The Todoist alternative for people who finish.
Todoist earned its place as the category default: capture is instant, its natural-language parsing is the best in the business, and it runs on everything you own. Most people who leave don't leave angry. They leave over two quieter problems. The first is commercial — you're renting a to-do list, a few dollars a month, forever. The second is philosophical — Todoist is a collector, not a finisher. Adding a task takes two seconds; nothing in the product ever asks whether you're going to do it. Here's the case for the alternative — and honest pointers to where else to go if it isn't Zoro.
The short answer
If the subscription is your itch and you want the same app for less, TickTick is the like-for-like swap. If the itch is deeper — a list that grows faster than you finish it — Zoro moves your tasks to a board with WIP limits and a weekly review, free with iCloud sync or $59.99 once, on iPhone and Mac. If you want the whole field surveyed, we ranked all eight honest options.
The math
Renting a list is cheap. It's also forever.
Todoist Pro runs about $4 a month billed annually — small enough that you never cancel, permanent enough that it never ends. Run it out three years and ask what the money bought.
Why people leave
A great collector with a finishing problem.
- You're renting a to-do list. The fee is small, but it's monthly and it's indefinite — and what it buys is storage for tasks. Three years in you've paid $180 and you own nothing; stop paying and the Pro features walk away. And the rent just went up — 25% in December 2025.
- Capture is frictionless. Finishing is optional. Type "pay rent every 1st at 9am" and Todoist just understands — it's genuinely the best collector in the category. But nothing ever asks whether you'll actually do any of it. Five hundred tasks later you don't have a plan, you have a well-organized backlog.
- Karma rewards activity, not completion. You earn points for adding tasks and checking tasks off, and streaks measure that you showed up. None of it distinguishes finishing what matters from rearranging what doesn't.
- The list hides your work in progress. A list shows what's next. It doesn't show how much you've already started, or that one task has quietly rolled forward since March. That's how eight half-begun things pile up without a single alarm going off.
- Pro's headline features are table stakes elsewhere. Reminders and the calendar layout sit behind Todoist's paywall — features that free apps and one-time purchases include as a matter of course.
The alternative
A board that asks the question your list won't.
Zoro is a single-player kanban for iPhone and Mac, built on the opposite bet: the point of a task app is finishing, and finishing needs constraints. Your tasks live on a board where work moves left to right, and WIP limits cap how much you can pull into In Progress — if everything is started, nothing is. Tasks age visibly, so the one you've been avoiding stops hiding. Three priorities (P1–P3) and S/M/L effort sizes keep planning to seconds, and a weekly review makes you cut what you're never going to do. There is no karma and there are no streaks; completing a task is a quiet strikethrough. Two spaces keep Personal and Business apart, and your data syncs through your own iCloud, not a vendor's database. An honest trade: capture is fast, but there's no natural-language parsing — you tap a priority and a size instead of typing a sentence. And the price is a decision, not a lease: free with unlimited tasks and projects, or Pro for $59.99 once.
At a glance
Todoist vs Zoro, honestly.
| Todoist | Zoro | |
|---|---|---|
| Built around | Collecting everything | Finishing what you start |
| Capture speed | Best natural-language parsing in the category | Fast, but no natural-language parsing |
| Pricing model | Subscription, $60/yr (raised Dec 2025) | Free · Pro $59.99 once (or $2.99/mo · $19.99/yr) |
| Gamification | Karma and streaks | None, by design |
| Helps you finish | No — the list just grows | WIP limits, task aging, weekly review |
| Where your data lives | Their cloud | Your own iCloud |
| Platforms | Everywhere | iPhone + Mac (Apple-only) |
Feature by feature
Side by side.
| Feature | Zoro | Todoist |
|---|---|---|
| Apple-native iPhone + Mac | Yes | Yes, but cross-platform |
| Web app | No | Yes |
| Android / Windows / Linux | No | Yes |
| List view | Yes | Yes |
| Kanban board | Built in | Board view (Pro) |
| Three priorities (P1/P2/P3) | Yes | P1–P4 |
| S/M/L effort sizing | Built in | No |
| Subtasks | One level Pro | Unlimited nesting |
| Recurring tasks | Not in v1 | Yes (great) |
| Reminders / due dates | Not in v1 | Yes |
| Natural language input | No | Yes |
| Where your data lives | Your iCloud | Doist's servers |
| Offline-first | Yes | Caches recent |
| Pricing (1 user) | $0, $19.99/yr or $59.99 once | $60/year, forever — and rising |
Honest picks
If Zoro isn't your answer.
If you want a swap…
- Like-for-like, more features for less money → TickTick — compared here.
- Best design in the category, pay once, Apple → Things 3 — the comparison.
- Want free → Apple Reminders on Apple, Microsoft To Do everywhere.
If you want a change…
- A board and a method, on Apple → Zoro.
- Still deciding? We ranked all eight honest options — including the ones that beat us.
- Head-to-head detail → Pricing.
Switching
Your backlog doesn't come with you.
- Don't migrate the someday list — graduate it. Your 400-task someday list doesn't move to the new app; each task either graduates or it goes. If it's been rescheduled five times, it was never a task — it was a wish with a due date. Bring over only what you'd genuinely start this month. (Our guide to a weekly review that kills tasks is the same muscle.)
- Rebuild as three columns. Todo, In Progress, Done. Zoro caps In Progress on purpose — the board makes visible what the list hid: how much you've started and how little of it moves.
- Size and prioritize on entry. Every task gets a priority (P1–P3) and an effort size (S/M/L) as it comes in. Thirty seconds now beats a planning session later.
FAQ
Todoist alternatives, answered.
What is the best Todoist alternative?
It depends on why you're leaving. If you want a like-for-like swap with more features for less money, TickTick is the honest answer. If you want the best-designed app and to pay once instead of subscribing, Things 3. If you want a board and a method that pushes you to finish, and you're on Apple, Zoro. If you just want free, Apple Reminders (on Apple) and Microsoft To Do (everywhere) are more capable than most people think.
What's a free Todoist alternative?
Apple Reminders (free, built into every Apple device) and Microsoft To Do (free on every platform) are the strongest free options. Zoro is also free with unlimited tasks, unlimited projects, and iCloud sync; the Pro upgrade adds the weekly review insight engine — history, trends, and stats — plus subtasks and custom statuses.
How do I stop paying a subscription for a to-do list?
Two routes. Pay once: Zoro offers a $59.99 lifetime unlock alongside its free tier, and Things 3 is a one-time purchase per Apple platform. Or pay nothing: Apple Reminders and Microsoft To Do are free and built in. All of these handle personal task management without a recurring bill.
Is Todoist worth paying for?
Sometimes, honestly, yes. If you live in Todoist all day and its natural-language capture and integrations genuinely earn their keep, it's a defensible bill. The question worth asking is what the $60 a year (raised 25% in December 2025) actually buys: if Pro's reminders and calendar layout are the draw, those are table stakes or one-time purchases elsewhere. You're paying a subscription to store tasks — it's only worth it if it also helps you finish them.
Stop renting. Start finishing.
Zoro is a single-player kanban for iPhone and Mac — WIP limits, three priorities, a weekly review, your data in your own iCloud. Free with unlimited tasks and sync; Pro is $2.99/mo, $19.99/yr, or $59.99 once. It is live on the App Store now. Download Zoro for iPhone and Mac — free with unlimited tasks and iCloud sync.
Download on the App Store →