Todoist
To-do list and task manager
Install with Homebrew
brew install --cask todoist
Todoist — Official Website
Quick Take: Todoist
In August 2026 Todoist is still the default task brain for people who work across Mac, phone and Windows. Pro at $5 per month billed yearly is the practical plan when you need calendar layout, richer reminders and unlimited Ramble and Task Assist. Things 3 still feels calmer on Apple-only setups and TickTick costs less if you want habits and Pomodoro bundled in. Todoist stays on top for raw capture speed, filters and sync you can trust, but the subscription is the real cost of keeping every platform in sync.
Best For
- •Freelancers & remote workers on mixed devices
- •Students with multi-device class loads
- •Small teams needing light shared projects
What is Todoist?
Todoist is Doist's cross-platform task manager. Amir Salihefendic started it in 2007 as a student project and it now serves more than 30 million people and teams. In August 2026 the Mac app is still the fastest way to capture a task and see it everywhere. It runs on Mac, iOS, Windows, Android, Linux and the web, plus watches and wearables, with quick capture, a global hotkey and menu bar access that keep you out of the mouse. Technically the Mac client keeps parity with web and mobile while adding Spotlight capture and system hotkeys. In 2026 it sits between simple checklists such as Apple Reminders and heavier suites such as Asana or Linear. It supports Getting Things Done without locking you into one method. You get list, board and calendar layouts and filters that work like saved perspectives. Pricing in August 2026: Beginner is free with 5 personal projects, 3 filters and limited Ramble voice sessions. Pro is US $5 per user per month when billed yearly at $60 per year, or $7 month to month. Business is US $8 per user per month billed yearly at $96 per user per year, or $10 month to month. Pro unlocks 300 projects, calendar layout, task duration, custom reminders, 150 filters, full history, Task Assist, deadlines and unlimited Ramble voice capture. Business adds shared team workspaces, up to 500 team projects, roles, shared templates and central billing. The 2026 changelog keeps polishing calendar and the Upcoming view rather than rewriting the app. Apple Silicon and macOS Tahoe 26.x are fully supported through the Mac App Store, direct download or Homebrew Cask. The builds are notarized and update on the usual Mac channels without special steps.
Under the Hood: The Technical Backbone of Todoist
Todoist looks simple on the surface. The engineering behind it explains why it holds up for so many people.
History & Background
Amir Salihefendic started Doist in 2007 while at university. The company worked remote-first long before that was common. The app moved from a simple HTML5 list to a full platform. Version 10 and later AI updates in the mid 2020s pushed it from passive listing toward active help with planning.
How It Works
The Mac client is a tuned Electron shell that renders the same UI as the web app. Doist added native bridges in Swift and Objective-C for global hotkeys, Spotlight and Touch Bar so it feels at home on macOS. The sync engine reconciles offline changes with a model similar to Operational Transformation and queues local edits until you are back online. That is why offline edits merge cleanly across devices.
Ecosystem & Integrations
The Todoist API covers REST and Sync and is known for stability. Raycast, Alfred and Spark Mail treat Todoist as a first class citizen. Community tools include experimental Doist extensions and bridges such as Todoist-Habitica. If something is missing natively, a script or integration often already exists.
Future Development
Through 2026 Doist is putting work into local-first help that looks at your calendar and energy data to suggest when to schedule tasks. Tighter links with Slack and Teams are also on the path so teams can turn chat into light project work without moving to a heavy PM suite. The aim is to keep planning inside the task list rather than scattering it across separate AI tools. Expect smaller weekly polish to calendar scrolling and Upcoming date ranges alongside those bigger scheduling experiments.
Key Features
Natural Language Input (Quick Add)
Quick Add is what most people remember Todoist for. Type a sentence like Submit quarterly report every last Friday at 4pm #Work @urgent p1 and Todoist pulls out the date, repeat, project, label and priority on its own. Underneath it uses regex and small language models that understand phrases such as in 3 days or every Mon, Wed. The win is speed. You hit the global hotkey, type in plain language and move on without touching the mouse. On macOS the default is often Cmd+Control+A or Cmd+Shift+A and typing Call Mom tomorrow just works.
Flexible Views: List, Board & Calendar
Todoist gives you three ways to look at work. List stays linear for GTD-style processing. Board works like Kanban for stages. Calendar layout on Pro shows week and month grids for time blocking with your external calendar alongside tasks. The 2026 desktop notes keep refining calendar scrolling, Upcoming ranges and drag behavior. A practical setup is to run a content project on Board during production and switch to Calendar at weekly review to balance what is due.
Filter Query Language (Filters & Labels)
If you live in filters, Todoist lets you query tasks with AND, OR and NOT operators. Think of it as a small query language for your tasks. You can build perspectives that pull by due date, priority, assignee or label and combine them precisely. The index updates as tasks change so you only see what matches right now. For many power users this replaces scrolling. An example is a filter called Deep Work with (@computer | @writing) & p1 & today to isolate high-priority writing due today.
Todoist Assist: Task Assist & Ramble
Assist is Doist's AI layer. Task Assist rewrites a vague line into a clear next action and can split a big item into subtasks. Ramble is voice capture that turns a spoken dump into tasks with dates and priorities. Beginner gets limited Ramble sessions, Pro and Business get unlimited. These names replaced the older generic AI Assistant label in 2026. Try holding Ramble on iPhone right after a meeting or asking Task Assist to break down Plan Japan trip into bookings and research steps.
Team Workspaces & Shared Projects
Team Workspaces give you a separate space from personal projects with roles for admin, member and guest. You can assign tasks, leave comments and attach files. Updates push over WebSocket so everyone sees changes right away without sync conflicts. It is not a full enterprise suite, but it is enough for a small team or a family that wants one shared source of truth without extra overhead. A common pattern is a freelancer sharing a project with a client where bugs come in as tasks and completions are tracked in one place.
Productivity Visualizations (Karma)
Karma tracks completed tasks, streaks and whether you hit daily or weekly goals, then shows trends in graphs. You collect points for consistency and you can turn off deductions if you prefer. The stats stay local and sync to the cloud to keep your level such as Grandmaster. People keep it on because the small feedback loop helps them stay consistent. Checking Karma on Sunday night and seeing a 50-day streak is often enough to get the next week planned.
Who Should Use Todoist?
1The Freelance Developer
Alex freelances on the web and juggles three client codebases. Todoist is the hub. The day starts in Today where tasks from different projects sit together. During a call Alex hits Quick Add and types Fix navbar z-index on staging #ClientA @bug today without leaving the meeting. A filter called Code Mode shows only @coding and p1 work so admin noise disappears. When a client emails a request, Alex turns the message into a task through Spark Mail with a link back to the thread. What remains is a short prioritized list that keeps deep work apart from small admin.
2The University Student
Sarah is in her final year of Biology and manages a thesis plus coursework in Todoist. Each course has its own project and the thesis uses Board columns for Researching, Drafting and Editing. Calendar Feed pushes due dates into Apple Calendar so she can block time for study. When a task feels too big like Study for Finals she uses Task Assist to split it into Review Chapter 4 notes and Take practice quiz. Labels such as @library or @campus tell her what she can do in a given place, which lowers the stress around exams.
3The Busy Parent (Family Manager)
Mark runs a house of four and shares a Family project with his partner. The core lists are Groceries and Chores. When supplies run low he adds milk and eggs to Groceries by speaking to his Apple Watch. On Saturday the recurring Weekend Chores appear and they split Clean Garage and Vacuum between them. A location reminder pings Mark with Pick up lightbulbs as he drives past the hardware store, a task added days earlier. The result is fewer forgotten errands and less back and forth.
How to Install Todoist on Mac
Todoist installs from the Mac App Store for Apple-handled updates or as a direct download and Homebrew cask for faster patches. Pick the channel you prefer.
Install via Homebrew (Recommended for Power Users)
Open Terminal and run brew install --cask todoist. You can use Terminal, iTerm2 or Warp.
Alternative: Mac App Store
Open the Mac App Store, search for Todoist and click Get or Install. Billing goes through your Apple ID if you subscribe there.
Login and Initial Sync
Launch Todoist from Spotlight with Cmd+Space then Todoist. Sign in with email, Google or Apple ID and let the first sync finish.
Pro Tips
- • Turn on Launch at Login in Settings > General so daily notifications fire.
- • Allow access to Reminders if you want two-way import from Apple Reminders.
- • Keep Todoist in the menu bar for quick access to Today without opening the main window.
Configuration Tips
Master the Global Quick Add Shortcut
Go to Settings > Advanced > Shortcuts and set Quick Add to something you can hit without thinking. The usual choice is Cmd+Shift+A or Cmd+Control+A. With this you can capture from Chrome, Slack or VS Code without bringing Todoist forward.
Optimize Smart Date Recognition
In Settings > General keep Smart Date Recognition on. If you often type codes that look like dates, hold Shift while typing to keep the text literal or use backspace to strip the parsed date.
Customize Your Swipe Gestures
Open Settings > General > Swipe actions and set up trackpad gestures. Many people map swipe right to Schedule and swipe left to Complete or Select, which mirrors iOS and speeds up inbox processing.
Alternatives to Todoist
Todoist leads on capture and sync. These Mac options trade that for native feel or a different price.
Things 3 (Cultured Code)
Apple-only aesthetic rival. Mac $49.99, iPhone $9.99, iPad $19.99 one-time. Pros: native polish, Things 3.22 Tahoe redesign, calm GTD UX. Cons: no Windows/Android/web collaboration. Choose Things for Apple-only personal systems.
TickTick
Feature-dense freemium rival. Premium about $35.99/year or $3.99/month. Pros: Pomodoro, habits, Eisenhower matrix. Cons: busier UI; NLP often ranked behind Todoist. Choose TickTick for all-in-one personal productivity at a lower annual price.
OmniFocus 4
Apple-native GTD power tool. Standard ~$74.99 / Pro ~$149.99 perpetual or ~$99.99/year. Pros: Review, Forecast, automation. Cons: steep curve, no Android multiplayer. Choose OmniFocus for industrial personal GTD.
Apple Reminders
Free system app on macOS Tahoe 26 with Continuity and Shortcuts. Pros: zero cost, Siri. Cons: weaker filters and cross-platform reach. Choose Reminders for simple lists; graduate to Todoist when capture becomes daily infrastructure.
Pricing
As of August 2026 on todoist.com/pricing and the plans FAQ: Beginner (Free) gives 5 personal projects, Smart Quick Add, list and board layouts, 3 filter views, 1 week of activity history, limited Ramble and basic integrations. Pro is US $5 per user per month billed yearly at $60 per year or $7 month to month. You get 300 personal projects, calendar layout, task duration, custom reminders, 150 filters, full history, Task Assist, deadlines and unlimited Ramble. Business is US $8 per user per month billed yearly at $96 per user per year or $10 month to month and adds a shared team workspace, up to 500 team projects, roles and permissions, central billing, team activity logs, shared templates and up to 1,000 members and guests. SOC 2 Type II is listed for organizations. Most regular Mac users need Pro for calendar layout, deeper reminders and unlimited Assist and Ramble.
Pros
- ✓Quick Add with natural language is still one of the fastest ways to capture a task
- ✓Sync across Mac, phone, Windows and the web stays reliable for hybrid setups
- ✓Filter language supports up to 150 saved views on Pro
- ✓Task Assist and unlimited Ramble on Pro cut down planning friction
- ✓Business workspaces handle light collaboration without a heavy PM tool
- ✓Strong integrations with Raycast, Slack, Gmail, calendars and Zapier plus a stable API
- ✓Free tier is honest about limits and paid tiers clearly add calendar and Assist
Cons
- ✗Calendar layout, deeper reminders and unlimited Ramble push most power users to Pro
- ✗Cross-platform focus means Mac feel trails Apple-only apps such as Things
- ✗Someday and maybe work needs labels and filters rather than built-in support
- ✗Five free projects is tight for students and freelancers with several clients
Community & Support
Doist has a large and active community. You will find workflow answers on the r/todoist subreddit with 70k members and in the official help docs. The Help Center covers query syntax and integrations in detail. Email support is not live chat but it is responsive and often resolves sync issues within a day. Developers also share Python wrappers and scripts on GitHub that extend the API. The Help Center docs include worked examples for filter queries such as overdue & p1 and for calendar layout setup on Mac. Forum threads often share filter packs for GTD contexts like @home, @errands and @deep work. On GitHub you will find community scripts that export backups, sync with Obsidian and build custom dashboards. That depth means most setup questions already have a written answer.
Video Tutorials
Getting Started with Todoist
More Tutorials
Ultimate Todoist Setup For 2025 - Get Organised Now!
Carl Pullein • 77.9K views
How to get thoughts out of your head (and your notes app) and into Todoist
Todoist • 20.7K views
Top 3 free to-do list apps #todolist #todoist #productivity #habits #motivation #inspiration
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Frequently Asked Questions about Todoist
About the Author
Productivity & Workflow Analyst
Expert Tips for Todoist
Mac and mobile users on X still single out Ramble as a favorite Todoist capability for turning spoken dumps into structured tasks, especially once Pro removes session limits.
Team buyers continue debating Todoist’s per-seat pricing versus flat-fee tools; freelancers largely accept seats because capture quality and sync trust remain higher than most PM suites.
Related Technologies & Concepts
Sources & References
Fact-CheckedLast verified: Aug 9, 2026
Key Verified Facts
- Todoist Pro costs $7/month or $60/year ($5/month billed yearly) as of August 2026.[cite-2, cite-1]
- Todoist Business costs $10/user/month or $8/user/month billed yearly ($96/user/year).[cite-2]
- Beginner free plan includes up to 5 personal projects and 3 custom filter views.[cite-1, cite-2]
- Doist maintains an active 2026 changelog covering calendar layout and Upcoming improvements.[cite-3]
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- 2Todoist plans, pricing and billing FAQ
Accessed Aug 9, 2026
"Exact Pro $7/mo or $60/yr and Business $10/$8 pricing plus limits."
- 3
- 4Use the calendar layout in Todoist
Accessed Aug 9, 2026
"Calendar layout documentation for week/month views."
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Research queries: Todoist pricing 2026; Todoist Ramble Task Assist; Todoist changelog 2026 Mac