Is Apple Reminders good enough instead of Todoist?

Yes, if every device you use is Apple. Reminders is free and comes with Siri and location alerts. Todoist earns its place when you need apps on Windows or Android, or more ways to sort a long list.

Does Todoist work with Siri?

Yes, on iPhone and iPad. Say "In Todoist, add buy milk" and the task lands in Todoist with its name, project and date. Leave out "In Todoist" and Siri can file it in Apple Reminders instead. Siri for Todoist doesn't work on a Mac, an Apple Watch or in CarPlay.

Can I sync Todoist and Apple Reminders?

Not directly. A shortcut using Todoist's Create Task action can move items from a Reminders list into Todoist, minus their dates and repeats, and Apple's personal automation can run it at a set time.

Can I use Apple Reminders on Android or Windows?

Only in a browser. Apple's help points Windows users to Reminders on iCloud.com, since there's no Windows or Android app, while Todoist ships full apps for both.

Yes. The Beginner plan is free with 5 personal projects and 3 filters, and you can share each project with up to 5 people. Pro costs US$60 a year billed yearly, or US$7 a month, as of October 2026.

Which is better for a shared family list?

Apple Reminders, if everyone has an iPhone or iPad, because sharing and assigning cost nothing there. If one person in the house uses Android, switch to Todoist, which lets 5 people into a project on its free plan and runs on their phone too.

Todoist vs Apple Reminders (2026): cost, Siri and the pick

The short answer

Todoist vs Apple Reminders is a question about your devices first. If you carry an iPhone and work on a Mac, keep Apple Reminders. It costs nothing. Siri puts tasks straight into it, and location alerts come free. Got a Windows laptop or an Android phone in your week? Pick Todoist. There's an app for each, and it reads dates as you type.

The second question is how long your list gets. Reminders handles a few lists of a dozen things each with almost no setup. Todoist asks for some setup on day one and pays it back once you're sorting 50 open tasks by label and priority.

Find your row:

If you	Pick	Why
Use only Apple devices	Apple Reminders	Free, built in, syncs over iCloud
Add most tasks by voice	Apple Reminders	Siri files there by default
Want alerts by place, free	Apple Reminders	Location costs extra in Todoist
Work on Windows or Android	Todoist	Apps for every platform
Type "every last workday"	Todoist	It reads repeats as you write
Sort a long list by label	Todoist	Labels, P1 to P4, saved filters

How we compared them

Every fact below comes from Apple's and Todoist's own help pages and App Store listings, read on 30 October 2026. We built this from their documentation, not from months of daily use, so you won't find star ratings or test scores here. Todoist prices are in US dollars before tax, as of October 2026.

We asked each app the same six questions:

Which devices does it run on, and what does that cost?
How fast does a task go in, by voice and by typing?
Does the alert arrive at the right moment, and will the task come back next week?
Once the list passes 50 items, what tools sort it?
Can the people you live with share a list?
Can you leave with your tasks if you change your mind?

Apple Reminders: best for a free list on Apple devices

Apple Reminders is the to-do app Apple ships for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, and the App Store lists it as free. Turn on Reminders in your iCloud settings and the same lists appear on every Apple device signed in to your Apple Account.

A reminder carries more than a title. Apple's Reminders help covers due dates and times, a location alert for arriving or leaving, tags, a flag, a photo or a scanned document, and subtasks for a job with several steps. Dated reminders show in Calendar too, since iOS 18. Deleted one by mistake? Recently Deleted holds it for 30 days.

Off Apple hardware, your options shrink. On a Windows PC you open Reminders on iCloud.com in a browser, and Apple says iCloud reminders don't appear in Outlook through iCloud for Windows. That browser version lets you add and share reminders. There's no Windows or Android app.

Pick it if you talk to Siri more than you type and the people who share your lists carry iPhones too. Skip it if you spend your working day on Windows or Android and want a proper app there, or you need to cut a long list by more than tag and flag.

Todoist: best for a list that follows you onto any device

Todoist runs on Linux, Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple Watch and Wear OS, plus browser extensions, so the same list opens on a work PC and a personal phone. Tasks sit in projects, which you split into sections.

Its quick add box is the reason people stay. Todoist's Quick Add help reads "tomorrow at 4 PM" or "every other Tuesday starting March 3" as you type. A # picks the project and p1 sets the priority. Labels take a %, as in %email. The older @ still works until Todoist retires it at the end of 2026.

On the free plan, called Beginner, you get 5 personal projects and 3 filter views. Reminders, labels and subtasks are all in it. Pro runs US$60 for a year paid up front, or US$7 a month if you'd rather not commit. That buys 300 projects and 150 filters, plus a calendar layout and deadlines.

Pick it if your devices are a mix and you think in typed sentences, not taps. Skip it if you rely on Siri all day, because Siri goes to Apple Reminders unless you name Todoist, or if a sixth project is coming and paying is off the table.

Side by side

	Apple Reminders	Todoist
Cost	Free	Free plan, or US$60 a year
Free plan cap	No cap listed	5 projects, 3 filters
Apps	iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch	Every major platform
Windows or Android	Browser at iCloud.com	Full apps
Siri	Default for reminders	Say "in Todoist"
Typed dates	With Apple Intelligence	On every plan
Location alerts	Free	Pro, on phones
Urgent alarm	iOS 26.2 and later	iOS 26 and Android
Sorting	Lists, tags, smart lists	Projects, labels, filters
Sharing	Shared lists, assign	5 people per project

Reminders wins on price and voice. Todoist wins on where it runs and how far you can sort.

Voice or keyboard: how tasks go in

On an iPhone, Siri is the fastest way in, and Reminders is where Siri sends things. Apple's examples include "Remind me to feed the dog every day at 7:30 a.m." and "Remind me when I get home to check the mail", on your phone or your Apple Watch. iOS 26 also lets you start a reminder from Control Center or the Action button.

Todoist works with Siri, with conditions. Todoist's Siri help says classic Siri sets a task name, a project and a one-off date, and if Siri puts your task in Apple Reminders instead, you start the request with "In Todoist". Todoist gets no Siri on a Mac or an Apple Watch, or in CarPlay. A newer Siri, in beta, takes repeats, labels and a location trigger in one sentence, but it needs iOS 27 and an iPhone 15 Pro or later.

Typing flips the result. In Todoist, one typed line sets the date and the repeat, on the free plan too. Reminders reads a typed description such as "Feed the cat every evening at 5pm" only with Apple Intelligence, which on iOS 27 means an iPhone 15 Pro or newer. On an older phone you tap the date and the repeat in by hand.

Both take tasks from other apps. In Reminders you tap Share, then Reminders, and the reminder links back to the page you were reading. Todoist's iPhone app adds a Create Task action to Apple's Shortcuts app, so "Add to shopping" can drop an item in your Shopping project dated Saturday.

Dates, repeats and alarms

Take bin night every Tuesday and a gas bill you can't miss.

In Reminders you set a date and time, tap Repeat and choose the frequency. Apple's details page adds an Early Reminder, such as 5 minutes or 2 days before, and a location alert when you arrive home or get into a car with a Bluetooth connection to your iPhone. A reminder with a date and no time notifies you at 9:00 AM, and you can change that hour in Settings.

In Todoist you type the repeat. Todoist's recurring dates help takes "every last workday at 3pm" and "every 12 hours starting at 9pm", and splits two kinds. Plain "every" keeps the schedule: a task set for every 6 weeks from 2 March comes back on 13 April, even if you finish it late. With "every!" the clock restarts when you tick it off, which suits a water filter you changed late. Any task with a date and a time gets an automatic reminder, on your phone or by email.

Location is where the free plans split. Reminders gives you arriving and leaving alerts at no cost. Todoist's location reminders need Pro or Business and run on iPhone and Android only.

Both now ring through silent mode for the things you can't miss. In Reminders you turn on Urgent, from iOS 26.2. The alarm sounds even with a Focus on, but only on the device Find My uses as your location. Todoist's urgent reminders give a full-screen alarm on iOS 26 and Android. Beginner can make one reminder per task urgent, and Pro allows several.

If alerts are all you want from a to-do app, start with our best reminder app picks instead.

Prefer typing tasks in plain words? Type "renew the passport tomorrow 3pm" or "every 2 weeks" into ActivityTracker and the task gets its date, time and repeat. Give a task a time and it reminds you then, by default.

See how tasks work

Sorting a long list

A list of 15 things needs no system. A list of 60 does.

Reminders sorts with lists and tags. Apple's organizing guide says a tag is one word, added in the toolbar or by typing #, and tapping two tags in the tag browser shows only reminders carrying both. Built-in smart lists such as Today and Flagged collect reminders across every list, and you can make your own from rules. A reminder also takes a priority of Low, Medium or High. Save any list as a template and reuse it, which is handy for a packing list.

Todoist sorts with projects and labels, plus four priority levels and filters. A filter saves a search, such as everything labelled errands that's due this week. Beginner gives you 3 filters and Pro gives you 150. On Beginner you run out of projects first. Home, work, a side project, errands and a trip and you're full.

Both apps file a grocery item into an aisle for you. Reminders has a grocery list type that sorts items into sections like Produce. If the weekly shop is most of what you track, look at a dedicated grocery list app before either of these.

Reminders shares a whole list. Apple's sharing help lets anyone who accepts add and tick off items. Once a list is shared, you can assign a reminder to one person. Each person picks whether they're told when items are added or completed. Your own alert times stay yours. The people you invite need iOS 13 or later on their device, which in practice means an iPhone or iPad. A flatmate with no Apple device still has a way in, because Apple opens Reminders on iCloud.com to web-only accounts for collaboration.

Todoist shares a project. Its pricing page lets five people into each personal project whichever plan you're on, free included, with comments and assigned tasks. Everyone gets the full app on their own phone or computer, Android and Windows included.

All iPhones at home? Share in Reminders. Once an Android phone joins the house, Todoist is the one everybody can open in a proper app on their own device.

What a year costs

Plan	A year	What changes
Apple Reminders	US$0	No paid tier exists
Todoist free plan	US$0	Capped at 5 projects
Todoist Pro, paid yearly	US$60	300 projects, location alerts
Todoist Pro, paid monthly	US$84	Twelve payments of US$7
Todoist Business, paid yearly	US$96 per member	Team workspace and roles

Reminders has no paid tier, and syncing it needs only iCloud. Todoist's App Store listing shows the app as free with in-app purchases, and it needs iOS 17 or later.

Pay for Pro when you need a sixth project, a location alert or a deadline that stays put while the working date moves. Labels and repeats work on Beginner, and so do shared projects and urgent alarms.

Moving from one to the other

Neither app imports from the other, so you move a short list by hand. Clean up first: tick off or delete everything you won't do.

From Apple Reminders to Todoist:

On a Mac, select a list and choose File, then Print, or press Command-P, as Apple's print guide shows. You get every open item on paper or as a file to read from.
Put each open item on its own line in a plain note.
Copy the lines and paste them into a new task in Todoist. Its multiple-tasks help shows a prompt, "Add X tasks?", and makes one task per line.
Retype each repeat in words, like "every Thursday at 8pm", then look at the next date Todoist shows.
Make a throwaway task due in five minutes and check the alert arrives on your phone.

From Todoist to Apple Reminders, export each project as a CSV file from the web, Mac or Windows app first, so you keep a copy. Reminders has no import, and Apple's iCloud archive page offers Export only on macOS Mojave or earlier, so you retype open tasks into your new lists.

Want both? A shortcut can pull items from a Reminders inbox list into Todoist using its Create Task action, and Apple's personal automation can run it at a time of day. Todoist notes that the Create Task name field doesn't read dates, so the times and repeats stay behind. Use it as a one-way inbox, never as a sync.

Try both for one week

Seven days with your real list settles it faster than any table:

Monday: enter the same ten tasks in each app. Date five of them and set two of those to repeat.
Tuesday: while you're out, add three tasks by voice and see which app caught each one.
Wednesday: sit at the computer you use most and add two more from there.
Thursday: sort both lists. Try tags and a smart list in Reminders, then labels and a filter in Todoist.
Friday: finish one repeating task a day after it was due and check when it returns.
Sunday: whichever app you reached for without deciding to is the one you keep.

A weekly reflection template gives that Sunday check a page to write on.

Made-up example: Arjun, a second-year university student, does his coursework on a Windows laptop and carries an iPhone, like his three flatmates.

The flat shares one Reminders list called Flat, for the bills and the weekly shop. Arjun turned on the alert for completed items, so he sees when the electricity bill is paid.

Coursework is the mess. On the laptop he opens Reminders at iCloud.com in a browser, and by October he has 41 open reminders across five lists, with deadlines buried among reading he means to do.

He tries Todoist Beginner for a week. He makes three projects, Modules, Reading and Admin, pastes his 41 lines in, and types "Lab report every 2 weeks starting 6 November". One of his three filters shows everything due this week.

He keeps both, each with its own job: Flat stays in Reminders because his flatmates live there, and his own work moves to Todoist. He pays US$0. The day he wants an alert when he walks into the library, he'll weigh Pro at US$60 a year against setting that one alert in Reminders.