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, for 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 apps out there these days that they seem to have no personality.
To be honest, I didn’t think Todoist was a good idea at first. This is because the free version has quite a few limited features. If you want to do something, it often says, ‘Supported only in the paid version. So my first impression was that it wasn’t all that different from Microsoft To-do. And competitors like Any.Do was so powerful that it seemed to lag a bit. As a result, there was a thought of ‘Is the functionality a bit lacking?
Anyway, initially, I didn’t think it was that great. However, after using various productivity tools like Outlook and experiencing disappointment again, I returned to to-do apps. However, Todoist recently introduced the Kanban feature. The Kanban functionality is decent, reaching a level where it has its pros and cons, not as detailed as Trello but smooth enough in its operation. So, I subscribed to the paid version and try it. More on this later.
Todoist has a very strong integration with Google Calendar
The absence of a calendar feature can be critical, but it is 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. Because it reduces any potentially cumbersome processes, even if only by one. Every week’ and similar options are available, but it’s disappointing that detailed options like ‘every third Sunday of the month’ commonly found in the calendars app are not supported. However, the fact that such a feature exists in a to-do app is remarkable, and, surprisingly, it supports not only English but also Korean to some extent. Internationalization, wow…
Although the absence of a calendar is quite regrettable, seamless synchronization compensates it with Google Calendar. And they often refer this synchronization 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 not many apps where changes made in Google Calendar are reflected in the app. Wow… The method is also not difficult; by adding an event in Google Calendar, and 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, that such functionality exists itself is very pleasing. It almost eliminates the absence of a calendar.
Todoist is also a great project management tool.
Personally, I’d use it similarly to Trello.
The motivation behind my decision to use Todoist is the Kanban feature, also performs well. It’s almost a Trello. Notions, for example, have gotten better recently, but Kanban used to be frustratingly slow. Also, it has the drawback of being too slow on mobile… While ClickUp has Kanban, it only supports viewing as Kanban, with very limited capabilities in terms of essential Kanban features like rearranging tasks. TickTick also has the functionality, but the app isn’t as intuitive overall. That’s why Todoist stood out to me.
And while it was mentioned that the features are weaker than Trello, this aspect is more relevant at an enterprise level. It allows for detailed task breakdowns with the ability to specify multiple steps, and you can set individual notifications for each of those details. You can put notes, photos, etc. in there to supplement it. Therefore, when using it alone, I consider it superior to Trello and similar tools. Therefore, I use Todoist not just as a tool for organizing tasks, but also for project management. While tools like Notion also allow for organization, Todoist, with its Kanban and the ability to set alarms and manage tasks, stands out in those aspects. Of course, there are other advantages…
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.
While they typically design apps in this category to be available on various platforms, unfortunately, the Microsoft Store version does not yet support the Kanban feature. Perhaps it’s because of a tiny user base, but looking at it this way, it may seem like a drawback. However, if we compare it to other apps that have abandoned the Microsoft Store, we can consider it an advantage that they release the app and provide updates. 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 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, for 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 lacking, but I believe the developers are not unaware of these aspects. Instead, Todoist is deliberately adding only the features they consider being essential. It would be nice to feel a sense of continuous improvement with the emergence of new features. It’s 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 the reason I didn’t use Trello. Collaborative tools like Trello or Asana are priced at around $10, probably with the idea that they will be used by companies. ClickUp, at around $5, was lower, and I considered using it but eventually gave up. However, to-do apps like Todoist are on the cheaper side overall.
Todoist isn’t a perfect tool either, but it has 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 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
