Short version: all three are good apps with different centers of gravity. Todoist wins on integrations and ubiquity, TickTick wins on built-in extras like calendar and Pomodoro, and Organized3 wins if you want the GTD method itself, Someday list and Logbook included, free and without a subscription. Which one fits depends on how literally you practice GTD.
A disclosure before anything else: we make Organized3, a GTD app for Windows, Android, and iOS. That is exactly why this comparison bends over backwards to be fair. Todoist and TickTick are mature, well-built products, and pretending otherwise would tell you nothing useful. All prices and plan limits below were checked in August 2026.
What Todoist does best
Todoist is the safest recommendation in task management, and it earns that reputation:
- It runs everywhere. Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, browser extensions, and a full web app. Whatever device you are handed, Todoist is on it.
- The integration ecosystem is unmatched. Gmail, Outlook, Slack, calendar sync, and hundreds of automation hooks. If your tasks are born inside other tools, Todoist meets them there.
- Natural language input is genuinely fast. Type "review report every Friday at 3pm" and it is scheduled.
The friction for GTD users is structural. Todoist is a flexible list engine, not a GTD app: there is no built-in Someday/Maybe list, so the standard community advice is to build one from a project or label plus filters. That works, but you are maintaining the method by hand. The free plan also caps you at 5 active personal projects and 3 filter views, and a serious GTD setup tends to blow past both, which in practice makes GTD-in-Todoist a Pro-plan sport at $5 per month billed annually.
What TickTick does best
TickTick's pitch is breadth: it bundles what would be three or four separate apps.
- A real calendar view, so tasks and appointments share one screen.
- A built-in Pomodoro timer and habit tracker, which Todoist and Organized3 both lack.
- Cross-platform coverage comparable to Todoist, web app included, at a lower Premium price: $35.99 per year on TickTick's site (listed as a discount from a $49.99 list price) or $3.99 per month via app stores.
For GTD specifically, the story rhymes with Todoist. There is no dedicated Someday/Maybe list, so you dedicate a list and discipline yourself to review it. The free plan is tighter than it first looks for method users: 9 lists, 99 tasks per list, one reminder per task, and the calendar and filter features that make a review pleasant sit mostly in Premium. TickTick is a Swiss army knife, and GTD is one of many things it can be bent toward.
Where Organized3 is different
Organized3 starts from the opposite end. Instead of a flexible engine you configure into GTD, the five steps of the method are the app's actual structure:
- A real Someday/Maybe list, first-class, not a label convention you have to remember to maintain.
- An Inbox processing flow that keeps capture and clarify as separate steps, the core habit of the method.
- A Logbook that archives completed work, which is what makes a weekly review reflective instead of archaeological.
- Today that carries over. Unfinished tasks roll to tomorrow instead of silently vanishing.
- Free, with no subscription, on Windows, Android, and iOS, working offline.
And the honest trade-offs, because there are some: Organized3 has no web version, so Linux and Chromebook users are out of luck, and it does not try to match Todoist's integration ecosystem or TickTick's calendar-and-habits bundle. If your workflow depends on tasks flowing in from Slack and Gmail automatically, Todoist is the better tool for you, full stop.
Side by side
| For GTD users | Todoist | TickTick | Organized3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platforms | All major, plus web | All major, plus web | Windows, Android, iOS |
| Dedicated Someday/Maybe list | No, emulate with a project or label | No, emulate with a list | Yes, built in |
| Inbox with a processing flow | Inbox, filing is up to you | Inbox, filing is up to you | Yes, capture then clarify |
| Free plan limits | 5 active projects, 3 filters | 9 lists, 99 tasks per list | Free, no subscription |
| Paid tier | Pro, $5/mo billed annually | Premium, $35.99/yr (discounted list price) | None required for GTD workflow |
| Integrations | Best in class | Good | Minimal |
| Calendar view / Pomodoro / habits | Calendar via integrations | Yes, built in | No |
| Voice input | Via assistants | Via assistants | Yes, built in |
The three-year cost of doing GTD in each
Free tiers exist in all three apps, so the fair question is what a GTD-shaped setup costs over time. A serious GTD system usually blows past Todoist's 5-project free cap and leans on TickTick's Premium-side calendar and filters, so assume the paid tier for both. Over three years that is $180 for Todoist Pro, $107.97 for TickTick Premium at the current annual price, and $0 for Organized3. None of these numbers are dealbreakers on their own; $3 to $5 a month is coffee money for a tool you use daily. The point is narrower: with Todoist and TickTick you are paying to unlock room for the method, while the method is the free product in Organized3.
So which one should you pick?
Pick Todoist if your tasks originate in email, Slack, and shared projects, and you are happy to assemble GTD from projects, labels, and filters. Budget for Pro; the free plan's 5-project cap is where serious setups stall.
Pick TickTick if you want one app for tasks, calendar, habits, and focus timers, and GTD purity matters less to you than having everything in one place at a fair price.
Pick Organized3 if you read Getting Things Done and want the book's structure to already exist when you open the app: Inbox, Today, Upcoming, Someday, Projects, Logbook. It costs nothing, so trying it against the other two is a zero-risk experiment. Start with the GTD app for Windows page or grab it for Android or iOS.
FAQ
Is Todoist good for GTD?
Yes, with assembly required. Todoist is a flexible task engine with excellent integrations, but it has no built-in Someday/Maybe list, so you emulate GTD with projects, labels, and filters. Most serious GTD setups also need the Pro plan at $5 per month billed annually.
Is TickTick better than Todoist for GTD?
They are close. TickTick adds a built-in calendar, Pomodoro timer, and habit tracker at a lower premium price, while Todoist has the stronger integration ecosystem. Neither implements GTD structures like a Someday list natively, so for the method itself the difference is small.
Is Organized3 really free?
Yes. Organized3 is free to download and use on Windows, Android, and iOS with no subscription, including the full GTD workflow: Inbox, Today, Upcoming, Someday, Projects, and Logbook.
What is the biggest drawback of Organized3 compared to Todoist and TickTick?
No web version and far fewer integrations. If you work on Linux or a Chromebook, or need tasks created automatically from email and Slack, Todoist or TickTick will serve you better.
Which app is best for a strict GTD workflow?
Organized3, because the five GTD steps map to built-in features instead of conventions you maintain: capture to Inbox, clarify and organize into Projects, Today, Upcoming, and Someday, reflect with the Logbook and a weekly review, and engage from Today.