Sunsama Alternative 2026: 6 Tools Compared by Price & Fit
Fabio Bergmann
The best Sunsama alternative depends on your setup: cheap flexible views, ritual-based day planning, shared lists, or keyboard-first speed at a flat price. This guide splits the field by use case so you can match the tool to your actual workflow.
Key takeaways
- Todoist Pro at $5/user/month billed yearly is 1.2× cheaper than Superlist Basic at $6/month, the cheapest paid tier here with calendar layout.
- Amazing Marvin's $96/year plan costs 1.7× as much as Todoist Pro's $60/year, though both target solo planners rather than teams.
- Sorting individual-first tools (Todoist, Things 3, TickTick, Amazing Marvin, Dooit) from team-first ones (Trello, Asana) is the fastest way to choose.
- Open-source, self-hosted options are scarce; every tool compared here is closed SaaS, which matters if data control is your reason for switching.
- Dooit completes every action in under 50ms with no spinners, a speed-first answer to the "Sunsama feels slow" complaint.
Disclosure: Dooit is our product. It's included below alongside competitors and clearly labeled.
Why are people looking for a Sunsama alternative?
People search for Sunsama alternatives for four common reasons: price friction, sluggish or cluttered interfaces, missing keyboard speed, and team features they don't use. Solo planners want a lighter tool. Cost-sensitive users want one flat price. Some want data control that hosted SaaS can't offer.
The complaints cluster:
- Speed matters more than any single feature. You plan dozens of times a day, so every spinner adds up.
- Solo users rarely need team workflows and don't want to pay for them.
- Many want a single flat price, not tiers that gate the useful parts.
- Keyboard shortcuts and undo/redo are table stakes for power users, yet heavier apps skip them.
What should you compare before choosing an alternative to Sunsama?
Compare four things before switching: free-tier limits, calendar and app integrations, keyboard speed, and whether the tool targets individuals or teams. Pricing alone misleads. A $6/month plan and an $8/month plan can differ sharply in depth, so weigh cost against what you use daily, whether that's time blocking, habits, or shared boards.
- Free-tier limits vary widely. Todoist's Beginner plan caps you at 5 personal projects and one week of history, while Superlist's Free plan allows 5 private and 5 shared lists.
- Calendar sync is near-universal but built differently, from all-day event mirroring to full two-way visibility.
- Individual vs. team focus changes which features matter: shared workspaces and admin logs versus personal habit streaks.
- Keyboard speed is rarely benchmarked in roundups, yet it's the biggest driver of daily friction.
Sunsama alternatives compared: pricing and free tiers at a glance
Free-tier depth varies sharply across these eight tools. Todoist and Superlist offer usable free plans. Trello and Asana give generous free collaboration limits. Amazing Marvin and TickTick keep their best features paid. Dooit skips tiers with one $9/month plan and a 7-day trial.
| Tool | Starting paid price | Free tier? | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Todoist | $5/user/mo yearly | Yes — 5 projects | Cheapest paid calendar layout |
| Things 3 | One-time purchase | No | Calendar-adjacent Today view (Apple only) |
| TickTick | $35.99/yr (limited-time) | Yes | Two-way Notion sync |
| Amazing Marvin | $8/mo or $96/yr | No — 14-day trial | Configurable day-planning rituals |
| Superlist | $6/mo or $59/yr | Yes — 5+5 lists | Shared lists + light AI |
| Trello | $10/user/mo yearly | Yes — 10 boards | Multiple workspace views |
| Asana | $10.99/user/mo yearly | Yes — 2 users | Team reporting + timeline |
| Dooit | $9/mo flat | No — 7-day trial | Sub-50ms keyboard-first speed |
Two numbers reframe the pricing map: Todoist Pro at $5/user/month billed yearly is 1.2× cheaper than Superlist Basic at $6/month, and Amazing Marvin's $96/year costs 1.7× Todoist Pro's $60/year.
Todoist: best for flexible views and low-cost upgrades
Screenshot: Todoist pricing page, August 2026.
Todoist suits people who want a free plan to start and a cheap upgrade path. The Beginner tier is free with 5 projects and basic reminders. Pro adds calendar layout, deadlines, and full history for $5/user/month billed yearly, the cheapest paid tier here with calendar-based planning.
- Free (Beginner): 5 personal projects, Smart Quick Add, 3 filter views, and 1 week of activity history.
- Pro ($5/mo yearly, $7/mo monthly): calendar layout, task duration, deadlines, and full reporting history.
- Business ($8/user/mo yearly): shared workspace and up to 500 team projects.
The main limitation for planners: the free tier's one-week history is thin for reviewing past patterns, which matters if daily review is why you're leaving Sunsama.
Things 3: best for Apple users who want calendar-adjacent planning
Screenshot: Things 3 things page, August 2026.
Things 3 works for Mac and iOS users who want calendar events shown beside to-dos without deep integrations. It supports natural language input, tags, and Quick Find, plus a Today and Upcoming view that displays calendar entries next to tasks. It has no Android or web app.
Cultured Code's support docs confirm you can connect your calendars so events appear alongside your tasks in Today and Upcoming. The feature set also covers tags, reminders, and notes.
Two caveats: no native Windows, Android, or web app rules out cross-platform teams, and Things 3 uses a one-time purchase rather than the subscriptions that price every other tool here.
TickTick: best for calendar subscriptions and Notion sync
Screenshot: TickTick articles page, August 2026.
TickTick fits users who want built-in calendar subscriptions and two-way Notion sync without third-party connectors. Its annual plan runs $35.99 on limited-time pricing and unlocks full calendar functionality, custom filters, and historical statistics, plus 40+ themes and keyboard shortcuts.
Beyond Google Calendar and native calendar subscriptions, TickTick's two-way sync with Notion updates tasks automatically in both directions, an uncommon integration in this space. Collaboration runs through shared lists and task assignment.
Note the pricing is promotional. The $35.99/year rate is a limited-time offer, so confirm the current rate before committing.
Amazing Marvin: best for customizable day planning rituals
Screenshot: Amazing Marvin features page, August 2026.
Amazing Marvin suits people who want granular control over daily planning through time slots, auto-scheduling, and a focus mode. At $96/year with no free plan, it costs 1.7× Todoist Pro's annual price, but its 100+ configurable features go deeper into ritualized planning.
Day Planning covers time slots, auto-scheduling due items, automatic rollover, and calendar sync. The Funnel adds a Day Planner mode, Spotlight focus mode, and Time Control for detailed sessions, the closest thing here to Sunsama's structured daily ritual.
There's no free plan, only a 14-day full-access trial. It runs on Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android. The trade-off for that depth is setup: 100+ features means real configuration time before it fits your workflow.
Superlist: best for shared lists with light AI features
Screenshot: Superlist en page, August 2026.
Superlist fits people who want free shared-list collaboration with room to grow into integrations and AI summaries. The free plan covers 5 private and 5 shared lists. Basic at $6/month adds Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, and GitHub. Super at $25/month layers in AI meeting notes and chat.
- Free: 5 private and 5 shared lists, file uploads to 25MB, reminders, and repeating tasks.
- Basic ($6/mo or $59/yr): Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, Linear, and GitHub integrations, plus Talk AI voice input.
- Super ($25/mo): AI meeting notes, AI chat, and Slack/email summarization.
Its Google Calendar sync adds tasks with due dates as all-day events once connected. That's useful, but all-day events aren't true time blocks.
Dooit: best for keyboard-first speed and single-price simplicity
Screenshot: Dooit blog page, August 2026.
Dooit is built for people who want zero interface lag and one predictable price. Every action completes in under 50ms with no spinners. Natural language scheduling handles "next Friday" or "every Monday," and goal tracking spans week to multi-year horizons. One flat $9/month with a 7-day trial.
- Sub-50ms actions with no loading states, a direct answer to complaints about slow task managers.
- Kanban and list views, switchable with one keystroke.
- 20+ keyboard shortcuts plus full undo and redo.
- Daily habit tracking with streaks alongside tasks and projects.
- A single $9/month plan with no tiers or add-ons.
The honest limits: Dooit has no free-forever tier, and its collaboration features are minimal because it's built for individual workflows. If you need shared workspaces and admin controls, Asana or Trello fit better. For a wider view, see our comparison of the best apps for managing tasks in 2026.
Are there open-source or self-hosted Sunsama alternatives?
Open-source, self-hosted Sunsama alternatives are rare among mainstream options. None of the widely-recommended tools here (Todoist, Things 3, TickTick, Amazing Marvin, Superlist, Trello, or Asana) offer self-hosting. Anyone prioritizing data control will need general-purpose open-source task managers outside this comparison set.
Most Sunsama roundups skip this gap, even though every tool compared here is a closed, hosted SaaS product. Self-hosting demand tends to come from privacy-conscious freelancers and founders handling sensitive client data.
The trade-off is real. Self-hosted tools typically lack the calendar sync and mobile polish of hosted rivals, so you choose control over convenience.
Which Sunsama alternative fits individuals versus teams?
Individual-first tools (Dooit, Things 3, Amazing Marvin, and Todoist's personal tiers) prioritize habit tracking, single-user speed, and flat pricing. Team-first tools (Trello, Asana, and Todoist Business) add shared workspaces, admin controls, and per-seat billing that solo users rarely need.
- Individual-first: Dooit ($9/mo flat), Things 3 (one-time purchase), Amazing Marvin ($8/mo), Todoist Beginner and Pro.
- Team-first: Asana Starter and Advanced, Trello Premium, and Todoist Business.
The team-tier math is worth checking. Trello Premium at $10/user/month billed annually sits just below Asana Starter at $10.99/user/month, and 60% under Asana Advanced at $24.99/user/month. Todoist Business is the cheapest team tier at $8/user/month billed yearly. Solo users often overpay on per-seat plans they never fully use, so split by use case, not brand.
Which alternatives support calendar sync, Slack, or Asana/Trello integrations?
Google Calendar sync is near-universal across Todoist, Superlist, TickTick, and Amazing Marvin, while Slack shows up specifically in Superlist's Basic plan. None of the daily-planning specialists here connect natively to Asana or Trello. Those two are the project-management layer teams route other tools into.
- Google Calendar: confirmed for Todoist, Superlist, TickTick, and Amazing Marvin.
- Slack: included in Superlist Basic at $6/month alongside Gmail, Linear, and GitHub.
- Notion: TickTick adds two-way sync, uncommon in this space.
One caveat if you plan around Notion. Its help center notes recurring reminders are:
not available yet and are only on the roadmap
which limits Notion as a standalone daily planner.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest paid Sunsama alternative with similar daily planning features?
Todoist Pro is the cheapest at $5/user/month billed yearly ($60/year), including calendar layout and deadlines. That's 1.2× cheaper than Superlist Basic ($6/month) and well under Amazing Marvin's $96/year. Dooit's flat $9/month plan is competitive if you want single-tier simplicity instead of feature-gated pricing.
Is there a free alternative to Sunsama with similar features?
Todoist's Beginner plan and Superlist's Free plan are the closest free options, covering basic projects, reminders, and list/board views. Neither includes Sunsama-style guided daily planning rituals, so free users trade automation and calendar depth for zero cost.
Which Sunsama alternatives work best on mobile devices?
Todoist, TickTick, Superlist, Amazing Marvin, and Dooit all offer dedicated mobile apps with real-time sync. Things 3 is mobile-strong but Apple-only. For keyboard-driven users who also need mobile, Dooit pairs its desktop shortcuts with a dedicated mobile interface and real-time sync across devices.
What Sunsama alternative is best for freelancers or solopreneurs?
Freelancers generally do better with individual-first, flat-priced tools than per-seat team plans. Dooit's single $9/month plan, Amazing Marvin's solo-focused feature set, and Todoist Pro's $5/month rate all avoid the team-tier overhead in Asana or Trello's paid plans.
Do any Sunsama alternatives support time blocking and daily shutdown rituals?
Amazing Marvin supports time slots, auto-scheduling, and a Spotlight focus mode built around structured daily sessions. Todoist and TickTick support calendar-layout time blocking through their paid tiers, while Dooit's natural language scheduling and habit streaks support a lighter daily-planning routine.
How does Todoist compare to Sunsama as an alternative?
Todoist offers a free tier and cheaper paid plans ($5–$10/user/month) than most full daily-planning suites, with calendar layout and deadlines on Pro. It lacks Sunsama's structured daily-ritual guidance, so it's better for flexible task management than guided time-blocking.
If sluggish planning tools are pushing you to switch, start free with Dooit and see whether sub-50ms, keyboard-first planning fits how you work.