The short version: Todoist is the pick for a freelancer juggling several clients who wants fast task entry on every device. Things is the pick for an individual on mac and iphone who wants a task list with no subscription or team features.
Head to head
| Todoist | Things | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android | macOS, iOS |
| Best for | A freelancer juggling several clients who wants fast task entry on every device. | An individual on Mac and iPhone who wants a task list with no subscription or team features. |
| Weakness | Collaboration features are basic compared with project-management tools, and the paid tier is per user, which gets expensive for larger teams. | It is Apple-only with no web or Android client, there is no team collaboration at all, and the lack of a subscription means no web service for sharing. |
The verdict
Todoist is freemium; Things is paid. The marketing on both sides blurs this, but they were built for different jobs, and most people comparing them only need one of the two.
Where Todoist falls down: Collaboration features are basic compared with project-management tools, and the paid tier is per user, which gets expensive for larger teams.
Where Things falls down: It is Apple-only with no web or Android client, there is no team collaboration at all, and the lack of a subscription means no web service for sharing.
If you genuinely need both, you are the rare case where running two tools is cheaper than picking one badly.
Frequently asked
Is Todoist or Things better?
Neither in general. Todoist fits a freelancer juggling several clients who wants fast task entry on every device. Things fits an individual on mac and iphone who wants a task list with no subscription or team features. The weakness row in the table above is where they actually separate.
Is Things cheaper than Todoist?
Todoist is freemium, Things is paid. The sticker price is rarely the bill — check the pricing section of each review.
Can I use both Todoist and Things?
Plenty of teams do, usually with one as the system of record and the other for a specific workflow. It doubles the migration cost later, so pick a side before year two.