Which Is Better for Tracking Your Daily Tasks?

If you want to track your daily tasks better, using an app designed specifically for this is a good idea. You’ll find plenty of options to choose from; Microsoft To Do and Todoist are two of the most popular choices.

Both tools are handy options for tracking your daily tasks, but different users will have preferences on which they’ll use. In this article, we’ll compare both of them—and give you a better idea of which one you should choose for your productivity-related needs.

What Is Microsoft To Do?

Microsoft To Do is a tool developed by Microsoft to help users manage their day-to-day activities better. It’s relatively new, initially released in the spring of 2017.

Beyond keeping an eye on what you need to do each day, Microsoft To Do has numerous other capabilities. You can plan for weeks and months in the future, with various tools to help you do that. Microsoft To Do is available in many languages, including English, German, Swedish, and Korean.

What Is Todoist?

Todoist is a little older than Microsoft To Do, having initially launched in late 2012. The app works similarly to its Microsoft-created counterpart; you can gain a simple overview of the tasks you must complete each day when signing into the app.

When using Todoist, you can similarly plan longer into the future—as we’ll talk more about later. You can use the service in several languages, such as Spanish, Finnish, Japanese, and Portuguese.

Microsoft To Do vs. Todoist: How Do They Compare?

With the basics of Microsoft To Do and Todoist covered, let’s look at how the two tools compare. In the subsections below, we’ll break down Todoist and Microsoft To Do in more detail.

1. Pricing

Todoist and Microsoft To Do differ quite a lot in pricing. You can use the app entirely for free if you choose Microsoft To Do for your daily task management. At the time of writing in January 2023, the service has no paid subscription plans; to use it, you simply need to create an account.

Todoist’s most basic plan is free, and many users will find this good enough for their needs. With the free version of Todoist, you can create up to 300 active tasks per project and have up to five active projects simultaneously.

The free version of Todoist also lets you add as many as five collaborators for each project. You can’t set up reminders with the free version of Todoist, but you can with its paid subscriptions. Todoist’s paid plans are pretty affordable. Pro costs $48 per year or $5 per month if you’d rather pay monthly. Meanwhile, Business is $72 per year and $8 per month.

2. Signing Up for an Account

Before you use Todoist and Microsoft To Do, you’ll need to create an account with these services. However, the way you do this will differ depending on which one you choose.

If you use Microsoft To Do, you’ll need a Microsoft account. Creating one is pretty simple; you can do so when you visit To Do’s sign-up page. If you already use Outlook, you can use this email address to sign in.

Todoist gives you a broader range of options to sign up for an account. You can log in with Google or Apple; if you use Facebook, you can also sign into Todoist with your profile.

3. Setting Up Recurring Tasks

Some of our daily tasks will be one-offs, but others—such as reading emails and going to the gym—are more frequent. If you want to set up recurring to-dos, Todoist and Microsoft To Do let you do this.

When creating recurring tasks with Todoist, the best way to do this is by typing the frequency into the title. For example, you can write “every Monday” to set up recurring tasks for that day. And if you have a particular date in mind, you can type that instead.

To set up recurring tasks with Microsoft To Do, select your task and hit the Repeat option. You’ll see a range of pre-selected options, and you can choose Customized if you want to pick something else.

4. Planning Each Day

In addition to setting up recurring tasks, it’s easy to plan each day in Microsoft To Do or Todoist. In both apps, you can type what you want to complete and make them a new addition to your checklist. When doing this, you don’t have to add a deadline if you don’t need to do that—though we will cover adding these in the next subsection.

Once you’ve completed a task on Microsoft To Do or Todoist, you can tick the item off your list by tapping on the circle. The process is identical on both platforms.

5. Planning for the Longer Term

In addition to creating daily lists, Microsoft To Do and Todoist are excellent choices if you want to plan for the longer term.

With Todoist, you can type the name of the day or date that you want to add the task for. Once you’ve done that, select the Save button, and your changes will immediately appear.

When using Microsoft To Do, you can create deadlines by going to a task and going to the Due tab. You can decide whether you want it to be due today, tomorrow, or next week. Alternatively, click on the Pick a Date button and choose when to complete the task.

6. Compatibility Across Different Devices

Despite Microsoft To Do being designed exclusively for Microsoft users, you’re not limited to Windows devices when using the service. You can access Microsoft To Do on iOS and Android devices, and the service also has apps for computers running on Windows and macOS. Besides downloading apps, you can access Microsoft To Do from your web browser.

Download: Microsoft To Do for Windows | Mac | iOS | Android (Free)

Similarly, Todoist is available across multiple devices. You can use the service on your web browser, and it also has dedicated apps for iOS and Android. If you use a Mac, you’ll find an app ready for download on the App Store. Todoist is also available for Windows and Linux. Moreover, you can use it if you own an Apple Watch.

Download: Todoist for iOS | Android | Windows | Mac | Linux (Free, in-app purchases available)

Microsoft and Todoist: Two Handy Tools for Tracking Daily Tasks

Whether you choose Todoist or Microsoft To Do, you’ll find it much easier to track your daily tasks when you sign up for these apps. On top of that, planning further in advance will become much simpler—and setting up recurring tasks isn’t too difficult either.

If you use Microsoft To Do, you’ll get free access to all services. And while Todoist has paid plans, these are pretty affordable. Moreover, many users will find that the free version of Todoist has many of the features they need anyway.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7rq3KnqysnZ%2Bbe6S7zGikopuipMCwstNmq6hllKR6t7%2BMraadp5mowXA%3D