project management tool · head to head
monday.com vs Todoist
monday.com
SituationalAhead on 4 of 6 scored axes
Read the full monday.com review →Comparison Summary
monday.com scored 6.5 and Todoist scored 5.5 on our project management tool test script.
monday.com: monday.com did nearly everything in our script well: a clean 200- and 500-row import, working dependencies and automations, and the most accurate AI assistant in this category so far. But almost all of it ran on the automatic Pro trial. The free plan is two seats and three boards with no automations, no calendar or Gantt and no AI, so most teams will be paying.
Todoist: 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.
Editor's Verdict
Choose monday.com if…
Best for: Teams ready to pay for a polished, flexible work-management tool with strong imports, automations and AI.
- Excellent CSV/Excel import: 200 rows in about 10 s and 500 in about 20 s, with statuses, dates and priorities
- Strict dependencies that move dependent tasks when a date changes
- Automations fired in about a second and a half
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, monday.com completed 3 and Todoist completed 1.
| Task | monday.com | Todoist |
|---|---|---|
| P1 · Build a project | Pass≈ 15 min | Pass≈ 8 min |
| P2 · Views | Partial≈ 4 min | Partial≈ 3 min |
| P3 · Rules | Partial≈ 7 min | Partial≈ 5 min |
| P4 · 200-row import | Pass≈ 3 min | Fail≈ 5 min |
| P5 · Scale | Pass≈ 2 min | Fail≈ 3 min |
| P6 · Permissions | Partial≈ 3 min | Partial≈ 6 min |
| P7 · AI | Partial≈ 3 min | Fail– |
| P8 · Leave | Partial≈ 5 min | Partial≈ 5 min |
Measured on the same PC
| Measurement | monday.com | Todoist |
|---|---|---|
| Installer | 97 MB | 224 MB |
| On disk | 330 MB | 636 MB |
| Starts with Windows | No | No |
| 40-task project | ≈ 15 min | ≈ 8 min |
| Views on the free plan | 2 / 4 | 2 / 4 |
| Cold start | ≈ 9 s | 1.6 s |
| Memory | 1.1 – 1.3 GB | 0.8 – 0.9 GB |
| Automation rule | ≈ 1.5 s | None |
| Left after uninstall | ≈ 92 MB | ≈ 214 MB |
Pros and cons
monday.com
+ What works
- Excellent CSV/Excel import: 200 rows in about 10 s and 500 in about 20 s, with statuses, dates and priorities
- Strict dependencies that move dependent tasks when a date changes
- Automations fired in about a second and a half
- Sidekick AI summarised the board, answered “what is overdue?” correctly and created real subtasks
- Instant Excel export with subitems and dependencies, plus a full account export
- Clear roles, including free view-only Viewers
− What falls short
- Free plan: 2 seats, 3 boards, no automations, no calendar or Gantt, no AI
- A new account silently starts a 14-day Pro trial
- Calendar and Gantt views showed nothing until we refreshed the app
- The import's default column types mangled our descriptions and kept tags as one label
- The installer is signed with a code-signing certificate that expired in August 2025
- Heavier than most: about 1.1–1.3 GB of memory and a 9-second cold start
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.
monday.com
Expired signing certificate
The installer is signed by monday.com Ltd with a certificate that expired in August 2025, so Windows reports the signature as not valid.
No background services
The app added no startup entry, services or listening ports.
Admin by default in sign-up
The sign-up wizard's invite step sets new members to Admin and allows automatic sign-ups from your domain unless you change it.
EU data storage
Our account's admin page showed data stored in the European Union.
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
| monday.com | Todoist | |
|---|---|---|
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | — | ✓ |
| iOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paid from | $9/mo | $5/mo |
monday.com plans
- Free€0
- Basic€9/seat/mo
- Standard€12/seat/mo
- Pro€19/seat/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
From monday.com's pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026.
Todoist plans
- Beginner$0
- Pro$5/mo
- Business$8/user/mo
From Todoist's pricing page, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Cost for your team
- Todoist$300per year
- monday.com$540per year
Cheapest paid plan × seats × 12, at list price. Annual discounts and volume deals not included. monday.com and Todoist also have a free plan.
Who makes them
- Company
- monday.com:monday.com Ltd.
- Todoist:Doist Inc. (Todoist)
- Headquarters
- monday.com:Tel Aviv, Israel
- Todoist:Remote-first company, incorporated in Delaware, USA
- Founded
- monday.com:2012
- Todoist:2007
- Funding
- monday.com:Public on Nasdaq (MNDY) since 2021.
- Todoist:Developed without formal venture funding.
Timelines, official links and sources are in each review: monday.com · Todoist.
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.
monday.com reviewSituational 6.5 monday.com did nearly everything in our script well: a clean 200- and 500-row import, working dependencies and automations, and the most accurate AI assistant in this category so far. But almost all of it ran on the automatic Pro trial. The free plan is two seats and three boards with no automations, no calendar or Gantt and no AI, so most teams will be paying. 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
ClickUp Recommended Small teams that want lists, boards, Gantt charts, automations and AI in one free workspace and do not mind a busy, heavy app 7.4 Read reviewReview 
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 
