Carnet

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TickTick pricing, review and an alternative with fewer features

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TickTick pricing has two tiers: a free plan, and Premium at US$49.99 a year. That is a low price for a to-do list, a calendar, a Pomodoro timer and a habit tracker in one app. Carnet costs more, $10 a month, and does far less. That is the whole argument for it: a week on two pages, and room to write.

We make Carnet, a digital bullet journal, so read this page with that in mind. Every TickTick fact below comes from TickTick's own site or its App Store listing, checked on November 10, 2026. The sources are listed at the bottom.

TickTick vs Carnet at a glance

TickTickCarnet
What it isA to-do list and calendar with many tools built inA digital bullet journal: your week on a two-page spread
TasksIn lists, with reminders, priorities, tags and subtasksGiven a day, not a time. No notifications
Things with no date yetStay in their listA "This week" box on the same spread as your days
NotesNotes in lists, sticky notesA Notes box, pages inside every day, a daily brain dump page
CalendarsIts own calendar views, plus calendar subscriptionsReads Google Calendar, read-only
ExtrasPomodoro timer, habit tracker, countdowns, Eisenhower matrix, kanban, timeline, statistics, AI voice captureSearch across every page, three highlighters
SharingShared lists with assigned tasksNone. It is for one person
PlatformsWeb, iOS, iPadOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, Apple Watch, browser extensionWeb, on any screen. No native app
PriceFree, or Premium at US$49.99 a year$10 a month during the beta
Free planYesNone
Try before payingUse the free plan7-day free trial, card required. A demo on the homepage, no account needed

The short verdict

Choose TickTick if:

  • price matters most, or you want to pay nothing;
  • you need reminders that reach you on your phone;
  • you want native apps on every device, including a watch;
  • you share lists with a partner or a small team;
  • you like having a timer, a habit tracker and statistics in the same place.

Choose Carnet if:

  • you want to see the whole week at once, on one spread;
  • you'd give a task a day and leave it at that;
  • you write a lot that isn't a task, and want it next to your week;
  • more features have never made you more organized;
  • you've set up a system before, then dropped it after a busy week and never went back.

If cost is your main criterion, stop here. TickTick wins, and its free plan is a real product.

TickTick review: what it does well

TickTick gives a lot for little money.

The free plan covers 9 lists with 99 tasks each, list and kanban views, reminders, and sync across devices. Type a task with its date and time, and TickTick recognizes them as you write. For a plain to-do list, that can be enough.

Premium, at US$49.99 a year, raises the ceilings to 299 lists and 999 tasks per list, and adds the full calendar views, task durations and email reminders.

Then there is everything around the list. A Pomodoro timer. A habit tracker with statistics. Countdowns for birthdays and deadlines. An Eisenhower matrix, a timeline, a kanban board. Voice capture that turns what you say into tasks with dates.

Why people look for a TickTick alternative

It won't be the price. Three other reasons follow from how TickTick is built.

The free plan's calendar is basic. The comparison table marks the calendar view as "Basic" on Free, and lists multiple calendar views and task duration under Premium. The free plan also gives you 2 reminders per task, 1 attachment a day and 5 habits. If you plan by looking at your week, expect to pay.

There is a lot to keep up. A list, a calendar, a timer, habits, countdowns, a matrix, statistics. Together they are several places to check and maintain, and every one you ignore sits there in the menu.

It is built on reminders and counts. One option keeps a notification ringing until you complete the task. Statistics track your tasks, focus time and habit logs. Some people find that motivating. Others would like their planner to say less.

How Carnet is different

One spread instead of many views

Carnet shows the week as seven boxes on two pages, like a paper planner lying open. There is also a day view and a month view, and that is the full list. There is no timer and no AI, by design.

A task gets a day, and no alarm

Appointments keep their time, and they can come in from Google Calendar. Tasks only have a day.

"Pay the electricity bill" goes in Tuesday's box. If Tuesday passes, you move the line to Wednesday. Nothing rings in the meantime, and nothing turns red. If you skip a whole week, the line waits where you left it. When you look back at that week, you choose what carries over to this one, and strike the rest. The bullet journal calls that migration, and Carnet kept the mark.

For what has no day yet, there is a box called "This week". "Find a plumber" waits there, in sight, until you pick a day.

Room to write

In Carnet, writing has its own space:

  • a brain dump page every day, to empty your head before sorting anything;
  • pages inside every day, with headings, lists and checkboxes, for a meeting or an idea that's growing;
  • a Notes box on the spread, with no status and no due date.

You don't file any of it. You search for a word and the page comes up.

Nothing counts you, either. There are no streaks, no scores and no dashboard, so there is nothing to break by being away. What's done turns gray. Three highlighters mark what matters, and the rest is ink.

What Carnet doesn't do

Read this before you switch.

  • No notifications. Carnet sends none at all.
  • No native apps. No iOS, Android or desktop app. Carnet runs in the browser on a computer, tablet or phone, and syncs between them.
  • 7-day free trial, card required. Nothing is charged before the trial ends. You can also try the spread on the homepage without an account, but nothing you write there is saved.

TickTick pricing in detail

TickTick's pricing page shows two plans.

FreePremium
PriceUS$0US$49.99 a year
Lists9299
Tasks and notes per list99999
Reminders per task25
Attachments1 a day199 a day
Members229
Habits5299
Countdowns5299

What to know before you pay:

  • Yearly: US$49.99, which TickTick presents as less than US$4.17 a month.
  • Monthly: the pricing page displayed only the annual plan on the date we checked. The App Store listing shows a monthly Premium subscription at $4.99, which adds up to $59.88 over twelve months, $9.89 more than paying yearly.
  • Free trial: the pricing page doesn't mention a trial of Premium. The free plan is the way to try TickTick.
  • Education: eligible students, faculty and staff get 25% off one year, US$37.99.
  • Refunds: within 14 days if you bought through Google Play, PayPal or Stripe. App Store purchases go through Apple.
  • If you stop paying: TickTick says your data is kept and you continue as a free user, without the Premium features.

Carnet has one price, $10 a month during the beta, taxes included. You can cancel anytime, and your access runs to the end of the paid month.

Other TickTick alternatives

TickTick vs Things 3

Things 3 is the calm option for Apple users. It runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro, and each app is a one-time purchase: on the US App Store, $49.99 for Mac, $9.99 for iPhone and $19.99 for iPad. It doesn't run on Windows, Android or in a browser, and it has no shared lists. TickTick runs on all of those, has a free plan, and adds calendar views, habits and a Pomodoro timer.

Pick Things 3 if you only use Apple devices, want fewer features and would rather pay once. Pick TickTick if you want everything in one app, on every system.

FAQ

How much does TickTick cost?

TickTick has a free plan at US$0 and a Premium plan at US$49.99 a year. Its pricing page showed only the annual plan when we checked. The App Store listing also shows a monthly Premium subscription at $4.99.

Is TickTick free?

Yes, there is a free plan with 9 lists, 99 tasks per list, list and kanban views, reminders and sync. The full calendar views, task durations and higher limits are part of Premium.

Is TickTick Premium worth it?

At US$49.99 a year, it is if you plan from the calendar views or keep running into the free limits on lists, reminders or habits. If the free plan covers what you do, there is no reason to upgrade.

What is the best TickTick alternative?

It depends on what you're missing. For a similar task list, look at Todoist. For time-blocking, Sunsama or Akiflow. If TickTick feels like too many features and you want a quiet weekly page with space for notes, look at Carnet, knowing it costs more: $10 a month.

Try the spread before you decide

You don't need an account to see whether a week on two pages suits you. Open the homepage, click a line and write. Nothing is saved, so treat it as scratch paper.

Try Carnet's weekly spread

Sources

Checked on November 10, 2026.