If you’ve been looking for some film to help you remember your busy schedule, the right reminder app can make all the difference. This is particularly true if you need a reminders app for task management.
Two popular contenders are Todoist and Apple Reminders. Each promises to help you manage your to-do lists and boost your productivity.
In this article, we compare their features, pricing, and overall value to help you determine which one is best for your needs.
What Is Todoist?
Todoist is task management software designed to help individuals and teams organize multiple tasks and projects. It’s accessible across devices like phones, tablets, and computers.
Known for its clean interface, robust features, and drag and drop gestures, Todoist is for people who need a flexible yet simple way to manage everything from daily tasks to long-term goals.
Its main purpose is to help users manage their to-do lists, prioritize work effectively, and ultimately get more done in less time.
Todoist features
Todoist has features to help you manage time and tasks, collaborate, and stay organized, no matter how complex your to-do list.
1. Task organization and prioritization
Todoist allows users to organize tasks into different categories, making it easy to separate work, personal, and side projects. You can also prioritize tasks using color-coded labels like ‘Priority 1,’ ensuring you can quickly see what needs immediate attention.
2. Natural language input
One of Todoist’s standout features is its natural language processing. You can dictate or type tasks like ‘Meet John for lunch tomorrow at 1 PM,’ and Todoist automatically schedules the reminder, saving you time by making task input and scheduling faster and more intuitive.
3. Productivity tracking
You can make productivity tracking more fun with the ‘Karma’ feature. You earn points for completing tasks and lose points for postponing them, which adds a fun gamification element to your task management routine. No more losing hours to time blindness—you get to see exactly what you’re achieving in the time you’ve spent on your work.
4. Robust collaboration tools
You can easily share projects and tasks with others by inviting them, assigning responsibilities, and leaving comments. This collaboration feature is useful for team settings or for coordinating household chores.
5. Cross-platform integration
Todoist integrates with over 60 apps, including Google Calendar, Slack, and Trello, allowing you to simplify your workflows and manage everything from one place.
Todoist pricing
- Beginner: Free
- Pro: $5/user per month
- Business: $8/user per month
What Is Apple Reminders?
Apple Reminders is a simple, built-in task management tool for users within the Apple ecosystem. It helps Apple device users create lists, set reminders, and organize tasks across all their Apple devices, seamlessly syncing across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.
It aims to give users an easy, no-frills way to manage their daily tasks, leveraging Apple’s familiar design.
Apple Reminders features
Although Apple Reminders is a simpler Todoist alternative, it has several useful features that make it effective for users within the Apple ecosystem.
1. iCloud syncing
Apple Reminders automatically syncs across all Apple devices, ensuring that any change you make on one device instantly reflects on all others. This is a major selling point for those deeply entrenched in the Apple ecosystem.
2. Location-based reminders
With Apple, you can set location-based reminders, meaning you’ll receive a notification when you arrive at or leave a specific place. For example, you could set a reminder to pick up pasta at the grocery store.
3. Siri integration
Apple Reminders integrates smoothly with Siri, Apple’s digital assistant, allowing you to add tasks via voice commands. Simply say, ‘Hey Siri, remind me to call Jane tomorrow at 2 PM’ or ‘Add “book flights” to my vacation planning list,’ and it’s done.
If such a list doesn’t exist, Siri will ask if you want to create it. Simply respond with ‘Yes’ to confirm.
4. Subtasks and notes
You can create subtasks within your tasks and add notes, making it easier to break down large tasks into smaller, actionable steps and add context if needed.
5. Collaboration with Family Sharing
The app’s Family Sharing feature lets you share to-do lists with family members and coordinate household chores or events.
Apple Reminders pricing
- Free with Apple accounts across iOS and Mac devices
Todoist vs. Apple Reminders: Features Compared
Both Todoist and Apple Reminders offer features to help you manage tasks and stay organized. But how do they stack up against each other?
Here’s a quick comparison of their features:
Feature | Todoist | Apple Reminders |
Platform availability | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Web, Linux | iOS, macOS, iPadOS, Apple Watch |
Task organization | Projects, subprojects, labels, filters | Lists, subtasks, tags |
Natural language input | Yes, supports natural language for task creation | Yes, supports natural language for task creation |
Collaboration | Yes, share tasks and projects, assign tasks | Yes, via Family Sharing |
Reminders and notifications | Custom reminders with due dates, repeating tasks | Time-based and location-based reminders |
Cross-platform sync | Syncs across multiple platforms and devices | Syncs only within the Apple ecosystem (via iCloud) |
Productivity tracking | Karma points system to track productivity | No productivity tracking features |
Integrations | 60+ integrations (Google Calendar, Slack, Trello) | It only integrates within the Apple ecosystem (iCloud, Siri, Calendar, etc.). |
Voice assistance | Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa | Siri |
Pricing | • Beginner: Free• Pro: $5 per month• Business: $8 per month | Free |
Here’s a pricing comparison of both tools:
Plan | Todoist | Apple Reminders |
Free plan | Has an upper limit of five personal projects. Includes basic features like flexible layouts, three filtered views, and integration with email, calendar, etc | Full functionality included for free |
Pro plan | Advanced features like UI assistance, up to 300 personal task management projects, task reminders, 150 filtered views, and unlimited activity history | NA |
Business plan | Team management features include shared workspaces, 500 projects, detailed logs for team activity, shared templates, central team accounting, and team roles and permissions | NA |
Now let’s compare the features in detail and see which one comes out on top:
1. Task management and organization
Todoist shines in this area, offering advanced features like project hierarchies, subprojects, and color-coded priorities. Apple Reminders keeps things simpler, with lists and subtasks, but lacks the granular project organization tools that Todoist offers.
🏆 Winner: Todoist
2. Ease of use and interface
Apple Reminders benefits from being part of the Apple ecosystem, with a seamless interface and a design that matches Apple’s user-friendly approach. Todoist, while feature-packed, can feel more complex, especially for new users.
🏆 Winner: Apple Reminders
3. Cross-platform compatibility
Whether on Windows, Android, or even Linux, Todoist is available and works seamlessly across all platforms. On the other hand, Apple Reminders is only available on Apple devices.
🏆 Winner: Todoist
Todoist vs. Apple Reminders: On Reddit
Both Todoist and Apple Reminders have devoted fans on Reddit. Apple Reminders seems popular for its ease of use, while Todoist wins at more meticulous task management.
While many users prefer Apple Reminders’ location-based feature, some struggle with its UI. Todoist tends to get a lot more love for its task management UX.
Meet ClickUp—The Best Alternative to Todoist vs Apple Reminders
While Todoist and Apple Reminders are excellent tools, ClickUp is a strong alternative for users who want the best of both worlds.
With advanced task management capabilities and a wide range of workflow customization options, ClickUp has something for everyone—from solo users to teams.
ClickUp’s One Up #1: ClickUp Reminders
ClickUp’s Reminders feature is more advanced than both Todoist and Apple Reminders. Reminders in ClickUp aren’t standalone—you can instantly convert them into ClickUp Tasks, complete with assignees, due dates, priorities, subtasks, and attachments. This seamless connection ensures that reminders stay actionable and aligned with your broader projects.
While Todoist allows you to convert reminders into tasks, it lacks the same level of integration with a comprehensive project management system.
Beyond simple time-based reminders, ClickUp lets you trigger notifications based on status changes, dependencies, or custom conditions. This level of automation is unmatched in Todoist or Apple Reminders.
💡Quick tips to make the most of ClickUp Reminders:
- Create a Reminder from any comment in a task or notification. These conversation reminders are a great way to know when to follow up
- Check off completed Reminders, snooze, reschedule, or delegate reminders to team members in one place
- Create recurring reminders for tasks that repeat daily, weekly, monthly, or with custom frequency
- Check the daily summary from ClickUp to stay on top of completed tasks, due dates, and where projects stand
- Quickly delegate any reminder to your team from your ClickUp Home or by adding a Reminder to their profile
ClickUp’s One Up #2: ClickUp Task Checklists
The customizable ClickUp Task Checklists are perfect for breaking down complex tasks into manageable steps and tracking task progress in real-time.
Here’s how you can leverage ClickUp Task Checklists:
- Nest checklist items to create hierarchical structures
- Customize task statuses to track progress more precisely
- Add multiple checklists to a single task for detailed breakdowns
- Assign individual checklist items to team members for effective delegation
- Integrate checklists with other tools and checklist templates and automate status updates
- Personalize checklists with Custom Fields in ClickUp
ClickUp’s One Up #3: ClickUp Calendar View
ClickUp’s Calendar View helps you visualize your tasks across a timeline, offering greater control over deadlines and scheduling.
It combines the best elements of Todoist’s features and Apple Reminders’ simplicity while adding powerful calendar integrations.
Here’s what you can do with this feature:
- View tasks by day, week, or month to get a comprehensive overview of upcoming tasks and events
- Easily drag and drop tasks to reschedule them directly on the calendar. This functionality is more fluid and intuitive compared to Todoist’s due date adjustments and Apple Reminders’ limited scheduling interface
- View multiple task lists, projects, or spaces on the same calendar, offering greater visibility and management
- See task dependencies and set milestones, which adds a layer of project management sophistication that Todoist and Apple Reminders don’t match
While Todoist offers some calendar syncing (like with Google Calendar), ClickUp offers deeper integration with external calendars and allows two-way syncing, giving you real-time updates across all platforms.
ClickUp’s One Up #4: ClickUp Notifications and ClickUp Automations
ClickUp Notifications ensure you stay informed in real time without being overwhelmed.
You can customize alerts based on task updates, deadlines, and comments across devices, keeping teams aligned and responsive. This feature is great for tracking project changes or staying updated while waiting for a task checklist to be completed.
Additionally, ClickUp Automations’ capabilities enhance task management by taking repetitive tasks off your hands.
For example, you can automate reminders, task assignments, or status updates. When a task’s due date approaches, ClickUp automatically sends notifications or moves the task to the next stage. This is especially useful in complex workflows with multiple dependencies.
Unlike Todoist’s simple reminders or Apple Reminders’ basic time or location triggers, ClickUp’s Automations are highly customizable, making your task management smarter and more efficient.
These features allow you to focus on getting important work done while ClickUp handles the logistics in the background.
Choosing the Right Productivity Apps
Choosing between Todoist and Apple Reminders ultimately depends on your specific needs. If you’re an Apple user seeking a simple, intuitive task manager within the Apple ecosystem, Apple Reminders might be enough to keep you on track.
However, if you need a more robust tool that offers flexibility, powerful features, and greater control over complex projects, Todoist stands out.
But if you’re looking for a combination of both tools—something that combines simplicity with extensive functionality—ClickUp is easily the best alternative. With features like detailed task checklists, versatile calendar organization, custom notifications, and automation, ClickUp offers unmatched support for boosting productivity.
Whether managing personal tasks or running team projects, ClickUp provides everything you need to do your best work.
Try ClickUp today!