The best Todoist alternative depends on what made Todoist stop working for you. If you want a better list, look at another list app. If your tasks have stages and you keep losing track of where each one stands, a kanban board is the better replacement, and that is the case this guide covers. Todoist has a board layout too, so the question is whether a board should be a view on a list or the main thing.
We build a kanban board, so we have an interest in the second answer. Todoist's plan details below were read from Todoist's pricing page in October 2026, and anything we could not confirm there is left out.
Why do people look for a Todoist alternative?
Most people leave for one of four reasons, and each one points at a different kind of tool.
- The free plan ran out. Todoist's free Beginner plan allows 5 personal projects and 3 filter views, with 5 MB per uploaded file. The paid Pro plan raises those to 300 projects and 150 filters.
- The list got too long to read. A hundred tasks sorted by date tell you what is due, not what is stuck.
- They need to share work. Todoist allows up to 5 people per personal project, and bigger groups need its Business plan.
- They want less. A tool with filters, labels and priorities can feel like a second job to maintain.
Reasons 2 and 4 are not about price at all. They are about shape, and swapping one list app for another rarely fixes a shape problem.
Is a kanban board a good replacement for Todoist?
It is a good replacement when your work moves through stages, and a poor one when your work is a pile of small dated chores. On a board, a task is a card and its column is its status. You see what is waiting, what you are doing and what is finished without opening anything or building a filter.
A board is a poor fit for "pay the water bill on the 3rd" or "water the plants every Sunday". Recurring reminders are what list apps are good at, and boards handle them awkwardly. Be honest about which of the two you mostly have before you switch.
Our comparison of Todoist and Trello goes into the same split from the other side, and what kanban is explains the method if you have only used lists.
Can Todoist itself work as a board?
Yes, partly. The free plan includes a board layout for a project, so you can already try the shape without leaving. If you do that for a week and it feels right, you may not need to switch at all.
Where it stops is the discipline around the board. Todoist does not let you cap how many tasks sit in a column, and that cap is what turns a tidy picture into a working system. The reasoning is in WIP limits explained. A board that lets you pile twenty cards into "Doing" is a list in a different costume.
What are the main kinds of Todoist alternative?
There are three, and choosing the kind matters more than choosing the brand.
Another list app. TickTick, Microsoft To Do, Things and Any.do all keep the list as the main object. Pick one of these if the problem was price, speed of entry or a missing platform, because the day-to-day experience will feel familiar. A project platform. Asana, ClickUp and Notion cover lists, boards, timelines and docs in one place. They suit a team that wants one system for everything, at the cost of setup time and a longer list of settings than Todoist ever had. Our guides to ClickUp alternatives and Asana alternatives cover the way out of those. A focused board. Trello is the best known, and smaller tools keep only columns and cards. Pick this kind if your frustration was reason 2 or 4 above: you want to see where things stand and you want fewer features, not more.Which Todoist alternative suits which person?
| If this describes you | Look at |
|---|---|
| Daily chores, reminders, recurring items | A list app such as TickTick or Things |
| One shared system for a whole team | A project platform |
| A few projects that move through stages | A focused kanban board |
| You mostly work alone and want it quiet | A small board with few settings |
If you sit between rows, split the work. Keep the daily list where it is and move only the projects with stages onto a board. That costs one extra place to look, which is a fair price for seeing the stages.
How does EasyKanban compare with Todoist?
EasyKanban is a kanban board with columns, cards, colour tags and a due date per card. You can set a limit on any column, and the header changes colour when you go over it. It does not block you, because an advisory limit that you notice is easier to live with than a hard stop.
The free plan has 3 boards with unlimited cards, up to 3 members per board and 25 MB of attachments. Pro is €6 a month or €60 a year, and it removes the board and member limits and the attachment cap. The cost is per account rather than per person, so adding a teammate does not raise the bill.
It has no natural-language date entry and no recurring tasks aimed at daily habits, so it will not replace a list app for chores. You can open a board with no signup and see whether the shape suits you, and our page on EasyKanban as a Trello alternative shows the same board next to a larger competitor.
How do you move from Todoist to a board?
Do not migrate everything. Export nothing, copy nothing in bulk, and start with the work that has stages.
- Pick the three to five projects you actually care about this month.
- Create columns that match how that work moves, such as "To do", "Doing", "Waiting", "Done".
- Write each open task as a card, and leave behind anything you have not touched in a month.
- Set a limit of three on "Doing" and keep it for a week.
The reason to leave things behind is that a board loaded with old tasks looks like your old list and inherits its problems. A simple kanban system describes how to keep one small enough to stay readable.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free alternative to Todoist?
It depends on the reason you are leaving. Todoist's own free plan is the first thing to test, since it already includes a board layout. For a free board elsewhere, EasyKanban gives you 3 boards with unlimited cards, and Trello's free plan allows 10 boards per Workspace.
Does Todoist have a kanban board?
Yes. Todoist offers a board layout for projects, including on the free plan. It does not support limits on how many tasks a column can hold, so it shows stages without enforcing them.
Is there a Todoist alternative with no signup?
Few of them. Most task apps ask you to register before you see anything. EasyKanban lets you open one board with up to 20 cards without an account, saved in your browser.
Is a kanban board better than a to-do list?
For work that moves through stages, yes. For recurring chores and reminders, a list is better. Many people use both, with the list for daily items and the board for projects.
Can I import my Todoist tasks into a board?
EasyKanban imports Trello exports and CSV files, so you can bring a spreadsheet of tasks in. For a handful of projects, writing the open tasks as cards by hand is usually faster and gives you a cleaner start.