Todoist vs Routine

Todoist is one of the longest-standing task management apps (founded in 2007!). You get exactly what you'd expect from Todoist — the ability to create tasks, prioritize them, and organize them with labels. You can view your tasks in a list, kanban view, or calendar view (paid tier).

With the rising popularity of time blocking, Todoist has received immense pressure from it's customers to build a calendar view and allow for task time blocking. That said, time blocking is a secondary feature to Todoist and is quite barebones compared to other daily planners. Many folks integrate Todoist with Sunsama or Akiflow for the full daily planning experience.

If considering Todoist for business, whether you're an individual or a team, there are better task management apps available that will give you more productivity power (e.g. other tools that will allow you to schedule meetings, time block tasks, manage projects, see your workload, and collaborate with team members), so as a heads up, make sure to consider those before diving head first into Todoist for business.

The last time we checked out Routine, we went in thinking it was was a lightweight daily planner. Fifteen minutes later, we were scared we'd just deleted their entire task database...😂 Search Routine Review Gone Wrong on YouTube and you'll see what we mean.

Routine is a daily planner with lots of features like task scheduling, label creation, and, of course, a calendar, but with so much happening, it almost seems like they wanted to be more than just a planner. There's clear ambition with extra databases and inbox features, but the glaring problem is that their execution makes it hard to understand what it actually wants to be.

Routine is says its for busy professionals and modern teams, but we feel like a student or busy parent is a more appropriate audience based on their features. Maybe someone who wants a free tool to drag tasks onto a calendar, loosely organize their day, or experiment with time blocking, but gosh, as a business, it will not do what it needs for you. It has a free tier (which is rare in this category), but we can definitely see why.

Where it struggles is clarity and polish. The entire user experience is clunky and not friendly at all. It's obvious that Routine is trying to serve multiple personas at once, but in doing that, they created something that is overly complex, yet isn't powerful. It feels more like an overdeveloped Notion database than a usable planner. At one point, we were able to access what seemed to be database-level settings and accidentally delete core structures. That should not even be possible in a daily planner.

When we've used tools like Motion or Sunsama, Routine feels way more bare bones and also more complicated at the same time. It’s NOT something we would recommend as a primary calendar or for business use, but it might work as a free personal planner; just don't expect an intuitive experience.

• Has a free tier (rare in this category)
• Drag-and-drop task scheduling onto calendar
• Tasks can contain detailed notes

• Not a ton of integrations
• Not intuitive (basic actions require trial and error)
• Labels system adds complexity without clear payoff
• Feels unstable (easy access to database-level settings)
• Too basic for a primary business calendar
• Identity crisis: calendar vs. daily planner vs. knowledge management tool

Routine allows you to create tasks and drag them directly onto your calendar. You can adjust time blocks and rearrange your day visually. The time-blocked task planning works, but it feels basic.

They even tried integrating natural language, but even that has its hang-ups. For example, when creating a task, typing “3 days” schedules it for December 3rd instead of three days from now. To get the result you're looking for, you have to type “in 3 days.” Again, a small detail that shows good intention, but poor execution.

Routine introduces a labels system that acts almost like a relational database. You can assign labels to tasks and events and view counts across categories.

In theory, this would allow for deeper organization, but in practice, it feels like an added mental load. You can see numbers, but can’t quickly extract any valuable insight. It seems like it could have been a powerful concept, but not clearly useful in execution.

Again, we have some clarity issues. Routine has tasks that function as full notes, so you have the option to expand well beyond a simple checklist item. This leans into their “all-in-one” ambition, and looks like they were attempting to blend planning with knowledge management.

However, the separation between tasks and notes is confusing, and it’s not always clear where things live or how they relate.

• Free: Best for individuals & students looking to become more productive.
• Professional: $10/mo. Best for professionals who want AI notes and time tracking capabilities.
• Business: $15/mo per user. Best for teams who want workspaces and access control.
• Enterprise: Contact for more details. Best for large teams in need of extra security.