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The Quick Verdict
Apple Reminders is the right choice if your task list is personal, mostly simple, and you want it to sync free across your Apple devices with zero setup. Todoist is the right choice if you manage projects with other people, need recurring tasks with complex natural-language due dates ("every 2nd Tuesday"), or want a board view for tracking a project's stages. Reminders is free and built into iOS. Todoist's free tier caps you at 5 active projects; anything past that needs its paid Pro subscription.
Where They Actually Diverge
Both apps let you make a list and check items off. The differences show up once your task list gets complicated:
- Natural language dates. Both parse "tomorrow at 3pm" fine. Todoist goes further with recurring patterns like "every weekday" or "every 3rd Friday," and lets you set priority flags (P1 through P4) that sort your list automatically. Reminders has flagging and a simple priority marker (!, !!, !!!), but no automatic priority sort across lists.
- Sharing and collaboration. Reminders supports shared lists between people on iOS, which works well for a household grocery list or a two-person project. Todoist is built for this at scale: assign tasks to specific people, leave comments on a task, and see who completed what.
- Views. Reminders offers list view and a basic "Today" smart list. Todoist adds a board view (Kanban-style columns), a calendar view, and filters you can save (e.g., "everything tagged #work due this week").
- Platform lock-in. Reminders is Apple-only, which is a non-issue if you live entirely in the Apple ecosystem and a dealbreaker if anyone you share tasks with uses Android or Windows. Todoist runs everywhere.
- Offline behavior. Reminders is a native iOS app, so it works fully offline and syncs via iCloud when you reconnect. Todoist also works offline but depends on its own sync service rather than iCloud.
Pricing
| Apple Reminders | Todoist | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free, included with iOS | Free tier, then a paid Pro subscription |
| Free tier limits | No project or list caps | Capped at 5 active projects |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Mac, iCloud.com only | iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, web |
| Collaboration | Shared lists (Apple ID required) | Task assignment, comments, activity log |
Check Todoist's pricing page directly before deciding. Subscription prices for third-party apps change more often than Apple's built-in tools.
Who Should Pick Which
Pick Apple Reminders if: you only use Apple devices, your task list is mostly solo (groceries, errands, personal to-dos), and you don't want another subscription.
Pick Todoist if: you coordinate tasks with a team or family that isn't all-Apple, you rely on recurring tasks with unusual schedules, or you want a board view for tracking a project's stages.
The Part Neither App Solves: Getting Information Into Your Tasks
Both apps are good at holding a task once you've typed it, but neither helps with the step before that: pulling a phone number out of an email, a tracking number out of a text, or an address out of a group chat and getting it into the right task. The iPhone clipboard holds one item at a time, so if you copy an address for a task and then copy something else before you paste it, the address is gone. ClipboardAI keeps a running history of everything you copy, so you can gather three or four pieces of information from different apps and then paste each one into the right Reminders or Todoist task afterward, in order, without losing anything in between. ClipboardAI is free to start, with a 7-day free trial of unlimited history if you want to see how it fits your workflow.
Honest Caveats
This is a feature and pricing comparison based on what each app publishes about itself, not a hands-on speed benchmark. If sync reliability matters more to you than feature checklists, read current App Store reviews for both apps before switching, since sync behavior is the thing most likely to change between OS updates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Todoist and Apple Reminders sync with each other?
Not natively. Some automation tools (like Shortcuts or third-party integrations) can move tasks between the two, but there's no built-in two-way sync.
Does Apple Reminders support recurring tasks?
Yes, with basic patterns (daily, weekly, monthly, custom intervals). It does not support Todoist's more flexible recurring language like "every 2nd Tuesday" or "every workday."
Is Apple Reminders good enough for project management?
For a single person tracking a handful of ongoing projects, yes. For a team that needs assignment, comments, and status tracking, Todoist (or a dedicated project tool) will hold up better.
