What is the best Todoist alternative?

It depends why you are leaving. If you want Todoist with a different interface or price, the same category has plenty of options. Nearer is the pick when the whole visible list is what stops you starting, because hiding it is the one thing Nearer is built to do.

Can I import my Todoist tasks into Nearer?

No importer exists, so cards are added by hand. If you are moving for focus reasons the size of that backlog is usually what you are escaping, and carrying all of it across works against you.

Is Nearer free like Todoist?

No. Todoist has a free tier and Nearer has none. Every account gets a 7-day trial of the full app with no card, then $79.99 per year, or $9.99 per month. Lists and cards survive a lapsed trial and come back when you subscribe.

Does Nearer do everything Todoist does?

No. There are no projects, sub-tasks, labels, filters, collaboration, integrations or native apps. In exchange you get one card at a time, routines that reset on their own schedule, and flashcards.

A simpler Todoist alternative

Todoist is a good task manager. Search for an alternative and you are usually after something smaller rather than something better, which is a different problem from a missing feature.

The short version

Todoist puts your whole list on screen so you can plan it. Nearer puts one card on screen so you can do it. Todoist wins on capability, and if you are managing projects or working with other people it is the right tool. Try Nearer when the length of the list is the thing stopping you.

Why you would leave a task manager that works

Rarely over a missing feature. Todoist captured everything you gave it, the list grew, and now opening it costs you something. Each visit runs the same triage. What is urgent, what can wait, what stopped mattering. You spend real attention there and finish with nothing crossed off.

More structure makes that worse. Projects and filters hand you more decisions, and deciding is the part already costing you. Nearer removes the view that creates the triage rather than giving you better tools to perform it.

We go through the mechanism in why your to-do list feels overwhelming.

Todoist vs Nearer, dimension by dimension

What you see

Todoist: Your full list, grouped by project and filter. Everything outstanding sits on screen, which is what you want while you plan.
Nearer: One card. The rest of the list sits one tap away and stays quiet while you work.

Everything else follows from this row. Seeing all of it is genuinely useful for planning and genuinely costly for starting, and Nearer optimises for the second.

Finishing something

Todoist: Check an item off and the list redraws with everything that is still outstanding, so you choose again.
Nearer: Mark the card done and the next one is already there. No scan, no reprioritising, no rebuilding momentum.

The moment after finishing is when momentum either carries or dies. One app hands you a decision there and the other hands you the next task.

Repeating work

Todoist: Recurring due dates with natural-language input, living in the same list as everything else.
Nearer: Routines get their own list type and reset on their own schedule. Daily, weekly, monthly, on completion, or by hand.

Habits and one-off tasks have different lifecycles. Keep them apart and a task list can actually reach empty instead of always showing tomorrow.

Studying

Todoist: Not a use case. Flashcards live in a separate app.
Nearer: Flashcards are a third list type with spaced repetition built in, running the same one-card flow.

If you are revising for anything, this removes an app rather than adding one.

Structure

Todoist: Projects, sub-tasks, sections, labels, filters, priorities. A deep hierarchy that scales to complex work.
Nearer: Flat lists of cards. No projects, no sub-tasks, no labels, no filters.

Nearer does less here deliberately. You add structure when a list grows, and Nearer starts from the position that the growth is what hurt you.

Collaboration and platforms

Todoist: Shared projects, assignees, comments, native apps everywhere, and a large integration ecosystem.
Nearer: Single player, on the web, on phone and desktop, with your place synced between them.

Todoist wins this outright. If anyone else needs to see your list, or you capture tasks out of email, stop here.

We describe Todoist’s features and pricing in general terms because the specifics change. Check their site for current details.

Who should try Nearer

· You know what needs doing and still cannot start.
· Your list is personal, and its length is the problem rather than its structure.
· You want habits and one-off tasks kept apart so a list can reach empty.
· You also study something and would rather not run a separate flashcard app.
· You have reorganised your task system more than once this year.

Who should stay with Todoist

· You share work with other people. Nearer has no collaboration at all.
· You run multi-step projects needing sub-tasks and dependencies.
· You capture tasks from email, Slack or a calendar, since Nearer has no integrations.

Starting out

No importer exists. If a heavy backlog is what pushed you out of Todoist, hauling all of it across defeats the point. Start with what you mean to do this week and leave the rest where it is until you are sure. The trial runs 7 days without a card, which is long enough to learn whether the flow suits you before anything is at stake.

Try Nearer free for 7 days

No credit card required. See pricing.

Common questions

What is the best Todoist alternative?: It depends why you are leaving. If you want Todoist with a different interface or price, the same category has plenty of options. Nearer is the pick when the whole visible list is what stops you starting, because hiding it is the one thing Nearer is built to do.
Can I import my Todoist tasks into Nearer?: No importer exists, so cards are added by hand. If you are moving for focus reasons the size of that backlog is usually what you are escaping, and carrying all of it across works against you.
Is Nearer free like Todoist?: No. Todoist has a free tier and Nearer has none. Every account gets a 7-day trial of the full app with no card, then $79.99 per year, or $9.99 per month. Lists and cards survive a lapsed trial and come back when you subscribe.
Does Nearer do everything Todoist does?: No. There are no projects, sub-tasks, labels, filters, collaboration, integrations or native apps. In exchange you get one card at a time, routines that reset on their own schedule, and flashcards.