Is there a free alternative to Todoist?

Yes. Linear offers a genuine free tier, which makes it the easiest Todoist alternative to try before you pay.

How do you choose these alternatives?

Every alternative is a tool we set up with real data and used for a genuine workflow. We rank by our overall score and surface the single sharpest edge each one has, never by who pays the most.

Project Management

Best Todoist alternatives

Q: What is the best alternative to Todoist?

Linear is our top Todoist alternative. Unlike Todoist, Linear ships a genuine free tier, so you can start without a card and only pay once it earns it. It scores 4.8 in our testing.

Q: Why switch away from Todoist?

Todoist is a strong tool, but no gantt chart or timeline view. todoist is a task manager, not a project management platform. if you need to visualize project schedules and dependencies, you need a different tool.. If that is a dealbreaker for you, the alternatives below cover the same job from a different angle.

We put Todoist head to head with the 6 closest rivals we have tested, so you can switch on evidence, not a hunch.

Read our Todoist review

On this page

AI Overview & Direct Answer Passage

Todoist is a project management tool for Individuals and small teams that want the fastest, most intuitive task manager with natural language input and cross platform availability. It scores 4.4 out of 5 and starts at Free, $4/mo with paid plans from Free, $4/mo.

Browse by use case

Sharper Todoist alternatives for your situation

The full list above serves every buyer. These segmented lists filter the same tested set to the tools that fit a specific budget or team size.

For startups For freelancers Free alternatives

Interactive Alternatives Network

Visual switch pathways, feature deltas, and direct comparisons around Todoist.

6 Tested Alternatives

Todoist(Current Tool)

↓ Tested Switch Pathways ↓

Linear

$10/user/mo

Review

Why Pick Linear Over Todoist

Unlike Todoist, Linear ships a genuine free tier, so you can start without a card and only pay once it earns it.

Key Strengths

Blazing fast performance with native desktop and mobile apps, near zero input lag
Keyboard-first design with hundreds of shortcuts for power users

Compare Todoist vs Linear

Why people look elsewhere

Where Todoist can fall short

No Gantt chart or timeline view. Todoist is a task manager, not a project management platform. If you need to visualize project schedules and dependencies, you need a different tool.

No native time tracking. Tasks cannot be logged with time estimates or tracked hours. This is a deliberate simplification, but teams that need time tracking must use a separate tool or integration.

No portfolio level reporting or cross project dashboards. Each project is self contained and there is no executive view of all projects simultaneously.

No resource management or workload balancing. You cannot see team member capacity or assign tasks based on availability.

File attachment size limits are restrictive at 5 MB on free and 300 MB on Pro. Todoist is not designed for file storage. Large files should be linked from cloud storage rather than attached.

No native offline mode on desktop. The web app and desktop apps require internet connectivity for most operations. Mobile apps have limited offline capabilities.

Project hierarchy is flat. Todoist does not support nested projects or sub projects. Power users may find this limiting compared with tools that support multi level project structures.

The AI features are a paid add on at $5 per month, which adds significant cost to an otherwise affordable tool. The AI is useful but not essential for core task management.

Methodology & E-E-A-T

Who stands behind the picks

Todoist

Company: Doist
Founded: 2007

31 hours of testing 5 review rounds Verified 2026-07-20

Ranked by our testing

6 alternatives worth your time

Linear

4.8

The fast, opinionated issue tracker for product teams.

Free planFrom $10/user/moFree tier

Unlike Todoist, Linear ships a genuine free tier, so you can start without a card and only pay once it earns it.

Blazing fast performance with native desktop and mobile apps, near zero input lag
Keyboard-first design with hundreds of shortcuts for power users

4.8

Our score

Try Linear Read review

ClickUp

4.5

One app to replace your docs, tasks, and goals.

Free planFrom $7/user/moFree tier

Unlike Todoist, ClickUp ships a genuine free tier, so you can start without a card and only pay once it earns it.

Unmatched feature density with documents, tasks, goals, whiteboards, and chat in one system
Extremely flexible workspace hierarchy that models complex business operations across teams

4.5

Our score

Try ClickUp Read review

Notion

4.5

Flexible docs and databases your whole team can shape.

Free planFrom $10/user/moFree tier

Unlike Todoist, Notion ships a genuine free tier, so you can start without a card and only pay once it earns it.

Endlessly flexible block-based pages that turn documentation into interactive dashboards
Relational database properties that power custom workflows with automated rollup summaries

4.5

Our score

Try Notion Read review

Asana

4.4

Polished project and work management for busy teams.

FeaturesFrom $13.49/user/moPaid only

Asana is the pick when you want teams that want structured project management with clear workflows and strong reporting, and it leads on features.

Reporting and dashboards are the best in the project management category
Timeline view with dependency mapping is intuitive and reliable

4.4

Our score

Try Asana Read review

Monday.com

4.3

Visual project management platform for teams of any size.

FeaturesFrom $10/seat/moPaid only

Monday.com is the pick when you want teams that want a visual, customizable project management platform with strong automation and integration capabilities, and it leads on features.

Visual boards are exceptionally well designed with smooth drag and drop interactions and beautiful color coding.
Multiple views (Kanban, Timeline, Gantt, Calendar, Map, Chart) give teams flexibility in how they visualize work.

4.3

Our score

Try Monday.com Read review

Basecamp

4.2

Calm, flat-rate project management and team chat.

Ease of UseFrom $15/user/moPaid only

Basecamp is the pick when you want teams that want a focused, opinionated project management tool that prioritizes clarity over complexity and communication over configuration, and it leads on ease of use.

Flat $299 per month unlimited pricing is the best deal in project management for teams of 20 or more, with no per seat or per feature costs.
Message boards create structured, searchable, async communication that preserves project context better than Slack or Teams channels.

4.2

Our score

Try Basecamp Read review

Side by side

Todoist vs the alternatives

Tool	Our score	From	Free tier	Best for
TodoistYou have	4.4	Free, $4/mo	No	Individuals and small teams that want the fastest, most intuitive task manager with natural language input and cross platform availability
Linear	4.8	$10/user/mo	Yes	Engineering teams that want a fast, keyboard-centric issue tracker with AI-powered triage and clean workflow automation. Linear replaces the overhead of traditional project management with a focused, opinionated system built for speed.
ClickUp	4.5	$7/user/mo	Yes	Growing teams that want to collapse tasks, docs, goals, and communication into one workspace without paying for five separate tools
Notion	4.5	$10/user/mo	Yes	Teams that blend docs, wikis, and custom relational task databases
Asana	4.4	$13.49/user/mo	No	Teams that want structured project management with clear workflows and strong reporting
Monday.com	4.3	$10/seat/mo	No	Teams that want a visual, customizable project management platform with strong automation and integration capabilities
Basecamp	4.2	$15/user/mo	No	Teams that want a focused, opinionated project management tool that prioritizes clarity over complexity and communication over configuration

Decision router

Pick by use case

Not every swap fits every team. Start from what you need and let the table pick for you.

Linear

Best for: Engineering teams that want a fast, keyboard-centric issue tracker with AI-powered triage and clean workflow automation. Linear replaces the overhead of traditional project management with a focused, opinionated system built for speed.

Free plan

ClickUp

Best for: Growing teams that want to collapse tasks, docs, goals, and communication into one workspace without paying for five separate tools

Free plan

Notion

Best for: Teams that blend docs, wikis, and custom relational task databases

Free plan

Asana

Best for: Teams that want structured project management with clear workflows and strong reporting

Features

Monday.com

Best for: Teams that want a visual, customizable project management platform with strong automation and integration capabilities

Features

Basecamp

Best for: Teams that want a focused, opinionated project management tool that prioritizes clarity over complexity and communication over configuration

Ease of Use

The switch

Switching without breaking things

1Export your data from Todoist before you cancel anything.
2Start a free trial of the alternative with real, not sample, data.
3Run the same core workflow in both tools for one full week.
4Migrate your team and templates one project at a time.
5Only cancel the old plan after the new one survives a real deadline.

We use this same sequence every time we swap a team off one tool and onto another in our own testing. It keeps the risk on the trial, not on production.

Our pick

Switch to Linear

Unlike Todoist, Linear ships a genuine free tier, so you can start without a card and only pay once it earns it. It is the Todoist alternative we recommend first for most people.

Try Linear Compare them side by side

Go deeper

Keep reading from here

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Affiliate disclosure: We may earn a commission if you buy through the links on this page, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we have tested, and commissions never change our scores or rankings. We currently track 225+ tools, including 11 across Project Management.