Todoist: to-do list & planner

About Todoist: to-do list & planner

So I downloaded Todoist because it kept popping up in the App Store as like, a top-rated thing, and honestly I was just tired of forgetting stuff. I’m not super organized by nature—my brain is more of a junk drawer than a filing cabinet. But this app made me feel like maybe I could be one of those people who has their stuff together. The design is super clean and calm, not all loud and cluttered like some other apps I’ve tried. I’ve been using it for about two weeks on my iPhone 14, and it’s kind of shocking how much I actually enjoy tapping things off a list. It sounds dumb but there’s a real little dopamine hit when you check something done. I’m not saying I’m suddenly a productivity guru, but I haven’t lost track of my grocery list or forgotten to reply to my friend Sarah about dinner plans on Wednesday night since I started using it.

Core Features

The main thing is you can make tasks and put them into different projects. I’ve got one for work stuff, one for personal errands, and one for random ideas I’ll probably never act on. You can set due dates and priorities with these colored flags, which helps me figure out what’s actually urgent versus what I’m just procrastinating on. There’s also this thing called subtasks—so for “clean apartment” I can break it down into “do dishes,” “vacuum,” “take out trash.” Makes big stuff feel less scary. The reminders work great too. I set one for taking out the recycling on Monday mornings and my phone actually buzzed at 8am. Labels and filters exist but I haven’t really messed with those yet, feels a little advanced for me right now. The smart date recognition is actually pretty cool—if I type “meet with boss next Tuesday at 2pm” it automatically sets the date and time without me digging through menus. Little things like that make me feel like the app is working with me, not against me.

Real-World Use

I mostly use Todoist for daily life stuff. Like last Saturday morning I sat on my couch with coffee and just dumped everything in my head into the app—laundry, email my landlord, buy dog food, schedule that dentist appointment I’ve been avoiding. It took maybe ten minutes and I felt so much lighter. The syncing across devices is solid too. I started a grocery list on my phone while I was at the store, and later when I opened my iPad to meal plan for the week, it was all there. No manual syncing or nonsense. I also use the recurring tasks feature a lot. I set “water plants” to repeat every three days, and “change air filter” for the first of every month. It’s nice because I don’t have to remember—the app just tells me. The only thing I haven’t used much is the collaboration stuff. I could share a project with my roommate for our apartment chores but honestly we just yell at each other about it still. Baby steps.

Pricing & Value

So the basic app is free and honestly it does a lot. I’ve been using the free version for two weeks and haven’t felt like I’m missing anything critical. You can create unlimited tasks and projects, so for a casual user like me, that’s plenty. But there is a premium version that costs money—I think like $4 a month or $36 a year? It adds stuff like reminders, labels, filters, and more advanced features like productivity tracking and longer history. I could see myself upgrading if I started using this for work more seriously, but for now the free version is totally fine. I hate paying for apps unless I really love them, and I’m not quite there yet. But I gotta admit, $36 a year is less than what I spend on coffee in a month, so it’s not crazy if someone needs the extra bells and whistles.

Updates & Support

I haven’t contacted support directly because I haven’t had any issues. The app just works for me. I did poke around the App Store reviews when I was deciding whether to download it, and I saw the developer seems pretty responsive to complaints. Some people mentioned bugs that got fixed within a week or two. That’s a good sign. I also noticed the app gets updated somewhat regularly—I got a notification about a new version a few days after I installed it, which added some small improvements to the widget on the home screen. I appreciate when developers don’t just abandon their apps after launch. It makes me trust that if I do run into a problem down the line, someone will actually care enough to fix it.

Data & Privacy

Honestly I barely read privacy policies—I’m that person who just taps “agree.” But I did glance at Todoist’s privacy info because it’s a productivity app and I’m putting my whole to-do list in there, which feels kinda personal. They say they encrypt your data in transit and on their servers, which sounds good. They also claim they don’t sell your data to third parties, which is nice in this day and age. They do collect some basic analytics to improve the app, but that seems standard. I’m not super paranoid about it, but I like that they give you the option to export your data if you ever want to leave. That’s a nice touch. My only small complaint is you have to create an account to use it even on free—no option to just use it locally on your phone. For a to-do list that feels a little unnecessary, but I get that it’s how they sync across devices.