project management tool · head to head
ClickUp vs Todoist
Comparison Summary
ClickUp scored 7.4 and Todoist scored 5.5 on our project management tool test script.
ClickUp is a full project-management suite; Todoist is a fast task list with projects. Both have free plans, but Todoist's free team stops at 5 projects and 300 tasks per project, while ClickUp's free plan covers a Gantt chart, dependencies and automation.
In our tests Todoist was the quickest to set up a project, reading dates and priorities straight from pasted text, and its Windows app was far lighter and faster to start. ClickUp, though, imported our spreadsheet as it was, handled 500 rows, ran automations and had usable AI; Todoist rejected our CSV, has no automation or dependencies, and its AI is paid.
Choose ClickUp for team projects with timelines, imports and rules. Choose Todoist for a quick, tidy task list for yourself or a small team.
Key differences
ClickUp
Todoist - Our 8 scripted tasks
- ClickUp:6 passed, 2 partial
- Todoist:1 passed, 4 partial, 3 failed
- Building our 40-task project
- ClickUp:Typed and edited field by field
- Todoist:One paste; dates and priorities read from the text
- Views on the free plan
- ClickUp:List, board, calendar and Gantt
- Todoist:List, board and Upcoming; calendar paid; no Gantt
- Automation and dependencies
- ClickUp:Both on Free
- Todoist:Neither; repeating tasks only
- CSV import
- ClickUp:200 and 500 rows with all fields
- Todoist:Only its own template; 300 tasks per project
- AI on the free plan
- ClickUp:Chat trial: summary, subtasks, overdue
- Todoist:None; Task Assist is paid
- Memory and cold start
- ClickUp:1.7–2.2 GB; about 14 s
- Todoist:Under 1 GB; 1.6 s
- Starts with Windows
- ClickUp:Yes
- Todoist:No
- Paid plans from
- ClickUp:$9 per user a month, billed yearly
- Todoist:$5 a month (Pro), billed yearly
- Left after uninstalling
- ClickUp:About 275 MB and a broken startup entry
- Todoist:About 214 MB updater folder
Editor's Verdict
Choose ClickUp if…
Best for: Small teams that want lists, boards, Gantt charts, automations and AI in one free workspace and do not mind a busy, heavy app.
- Every view we needed is free: list, board, calendar and Gantt, with no upgrade prompt
- Automation, dependency and recurring task all worked on the free plan
- Pasting a multi-line list creates one task per line
Choose Todoist if…
Best for: Individuals and very small teams who want a fast, tidy task list with dates and repeats.
- One paste turned 40 lines into tasks with the right dates and priorities
- Natural-language dates and repeats, such as “every monday”
- Light, fast desktop app: window in 1.6 s, under 1 GB of memory
Head to Head
Task by task
The same prompts, pasted word for word into each app on a clean Windows 11 PC. On the 8 tasks both apps were graded on, ClickUp completed 6 and Todoist completed 1.
| Task | ClickUp | Todoist |
|---|---|---|
| P1 · Build a project | Pass≈ 200 actions | Pass≈ 8 min |
| P2 · Views | Pass≈ 2 min | Partial≈ 3 min |
| P3 · Rules | Pass≈ 7 min | Partial≈ 5 min |
| P4 · 200-row import | Partial≈ 12 min | Fail≈ 5 min |
| P5 · Scale | Pass< 2 min import | Fail≈ 3 min |
| P6 · Permissions | Pass≈ 5 min | Partial≈ 6 min |
| P7 · AI | Pass≈ 1–1.5 min each | Fail– |
| P8 · Leave | Partial≈ 7 min | Partial≈ 5 min |
Both ran on their free plans: ClickUp Free Forever and a Todoist free team (Beginner).
Measured on the same PC
| Measurement | ClickUp | Todoist |
|---|---|---|
| On disk | 643 MB | 636 MB |
| Admin rights | Not needed | No |
| Starts with Windows | Yes, by default | No |
| 40-task project | ≈ 200 actions | ≈ 8 min |
| Views on the free plan | 4 / 4 | 2 / 4 |
| Cold start | ≈ 14 s | 1.6 s |
| Memory | 1.7 – 2.2 GB | 0.8 – 0.9 GB |
| CSV export | 771 / 771 | 200 / 200 |
| Left after uninstall | ≈ 275 MB | ≈ 214 MB |
Pros and cons
ClickUp
+ What works
- Every view we needed is free: list, board, calendar and Gantt, with no upgrade prompt
- Automation, dependency and recurring task all worked on the free plan
- Pasting a multi-line list creates one task per line
- 500-row CSV import in under two minutes, and the 500-task board opened in under a second
- Brain² summarised our project accurately, answered “what is overdue?” correctly and asked before adding subtasks
- Full CSV export in under a minute: all 771 tasks, with comments and subtasks
- Removing someone's access took effect immediately
− What falls short
- Heavy: about 14 seconds from launch to a usable list and 1.7–2.2 GB of memory
- The CSV import matched none of our seven columns automatically and needed status values mapped by hand
- The import offers to invite everyone whose email is in the file
- Starts with Windows by default and leaves about 275 MB and a broken startup entry after uninstalling
- Free AI chat is a one-off trial that does not reset
- The export drops dependencies and recurrence settings
- Busy setup: nine onboarding screens, a phone-number request, an invite nudge and an AI pop-up for every new list
Todoist
+ What works
- One paste turned 40 lines into tasks with the right dates and priorities
- Natural-language dates and repeats, such as “every monday”
- Light, fast desktop app: window in 1.6 s, under 1 GB of memory
- Did not add itself to startup or the firewall
- Pro is cheap at $5 a month billed yearly
− What falls short
- The CSV import only accepts Todoist's own template; our spreadsheet was rejected
- Free plan: 5 projects and 300 tasks per project; a 500-row import brought in nothing
- No automation rules, no dependencies and no Gantt or timeline view
- Calendar layout, AI (Task Assist) and backups are paid
- On a free team every invitee becomes an admin; the Member role is paid
- CSV exports use relative dates by default
Privacy and security
What we saw on our own test PC. Each review also lists what the vendor states about data handling, training and certifications.
ClickUp
Starts with Windows
The installer adds ClickUp to Windows startup without asking. It adds no services or scheduled tasks and only listens on the PC itself.
Contacts are pushed, not required
Setup asks for a phone number for promotional calls and messages, and the CSV import pre-fills the file's email addresses as invitations. Both can be skipped.
Full deletion is opt-in
Deleting a workspace keeps it recoverable unless you tick a separate box to delete it and its third-party data permanently.
Left after uninstalling
A 133 MB profile folder, a 143 MB updater cache, the clickup:// link handler and a startup entry pointing at the removed program.
Todoist
Signed installer
Signed by Doist Inc. with a DigiCert certificate.
No startup entry or firewall rules
“Launch at startup” is off by default, and no firewall prompt appeared.
Admins by default
On a free team every invitee is an admin, and a team join link is on by default.
Extension permissions
Task Assist asked for access to read and update all tasks, projects, labels and filters.
Features & Pricing
| ClickUp | Todoist | |
|---|---|---|
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | ✓ | ✓ |
| iOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paid from | $9/mo | $5/mo |
ClickUp plans
- Free Forever$0
- Core$9/user/mo
- Business$17/user/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
From ClickUp's pricing page, checked Oct 29, 2026.
Todoist plans
- Beginner$0
- Pro$5/mo
- Business$8/user/mo
From Todoist's pricing page, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Who makes them
- Company
- ClickUp:ClickUp (Mango Technologies, Inc.)
- Todoist:Doist Inc. (Todoist)
- Headquarters
- ClickUp:San Diego, California, USA
- Todoist:Remote-first company, incorporated in Delaware, USA
- Founded
- ClickUp:2017
- Todoist:2007
- Funding
- ClickUp:$400 million Series C in October 2021 at a reported $4 billion valuation.
- Todoist:Developed without formal venture funding.
Timelines, official links and sources are in each review: ClickUp · Todoist.
FAQ
Which is better, ClickUp or Todoist?
For project management ClickUp scored much higher in our tests: it imported our spreadsheet, handled 500 tasks, ran automations and has a free Gantt chart. Todoist is the better simple task list and has the lighter app.
Which has the better free plan?
ClickUp for teams. Todoist's free team is limited to 5 projects, 300 tasks per project and admin-only invites, with no AI.
Which is cheaper to upgrade?
Todoist: Pro costs $5 a month billed yearly, and Business $8 per user. ClickUp starts at $9 per user a month.
Read the full reviews
This page compares the two side by side. Each full review has the complete test log, every screenshot, the scoring notes, pricing, security and company details.
ClickUp reviewRecommended 7.4 ClickUp passed every step of our project-management test on the free plan: all the views, a working automation, dependencies, recurring tasks, a 500-row import and an AI that got the facts right and asked before changing anything. It is heavy, though: the Windows app needs about 14 seconds and up to 2 GB of memory, and the import and setup make you do more by hand than they should. Read the full review → Todoist reviewSituational 5.5 Todoist is the quickest way we found to type a project in: one paste turned 40 lines into dated, prioritised tasks, repeating tasks are effortless, and the Windows app is light and starts in under two seconds. But it is a task list, not a project tool. The free plan stops at 5 projects and 300 tasks per project, our ordinary CSV was rejected, there is no automation, Gantt or dependencies, the calendar layout and AI are paid, and every free-team invitee becomes an admin. Read the full review → Project Management Alternatives
Notion Situational Individuals and small teams who want tasks living next to their docs and wiki, and who are happy to build their own setup 6.9 Read reviewReview 
Airtable Situational Teams who want a flexible database behind their projects, with automations and reliable CSV in and out 6.8 Read reviewReview 
Asana Situational Teams ready to pay for Starter or Advanced who want a polished, fast-to-learn project tool with strong import and export 6.7 Read reviewReview 
