TickTick Alternative (2026): 6 Apps Compared, Ranked by Fit

You've been staring at TickTick's cluttered sidebar for the third time today, waiting for a sync spinner to clear, wondering if there's something lighter. The best alternative depends on your bottleneck: price, speed, platform, or team size — no single tool leads on every axis.

Disclosure: Dooit is our product. We've included it below alongside five competitors and tried to keep the framing neutral.

Key takeaways

• Todoist Pro ($5/mo yearly) runs $30/year cheaper than TickTick Premium ($35.99/year) for a comparable feature set.
• TickTick is a US-based team (per its own about page) with Android roots dating to 2010, so "Chinese app" conflates origin stories with actual jurisdiction.
• Amazing Marvin openly calls its mobile apps "not amazing yet," making it a computer-first pick.
• Free tiers differ sharply: Todoist gives 5 projects, Superlist gives 5 private + 5 shared lists, Notion gives unlimited blocks but can't recur reminders.
• Dooit targets the keyboard-first, single-plan niche ($9/mo flat) with sub-50ms actions.

Why are you looking for a TickTick alternative?

Most people switching from TickTick aren't chasing more features. They're fleeing bloat: laggy syncs, cluttered menus, or a free tier where calendar view and filters sit behind Premium. The right alternative depends on whether you want fewer features and more speed, or a different set of power features entirely.

Common triggers cluster into four groups: interface slowdown, mouse-heavy workflows, hitting free-tier walls, and wanting deeper habit or goal tracking. Keyboard-first users and people building ADHD-friendly workflows have different needs than teams wanting shared workspaces and assigned tasks. This guide sorts alternatives by who they fit. Six tools, matched to six bottlenecks.

Is there a better app than TickTick?

Better depends on the criterion. Todoist Pro undercuts TickTick Premium by $30/year, Superlist's free tier includes shared lists and task assigning, and Dooit targets raw keyboard speed. No single app beats TickTick on every axis, so "better" means better at your specific bottleneck.

• Price: Todoist Pro at $5/mo billed yearly beats TickTick Premium's $35.99/year by $30 annually.
• Speed/minimalism: keyboard-first tools trade TickTick's feature stack for near-instant actions.
• Collaboration: Superlist and Todoist Business scale team seats.
• Apple-native depth: Things 3 and OmniFocus lean into macOS/iOS-only workflows.

Is TickTick a Chinese app?

No. TickTick's about page states the team is "mainly based in the United States," with roots as an Android app called GTasks starting in 2010 before its official launch as TickTick in 2013. The "Chinese app" assumption conflates founder origin stories with company jurisdiction and current operations.

"Mainly based in the United States." — TickTick, about page

Three distinct questions get conflated: founder nationality, team location, and data jurisdiction. TickTick directly answers only the second, stating a US base and an Android app (GTasks) from 2010 that relaunched in 2013. Founder nationality and where your data physically sits are separate matters the about page doesn't settle either way.

Is TickTick ADHD friendly, and what actually helps ADHD workflows?

TickTick's Pomodoro timer and reminders can help ADHD-style focus, but its dense menus and multi-step navigation can also overwhelm. What tends to help more consistently: natural language scheduling that removes decision friction, undo/redo so mistakes aren't costly, and fast responsiveness that keeps momentum going.

Feature-dense apps introduce friction in predictable places: nested menus, too many taps between thought and captured task. Three things reduce that friction:

• Natural language input ("tomorrow," "next Friday," "every Monday") cuts the steps between a thought and a saved task.
• Undo/redo support lowers the anxiety cost of a wrong keystroke, which matters for impulsive entry patterns.
• Instant response removes the "wait state" that breaks hyperfocus. Dooit is built for sub-50ms actions with no spinners for exactly this reason.

Which is better, Notion or TickTick?

Notion wins on flexibility with free databases, subtasks, dependencies, and calendar/mail sync, but it's a build-your-own-system tool, not a ready-made task manager. TickTick wins on out-of-box task, habit, and Pomodoro structure. Notion's reminders also can't yet recur, a real gap for daily task management.

Notion's free plan includes subtasks, dependencies, custom properties, Notion Calendar, and Notion Mail sync with Gmail. The catch: Notion says recurring reminders are not available yet, only on the roadmap. For anyone running daily recurring tasks, that's a meaningful hole.

Choose Notion if you want one workspace for docs plus tasks and don't mind template setup. Choose TickTick (or a lighter alternative) if you want tasks working immediately.

What you actually get on the free tier: Todoist vs. TickTick vs. Superlist vs. Notion

Screenshot: TickTick website, July 2026.

Free tiers look similar in marketing copy but differ sharply in real limits. Todoist Free caps at 5 personal projects; Superlist Free allows 5 private plus 5 shared lists; Notion Free is unlimited in blocks but can't recur reminders; TickTick locks calendar and filters behind Premium. Here's what $0 really buys.

• Todoist Free: 5 personal projects, Smart Quick Add, reminders, 3 filter views, 1 week activity history.
• Superlist Free: 5 private lists, 5 shared lists, unlimited tasks/notes, reminders, repeating tasks, task assigning.
• Notion Free: unlimited blocks and databases with subtasks and dependencies, but no recurring reminders yet.
• TickTick Free vs Premium: full calendar, filters, historical stats, and checklist reminders are Premium-only at $35.99/year.

The gap no checklist shows you

A feature checklist tells you a free tier "has reminders." It won't tell you Notion's reminders can't recur, or that Superlist's free plan already includes task assigning, a collaboration feature many competitors gate behind paid tiers. The limits, not the feature names, decide whether $0 survives your real workflow.

TickTick alternatives compared: pricing, platforms, and fit

Six tools, one table: annual price, platform reach, and the user each suits. Amazing Marvin's pricing page calls its own mobile apps "not amazing yet," which flags it as a computer-first tool wearing a cross-platform label. Use this table to shortlist two, not six.

App	Annual price	Platforms	Suits	Key limitation
Todoist	$60/yr Pro	Desktop browsers only for web app	Solo Pro-feature seekers	Web app not supported on mobile browsers
TickTick	$35.99/yr	iOS, Android, Win, macOS, Linux, browser	All-in-one feature users	Dense menus, feature bloat
Superlist	$59/yr Basic	macOS, iOS, Android, web	Small teams, couples	No Windows/Linux native
OmniFocus	$99.99/yr sub	Mac, iPhone, iPad, Watch, Vision Pro, web	Complex Apple project hierarchies	No Windows or Android
Amazing Marvin	Subscription	Web, Win/Mac/Linux, Android/iOS	Desk-based customizers	Mobile apps "not amazing yet"
Dooit	$9/mo flat	Web + dedicated mobile app	Keyboard-first solo users	Not built for large teams

Todoist: cheapest route to solo Pro features

Screenshot: Todoist website, July 2026.

Todoist is the low-cost route to a fully-featured personal setup. $5/month billed yearly gets 300 projects, calendar layout, task duration, and full reporting history, running $30/year less than TickTick Premium. Its web app isn't supported in mobile browsers, so you'll rely on native apps for phone use.

• Free: 5 personal projects, Smart Quick Add, reminders, 3 filters, 1 week activity history.
• Pro: $5/user/month billed yearly ($60/year), 300 projects, calendar layout, task duration, 150 filters, full reporting.
• Business: $8/user/month billed yearly ($96/year), shared workspace, up to 500 team projects, 1,000 members.
• Limitation: the web app runs on desktop browsers only: Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, and Edge.

Things 3: built for Apple-only minimalists

Screenshot: Things 3 website, July 2026.

Things 3 suits people fully committed to Mac, iPhone, and iPad who want a polished, single-purchase app rather than a subscription. It isn't built for cross-platform teams or Windows/Android users, and its opinionated interface offers fewer configuration options than Todoist or Notion.

Things 3 uses a one-time purchase per platform rather than a recurring fee. The hard blocker: no Windows, Android, or web version, which rules it out for mixed-device households or teams. Best fit: individual Apple users who value design polish over reach.

Amazing Marvin: built for computer-first customization, not mobile

Screenshot: Amazing Marvin website, July 2026.

Amazing Marvin is a deeply customizable task manager for people who work mostly from a computer. Its own pricing page says exactly that, and calls its mobile apps "not amazing yet." If most of your task management happens on a phone, this is the clearest mismatch on the list.

"Not amazing yet." — Amazing Marvin, on its own mobile apps

Marvin runs on web, desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux), and mobile (Android and iOS). But its pricing page says it's a "good fit for people who work mostly from a computer." Best fit: heavy customizers doing most task work at a desk. Poor fit: mobile-first users.

Superlist: built for lightweight team collaboration

Screenshot: Superlist website, July 2026.

Superlist Basic at $59/year is $1 cheaper per year than Todoist Pro at $60/year, and its free tier already includes shared lists and task assigning. That combination fits small teams or couples splitting household and work tasks without a heavy team-billing setup.

• Free: 5 private lists, 5 shared lists, unlimited tasks/notes, reminders, repeating tasks, task assigning, labels.
• Basic: $6/person/month or $59/year, unlimited lists/sublists, all integrations, unlimited team members, voice AI.
• Super: $25/person/month or $249/year, AI meeting notes, AI chat, Make AI generation, email/Slack summarization.

The numbers put Superlist Basic ($59/year) $1 under Todoist Pro ($60/year): near-identical price, different collaboration depth. If shared lists matter more than a 300-project ceiling, Superlist wins the trade.

OmniFocus: built for complex, Apple-based project hierarchies

Screenshot: OmniFocus website, July 2026.

OmniFocus suits users who want deep project hierarchies and perspectives on Apple hardware, but it's the priciest option here: $99.99/year for the full subscription, or a $74.99–$149.99 one-time license. Its yearly subscription costs $3 more than Todoist Business, despite serving individuals rather than teams.

• One-time license: Standard $74.99, Pro $149.99.
• Web-only access: $4.99/month or $49.99/year.
• Full subscription: $99.99/year across Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, and web.

The pricing quirk worth flagging: OmniFocus's $99.99/year subscription costs just $3.00 more per year than Todoist Business at $96/year, even though OmniFocus is built for a single user and Todoist Business is built for teams. Its hard limitation: no Windows or Android support at all.

Dooit: built for keyboard-first speed and flat pricing

Screenshot: Dooit website, July 2026.

Dooit strips task management down to sub-50ms actions, 20+ keyboard shortcuts, and one $9/month plan with a 7-day trial. No tiers to compare, no upsells to dodge. Its limitation: it doesn't chase Notion-style flexibility or OmniFocus-style perspective depth by design.

Dooit is built for people who plan the day from the keyboard and want zero wait states between thought and task. Its core specs:

• Every action completes in under 50ms, with no spinners or loading lag.
• Kanban board and list views, switchable with a single keystroke.
• Natural language scheduling: "tomorrow," "next Friday," "every Monday."
• 20+ keyboard shortcuts with full undo/redo support.
• Goal tracking across week, month, year, and multi-year horizons.
• Daily habit tracking with streaks alongside tasks and projects.
• Real-time sync across devices, including a dedicated mobile app.
• Single plan: $9/month, 7-day free trial, no tiers or add-ons.

Honest limitation: Dooit isn't built for large team collaboration or deep custom databases. It's an individual-flow tool, not a workspace platform. If you need shared workspaces with 500 projects, Todoist Business or Superlist fit better.

Which alternative fits calendar integration and team collaboration needs?

For calendar-heavy planning, Todoist Pro's calendar layout and TickTick's full calendar view (Premium) lead. For teams, Todoist Business and Superlist scale seats and shared workspaces beyond the Apple-only or solo-focused tools. Match the tool to the workflow, not the other way around.

• Calendar: Todoist Pro adds calendar layout and task duration; TickTick Premium unlocks full calendar functionality; Notion syncs with Notion Calendar and Gmail on its free plan.
• Teams (Todoist Business): shared workspace, up to 500 projects, 1,000 members, centralized billing.
• Teams (Superlist Basic): unlimited team members, shared lists, integrations from $6/person/month.
• Poor fit for teams: Things 3 and OmniFocus are built around single-user perspectives, not shared workspaces.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a better app than TickTick?

Better depends on your bottleneck. Todoist Pro runs $30/year less than TickTick Premium, Superlist's free tier includes shared lists and task assigning, and keyboard-first tools like Dooit trade TickTick's feature stack for sub-50ms speed. No single app wins on price, speed, and platform reach at once.

Is TickTick a Chinese app?

No. TickTick's about page states its team is "mainly based in the United States," with origins as an Android app (GTasks) from 2010 before its 2013 relaunch as TickTick. Company history and team location are documented by TickTick itself, separate from any assumptions about data jurisdiction.

Is TickTick ADHD friendly?

It offers helpful structure like Pomodoro timers and reminders, but its dense menus can add friction for ADHD workflows. What tends to help more: natural language scheduling, undo/redo safety nets, and fast response times that avoid breaking focus during task capture.

Which is better, Notion or TickTick?

Notion offers more flexibility with free subtasks, dependencies, and calendar/mail sync, but it requires setup and currently lacks recurring reminders. TickTick ships task, habit, and calendar structure ready to use. Pick Notion for an all-in-one workspace; pick TickTick (or a lighter tool) for immediate task-first functionality.

What are the best free alternatives to TickTick?

Todoist Free (5 projects, reminders, 3 filters), Superlist Free (5 private + 5 shared lists, task assigning), and Notion Free (unlimited databases, but no recurring reminders yet) are the strongest no-cost options, each with different real limits worth checking before committing.

How does Todoist compare to TickTick as an alternative?

Todoist Pro costs $5/month billed yearly ($60/year) versus TickTick Premium's $35.99/year, so TickTick is actually cheaper on the sticker. But Todoist's web app isn't supported on mobile browsers, while TickTick spans iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, and browser natively.

If your bottleneck is speed and you plan your day from the keyboard, start free with Dooit and see whether sub-50ms, single-plan simplicity fits your flow.