Todoist
Todoist review. The most intuitive to-do app! Simple, but there’s a reason for it.
I’ve used a lot of productivity tools in the past – collaboration tools, to-do apps, etc. I thought and thought and thought about which app would work best for me. After going around in circles like that, I settled down. You’ve probably heard of the app Todoist.
Table of Contents
- Todoist review. The most intuitive to-do app! Simple, but there’s a reason for it.
- My first impression of Todoist was not a good one.
- Todoist has a very strong integration with Google Calendar
- Todoist is also a great project management tool.
- Todoist doesn’t seem to offer much in the way of benefits for the paid version itself.
- Personally, when it comes to individual use, a to-do app like Todoist seems to be the best choice.
- Todoist summary
My first impression of Todoist was not a good one.
There are so many different apps out there these days that they seem to have no personality.
솔직히 처음에는 Todoist가 좋다고 생각하지 않았습니다. 무료 버전으로는 기능들이 제한된 것이 제법 많기 때문입니다. 뭔가 하려고 하면 ‘유료 버전에서만 지원합니다’, 이런 식이 많았습니다. 그러다보니 제 첫인상으로는 마이크로소프트 To-do와 크게 다르지 않았었습니다. 그리고 Any.Do 등 같은 할일 앱들 경쟁자들이 워낙 강력해서 조금 밀려보였습니다. 그러다보니 ‘기능도 좀 부족하나?’ 싶었구요.
여튼 이런 식으로 처음에는 그다지 좋다는 생각을 하지 않았었는데, 아웃록등 여러 생산성 도구들을 사용하고 다시 또 실망하고 다시 할일 앱쪽으로 발길을 돌렸었습니다. 그런데 이 Todoist가 비교적 최근에 칸반(Kanban)기능이 생겼습니다. 그리고 그 칸반 성능도 꽤나 괜찮아서 트렐로처럼 자세하지는 않아도 나름대로 장단점이 있는 수준이고, 또 제법 매끄럽게 굴러가는 수준이기에 유료 버전을 결재하고 정착해보기로 했습니다. 자세한 설명은 뒤에 계속 적겠습니다.
Todoist has a very strong integration with Google Calendar
The absence of a calendar feature can be critical, but it is somewhat mitigated.
As I’ve said before, to be honest, Todoist is a bit lacking in features compared to other competing apps. Specifically, as mentioned earlier, Any.Do, for example, has a calendar. However, the real value of Todoist lies in its simplicity and intuitiveness. Are there no other apps with such features? I’d like to, but once you enter the date, you can set the date by entering ‘Sunday’, ‘Weekend’, etc. in Korean without specifying a calendar or anything else. Personally, I like it quite a bit. Because it reduces any potentially cumbersome processes, even if only by one. Every week’ and similar options are available, but it’s a bit disappointing that detailed options like ‘every third Sunday of the month’ commonly found in calendars app are not supported. However, the fact that such a feature exists in a to-do app is remarkable, and it’s truly surprising that it supports not only English but also Korean to some extent. Internationalization, wow…
Although the absence of a calendar is quite regrettable, it is compensated by seamless synchronization with Google Calendar. And this synchronization is often referred to as ‘2-way,’ and this two-way aspect is crucial. There are hardly any apps that simply synchronize with Google Calendar at this level. However, there are surprisingly not many apps where changes made in Google Calendar are reflected back in the app. Wow… The method is also not difficult; by adding an event in Google Calendar, changing the calendar name to ‘Todoist,’ it gets reflected. Synchronization is also pretty fast.
However, it doesn’t reflect relatively complex things like ‘every two months on the third Friday of the month,’ as mentioned earlier. More precisely, it does work, but it becomes simplified to the level of just monthly repetition. This seems to be an unavoidable feature limitation. Still, the fact that such functionality exists itself is very pleasing. It almost completely eliminates the absence of a calendar.
Todoist is also a great project management tool.
Personally, I’d use it similarly to Trello.
제가 투두이스트를 사용하기로 마음 먹은 계기인 칸반 기능 역시 꽤 성능이 좋습니다. 거의 트렐로 수준입니다. 참고로 노션같은 경우는 최근에는 좀 개선이 되었던데, 예전에는 칸반이 느려터져서 답답했습니다. 또 얘는 모바일에서 너무 느리다는 단점이 있죠… 그리고 ClickUp은 역시 칸반이 있긴 한데 칸반으로 보는 것만 지원하는 수준이고 칸반의 핵심이라 할 수 있는 위치를 이리저리 바꾸는 기능이 매우 제한적입니다. 또 TickTick 역시 기능은 지원하지만 앱이 전체적으로 직관적이지 않습니다. 그렇기에 Todoist가 더 돋보였습니다.
그리고 기능들이 트렐로보다는 약하다고 했지만 이 부분은 정말 기업 수준에서나 그런 것이고, 오히려 세부 할 일을 몇단계나 지정할 수 있고, 그 세부 내용들에 일일이 알람 등 설정이 가능합니다. 거기에 메모나 사진 등을 올려서 보충 자료 올리는 것은 기본입니다. 그렇기에 혼자서 사용하기에는 트렐로 등보다 오히려 우월하다고 봅니다. 그렇기에 저는 todoist를 단순히 할일 정리하는 도구로보다는, 프로젝트 정리용으로 쓰고 있습니다. 노션 등에서도 정리는 물론 가능하지만, 이 친구는 칸반 외에 알람이나 할일 부분에서는 많이 아쉽습니다. 물론 다른 장점이 있긴 합니다만…
Todoist doesn’t seem to offer much in the way of benefits for the paid version itself.
The paid version feels more like an unlocking of restrictions than an improvement.
In addition, the features that show how many tasks have been completed in a week and the reminder feature are only available in the paid version. Since these two features can be quite handy, the free version might feel a bit lacking in various aspects. The feature that displays the achievement level among these provides a sense of accomplishment, as it functions as a sort of grading system. And it also has well-presented statistics of its own, making it visually appealing.
Moreover, while apps in this category are typically designed to be available on various platforms, unfortunately, the Microsoft Store version does not yet support the Kanban feature. Perhaps it’s due to a very small user base, but looking at it this way, it may seem like a drawback. However, compared to other apps that have essentially abandoned the Microsoft Store, the fact that they release the app and provide updates could be considered an advantage. I guess it depends on your point of view… – With a later update, the Windows version now also supports Kanban. It looks good and works well. Wow… For personal use, it can be considered on par with Trello.
Todoist also has fairly prompt and friendly customer support responses. Even before I subscribed to the premium version, I received responses about once every 2-3 days, so it was reasonably satisfactory.
Personally, when it comes to individual use, a to-do app like Todoist seems to be the best choice.
Other apps are more expensive, more focused on collaboration, and…
I mentioned earlier that the features are somewhat lacking, but I believe the developers are not unaware of these aspects. Instead, it seems that Todoist is deliberately adding only the features they consider to be essential. Nevertheless, it would be nice to feel a sense of continuous improvement with the emergence of new features. It’s a bit regrettable. Of course, updates themselves are conducted regularly.
The price for the premium version, when paid annually on the official website, amounts to around $3 per month, totaling $36 for the year. This is one of the reasons why I didn’t use Trello. Collaborative tools like Trello or Asana are generally priced at around $10, probably with the idea that they will be used by companies. ClickUp, at around $5, was a bit lower, and I considered using it, but eventually gave up. However, to-do apps like Todoist are generally on the cheaper side overall.
Todoist isn’t a perfect tool either, but it does have the features I’ve been looking for, so I’m pretty happy with it. I like the interface too. In the future, I’ll continue to explore various productivity tools and to-do apps, but for now, finding a tool that seems to settle well personally brings a lot of satisfaction.
Todoist summary
Good point
- Very intuitive and detailed
- Kanban is very powerful (Trello-level)
- Excellent integration with Google Calendar (2-Way)
Bad point
- The number of simple features is a bit insufficient (calendar, etc.)
- A bit more expensive than some competitors like TickTick ($36 per year)
- The free version is a little disappointing
