Todoist: To Do List & Calendar Reviews

by JJ0185

We regrettably moved to Todoist when our beloved Wunderlist was no longer supported. It has been tolerable at best, with ugly interface, non-intuitive design and is clearly meant more for an office like/scheduling mindset and not a day to day list app for groceries, etc which we tried to use it for. For example trying to write “1/2” as in “1/2 a cup” is autocorrected to a date “January 2nd” prompting add to calendar every time...so annoying. Again, we tolerated Todoist, but today I get an email saying they are GIVING us MORE features from their subscription service, how generous! However, they are REMOVING the ability to make more lists (which they call “Projects”) which is the PRIMARY FEATURE OF A LIST APP! We never wanted or asked for the other features. Todoist is useless to me now. Will find a replacement, of which there are many! What a shameless way to attempt to squeeze money from the people already using your app. It is truly appalling and you should be ashamed. Instead of being creative and developing new features someone would actually want to pay for you are now putting limits on the people who already using Todoist and changing the way it functions for them. Gross.

by Kimandfamily

A few days ago I downloaded this app because 1) Todoist was recently approved to be installed on my work iPhone issued by my employer and 2) I also need an effective organizational method for personal use. Until I started using this app my life was countless Post-Its at my work and home workstations as well as Calendar iPhone Entries/Alerts that had to be manually duplicated between my Work iPhone and Personal iPhone. As a bonus I upgraded my account (it’s created under my personal email) to Premium as a gift to myself cuz my birthday is in a couple of weeks.
:-D

I already love Todoist: before I knew I had a lot to juggle but now that I actually SEE the amount of incomplete tasks on my plate it’s a miracle that I haven't dropped more balls than I usually do! I'm already sleeping better because I'm not up in bed half the night staring at the ceiling and worrying that I have forgotten or will forget to do something important. Go ahead and upgrade to premium - a year costs about $34 which is less than most of you who are considering downloading Todoist spend on BS items in a week- you know this.! Free yourself! - Kim

by Ktscopes

Todoist is intuitive and has good features. I only have the free version, but I have been happy except for one thing, the importance of which is escalating. Unless I am blind, this app has no undo feature. So if I accidentally delete a task I can’t get it back. This has happened to me more than once and the last time my task had a long list of subtasks. All disappeared. Given that the method for deletion is to click the circle to the left of the task, when in other apps a circle in that spot is used for selecting, it seems there ought to be an undo. Otherwise, it’s a great app.
Update: The developer contacted me with instructions to use while viewing my project. I don’t have a project, just a simple list, and when I click on the three dot icon at the top right, I do not see “Show completed tasks,” but only “Select tasks.”
Update again. The developer contacted me a second time and confirmed that deleting a task can only be done in project view, which was disappointing. But the developer’s commitment to communication is splendid, which counts for a lot in my book.

by Egg Captain Greg

The new overhaul of this app has made it feel fast, reliable, and easy. Honestly, it’s the best thing to happen to this app since they released 1.0. This is now my go-to recommendation for anyone looking for an easy, understandable, and reliable task manager because it can be simple if someone doesn’t want to spend too much time dealing with it, or robust if someone is looking for something to center their entire life around. There are only a couple features missing, like matching system dark mode (so I can choose one of the fun color themes for the header but still have a dark screen), setting projects to always sort by a criteria (so every time I open them I don’t have to click sort by date), and setting a start time for my day (so when the clock rolls over to midnight I don’t suddenly have a red bubble with a giant list of things to do, I should be able to choose the time of day that starts). If these three features were added, I don’t think I could come up with a single complaint. this app on iOS really is that close to perfect at this point.

by Dvlrbbt

If you’re just looking for an app to help you plan your garage cleaning and family vacation there are better looking and simpler options out there. If you need an app for professional use, where due dates and times are not merely “goals” (yeah I’m looking at you “GTD” method) but are actual real world cannot be missed deadlines, this is Todoist . If you need an app that allows you to have those dates appear in your calendar (your calendar, not just Todoist ’s upcoming forecast of events) this is your app (the Fantastical 2 way sync is killer). If you prefer not to spend more time trying to figure out how to do things in Todoist than actually doing them (did anyone say “Omnifocus“) this is the one. Collaboration, ability to easily add notes and attachments on both the project and task level, straightforward interface, relatively easy to learn functions with good web documentation, TEMPLATES (a feature that for some inexplicable reason other apps seem to openly resist adding but is a no-brainer for those who have the same task and deadline structure for multiple projects, like I don’t know pretty much anyone who is in business and/or works with standardized contracts), sub-tasks, multiple reminder options, this one does it right. You will not see the benefit of the forgoing without the premium subscription, but $38 a year is a bargain for the features and functionality you get.

by CineasteSF

I don’t usually write app reviews, but this app has been invaluable for me. Until now, I’d gotten along just fine keeping track of things by using a handwritten weekly list of tasks, supplemented by an ongoing list of tasks in my calendar. I’m semi-retired, and don’t have that much to keep track of.

However, I recently assumed responsibility for coordinating the care of a friend who needs 24/7 care, dealing with all her insurance, doctor appointments, managing her finances, and many other critical tasks that were overwhelming.

I turned to this app and it was remarkably easy to learn to use. Not everything was completely intuitive, but the ability to organize tasks into separate projects, and the flexibility of viewing tasks allows me to manage more than I could hope to without the use of Todoist . The seamless coordination between using it on my iPhone and iPad means I can add or review tasks whenever and wherever I am. I paid for the upgrade and it’s well worth it to be able to add comments.

by TooFastForITunes

Today I showed up for work and opened Todoist to get my day started, and was greeted by a message saying that my “session has expired.” I tried logging back in. No dice. Then I opened Todoist on my phone, which also booted me out unceremoniously. Then I went to log in at the web site. Still, nothing. I then tried the password reset link (obnoxiously labeled “Forgot your password?” because, clearly, them booting me out of my lists on all platforms simultaneously is the result of user error). I entered every single email account I have, and was told that they have no record of my account. I looked for a support number to call, but it would seem that they don’t offer support over the phone. Gee, I’m so glad I’ve made Todoist an integral part of my workflow. I hope whenever they figure out what went wrong with their database that they’re able to recover the THOUSANDS of tasks that I entered!

by Sstiefel326

I’ve tried a lot of To Do list organizers and this one is by far my favorite. Well worth the price to get the full version. I have a very demanding job with a lot of stuff coming at me from 20 different directions all day every day. If not for Todoist, I would be lost. Plus, it gives me something actionable I can do at 2 a.m. when I wake up thinking about something that needs done and I can put it down without hoping I remember it after I wake back up in the morning. The notifications keep me on track, across my devices, and I love having the desktop version, as well as on my iPad, iPhone. Presentation is part of what makes this the best, with different ways to organize information into steps. The repeating info also lets me set up things like work colleague’s anniversaries and birthdays and free up space in my head to not have to remember such things.

by Link100

It’s remarkable to me this app isn’t ranked higher on the productivity charts because it easily eclipses anything that I’ve ever used before. It’s gorgeous (I prefer dark mode, but there are more themes) It integrates great with the GTD methodology (my preference) but whatever your system, it’s robust enough that you should be able to integrate it well. I love what they did with Karma, their gamified point system (but I would like to see this expanded). You can tell that the creators stay up-to-date on best practices and they regularly update a pretty informative blog that is enjoyable for a productivity junky like me. I used it for 24 hours and pretty much decided I NEEDED premium which is easily the best $3 I spend every month.

It’s important to distinguish between what this is and is not though. It does not teach you how to be productive. It is not a good place to do high level goal setting, visioning, and planning. It is not a calendar. It also doesn’t focus you on the task at hand. Todoist is a Task Filing System. It is a utility that will enhance your workflow with those other things. It will work great for anyone who needs to make a to-do list, but those who chose to educate themselves on actual task management theory will get the most out of it. I hope it hits the top of the charts!

by Idaho Slat

Ive been using Todoist over the last 3 years in college and have found it incredibly helpful to manage the large amount of assignments and projects through the semester. It’s ability to clearly organize a semesters worth of material at one time and only show the pressing tasks from each class folder makes my life easier not having to go in and add projects every week or sort through separate class folders to find what’s due and when. I love that tasks can easily be shifted when due dates change. and with the most recent updates, as well as my upgrade to premium, Todoist has taken it to the next level. Being able to see all upcoming tasks past just one week as well as synced on my google calendar has made the complex homework schedule easily visualized and just so much easer to plan and tackle. Here’s to another 3 years of not missing an assignment.

by JJdizzle778

Been using this app for almost 3 years now I’ve tried MANY different Task/Project Managers even following them closely and trying them out after they would get huge updates. There are a lot of great productivity apps now days but I always find myself coming back to this app as it’s simple yet powerful and in my opinion has the best balance of simplicity and features in one package. Throw in the fact that the team at this app is constantly improving it with this new Foundations Update it’s gone to a new level. There are still things they need to tweak but overall it’s been great. Also just when I thought Todoist couldn’t get any better it did with the Foundation’s update and with word of it adding Trello style boards as a future option I see things only getting better. I highly recommend not just trying Todoist but learning the ins and outs and living with it for a month to really get the full experience of how great this application is. Keep it up this app Company!!

by Bigbossfan

I am very task-focused so I have tried all the different to-do and project management apps looking for the perfect one. I keep finding myself coming back to this app. I really like the simplicity of setting up a project or a task and the great syncing capability across all of my devices. The fact that I can assign a task to another family member is also a plus. Also, having a web app allows me to use it at work as well.

My only complaint with Todoist is that, when you finalize a repeating task after midnight, it does not show up the following day. Instead, completion of the overdue task is treated as completion on the current day. This is a major pain as I work late and often complete daily tasks after midnight. There should be an option to change this behavior by the user.

Other than that, this is a great app and one I use every day. If the developer would just fix this one thing, I’ll never feel the need to stray again.

by Thee.lauren.morin

Todoist has made my job far less confusing, chaotic, and frustrating! I am an organized person naturally, and I write everything down! But notebooks make me crazy because they are hard to keep organized without a bunch of things crossed out and arrows pointing everywhere! Todoist allows me to write down what needs to be done, organize it by project, make priority levels, etc. It also works as a calendar to alert me when certain things are due. And I LOVE that I can mark something as complete, and it disappears completely! No ugly, crossed out words! And maybe the best part is that it’s online based, so whatever I add to my list through my phone gets added to my list on my computer! So I don’t have a hundred sticky notes and scrap pieces of paper with notes written on them all over my desk. I always have my phone on me, so I can pull up the all and add stuff in a second! This is Todoist that I have always wanted!

by TreehousePJ

Overall I like the program and how it operates BUT the reporting is pretty much non existent. I have been requesting a simple report for Completed Task by Project for a range of dates since I started using this program over 3 years ago. I can’t think of a more basic easy to program report that would benefit many people. They tell me to us IFTTT (which I tried ...doesn’t work well or give me a concise format) or export to spreadsheet (just something else to do). Why not just add a Report button where one selects project and entered range of dates ...vu wa la...like magic! I don’t want to switch programs but I am currently looking ... to me this is such an obvious feature I just assumed (my bad) that I would have this reporting capability. While I’m on a roll, my second pet peeve, on the iPad, when you go into a Project, everything is sorted by date entered and you can’t change it... nobody cares about date entered ...we need due date order default or at least the ability to change sort order.

by HomeManager

Whether you work outside the home, have a home business, or are a stay at home mom or student, Todoist and a few good systems can transform your productivity. I use a conglomeration of methods that I gleaned from 3 books: Getting Things Done, The 12 Week Year, and Do More Better. Those foundational books combined with Todoist have tripled my productivity already. I’ve tried several others, from OmniFocus to Cozi to Habit Tracker and more. I manage a home business, am a home school teacher, as well as manage my house. This is the first app that has given me the freedom to use my systems in an effective manner. My stress has reduced as I’ve found an app that lets me dump all of those tasks from my head and place them in an app that I trust to organize them in a manner that keeps me from missing anything. I wish it was a bit more intuitive in applying GTD, but I’ve managed some work arounds for setting up Reviews and other important GTD basics. Give this a try. You wont be sorry.

by Wacnocab

I made the switch over to this app from TickTick and absolutely love it. It syncs incredibly well with my iPhone, my Apple Watch, and to my Windows computer which I use at home and at work. I love how minimal the UI is, the layout, and how solid everything feels in comparison to other task manager apps out there. Even the community on Reddit, Instagram, and Twitter are incredibly helpful.

Literally the only thing stopping me (and many others) from switching, is how we cannot manually arrange tasks in Today. In the current beta, there are sorting options, but I cannot drag and drop a task that doesn’t have a time associated with it in Today’s tasks with one that does. It bounces right back to the bottom. Many others including myself like to layout their tasks manually the night before, in the order they anticipate doing them. But if you try to do this, some tasks bounce back to the bottom of the list which is somewhat annoying. But otherwise, fantastic app! I see why this is the #1 task manager app

by MrWinky

I’ve used every to do list out there. Every complex, GTD, you name it I’ve used it. I’ve used it on every platform from windows, mac , iPad, iPhone.

There are couple things that make this one of the best. It’s not perfect, but I’d rather have a good list that is visually intuitive, consistent across all platforms, simplifies complex situations, but still allows for the complexity. More importantly they are very fairly priced, for the incredible amount of features that other to do organization lists attempt and charge more for. Whether it is the desktop, the iPhone or the iPad, their interface is excellent and consistent. It’s very easy To maintain a to do list when one is calm or has few projects. But when I am stressed, and have a lot to put in the lists quickly, this app make it easy, intuitive, consistent so that I actually want to use the application. In simple terms, this is the first application that as my lists and projects and tasks add up, I don’t feel visually overwhelmed and don’t dread opening the application to see what’s awaiting me..

by MoonUnit137

this app is full featured and actively developed with many thoughtful surprises, large and small throughout. Over the last ten years I’ve tried many task management apps and methodologies. I most recently tried several of the major ones a few months ago. this app is the best I’ve tried. It’s elegant to use if you want to keep it simple and has the capabilities necessary to implement a more rigorous task management system like GTD. This ability to keep it simple and facilitate complexity is important, I think, as it takes a while and some experimentation for a person to settle on a task management methodology that works best for them, often drawing from several different methodologies. Other popular task management apps are more limited, and after using them simply for a while and realizing you want
more, the features that would allow you to do more aren’t present and you have to move to another app. This has happened to me a few times and was a waste of time. I wish I’d just gone with this app from the start.

by Bobbyusb

I am a paid customer. Todoist is not reliable. What they do not tell you is the fact that there is no backup from your Iphone this app app!! Everything should be first synced to your web this app and then can be backed up through this app web app.

So when My this app on my cellphone stopped syncing with Web based this app with no reason ( my IOS is updated). I tried to contact the customer service. I also tried manual syncing, then I decided to log out and log in thinking that it makes it start syncing again and it was when I lost everything. The customer support was very slow in responding, they literally didn’t care! I can not express the rage I feel after reading their response. Here is a part of their respose to my support request “ If the data is not there after logging out and back in, I'm afraid it is lost 😞” This is how much they cared about my data! Yes Todoist looks cool with better features but IT IS UNRELIABLE. if your data is valuable and it costs you money and time to get it back, like mine, Do not trust Todoist.

by TXSan78

I have been using this app for several years now. I started off using it as a “brain dump.” It is great because when I have an idea, I can quickly jot it down and I don’t forget it. This used to be a big problem and it was frustrating to not be able to recall something if I got distracted or was unable to write it down (even if it wasn’t important, as I would spend time trying to remember it- usually with no luck!). I like that you can assign a priority to tasks, and I especially like the new feature that allows you to update a reoccurring task to a new date (without changing the frequency that was set before). I think that is my favorite newer feature. Being able to schedule something into the future is also very helpful. I do also use a paper system and Apple Calendar, but find that it is still good to have an electronic system. (Paper is still good for the day-to-day must do things, although I have started relying more on this app for that too.) I have also started trying not to put to-do’s on my calendar. The nice thing is that I can neglect it some at times, and still keep track of long-term things, but then quickly update it as needed using filters, search terms, or by date.

by Nararabbit

There are too many critical features that are unavailable on the iOS version.

You can’t print form Todoist . That’s right, you can’t print! You also can’t sort your daily to do list by the priority you set (rendering that pointless in my mind), add comments, or several other things in the iOS app. It’s there mainly to check things off, remind you through notifications (which are either toggled on or off - you cannot turn on notifications for *only* high priority tasks for example), and allow you to adjust dates and times.

A lot of this app is great, but I wouldn’t recommend it for someone who plans to use ONLY or MAINLY their phone if they want to take advantage of this app’s power. It’s really a supplement, not the best standalone due to its limitations. I hope in the future they’ll give it more support because I do think the software is great overall, I just don’t want to feel tethered to a computer so much.

by Drtimhill

There are a lot of great todo apps out there, but for me this app hits the sweet spot between Uber feature set (Omnifocus) and ease of use (Reminders anyone?). Under a deceptively simple UI is a powerful app, with all the features and integrations I need. I love the intelligent task parsing that makes adding new tasks soooo easy. The multi platform support (and sync between them) works perfectly, and the web app is as full-featured as the desktop apps.

However I have to knock off one star for a horrid UI choice on the iPhone ... the almost totally hidden search function. To search all projects you have to first choose a project (yes really) then tap a menu button then tap search and then tap all tasks before you can enter a search term. Todoist is screaming to have a search icon on the main page .. which oddly the Mac app does indeed have.

by CoreyIn140

The new overhaul of this app has made it feel fast, reliable, and easy. Honestly, it’s the best thing to happen to this app since they released 1.0. This is now my go-to recommendation for anyone looking for an easy, understandable, and reliable task manager because it can be simple if someone doesn’t want to spend too much time dealing with it, or robust if someone is looking for something to center their entire life around. There are only a couple features missing, like matching system dark mode (so I can choose one of the fun color themes for the header but still have a dark screen), setting projects to always sort by a criteria (so every time I open them I don’t have to click sort by date), and setting a start time for my day (so when the clock rolls over to midnight I don’t suddenly have a red bubble with a giant list of things to do, I should be able to choose the time of day that starts). If these three features were added, I don’t think I could come up with a single complaint. this app on iOS really is that close to perfect at this point.

by Beau-Ford

I have not found a better overall package out there. Once you really dig into what you can do with this app, it’s much more powerful than its simplistic interface reveals at first.

I chose this app because of its multi platform and web sync, but after trying countless other options including Things, OmniFocus, 2Do and some Evernote extensions, I kept coming back to this app. Once I really embraced the strengths, like rescheduling options, forwarding emails, and using priorities, I was able to piece together a very effective system.

It’s not often I find an app that sticks around. It’s easy to procrastinate and spend valuable time looking for the perfect task management system, but I’ve found that what I really was looking for was both a system and a tool. I wanted a GTD app conceptually, but my roots are based on Franklin Covey. I was able to achieve an awesome hybrid approach of what works for me using the functionality of this app.

by Ticothep

I am a huge proponent of to-do lists and have been using Trello and the iPhone X’s native to-do list app. However, I had recently been recommended by a friend to try the this app app! Due to my overly-organized nature and my desire for increased efficiency, it was hard for me to imagine switching over from my current organization-flow to this new app because I was worried that I’d have to re-learn a new way of organizing my tasks and to-dos. However, I couldn’t have been MORE wrong when I finally made the switch! The this app app is fast, intuitive, minimalistic, and so focused on eliminating the distractibility of inessential features that most other to-do apps include. Actually, I was SO impressed with the this app app that I am currently exploring the possibility of integrating the “Twist” app (another product made by Doist) as a main mode of communication for the leadership teams at my Church! Thank you, Doist!

by Snowgumby

What I like is I can easily have sub Projects and sub items of sub tasks. In other words, nesting folders. I can drag an item up and down in my list, or left and right to nest an item under another. For example, I can have a shopping list project, but then have sub projects for different stores, with a sub list for each, for groceries and electronics. Also, I have 100+ items on my to do list but having four levels of priorities helps me focus on what is important and urgent. I researched and downloaded several to-do apps, and this is the clear winner for me. If I was to design my own to-do list app it would be this app. I love the clean UI. I use it on my iPhone, iPad, MacBook and Windows machine. I only explored to-do apps recently because I used and loved Wunderlist for years (RIP). Had I known the functionality of this app, I would have used this instead, years ago!

by ThisNicknamesAreTooComplicated

With digital tools, such as email, calendars, cloud, etc, having to actually use paper for organization is becoming a thing of the past. The one item I could never find a solution for was to dos. Because of this, I still carried a paper to do calendar (like you had in middle school) to help me track things I wanted to get done. I tried all sorts of ways to get rid of this (emails, calendar invites, etc), but none gave me the visual list or ease of just writing it down.

Todoist changed all that. It’s functions not only replaced my calendar, but actually improved as I could organize them by project, search them, and move them around. It sychs quickly between my iPhone and iPad, and has become one of my most important apps.

My company gives us office 365, which includes Microsoft to do. I’ve experimented with this, but its functionality or ease is no wear close to Todoist!

by CDuffley

This review is for those of you using this app using the VoiceOver screen reader on iOS. It was very good for some time until the most recent update when I could almost never figure out how to complete tasks because the "Complete" action in the VoiceOver rotor which apparently simulates the Delete (swipe left) action is gone. Is there any way that you could restore this action? Also, because of this, even worse, the checkboxes for completing tasks aren't noticeable to VoiceOver. The AccessibilityElement needs to be set to true in order for this to happen. This is the only thing that I know of that needs to be fixed as soon as possible. Other than that, an awesome app that I hope keeps getting better over time! Get it if you haven't done so yet!

by Sha-maniac

I discovered this app several years ago and have growing with it ever since they got started. Im a single mom running my own business, manage a team, and I’m your typical entrepreneur with so many things to do and stay on top of. For a having a “adhd” type mins with so much creativity ... this app is my Brain!! I’m able to manage and entire business process and checklist with this app. My robot assistant works for me out of this app and helps me get projects done. I’m able to keep my personal grocery list, personal shopping care list and any personal reminders all in one place. Not only that but I’ve sold this platform off to ALL OF MY CLIENTS and it’s really making a difference in their life as Real Estate Agents to keep a process flow in tact!!! I feel stress free and everything in one place!! Thank you this app!!!

by Rate Mint

I have tried several systems for managing my projects and tasks and this app is the system that I find most helpful. The number one biggest reason is the Gmail extension that allows me to convert emails to tasks and the tasks are linked to the email. Most of my tasks arrive as emails. With this app, I convert these emails to tasks quickly and easily. The second reason I find this app productive is the wide range of platforms on which this app is available. I use this app on my iPhone, my iPad, Windows, Gmail, Outlook.... I can organize tasks by projects and view the tasks by due date or project. Because I use it on every platform I have, I can access everywhere. As someone said, the best task/project manager is the one you use regularly. I use it everyday and learn to do more with it.