Amazing Marvin Alternative: 6 Options Compared (2026)
Fabio Bergmann
The best Amazing Marvin alternatives are Todoist and TickTick for mainstream task management, Things 3 for Apple-only simplicity, Superlist for shared lists, OmniFocus for GTD, and Dooit for a minimal keyboard-first planner. Each trades customization for speed, price, or focus differently.
Key takeaways
- Most people leave Amazing Marvin because its 100+ features create setup overhead. The closest replacements either simplify ruthlessly or match its customization more narrowly.
- Things 3 ($9.99 one-time per platform) is at least 1.4× the effective monthly cost of Todoist Pro ($7/month), but Things never charges again after purchase.
- Superlist Basic ($5/person/month) costs 71.4% less than its own Super tier ($21/person/month), the biggest built-in price gap of any alternative reviewed.
- Todoist Business billed yearly ($8/user/month) is 12.5% cheaper per user than paying monthly ($10/user/month).
- Dooit takes a different angle. Instead of adding features, it strips task management down to sub-50ms actions, natural language dates, and one flat $9/month plan.
Why Are People Looking for an Amazing Marvin Alternative?
Most people search for an Amazing Marvin alternative because its feature depth creates setup overhead that slows daily planning. Amazing Marvin markets 100+ features, including custom menus, Orbit, time tracking, goals, habits, and themes, so new users configure the system before they plan a single day. Others want a cheaper single plan or a faster app.
The core friction is choice. A fully tunable system rewards people who enjoy building their own workflow but punishes those who just want to open the app and start. Amazing Marvin covers platform parity well, running on iOS 13+ and Android 7+ alongside Windows, macOS, and Linux desktops, so the pull toward alternatives is rarely about availability. It's about time-to-first-task.
What Are the Best Amazing Marvin Alternatives for Task and Project Management?
The strongest Amazing Marvin alternatives split by trade-off: Todoist and TickTick for mainstream cross-platform task management, Things 3 for Apple-only simplicity, Superlist for shared lists, OmniFocus for deep GTD, and Dooit for a minimal keyboard-first daily planner. Which one fits depends on whether you value customization, price, or speed most.
- Todoist: broad platform support with free, Pro, and Business tiers.
- TickTick: built-in calendar, Pomodoro, and habit tracker in one app.
- Things 3: a one-time purchase, Apple-only.
- Superlist: a free-forever tier plus paid collaboration plans.
- OmniFocus: the reference tool for strict GTD workflows.
- Dooit: sub-50ms actions on a single $9/month plan. Disclosure: Dooit is our own product, included here for transparency.
Amazing Marvin Alternatives Compared: Pricing, Platforms, and Features
Pricing and platform support vary sharply across these tools. Free tiers exist at Todoist and Superlist, Things 3 is a one-time Apple-only purchase, TickTick spans nearly every OS, and Dooit runs one flat $9/month plan. The table lines up each vendor's own published facts side by side.
Comparison Table
| App | Starting price | Platforms | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Todoist | Free; Pro $7/mo; Business $10/user/mo ($8 yearly, 12.5% off) | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, web | Free-forever mainstream planner |
| TickTick | Free / paid | iOS, iPadOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, web | Calendar + Pomodoro + habits in one |
| Things 3 | $9.99 one-time per platform (≈1.4× Todoist Pro) | Mac, iPad, iPhone, Watch, Vision only | No subscription, ever |
| Superlist | Free; Basic $5/person/mo; Super $21/person/mo (Basic 71.4% cheaper) | macOS, iOS, Android, web | Shared lists and collaboration |
| OmniFocus | Paid (Apple-focused) | Apple ecosystem | Purpose-built GTD engine |
| Dooit | Free to start; $9/mo | Web and mobile, real-time synced | Sub-50ms keyboard-first speed |
Todoist: Best Mainstream Alternative with a Free Plan
Screenshot: Todoist website, July 2026.
Todoist is the closest mainstream Amazing Marvin alternative for people who want a genuinely free plan plus optional team features. Todoist offers three plans: Beginner free forever, Pro at $7/month, and Business at $10/user/month, dropping to $8/user/month billed yearly.
That yearly Business rate is a 12.5% saving per user over monthly billing. Todoist is also free forever on Beginner, and each team gets 5 free projects to trial collaboration before upgrading. The limitation: Todoist ships fewer built-in habit and goal-tracking features than Amazing Marvin or TickTick.
Things 3: Best for Apple-Only Users Who Want a One-Time Purchase
Screenshot: Things 3 website, July 2026.
Things 3 suits Apple users who never want another subscription. Things is a one-time purchase per platform with no recurring billing, listed at $9.99 on its homepage. At roughly 1.4× Todoist Pro's monthly price, it pays for itself fast, because Things never charges again after purchase.
Things is sold separately for Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Vision, with the Watch app included in the iPhone purchase. Mac buyers get a 15-day free trial with full features and no auto-renewal. The hard limitation: Things runs only on Apple hardware, with no Windows, Android, Linux, or web support.
TickTick: Best for Built-In Habit Tracking and Calendar Views
Screenshot: TickTick website, July 2026.
TickTick is the strongest alternative for users who want calendar views, Pomodoro timers, and habit tracking bundled into one app rather than bolted on. TickTick combines Calendar, Habit Tracker, Pomodoro, and a Timeline project view, and positions itself around merging those functions natively:
One of the first to-do apps to integrate Calendar, Pomodoro Timer, and Habit features into one functional app.
TickTick runs across iOS, iPadOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, and web, and its mobile widgets ship 8 controls: Add Task, Today's Tasks, Pomodoro, Stopwatch, Calendar, Matrix, Focus, and Habit. The catch for minimalists: that breadth can feel almost as dense as Amazing Marvin's, which is the overhead some switchers are trying to escape.
Superlist: Best for Individuals Who Later Need Team Collaboration
Screenshot: Superlist website, July 2026.
Superlist fits people who start solo but expect to collaborate later. Its Free plan covers 5 private lists, 5 shared lists (up to 5 people each), and unlimited tasks and notes across macOS, iOS, Android, and web. The paid Basic tier unlocks unlimited lists and every integration.
Superlist Basic costs $5 per person per month, while Super runs $21 per person per month, making Basic 71.4% cheaper than Super, the widest built-in price gap of any alternative here. Basic adds unlimited sublists, shared lists, Voice AI, 100MB uploads, and 25GB storage. The limitation: Superlist has no dedicated habit-tracking or goal-horizon features to match Amazing Marvin or Dooit.
OmniFocus: Best for GTD (Getting Things Done) Workflows
Screenshot: OmniFocus website, July 2026.
OmniFocus remains the reference tool for strict GTD practitioners who want perspectives, contexts, and review cycles that match David Allen's method closely. It suits users migrating from Amazing Marvin's GTD-style setups who want a mature, purpose-built GTD engine rather than a general task manager bent into GTD shape.
OmniFocus's custom perspectives and review workflows map directly onto GTD contexts and next actions, which is why it's the default recommendation in productivity circles for the method. The trade-off is a steeper learning curve than lighter tools like Dooit or Todoist. OmniFocus assumes you already know GTD terminology and will invest setup time.
What Is the Closest Alternative for Deep Customization Without Marvin's Setup Overhead?
TickTick offers the closest feature breadth without Amazing Marvin's custom-menu complexity, while Dooit takes the opposite path, trading configurability for speed. TickTick bundles calendar, habits, and Pomodoro natively instead of as add-ons, keeping most of Marvin's coverage with less assembly.
Dooit reaches the same "less setup" goal from the other side. Instead of dozens of settings, Dooit organizes goals by week, month, year, and multi-year horizon, and reads natural language dates like "tomorrow," "next Friday," and "every Monday" instead of manual pickers. The trade-off is honest: Dooit sacrifices Amazing Marvin's deep menu customization for near-instant setup and sub-50ms actions. Dooit is our own product.
Dooit: Best for Keyboard-First Speed and a Single Flat Plan
Screenshot: Dooit website, July 2026.
Dooit fits users who found Amazing Marvin's breadth overwhelming and want every action, from adding a task to switching views to checking off a habit, to complete in under 50ms with no spinners. Dooit runs a single $9/month plan with a 7-day free trial and no tiers or add-ons to configure. Disclosure: Dooit is our own product.
- Every action is engineered for under 50ms, no loading lag.
- Kanban board and list views, switchable with one keystroke.
- 20+ keyboard shortcuts with full undo and redo.
- Natural language scheduling: "tomorrow," "next Friday," "every Monday."
- Daily habit tracking with streaks alongside tasks and projects.
- Real-time sync across devices, including a dedicated mobile app.
- One $9/month plan, 7-day free trial, no pricing tiers.
The limitation is real: Dooit has no team or collaboration features and a far smaller feature catalog than Amazing Marvin or TickTick. If you need shared workspaces or 100+ configurable options, it isn't the right pick.
Which Amazing Marvin Alternatives Support Calendar Sync and Time Blocking?
Amazing Marvin itself supports two-way calendar sync, and among alternatives TickTick offers the strongest native calendar handling. Amazing Marvin syncs with Google, Outlook/Exchange, iCloud, Yahoo, and CalDAV calendars, so switchers who rely on external calendars should confirm an alternative matches that depth before moving.
Marvin only pushes a task to an external calendar when it's scheduled with a time in its title and two-way sync is on. TickTick provides native Google Calendar integration and a dedicated Calendar view. Todoist and Superlist lean more on third-party integrations for time blocking. Dooit prioritizes real-time cross-device sync over external calendar depth, trading calendar breadth for raw speed.
Which Alternatives Work Best for Teams vs. Solo Users?
Team-oriented alternatives are Todoist Business and Superlist's paid tiers, both built on per-user pricing and shared workspaces. Solo-first alternatives are Things 3, OmniFocus, and Dooit, which skip team billing entirely and optimize for one person's speed and habit tracking instead of collaboration.
- Todoist Business: $10/user/month, or $8 yearly, a 12.5% per-user saving.
- Superlist Basic and Super scale per person per month, built around shared lists.
- Things 3 has no team pricing; it's purchased per individual and platform.
- Dooit's single $9/month plan is built for individual daily planning, not team assignment.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free Amazing Marvin alternative?
Todoist's Beginner plan and Superlist's Free plan are both free forever. Todoist Beginner includes 5 free team projects to trial collaboration, while Superlist Free covers 5 private and 5 shared lists with unlimited tasks across macOS, iOS, Android, and web.
Is there an Amazing Marvin alternative with a one-time purchase instead of a subscription?
Yes. Things 3 is sold as a one-time purchase per platform (Mac, iPad, iPhone, Vision), starting at $9.99, with no recurring subscription. It includes a 15-day free trial on Mac but only runs on Apple devices, unlike Amazing Marvin's cross-platform support.
Which Amazing Marvin alternative is best for GTD methodology?
OmniFocus is the most established alternative built specifically around GTD (Getting Things Done) principles, with perspectives and contexts mapped to David Allen's method. It suits users migrating GTD-style setups from Amazing Marvin who want a mature, purpose-built GTD tool.
How does Amazing Marvin's pricing compare to its alternatives?
Alternatives span free (Todoist Beginner, Superlist Free), one-time purchase (Things 3, $9.99), and subscription tiers (Todoist Pro $7/month, Business $10/user/month, Superlist Basic $5 to Super $21/person/month). Dooit uses one flat $9/month plan with no tiers, unlike Amazing Marvin's broader feature-based pricing.
Which Amazing Marvin alternative has the best mobile app experience?
TickTick offers the most feature-rich mobile experience, with 8 widget controls covering tasks, Pomodoro, calendar, matrix, focus, and habits across iOS, iPadOS, and Android. Dooit's mobile app instead prioritizes speed, syncing in real time with sub-50ms actions rather than added widgets.
Which Amazing Marvin alternative is easiest to migrate to quickly?
Dooit and Todoist are the fastest to start with, since both skip Amazing Marvin's custom-menu setup. Dooit's natural language scheduling ("tomorrow," "every Monday") and single $9/month plan mean new users can start planning within minutes instead of configuring views and habits first.
If Amazing Marvin's setup overhead is what's slowing you down, start free with Dooit and plan your day with sub-50ms actions and natural language dates. No tiers to configure.