Comparison
Todoist vs SingleFocus
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An honest comparison for people who take GTD seriously. Where Todoist excels, where it falls short, and whether SingleFocus is a better fit for your workflow.
What Todoist does well
Let's start with what Todoist gets right, because it gets a lot right. With 30+ million users, it's the most popular task manager in the world for good reason.
If you use a basic to-do list and don't follow GTD, Todoist is probably all you need. This page is for the people it's not enough for.
“The pain of running 2 separate GTD universes was greater than not having a desktop client. Todoist was fine, but without defer dates the clutter built up way too fast.” — psidnell, Omni Group Forums
Where Todoist falls short for GTD
Todoist was designed as a general-purpose task manager, not a GTD tool. That distinction matters if your workflow depends on David Allen's methodology. Three structural gaps make it difficult to run a real GTD system. (For a full breakdown of what GTD actually requires, see Best GTD App in 2026.)
No start dates or defer dates
This is the most-requested feature on r/todoist — and after years of requests, it still doesn't exist. Todoist's January 2025 “Deadlines” feature added a second date, but it doesn't hide tasks from your view until they're actionable.
The consequence: every task with a due date that passes becomes “overdue,” creating an anxiety-inducing red list. You can't distinguish between genuinely late items and things you planned to start later. As one user switching from Things 3 put it: “My biggest pain point with Todoist is the lack of start dates.” Another r/todoist user described the result: “The number of overdue tasks slowly ticks up to panic-inducing levels.” (For more on why this matters, see The Case for Defer Dates.)
No sequential or parallel projects
In GTD, a sequential project shows only the next available action — not every task in the project at once. Todoist has no concept of project types. All tasks in a project are visible simultaneously, which means you're constantly scanning past tasks you can't act on yet.
No built-in review workflow
The weekly review is GTD's essential maintenance ritual. Todoist offers a template you can import, but there's no guided review mode that walks through each project. You have to build and maintain the review process yourself.
The pricing question
In December 2025, Todoist raised Pro pricing from $48/year to $60/year — a 25% increase. Monthly pricing jumped 40% from $5 to $7. Legacy subscribers keeping their $36/year rate lose access to all features released after December 10, 2025.
An Android Authority poll found 70% of respondents said they would switch apps because of the hike. For many users, this was the first time they considered alternatives.
SingleFocus is free during early access. When paid plans launch, early access users lock in $36/year for life — 40% less than Todoist Pro, with the GTD features Todoist doesn't offer.
| Pricing | Todoist Pro | SingleFocus |
|---|---|---|
| Now | $60/year | Free |
| At launch (early users) | $60/year | $36/year for life |
| At launch (new users) | $60/year | $72/year |
Full feature comparison
| Feature | Todoist | SingleFocus |
|---|---|---|
| Defer/start dates (hide tasks) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Sequential & parallel projects | ✗ | ✓ |
| Built-in weekly review | ✗ | ✓ |
| Custom perspectives / saved views | Filters (150) | ✓ |
| Natural language input | ✓ Best in class | ✓ |
| Waiting For status | Label workaround | ✓ Native |
| Someday / Maybe | Project workaround | ✓ Native |
| ML-powered focus suggestions | ✗ | ✓ |
| Energy lens (filter by energy) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Productivity insights & heatmap | Basic stats | ✓ |
| Calendar integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cross-platform (Web, Win, Mac, mobile) | ✓ | ✓ |
| REST API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Browser extension | ✓ | ✓ |
| Team collaboration | ✓ Strong | Shared lists only |
| Third-party integrations | 90+ | API + Zapier/Make/n8n |
Who should use which
Stay with Todoist if you…
- •Need deep team collaboration
- •Rely heavily on third-party integrations (Slack, Notion, etc.)
- •Use a simple task list without GTD methodology
- •Need native desktop apps (SingleFocus is a PWA)
Switch to SingleFocus if you…
- •Need defer/start dates that actually hide tasks
- •Want sequential projects so only the next action shows
- •Need a built-in weekly review workflow
- •Want ML-powered insights that learn your patterns
- •Are frustrated by Todoist's overdue task avalanche
- •Want OmniFocus-level GTD on any device
Related guides
Best Todoist alternatives in 2026
After the price hike, what are the real alternatives? Honest comparison of every option.
Todoist start dates: workaround vs. real thing
What Todoist’s Deadlines feature actually does, why it falls short, and what real defer dates look like.
Best GTD app in 2026
Which apps actually support GTD? Honest comparison of every option with the features that matter.
Stop building workarounds for features your app should have
SingleFocus is free during early access. If you've been waiting for Todoist to add start dates, sequential projects, or a review mode — stop waiting.
Also see: OmniFocus Alternative · Best GTD App 2026 · Defer Dates Explained
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