Most people don't leave Todoist because it's badly built — it's one of the best task managers ever made. They leave because maintaining any manual system stops being worth it. Match your actual reason to the right replacement below.
Match your reason to the right tool
| Your reason | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You're spending more time organising than doing | Lumin | Prioritisation is automatic. There is no project tree, no labels and no filters to maintain. |
| You want the same thing for less money | TickTick | Close feature parity with Todoist for roughly USD36/year, plus a Pomodoro timer. |
| You resent the subscription | Things 3 | One purchase, around USD80, no recurring fee — if you're on Apple only. |
| You know what matters but can't fit it in | Motion or Reclaim.ai | Both place work into real calendar slots automatically. |
| You want tasks and notes in one place | Notion | One workspace for docs, wikis and tasks, if you'll maintain it. |
The comparison
| App | What it automates | Price (Aug 2026) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lumin | AI prioritisation from an unstructured brain dump | USD9/month or USD90/year; 7-day free trial, no card | Deciding what deserves attention first |
| TickTick | Manual lists plus calendar and Pomodoro timer | Free tier; Premium around USD36/year | You want a timer, habits and tasks in one app and you're happy to prioritise yourself |
| Things 3 | Manual, GTD-influenced | One-time purchase, around USD80 across Mac and iOS | You're all-Apple, dislike subscriptions and already have a working GTD practice |
| Motion | AI auto-scheduling onto your calendar | Around USD19/month, lower billed annually | Your bottleneck is fitting work into a packed calendar rather than deciding what matters |
| Sunsama | Guided daily planning ritual | Around USD20/month billed annually | You want a deliberate, calm daily planning ritual and will actually keep it up |
| Notion | Database-driven, fully custom | Free personal tier; paid plans from around USD10/user/month | You want one tool for documents, wikis and tasks and you enjoy building the system |
| Apple Reminders | Manual lists with location and time triggers | Free on Apple devices | You're all-Apple and want something free that Siri can capture into |
Pricing checked August 2026. Vendors change plans often — follow the link in each row to confirm current pricing before you buy.
Where each one is genuinely better
TickTick
Strength: Best value in the category. Built-in Pomodoro timer, habit tracking and calendar view in one app.
Limitation: Feature density becomes its own maintenance burden. Prioritisation is still entirely manual.
Choose TickTick instead of Lumin if you want a timer, habits and tasks in one app and you're happy to prioritise yourself.
Things 3
Strength: The best-designed task app on Apple platforms. No subscription. Fast, quiet, beautiful.
Limitation: Apple-only, no web app, no AI. Requires a genuine GTD habit to pay off.
Choose Things 3 instead of Lumin if you're all-Apple, dislike subscriptions and already have a working GTD practice.
Motion
Strength: Genuinely automates scheduling. It places tasks into real calendar slots and reshuffles when you slip.
Limitation: Expensive, and it needs accurate time estimates and a well-maintained calendar to work. Heavy setup before value.
Choose Motion instead of Lumin if your bottleneck is fitting work into a packed calendar rather than deciding what matters.
Sunsama
Strength: The daily planning ritual is genuinely calming and pulls tasks in from Gmail, Slack, Jira and more.
Limitation: The ritual takes 10–15 minutes every day. If you skip it, the system degrades. Premium price.
Choose Sunsama instead of Lumin if you want a deliberate, calm daily planning ritual and will actually keep it up.
Notion
Strength: Infinitely flexible. If you can describe a workflow, you can build it — docs, wikis and tasks in one place.
Limitation: Flexibility is the cost. Building and maintaining the system is a project in itself, and it is slow to capture a quick thought.
Choose Notion instead of Lumin if you want one tool for documents, wikis and tasks and you enjoy building the system.
Apple Reminders
Strength: Free, deeply integrated with Siri, and much improved in recent releases.
Limitation: Apple-only, and no help with what to do first.
Choose Apple Reminders instead of Lumin if you're all-Apple and want something free that Siri can capture into.
Where Lumin is the wrong choice
No team features, no calendar auto-scheduling, no time tracking. It answers 'what first', not 'when exactly'. If any of those is what you actually need, one of the tools above will serve you better. We would rather you bought the right thing than churned in a month.
Related guides
TickTick Alternatives: What to Use Instead
TickTick's strength is packing timer, habits, calendar and tasks into one app. If that density is the…
Notion Alternatives for Task Management
Notion is a database that can be shaped into a task manager, which is why task management in it takes work to…
Motion Alternatives for AI Task Scheduling
Motion auto-schedules tasks onto your calendar and costs around USD19/month. For cheaper calendar automation,…
Sunsama Alternatives for Daily Planning
Sunsama's daily planning ritual takes 10–15 minutes and costs around USD20/month. If the ritual is what you…
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free Todoist alternative?
Yes. TickTick, Microsoft To Do, Google Tasks and Apple Reminders all have genuinely usable free tiers. Reclaim.ai has a free plan too. Lumin offers a 7-day unlimited free trial with no credit card, then a limited free tier.
Can I import my Todoist data?
Import support varies by app and changes over time. TickTick and Notion have historically offered Todoist import paths. Check the destination app's current import documentation before you commit — do not assume your projects and labels will transfer cleanly.
What is the closest app to Todoist?
TickTick. It shares the list, project and tag model, natural-language date entry and cross-platform sync, and adds a Pomodoro timer and calendar view.
Why would I switch to something without projects and labels?
Because structure has a maintenance cost. If your projects and labels have drifted out of date, the structure is no longer helping you decide — it is just work. Lumin removes the structure and does the deciding instead.