Pricing overview
Todoist provides a tiered pricing model structured to accommodate individual users and business teams. The core offering includes a free tier, a Pro plan for individual users seeking advanced features, and a Business plan tailored for collaborative environments. The pricing strategy typically incentivizes annual subscriptions over monthly billing by offering a lower effective monthly rate, as detailed on the Todoist pricing page. This allows users to select a plan that aligns with their usage frequency and required feature set.
The service is designed for task management and project organization, supporting a range of use cases from personal to-do lists to small team project coordination. Understanding the specific limits and features associated with each tier is crucial for assessing the total cost of ownership and ensuring the chosen plan meets operational requirements. For instance, the free tier imposes restrictions on the number of active projects and collaborators, which scale up with the paid plans to support larger teams and more complex workflows. Integrations with other platforms, often critical for business users, are also a key differentiator across tiers, as noted in the Todoist features by plan comparison.
Plans and tiers
Todoist offers three primary plans: Free, Pro, and Business. Each plan is designed with specific user needs and feature sets in mind.
The Todoist Free plan is intended for basic personal task management and serves as an entry point for users to experience the platform. It includes fundamental features such as task creation, due dates, and basic project organization, but with explicit limitations on the number of active projects, collaborators, and file upload sizes. This tier is suitable for individuals managing simple daily tasks.
The Todoist Pro plan targets individual users who require more advanced functionality beyond the free tier. This includes access to reminders, a greater number of active projects, expanded file uploads, and premium features like custom filters, themes, and calendar integrations. The Pro plan is available for a monthly fee, with a reduced rate offered for annual billing. For example, the annual subscription typically costs $5 per month, while a monthly subscription is $6 per month, as outlined on the Todoist pricing overview.
The Todoist Business plan is tailored for teams and organizations, focusing on collaboration and administrative control. It builds upon the Pro features by adding team-specific functionalities such as team inboxes, admin and member roles, centralized billing, and priority support. The Business plan is priced per user per month, with a lower rate for annual commitments. For example, the annual subscription is typically $8 per user per month, compared to a higher monthly rate. This plan is designed to scale with team size and project complexity, providing tools for shared projects and team-wide task management.
Plan Comparison Table
| Plan | Price (Billed Annually) | Key Limits & Features | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Todoist Free | $0 |
|
Individual basic task management, trying out Todoist |
| Todoist Pro | $5/month |
|
Individuals needing advanced features, personal productivity enthusiasts |
| Todoist Business | $8/user/month |
|
Teams and organizations requiring collaboration, shared projects, and administrative control |
These pricing tiers are subject to change, and users should refer to the official Todoist pricing page for the most current information.
Free tier and limits
The Todoist Free tier provides a foundational task management experience without any cost. It is designed to allow users to organize personal tasks and manage small projects with limited collaboration. Key limitations of the free tier include:
- Active Projects: Users are restricted to a maximum of 5 active projects. Once a project is completed or archived, it no longer counts towards this limit.
- Collaborators: Each project can have up to 5 collaborators. This restricts the size of teams that can work together on a single project without upgrading.
- File Uploads: File uploads are limited to 5 MB per project. This can be a constraint for projects requiring the sharing of larger documents, images, or media files.
- Filters: Users can create up to 3 custom filters to organize and view tasks. More complex filtering logic requires a paid plan.
- Reminders: Reminders are not available in the free tier, meaning users must manually check tasks or rely on external calendar notifications.
- Activity History: Access to activity history is typically limited, preventing users from reviewing past task changes or comments beyond a recent timeframe.
The free tier serves as a robust personal productivity tool for basic needs, but its limitations become apparent when scaling up to more complex projects, larger teams, or when advanced features like reminders and extensive filtering are required. These restrictions are clearly outlined in the Todoist feature comparison documentation, guiding users toward paid plans when their needs exceed the free offering's capabilities.
Real-world cost examples
Understanding Todoist pricing in practical scenarios helps in budgeting for personal and team productivity. Here are several real-world cost examples based on typical usage patterns:
- Individual Basic Task Management: A user who needs to manage daily to-do lists, grocery lists, and a couple of personal projects without needing reminders or extensive collaboration would find the Todoist Free plan sufficient. The cost is $0 annually.
- Individual Advanced Productivity: A freelance writer managing multiple client projects, needing reminders for deadlines, custom filters to prioritize tasks, and calendar synchronization would benefit from the Todoist Pro plan. Opting for annual billing, the cost would be $5/month * 12 months = $60 per year. If billed monthly, it would be $6/month * 12 months = $72 per year.
- Small Team (5 users) Project Management: A marketing team of five people collaborating on several campaigns, sharing files, and requiring administrative oversight would likely choose the Todoist Business plan. With annual billing, the cost would be $8/user/month * 5 users * 12 months = $480 per year. This provides each team member with access to all Business features, including shared team inboxes and centralized billing.
- Growing Startup (10 users) with Advanced Collaboration: A startup with ten employees needing extensive project management, shared tasks, and team-specific features would also opt for the Todoist Business plan. On an annual billing cycle, the total cost would be $8/user/month * 10 users * 12 months = $960 per year. This includes the ability to manage up to 500 active projects and collaborate with up to 50 individuals per project, accommodating growth.
- Temporary Project with External Collaborators: A project manager needing to coordinate a short-term project with 15 external collaborators for three months. While the free tier allows 5 collaborators, this scenario necessitates a Business plan for its higher collaboration limits. If they subscribe monthly, the cost would be $8/user/month * 15 users * 3 months = $360. They could then downgrade or cancel after the project concludes.
These examples illustrate how the choice between monthly and annual billing, along with the number of users and required features, directly impacts the overall cost. The Todoist pricing calculator (often available on their pricing page) can provide more precise figures for specific team sizes.
How the pricing compares
When evaluating Todoist's pricing, it is useful to compare it against other leading task management and productivity platforms like ClickUp, Asana, and Trello. These alternatives often offer varying pricing models, feature sets, and scalability options.
- Todoist vs. ClickUp: ClickUp also offers a robust free tier, but its paid plans typically start at a similar or slightly higher price point for comparable features, such as their Unlimited plan which begins at $7 per user per month when billed annually (ClickUp pricing details). ClickUp often positions itself as an all-in-one productivity suite, including features beyond just task management, which can influence its perceived value for money depending on user needs. Its extensive feature set may lead to higher complexity for simple task management compared to Todoist's more focused approach.
- Todoist vs. Asana: Asana has a free tier for up to 15 users, which is more generous for small teams than Todoist's 5 collaborators per project in its free tier. However, Asana's paid plans, such as its Premium plan, start at around $10.99 per user per month when billed annually (Asana pricing information), making it generally more expensive per user than Todoist Business. Asana is often favored by larger organizations for its sophisticated project management, reporting, and workflow automation capabilities, which command a higher price point.
- Todoist vs. Trello: Trello offers a free plan with unlimited cards and up to 10 boards, which is quite flexible for visual task management. Its paid plans, such as Standard and Premium, typically start around $5 per user per month and $10 per user per month respectively when billed annually (Trello pricing plans). Trello's strength lies in its Kanban-style boards, making it highly visual and intuitive for certain types of project workflows. Todoist, in contrast, focuses more on list-based task management with rich natural language processing for due dates and recurring tasks, offering a different workflow philosophy.
In summary, Todoist's pricing is competitive, particularly for individual users and small teams seeking a focused, efficient task management solution. Its Pro plan offers significant value for individuals, while the Business plan provides essential collaboration tools at a price point that is generally lower than enterprise-grade alternatives like Asana, while offering more advanced features than the base paid tiers of Trello. The decision often comes down to the specific features required, the preferred workflow, and the budget available for individual or team productivity tools.