HenkSuiteTL;DRTodoist is still the best pure task manager in 2026. But if you also use Notion for notes, Google Calendar for events, Toggl for time, and Things for habits, you're paying the stack tax. In 2026, local-first all-in-one apps like HenkSuite often win - not because they're better at tasks than Todoist, but because they make the other four tools unnecessary.
Quick answer: Todoist vs all-in-one apps
- Pick Todoist if: you want the best pure task manager and you like using a small number of single-purpose tools.
- Pick an all-in-one if: you're already running three to six productivity apps and context-switching is eating your attention.
- Pick a local-first all-in-one if: you also care about speed, privacy, or offline work.
Where Todoist still wins
It does one thing and does it beautifully
Todoist's superpower is restraint. After 17 years, it still feels like a task manager - not a note-taker-calendar-CRM. The feature set has grown, but the core experience is the same: inbox, today, upcoming, projects. You can't get lost in it.
Natural-language date parsing
"Wednesday 4pm every week" parses correctly the first time. It sounds trivial. It is not trivial - and Todoist has had it dialed in longer than most of its competitors have existed.
It just works, forever
Todoist is one of a handful of productivity apps that has been around for nearly two decades. The sync is reliable, the apps don't break, and the company hasn't rewritten itself into irrelevance. For a tool you trust with every open loop in your life, that matters.
The Todoist thesisA great tool for one job beats a mediocre tool for five jobs.
Where Todoist falls short
No notes, docs, or calendar
Todoist is a task manager. You can't write a 1,500-word document in it, you can't plan a quarter on a timeline, and you can't store a client brief next to the tasks for that client. Those jobs belong to other apps.
Projects are shallow
Todoist's projects are essentially color-coded task buckets. You can't attach a scope doc, a Kanban board, a Gantt chart, or linked notes in any meaningful way. For personal to-dos this is fine. For actual project work, you'll reach for a second tool by week two.
It's one app in a 5-app stack
Most Todoist users also run Google Calendar, a notes app, a time tracker, and a knowledge base. That stack has real costs:
- Context-switching. You paste links between apps all day.
- Search fragmentation. "Where did I write that?" becomes a daily tax.
- Subscription stack. Five $4–12/mo bills beats one $10–20/mo bill in zero scenarios.
- Onboarding cost. Every time you try a new app, you add one more integration to maintain.
The case for all-in-one productivity apps
One tool, one stack, one mental model
Good all-in-one apps don't add features - they remove the need for other tools. Instead of "which app is this in?" you think in terms of projects, notes, and schedule, all in the same environment, all linked.
One price instead of five
Running Todoist Pro ($5/mo) + Notion Plus ($10/mo) + Toggl Pro ($10/mo) + Google Workspace ($6/mo) = $31/mo per person. A serious all-in-one covers 80–90% of that scope at a fraction of the total.
Search that spans everything you know
The single biggest unlock of an all-in-one: Cmd-K search returns your task and the note and the calendar event and the client file - all ranked together. It turns every piece of knowledge into a peripheral device for your brain.
When Todoist wins, when all-in-one wins
Todoist still wins when:
- Your primary productivity need is a reliable task list.
- You use one or two other tools and they already play nicely.
- You prefer the best-in-class tool per job.
All-in-one wins when:
- Your stack has grown to 4+ tools and you can feel the friction.
- You want notes, tasks, and calendar that actually link to each other.
- You care about speed, privacy, or offline work - areas Todoist hasn't prioritized.
HenkSuite: all-in-one, but not bloated
HenkSuite is the local-first all-in-one. It covers the scope Todoist doesn't - notes, calendar, projects, time tracking, habits, finance, spreadsheets - without the bloat that makes ClickUp and Notion exhausting. Everything lives in a local SQLite database, so it opens instantly and works offline.
- ✓Tasks + notes + calendar + more in one native app.
- ✓Local SQLite - sub-millisecond everything.
- ✓Works offline - Todoist also syncs offline, but HenkSuite stores the truth on your disk.
- ✓One subscription replaces 4–5.
- ✕Doesn't (yet) match Todoist's natural-language date parsing depth.
- ✕Full Windows/Linux builds land later in 2026.
FAQ: Todoist vs all-in-one apps
Can I use Todoist alongside an all-in-one app?
You can, but you're back to a stack. If you go all-in-one, it usually pays off to actually replace Todoist and collapse the number of tools. The whole point is to stop context-switching.
How do I move tasks out of Todoist?
Todoist has a CSV export per project. Most all-in-one apps accept CSV imports. Moving over is usually an afternoon - and it's often a good forcing function to delete the 400 tasks you'll never actually do.
Which is cheaper over 3 years?
All-in-one almost always wins on total cost if it covers 3+ tools in your existing stack. The bigger factor, though, is the attention cost of switching between apps - which doesn't show up on a bill but shows up in your day.
The bottom line
Todoist is still excellent - but in 2026, the interesting question isn't "is my task manager good?" It's "is my whole stack still worth it?". If the answer is no, a fast all-in-one like HenkSuite is probably your next move.
About the author
Emilia is the founder of HenkSuite. She builds productivity tools because the internet has 47 of them and none of them feel fast, private, or finished.