don’t need integrations or AI, TickTick is genuinely good value.

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Comparison Snapshot

How I Evaluated This

I judged this on the two things that actually decide which app wins for a given person: how much AI and integration depth you need, and how much the price gap matters to you. Every price below was re-verified in July 2026.

Where Todoist Wins

Natural Language Input

This is Todoist’s most underrated feature. You type “Follow up with David re: proposal every Monday at 9am starting next week in the Client Projects section” and Todoist just… does it. Correct project, correct time, correct recurrence.

TickTick handles basics. “Tomorrow at 3pm” works. But complex schedules, project assignment from the task entry bar, and multi-part task details — TickTick requires more manual clicks to fill in what Todoist parses automatically.

If you’re adding 10-20 tasks a day, that friction adds up.

The AI Features (Real Ones)

This is where the gap is the biggest in 2026.

Todoist has Task Assist AI built into the Pro plan. Type a vague task like “Prepare for client workshop” and it breaks it down: create slides, review attendee list, test equipment, send materials in advance. It’s not magic, but it’s genuinely useful when you have one of those fuzzy “I need to deal with that” items on your list.

Then there’s Ramble, which is the one I use constantly. Talk into your phone: “Add to Arena Hall project — follow up with Sarah about the venue contract, due this Friday.” Todoist creates the task, assigns the project, sets the date. Done in about five seconds. I use this after every call. I used to lose things between a call ending and getting back to my desk. Now I don’t.

TickTick’s AI situation: it has voice input that converts to text, and basic NLP for dates. That’s about it. No task breakdown, no smart scheduling, no voice-to-task-with-context. The app doesn’t do anything with AI in the way Todoist does.

If AI in your tools matters to you at all, this one isn’t close.

Integrations

My Todoist setup is connected to Granola via Zapier. When a meeting ends, action items flow into Todoist automatically. I also connect it to my calendar for time blocking, so tasks with due dates show up as calendar events.

That pipeline — meeting notes to task manager, automatically — is one of those things that sounds like a nice-to-have until you’ve had it. Then you can’t go back.

Todoist has 80+ native integrations and connects to 8,000+ apps through Zapier. TickTick connects to some tools but not at the same depth. No native Zapier integration in the same ecosystem. If your workflow lives across multiple apps, Todoist is the one that ties them together.

Collaboration

Todoist’s Business plan supports shared projects, assigned tasks, and team workspaces. TickTick’s collaboration features are limited. If you have a team or share tasks with anyone regularly, Todoist is the practical choice.

Where TickTick Wins

The Price

$35.99/year vs $60/year. That’s a genuine $24 difference annually. Over five years, you’ve saved $120. That’s real money.

And after Todoist’s December 2025 price increase, more people are doing that math. If you were paying $48/year and are now looking at $60, TickTick’s $36 looks even better.

For someone who just wants a solid task manager and doesn’t need the integrations and AI, TickTick is good value.

Built-In Pomodoro Timer

TickTick has a Pomodoro timer baked directly into the app. You set your work blocks and break times, pick a task, and it runs the timer against that specific task. Simple, clean, no extra app needed.

Todoist doesn’t have this. You’d need a separate Pomodoro app or browser extension, which means another thing to manage.

If you use Pomodoro — and a lot of the people reading an Asian Efficiency article do — TickTick saves you a step every single work session.

Built-In Calendar View

TickTick has a native calendar view. You can see your tasks laid out across the week, drag and drop to reschedule, and plan your days visually. It also includes an Eisenhower Matrix view for priority sorting.

Todoist’s calendar view is available on Pro but it’s more basic. The visual calendar planning experience TickTick offers is genuinely better.

Habit Tracking Built In

TickTick lets you track habits alongside your tasks. Same app. You can log your exercise, reading, water intake, whatever you’re tracking — without switching to a separate habit app.

Todoist doesn’t do habits. At all. You’d need Streaks, Habitica, or another standalone app.

If you’re trying to consolidate your productivity apps, TickTick is the more complete single solution.

Pricing Comparison

The AI Comparison (Honest)

Todoist has:

• Task Assist AI: breaks down vague tasks into subtasks, suggests scheduling, creates filters from plain English
• Ramble: voice-to-task with project and date parsing in 38 languages
• Email Assist: turns emails into tasks (Pro)

TickTick has:

• Voice input: converts speech to text for task entry
• Basic NLP: understands “tomorrow at 3pm” but struggles with complex schedules

This is not a close comparison. Todoist built real AI features into the core product. TickTick’s “AI” is mostly just voice transcription and basic date parsing — which every modern app has.

If you’re paying for Todoist specifically to get AI features, you’re getting what you paid for. If AI isn’t on your list of requirements, then TickTick’s gap here doesn’t matter much.

Side-by-Side

My Recommendation

Pick Todoist if:

• You use Zapier or want your tasks to flow automatically from meetings, email, or other tools
• AI features matter to you — specifically the task breakdown or voice capture
• You work with a team and need shared projects
• You’re already in the Todoist ecosystem and the $24/year difference isn’t make-or-break

Pick TickTick if:

• You’re a solo user who wants Pomodoro + habits + tasks in one app
• You’re price-sensitive and don’t need deep integrations
• You want a visual calendar built into your task manager
• The AI gap doesn’t matter to you

What I use: Todoist. The Ramble voice-to-task is something I use after every single call. The Zapier connection to Granola means I never lose a meeting action item. And the natural language input is fast enough that capturing tasks doesn’t slow me down.

I haven’t used TickTick as my main tool, so I want to be upfront about that. But I’ve looked at it carefully, and for the right person — solo, wants all-in-one, doesn’t need integrations — it’s a genuinely good app at a better price.

The honest truth is that Todoist’s December price increase made the decision harder. At $4/month it was easy to say “just pay the extra.” At $5/month with TickTick at roughly $3/month billed annually (its true standalone monthly rate is $3.99)… the math is closer. What tips it for most people I work with is the AI and integrations. If those aren’t in your requirements, go save the $24.

FAQ

Is TickTick good enough to replace Todoist?

For solo users who don’t need integrations or AI: yes. TickTick is a well-built app. It does tasks, habits, Pomodoro, and calendar all in one place. If that’s your use case, it works. The feature set that makes Todoist worth the price premium — natural language parsing, Task Assist AI, Zapier integrations — only matters if you actually use those things.

Did Todoist’s price increase justify switching to TickTick?

It depends on why you were using Todoist. If you were using it as a simple to-do list without integrations, then yes — TickTick offers a lot for less. If you’re using Todoist’s AI features and Zapier connections, switching means losing those. That’s not a free trade.

Does TickTick have an affiliate program?

TickTick doesn’t have a well-known public affiliate program. Just mentioning this because if you’re seeing a lot of Todoist recommendations online, part of the reason is that Todoist has a strong affiliate program (25% recurring commission) and TickTick doesn’t. That creates an incentive for most reviewers to favor Todoist. I’m telling you this so you can weigh it. I still think Todoist is the better tool for most people — but at least you know that’s not purely a financial coincidence.

What about Things 3?

If you’re on Apple-only devices, Things 3 is worth considering. One-time purchase ($80 total across Mac + iPhone + iPad), the most beautiful task manager ever made, but no AI and Apple-only. I compared Todoist vs Things in detail if that comparison is more relevant to you.

Try Todoist free — upgrade to Pro when you need the AI features and integrations. Or give TickTick a look if you want Pomodoro and habits built in at a lower price.

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