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. Pick Nearer if seeing your whole list is what stops you starting. Hiding the list is what 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 switching to focus better, your old backlog is usually part of the problem. Bringing all of it with you 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. If your trial ends, your lists and cards are kept and come back when you subscribe.

Does Nearer do everything Todoist does?

No. There are no projects, labels, filters or shared lists. It doesn’t connect to other apps, and it isn’t in the App Store or Google Play, though you can install it on your phone from the browser. In exchange you get one card at a time, goals broken into small steps, routines that reset on their own schedule, and flashcards.

A simpler Todoist alternative

Todoist is a good task manager. Search for a Todoist 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 has more features, and if you manage projects or work with other people, it is the right tool. Try Nearer when the length of the list is the thing stopping you.

Finalize client proposal

Add pricing table Attach sample timeline Send to Maya by 3 PM

Mark Complete

Add cardN

You see one card. The rest of the list stays out of sight until you get to it.

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 time, you sort the whole list again. 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 hides the list, so there is nothing to sort.

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

Todoist vs Nearer, dimension by dimension

Todoist vs Nearer
Dimension	Todoist	Nearer
What you see	Your full list, grouped by project and filter. Everything outstanding sits on screen, which is what you want while you plan.	One card. The rest of the list sits one tap away and stays quiet while you work.
	Everything else follows from this row. Seeing everything helps you plan. It also makes it harder to start. Nearer is built for starting.
Finishing something	Check an item off and the list redraws with everything that is still outstanding, so you choose again.	Mark the card done and the next one is already there. You don’t have to read the list again or decide what comes next.
	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	Recurring due dates with natural-language input, living in the same list as everything else.	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	Not a use case. Flashcards live in a separate app.	Flashcards are a third kind of list. Nearer shows each card again just before you would forget it, one card at a time.
	If you are revising for anything, this removes an app rather than adding one.
Structure	Projects, sub-tasks, sections, labels, filters and priorities. Lots of ways to organise big, complicated work.	Lists of cards. Any card can be broken into smaller steps, shown one layer at a time. No projects, labels or 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	Shared projects, assigning tasks to people, comments, apps for every device, and connections to lots of other apps.	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.

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 everything helps you plan. It also makes it harder to start. Nearer is built for starting.

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. You don’t have to read the list again or decide what comes next.

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 kind of list. Nearer shows each card again just before you would forget it, one card at a time.

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

Structure

Todoist: Projects, sub-tasks, sections, labels, filters and priorities. Lots of ways to organise big, complicated work.
Nearer: Lists of cards. Any card can be broken into smaller steps, shown one layer at a time. No projects, labels or 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, assigning tasks to people, comments, apps for every device, and connections to lots of other apps.
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 add tasks from email, Slack or a calendar. Nearer doesn’t connect to other apps.

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. That’s long enough to find out if it suits you before you pay anything.

Try Nearer free for 7 days

No credit card required. See pricing.

Nearer works in the web browser on any device. Install it on your phone in a few taps.

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. Pick Nearer if seeing your whole list is what stops you starting. Hiding the list is what 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 switching to focus better, your old backlog is usually part of the problem. Bringing all of it with you 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. If your trial ends, your lists and cards are kept and come back when you subscribe.
Does Nearer do everything Todoist does?: No. There are no projects, labels, filters or shared lists. It doesn’t connect to other apps, and it isn’t in the App Store or Google Play, though you can install it on your phone from the browser. In exchange you get one card at a time, goals broken into small steps, routines that reset on their own schedule, and flashcards.