Todoist
Task manager on all devices, with projects, reminders and recurring tasks.
A web task app just for you, with projects, due dates, recurrences and reminders, is a weekend. But Todoist is mostly judged on the phone: the native app, offline mode, instant sync. If you only look at your tasks from a computer, you can replace it. Otherwise, the workaround with ntfy notifications works, without matching the original.
What you lose
- Native iOS and Android apps.
- Offline use with clean sync.
- Project sharing and task assignment.
- Reminders you can count on at any time.
- Integrations and years of polish.
Existing alternatives to Todoist
- Microsoft To DoFree
Free task manager with a Microsoft account; less complete than Todoist for labels, filters and integrations.
- VikunjaOpen source
Free task and project management, self-hostable with Docker; less polished than Todoist on mobile and offline.
- Super ProductivityOpen source
Local task manager with time tracking and Pomodoro, no account to create.
The prompt to build it yourself
Build me a personal task manager to replace Todoist. Stack: Node, Express, better-sqlite3, server-rendered pages, listening on localhost only. Keyboard-driven: n for a new task, x to complete it, / to search. To do: - Quick natural-language entry with chrono-node: “call Sam tomorrow 4pm #home p2” fills in due date, project and priority at once. - Projects via #tag, priorities p1 to p3, free notes on each task. - Recurring tasks as rrule rules (“every 1st”, “every Monday and Thursday”): completing a task creates the next one. - Views: Today, next 7 days grouped by day, and by project. Overdue tasks are pinned in red at the top of Today. - Reminders: node-cron checks every minute and sends due tasks to my phone through ntfy (topic in .env), with a daily summary at 7 am. - A command t add "..." to add a task from any terminal. - Everything in a single SQLite file that I can back up. No accounts, no telemetry. Out of scope: sharing, native mobile apps, offline sync. The phone goes through ntfy, which is the accepted trade-off. README: installing ntfy on the phone, location of the database.
Frequently asked questions
- Can Todoist be replaced by a custom-built tool?
- casevibecode verdict: Partly replaceable. A web task app just for you, with projects, due dates, recurrences and reminders, is a weekend. But Todoist is mostly judged on the phone: the native app, offline mode, instant sync. If you only look at your tasks from a computer, you can replace it. Otherwise, the workaround with ntfy notifications works, without matching the original.
- What is Todoist used for?
- Task manager on all devices, with projects, reminders and recurring tasks.
- What alternatives to Todoist already exist?
- Microsoft To Do (free), Vikunja (open source), Super Productivity (open source). Options to compare before committing to a custom build.
Community feedback
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