Kept vs Todoist
Todoist has been refining one idea since 2007, and it shows: it is probably the best pure to-do list ever made. Natural-language quick add set the standard the whole category copied, it runs on every platform you can name, and the price is honest. If a ranked list of tasks is the tool you need, you will not out-shop Todoist.
| Kept | Notion | Sunsama/Akiflow | Atoms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup required | None · useful in 60s | Build it yourself | Guided ritual, daily | Minimal |
| Files itself | Yes · one-line capture | No | Partial | n/a |
| Whole life (work + body + mind) | Yes | Work/docs | Work | Habits only |
| Identity engine | Yes · vow & votes | No | No | Yes |
| Mobile-first & calm | Yes | No | Desktop-first | Yes |
| Price | Free to start; fair annual | Free → $10–20/mo | ~$17–34/mo | ~$120/yr |
Competitor details as of June 2026; see their sites for current pricing.
What Todoist gets genuinely right
Credit first, and there's a lot of it. Quick add is legitimately fast: type "pay rent every 1st" and the recurrence, date, and project are parsed instantly. Doist has stayed independent and profitable for nearly two decades, which shows in the polish: apps on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android, watches, browsers, and email, all in sync, all reliable. The free tier is real, and Pro at $60 a year is fair.
Todoist is also aging gracefully into the AI era rather than flailing at it. Ramble, launched in January 2026, turns spoken rambling into structured tasks with dates and priorities, and the Assist features tidy filters and subtasks. As list-keeping goes, it is the deserved default.
A list still asks you to run the system
Here's the honest limit, and it isn't a flaw in Todoist so much as the ceiling of the category: a list holds what you give it, in the order you give it. It doesn't know that the board deck matters more than watering the plants because Launch Q2 is your quarter's goal. It doesn't know you have ninety free minutes at two. Ranking against your real goals and your real calendar is still your job, every morning, forever.
Scope is the second ceiling. Todoist holds tasks. Your calendar is a layout view, not a place Todoist writes commitments into. Your notes, habits, training, meals, and focus live in other apps, and you remain the integration layer between them. Karma can tell you how many tasks you completed; it can't tell you whether they were the right ones, or what they add up to.
What Kept does instead
Kept starts where quick add stops. Say one line · "draft the board deck, high priority, Friday" · and it files the right kind of thing (task, event, or note), in the right place, with the right date and priority. Capture is the same speed you love in Todoist; the difference is what happens after. Kept holds your goals and your calendar too, so the day assembles itself: the deck rises because Launch Q2 matters and there's an open ninety minutes at two.
And the surface is your whole life, not a list: tasks next to the calendar they compete with, habits next to the schedule that threatens them, notes next to the work they serve. Every kept promise is counted as a vote for the person you said you'd become. A list can hold your intentions. Kept keeps score of them.
Who should pick which
Pick Todoist if what you want is a fast, trustworthy, cross-platform list you enjoy running yourself · especially if you need Windows or Android today. It is the best version of that product, at a fair price, from a company that has earned two decades of trust.
Pick Kept if you're tired of being the scheduler: if the list is fine but the ranking, calendaring, and remembering are the work you want off your plate. Especially if your day lives on iPhone and Mac, where Kept is native and capture is one keystroke away.
Todoist pricing (free Beginner tier with 5 personal projects; Pro $60/yr billed annually or $7/mo monthly; Business $8/user/mo billed yearly, after increases effective Dec 2025) and Ramble voice capture (launched Jan 2026 · 10 sessions/month free, unlimited on Pro) verified July 2026. See todoist.com/pricing for current details.
Say it once. It’s filed.
One calm app, not six · free to start, iPhone first.