Carnet

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A Todoist alternative where a task gets a day, not a due date

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Todoist is a very good to-do list, and its free plan is enough for a lot of people. If you're looking for a Todoist alternative because the list keeps growing and the overdue section grows with it, Carnet works differently: it's a weekly planner where a task gets a day, not a due date. Carnet costs $10 a month. Todoist is free on the Beginner plan, and Pro is $7 a month or $60 a year.

We make Carnet, so read this page with that in mind. Todoist is the cheaper of the two, and for many readers it's the right choice. Every Todoist fact below comes from Todoist's own site, checked on October 9, 2026.

Todoist vs Carnet at a glance

TodoistCarnet
What it isA to-do list for work and life, organized in projectsA weekly planner on a two-page spread, born from a paper bullet journal
TasksA due date, an optional time, a priority level, labelsA day, not a time
When the date passesThe task goes to an Overdue section, in redNo red badges. You move the task to another day
Things with no date yetStay in their project. They don't appear in Today or UpcomingA "This week" box that waits in sight
NotesTask descriptions and commentsA Notes box, pages inside every day, a daily brain dump page
MotivationKarma: points, levels, goals and streaks. Can be turned offNo streaks, no score
RemindersYesNone. No notifications
PlatformsWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Apple Watch, Wear OSWeb, on any screen. No native app
PriceFree (Beginner). Pro: $7 a month, or $60 a year$10 a month during the beta
Free planYes, with 5 personal projectsNo
Try before payingThe free plan, and a 7-day Pro trial7-day free trial, card required. A demo on the homepage, no account needed

The short verdict

Choose Todoist if:

  • you want a free or low-cost list that runs on every device you own;
  • you need reminders, or recurring due dates;
  • you share projects with a partner or a team;
  • you like sorting tasks with priorities, labels and filters.

Choose Carnet if:

  • your list is long and you open it less and less;
  • you think in days of the week, not in due dates;
  • you want appointments, tasks and notes on the same two pages;
  • points and streaks do nothing for you, or work against you;
  • you've come back from a week off to a wall of red overdue tasks, and closed the app.

A quick test: open Todoist and look at your overdue tasks. If most of them never had a real deadline, the due date was the wrong tool for them.

Todoist review: what it does well

Capturing a task is fast. Quick Add reads what you type, so "Buy milk tomorrow 9am" becomes a task with a date and a time. It handles recurring dates as detailed as "every 3rd Tuesday".

The structure goes as deep as you need: projects, sections, sub-tasks, labels, priority levels, filters. You can share a project and assign tasks in it.

It's everywhere: desktop, phone, watch and web, plus browser extensions and email add-ons.

And the free plan is real: 5 personal projects, task reminders, list and board layouts, and 3 filter views. If you want a list that follows you everywhere and costs little or nothing, stay with Todoist.

Why people look for a Todoist alternative

These reasons come from how Todoist works, as its own help center describes it.

A task without a date drops out of view. Todoist's help says it plainly: only tasks with a date appear in Today and Upcoming. So you give a task a date to keep it visible, even when it has no deadline. The date was a guess, and the guess becomes a commitment.

Then the date passes. The task moves to an Overdue section and turns red. With Karma on, you lose points for tasks five or more days overdue. Some people find that motivating. Others end up with a red pile of old guesses.

A list is not a week. The Upcoming view shows your coming days as a list, and the calendar layout is on the Pro plan. Either way the unit is the task and its due date. Thoughts that aren't tasks go into descriptions and comments.

The price went up. On December 10, 2025, Todoist Pro went from $48 to $60 a year, and from $5 to $7 on monthly billing. Carnet is not the cheaper option. If price is your reason, go to the other alternatives below.

How Carnet is different

A task gets a day, not a due date

In Carnet, your week sits on a spread of seven boxes, like a paper planner lying open. "Call the plumber" goes in Tuesday's box. Tuesday is when you intend to do it, not a deadline you can miss.

If Tuesday goes by, you move the task to Thursday. No red badge appears. If a whole week goes by, the task stays where you left it, a plain dot. When you look back at that week, you choose whether to carry it over to this week or strike it out. The bullet journal calls that migration, and Carnet keeps the mark.

A place for what has no day yet

"Renew the passport" matters, but you don't know when you'll do it. It goes in a box called "This week" and stays on the spread, in sight, without a date. You slide it onto a day when you're ready.

The week holds more than tasks

Appointments have a time, and Carnet reads your Google Calendar so they show up on the right day, next to your tasks.

For what isn't a task, there is a Notes box on the spread, pages inside every day with headings, lists and checkboxes, and a brain dump page each day to empty your head first and sort later. A search across all your pages finds any of them from one word.

Nothing to keep up

No points, no streaks, no daily goal, no AI. What's done turns gray. Three highlighters mark what matters, and the rest is ink. You can leave it alone for a week and come back to a clean page for the new week, not a backlog.

What Carnet doesn't do

This is the part to read before you switch.

  • No reminders. Carnet sends no notifications. If you rely on your phone buzzing, keep Todoist.
  • No native app. Carnet runs in the browser on a computer, tablet or phone, and syncs across your screens. There is no watch app.
  • No free plan, but a 7-day free trial. A card is required, and 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.

Todoist pricing in detail

Todoist has three plans.

PlanBilled monthlyBilled yearlyPer year
BeginnerFreeFree$0
Pro$7 a month$60 a year ($5 a month)$84 or $60
Business$10 per user a month$8 per user a month$120 or $96 per user
  • Beginner: 5 personal projects, task reminders, list and board layouts, 3 filter views.
  • Pro: 300 personal projects, calendar layout, deadlines, custom reminders, 150 filter views, Task Assist. 7-day free trial.
  • Business: a shared team workspace, roles and permissions. 14-day free trial.

Carnet has one price: $10 a month during the beta, twice what Todoist Pro costs on yearly billing. You can cancel anytime, and your access runs to the end of the month you paid for.

Todoist vs Things 3, Microsoft To Do and Any.do

People leaving Todoist often compare it with three other lists first. Here is how they differ, from each app's own site.

Todoist vs Things 3

Things 3 runs only on Apple devices: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. It doesn't work on Windows, Android or in a web browser, and it has no shared lists. You pay once per platform, with no subscription. On the US App Store, that's $49.99 for Mac, $9.99 for iPhone and $19.99 for iPad. Todoist runs on nearly every system, has a free plan and lets you share projects.

Pick Things 3 if you're all-Apple and would rather pay once. Pick Todoist if you switch between systems or share projects.

Todoist vs Microsoft To Do

Microsoft To Do is free with a personal Microsoft account and runs on the web, iOS, Android and Windows. Its My Day list resets every night, and unfinished tasks come back as suggestions the next day. Its strength is Outlook: your tasks show up there, and flagged emails can become tasks. Todoist has more ways to sort a list, with projects, labels and filters, and Pro costs $7 a month or $60 a year.

Pick Microsoft To Do if you live in Outlook and want something free. Pick Todoist if you want more structure in your list.

Any.do vs Todoist

Any.do's free Personal plan includes tasks and lists, reminders, a calendar and a daily planner. Premium costs $7.99 a month, or $4.99 a month billed yearly, and adds recurring tasks, WhatsApp reminders, AI features and location reminders. A Family plan covers four people for $9.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed yearly.

Pick Any.do if you want tasks and a calendar in one app, or a plan for your household. Pick Todoist if your list is mostly projects and filters.

None of the three changes the basic shape: a list of tasks with dates. If that shape is what isn't working, Carnet is the different option on this page.

Other Todoist alternatives

Carnet only fits one kind of reader leaving Todoist. If you want apps like Todoist, with the list first, look at these.

  • You want a list with a built-in calendar for less: TickTick has a free plan, and its Premium plan, which adds calendar views, is $49.99 a year.
  • You're on Apple devices and don't want a subscription: Things runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro, and each app is a one-time purchase.
  • You live in Outlook: Microsoft To Do is free and syncs tasks with Outlook.
  • You want to build your own system: Notion is free for one person. We cover it in our Notion alternative page.

If the bullet journal side of Carnet is what appeals to you, see our list of bullet journal apps.

FAQ

What is the best Todoist alternative?

It depends on why you're leaving. For a similar list at a lower price, look at TickTick, or Microsoft To Do if you want free. If due dates and the overdue pile are the problem, Carnet works differently: tasks get a day of the week, and what has no day waits in a "This week" box.

Is Todoist free?

Yes. The Beginner plan is free and includes 5 personal projects, task reminders, list and board layouts and 3 filter views. The calendar layout, deadlines and custom reminders are on the Pro plan.

How much does Todoist Pro cost?

Todoist Pro costs $7 a month on monthly billing, which is $84 a year, or $60 billed yearly, which works out to $5 a month. The price went up on December 10, 2025.

Is Todoist Pro worth it?

It is if you need more than 5 projects, the calendar layout or custom reminders. If the free plan covers your lists, Pro won't change how you plan. And if the trouble is a list that keeps growing, a bigger plan only gives it more room.

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, it's scratch paper.

Try Carnet's weekly spread

Sources

Checked on October 9, 2026.