Why people look for a Todoist alternative
Most people who leave Todoist aren’t unhappy with the checkbox. They’re unhappy with everything that lives around the checkbox:
- Notes live somewhere else. Todoist task descriptions are fine for a line or two, but meeting notes, research and drafts end up in a separate notes app, and the link between them breaks.
- The team talks somewhere else. Todoist has comments on tasks, but day-to-day team conversation usually happens in Slack, WhatsApp or email. Decisions drift away from the work they’re about.
- A big task stays a big task. “Plan the offsite” sits at the top of the list for weeks because breaking it down is itself a chore.
- Sharing is an add-on. Todoist grew up as a personal tool. Teams work in it, but the model is still “my list that others can see”.
seed was designed as a shared space from day one, where a to-do, a note and a conversation are the same object.
How seed works differently
A task that can also be a note
In seed every item starts as one line. Tick on a checkbox and it’s a to-do. Need more? Add a due date, a reminder, a repeat, a priority, several assignees, subtasks, or a full note with as much text as you like. You can also attach files, link Google Drive files, record an amount or a location. When you don’t need any of that, the item folds back into a single quiet line, so the list stays as clean as Todoist’s.
That means the agenda for Thursday’s meeting, the notes you took during it and the five follow-ups it produced can all be the same item and its subtasks, not three apps.
Team chat, in the list, like Slack
Each folder has its own chat channel, and each item has its own thread. You can @mention people, react with emoji, edit messages and drop files in. Drag a file onto a row and it attaches to that task. For a small team, that’s the “to do list app with team chat” people search for: the list and the conversation in one window, so nobody has to ask “where did we decide that?”
An agent that does the breaking-down for you
Type @agent in any chat and ask in plain language. The seed agent can create, edit, assign and delete items, split an idea into subtasks, set dates and reorganize a folder. It can also create Google Calendar events, send Gmail, add Google Sheets rows, create Drive files and post to Slack. Free includes 3 of those a month, then it writes the draft for you to send yourself; Pro does them all for you, and also works across folders, searches the web and reads Google Sheets. Every tool can be set to ask first or act on its own, and each capability has its own on/off switch.
You can also give the agent a knowledge base, such as your team’s names, clients, house rules or preferred vendors, so it always has the context without you repeating it.
Permissions that match how teams really share
Share a single folder or a whole workspace. Each person is an owner, editor, viewer or has no access, and “no access” hides even the folder name. Keep separate workspaces for work and home, so your grocery list never shows up in a client meeting.
Example: a small agency’s week in seed
Maria adds “Client onboarding for Lopez Bakery” to the Clients folder and types @agent break this into the usual steps, give design to Sam and copy to Jo, due before the 30th. Six subtasks appear with owners and dates. The kickoff notes go in the item itself. Sam asks a question about fonts in that item’s thread and Jo answers there. When the logo files arrive, Sam drags them onto the row. The in-app reminders bell shows each person what’s due today, and overdue rows get a red dot. Nothing had to be copied from a notes app or a chat app.
seed vs Todoist at a glance
| seed | Todoist | |
|---|---|---|
| Tasks, subtasks, due dates, priorities | Yes | Yes, excellent |
| Repeating tasks and reminders | Yes, with in-app reminders | Yes, with phone notifications |
| Long-form notes on a task | Yes, any item can hold a full note | Task descriptions and comments |
| Team chat channel per project | Yes, one per folder | No (comments on tasks) |
| Chat thread on every task, with @mentions and reactions | Yes | Task comments |
| Multiple assignees on one task | Yes | One assignee per task |
| AI that creates, assigns and follows up | Yes, the @agent | AI assist features for tasks |
| Google Calendar, Gmail, Sheets, Drive, Slack actions from AI | Yes, ask-first or automatic (3 a month free, unlimited on Pro) | Integrations sync data; not agent actions |
| Receipt scanning and expense ledger | Built in | Not built in |
| Native iOS/Android apps, offline mode | Web on any phone today; iOS app coming soon. No offline mode | Yes |
| Board and calendar views | No: list-based | Yes |
| Free plan | Unlimited tasks, folders and collaborators | Free plan with limits on projects and features |
| Paid plan | $8/month or $80/year (Pro) | Pro and Business tiers; see todoist.com/pricing |
Compared against Todoist’s public site in September 2026. Todoist updates its plans regularly, so check their pricing page for current details.
When Todoist is still the better choice
Todoist is a mature, fast product and it earns its fans. Stay with it if you mostly manage a personal list and want native apps on every device, offline access on a plane, phone push notifications, natural-language quick add from anywhere, or board and calendar views. seed works well in your phone’s browser and you can add it to your home screen; seed’s iOS app with push notifications is coming soon, and there’s no offline mode, so it needs a connection. If your list is just for you and the context lives in your head, Todoist may be all you need.
seed makes the most sense the moment other people, notes or conversations get involved.
Switching from Todoist to seed
- Sign in with Google. Your first workspace and folder are ready right away.
- Make one folder per Todoist project you actually use. Folders are what you share, so shape them around teams or clients.
- Paste your open tasks. There’s no importer, but pasting a list turns each line into an item. Most people only move what’s still open, which doubles as a spring clean.
- Invite your people to a folder or the whole workspace as editors or viewers.
- Try the agent on your stickiest task. Ask it to break the one you keep postponing into steps with dates. That’s usually when seed clicks.