What is your favorite todo app without a subscription?

CleoTheWizard@beehaw.org to Technology@beehaw.org – 34 points –

Looking for an alternative to apps like TickTick and Todoist but I don’t want a subscription to deal with. I can justify a one time purchase of a todo app though as long as it’s reasonable. Any recommendations?

51

Damn they're making todo lists a subscription service now??

To answer the question: anything that provides a CALDAV backend (e.g. Nextcloud, Etesync, Radicale). Some are free with limited storage, but some are subscription based, but you get calendar, storage, other stuff too. You can additionally self-host a CALDAV server or Nextcloud to use these services gratuit. For a more minimal implentation, try plain text, markdown, orgmode, etc., and use Syncthing to sync between devices.

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Tasks.org

Syncs with Nextcloud as well, very good although the €1 a year subscription is a bit meh

It has subscription only features like ticktick.

If you download it from Fdroid, it doesn't have a subscription. And it has all the features unlocked.

Yes, just found this. Anyways, I was fine to pay few bucks per year, but I need a full functional web version as well.

Tasks.org syncs with various services. Those services may or may not have a web UI. I use it with Nextcloud tasks, which has a serviceable web UI.

I know, but non of these UI covers all tasks.org features (recurring, subtasks, tags etc). Moreover, you need a separate server for this - if you have one already - greate, if not this is an issue.

I needed webgui reachable from my office as well, used tasks.org with Google tasks for a while, but it is too limited (from the Google side), then I considered alternatives and found that in my case ticktick offers best set of features and "just works" for simple cross devices needs Microsoft Todo also works surprisingly well.

Now support of wearos becomes also a useful option.

What features are locked? I've only ever used the f-droid version, and haven't noticed anything blocked. But I don't use it much (unfortunately).

On play store sync is a paid feature and if I recall correctly, something tags related. It looks like, fdroid version is completely free: https://tasks.org/docs/subscribe

Anyway, it does not have full functional web version.

Tasks.org app because it syncs across Nextcloud or Apple Reminders or Android or Linux, and more.

Apple reminders (has gotten better and better, syncs, gets updates, is 100% free, sharing, built in, …).

Things is also great.

These are both iOS/macOS though, so sry if you were looking for something else

The only thing I wish Apple Reminders has is the ability to set a recurring task like “30 days after task completion”

I use Obsidian for note taking, and I downloaded an extension for the ability to turn any note into a task.

Might not be exactly what you're looking for, but it's FREE and locally hosted on your PC.

I'm REALLY interested to learn Obsidian. I like the fact that the files are simply .md files so they can be exported to anything else after. Also that's it's SUPER extensible and customizable. It should perfect for my needs to combine my procedures, documentations and projects follow-ups

You just have to go for it and figure it out. I just used it for planning a vacation and found it quite useful and nicer than other options I have used before.

The best piece of software I’ve ever used, which also happens to be an excellent todo list is org-mode. It has a very steep learning curve, but it is obscenely flexible.

I tried to learn org mode, but I really just did not get it :( Went with Obsidian instead!

I'd say the curve is just long, not steep. Most of the capabilities in Org-mode can in my opinion be ignored for a To-Do list.

Apple Reminders, which I now keep in a widget on my phone & iPad home screens. This is mainly for repeating items, like shopping, since I can turn on "show completed" and then uncheck them to put back on the list.

Or paper notebook, which I normally have in my pocket. This is for more serious things where I need to write some procedure or notes.

Used to use Things, which is great, but it's overkill for my current needs.

Wow I just mucked around with this just an hour ago because I wanted to swap off ToDoist...

I found Google Tasks has a bunch of cool apps that work great with its API (including a cool Raycast plugin for Mac users), apps like ToDoist and TickTick do a lot but they had too many features for my liking. I wanted something that was just a simple list like TeuxDeux which can sync between my Mac and Android.

Settled on the Microsoft ToDo app for ephemeral tasks and I plan to beef up my obsidian vault a little to use it for more long-term tasks. Ultimately it really depends what you're looking for because there's so many options

I just use Google Tasks, and it works very well. Got a widget on my home screen with open tasks and I can manage them via my desktop as well.

Free as in a standalone app or as in its part of something you already own?

The gmail and Microsoft both have apps that are not only cross-platform, web-accessible, and cloud sync’d but they integrate with native apps in your phone.

I know this will probably be unpopular, but that’s part of why I’m throwing it in here. Microsoft ToDo started out as a hot pile of garbage after they took over a great to-do app. These days it’s genuinely pretty great, though. Especially if part of what you do involves Outlook or Exchange. You can flag mails and have them show up in a to-do section, it will semi-intelligently suggest things to do next based on things in your to do-list, if you use planner or tasks at work, your things will show up in ToDo as well. I don’t use it for personal stuff, because having the option to quickly have Siri add something in Reminders is super convenient, but other than that it’s definitely a useful option - especially if you don’t use a voice assistant.

+1, there are some things I wish were different but overall Microsoft To Do is a great app.

2Do - has so many features that I don’t even use half of. Very powerful and I believe it is just a one time charge. Ive been using it for almost a decade now

(I use Todoist.)

Have you considered rolling your own? The defacto starter project for basically any application framework is a ToDo app. If you have any interest in learning a new language / framework, check out TODO MVC.

I have a pretty straightforward solution. I keep a text file called 'todo' in my Syncthing sync folder, and I added 'cat Sync/todo' to my Fish greeting.

I‘m using Due on the iPhone. It can be purchased per one-time payment and won’t get new features added then (bugfixes are still coming) but that’s fine since there are not so many new features. Plus, it syncs to the Mac (additional purchase needed).

What features that you want are missing from the free versions of ticktick and todoist?

I'm currently using todoist and the 5 project limit is my main problem.

On desktop, emacs + org, on phone, obsidian. Maybe if I figure out how to put emacs properly on the phone, then will move all to org..

Before switching to TickTick I found Google Tasks to be a decent option

I use Dynalist. It's an outliner, not strictly a to-do app but functions well enough as one. Also useful for notes, brainstorming, project management, or anything where you want text in a tree structure.

I use ticktick free mode. The best what I have found for my needs. I do miss few features from tasks.org, but ticktick advantages are more important for me.

What kind of advantages does TickTick have over something like ToDoist in your workflow?

I do not remember exactly, but I think todoist had a terrible widget (very unproductive usage of the space) and needed a subscription for recurring reminders.

I use Skiff Calendar they are very privacy friendly and have React Apps for every major platform skiff.com

Trello and the samsung notes for my galaxy tablet with pen.

FWIF I've tried TickTick and Todoist with paid plans, Google Tasks, Microsoft Todo and probably a few other free apps, and personally have settled on HedgeDoc for lists and Telegram for reminders. Nothing beats their simplicity and reliability.

Google Keep (since it convenient) and Github's built in kanban board (which is super nice for coding projects)

Stuff is what I use. It's an offline app though, but it's pretty customisable and looks great.

Agreed! Came here to mention it. It's a widget only, and very minimal but I love it. I only wish I remembered to look at it more often.

My wife and I started using cozi a few months ago. Shared to-do lists, shopping lists, etc with widgets. It's been nice.

I've been using Remember The Milk for years. I get daily notifications by email (doesn't mean I always do them) and there is an app but several features do require a Pro subscription.

If you really want an app, Tusk is great, even just the free version. No ads. Nice colorful icons. Smooth interface, good scheduling options. Some functions are paywalled though, like calendar sync. I can't remember if premium is a purchase or a subscription.

But really pen and paper is the best, imo. You can get little pocket notebooks. Much more satisfying and less restrictive than an app, if you don't need it to also be giving you notifications.

Edit: Tody is great for household cleaning todos/scheduling. Also free and ad free, except for some paywalled functions.

Things. It’s a one-time purchase but if you’re using it on iPhone, iPad and Mac it’s 3 one-time purchases and they are not cheap. But for me personally it feels and works exactly as I need it and after trying a bunch of others, I decided Things is the one. And I’ve used it long enough now that the price doesn’t hurt anymore.