Todoist is the biggest name in task apps, and for good reason: for one person running a personal system — projects, filters, labels, karma — it is superb. But a household is not a personal system. The moment the list belongs to everyone — groceries, chores, school runs, the plumber — Todoist's per-person pricing and power-user complexity start working against you. InkSync is the simpler switch: one shared place for the household's lists and notes, kept in sync in real time, free to start.
Try InkSync for FreeTodoist's free Beginner plan caps you at 5 personal projects, 3 filter views, and one week of activity history — and reminders sit behind the paywall. A household burns through 5 projects before breakfast: groceries, chores, school, the holiday list, the plumber. The free tier is built for one person trying the app, not a family living in it.
Todoist Pro is $5 a month billed annually ($60 a year) — or $7 month-to-month — per account, and real household sharing is a Business workspace at $8 per user per month billed annually ($96 a year per person). Four people on the paid tier is $240 a year on Pro or $384 on Business, for what is, at heart, a shared grocery list. Prices checked against Todoist's pricing page in November 2026; they can change, so check the current page.
Filters, labels, karma, 150 filter views: Todoist is a personal productivity system, and a brilliant one. But a shared household list does not need a system — it needs a list everyone can see, add to, and check off. The power that makes Todoist great for solo work is complexity your partner and kids have to learn just to add milk.
Pro went from $48 to $60 a year (monthly from $5 to $7) at renewals from December 10, 2025. It is still fairly priced for what it does — but it pushed plenty of households to ask what they are actually paying for: a personal system, or a list the whole house shares? If the answer is the list, the subscription is funding power you never use.
Groceries, chores, the school list, the packing list — shared notes and checklists the whole household edits in real time. Assign 'pick up the prescription' to your partner and 'take out the trash' to the teenager; assigned items show up on that person's list with their name on it. Add 'milk' from the couch and it is on your partner's phone before you have put your own phone down.
The free plan covers 50 notes and checklists with real-time sync — a household's grocery list plus the school and packing lists, genuinely usable at zero cost. Note locking (PIN or biometric) is included free, not gated behind a tier. When the household needs unlimited notes and real-time collaboration, Premium is $0.99 a week or $33.99 a year.
Invite each person by email — partner, kids, grandparents, the roommate. Every note is shared on purpose: the kids see the packing list, the babysitter sees only the emergency contacts, and nobody shares one password with full access. Nothing is shared unless you share it.
Local-first storage means notes and lists live on the device first and sync in the background. Basement, cabin, airplane, dead-zone store — the whole household hub opens and edits with no signal, and every change syncs when you are back online. The list should not need a signal to exist.
No filters to configure, no karma to maintain, no 150 views to set up before you can write 'eggs'. Open the app, type the item, done. InkSync is deliberately the opposite of a personal productivity system: it is a shared list that behaves like a list, so the least technical person in the house uses it without a tutorial.
| Feature | Todoist | InkSync |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free (5 projects) / Pro $5/mo billed annually / Business $8/user/mo billed annually | Free (50 notes) / Premium $0.99/wk ($33.99/yr) |
| Shared household lists | Shared projects; 5 people max on personal projects | |
| Real-time sync when anyone edits | ||
| Assign tasks to each other | In shared projects | |
| Filters, labels & karma | Tags, not filters — kept simple on purpose | |
| Natural-language dates | ||
| Calendar layout & time blocking | Pro | Schedules in shared notes — not a calendar app |
| Recurring tasks | Recurring items stay on a reusable list — no auto-recurrence | |
| Due dates & reminders | Pro (custom reminders) | |
| Offline in dead-zone aisles | Sync-dependent | Local-first, works fully offline |
| Individual note locking | Free (PIN or biometric) |
"Keep Todoist for your personal system — move the household lists somewhere everyone can use."
Want the walkthrough for a household to-do list? See how InkSync works as a shared to-do list app.
Sharing notes with a partner or family? See how InkSync works as a notes app for couples.
Make the switch todayTodoist lets Pro users export projects as CSV; on the free plan, or for a short household list, copy the dozen items by hand. It takes minutes, not an evening — a household's lists are short — and it is a useful cull: the things you type again are the things you actually buy and do.
Sign up on Android or at app.inksyncnote.com — the same account works everywhere. The free plan gives you 50 notes with real-time sync, checklists, and note locking, so you can run both apps side by side while you migrate.
Create one shared grocery checklist and one 'household info' note — the Wi-Fi password, the vet's number, emergency contacts, the school's early-dismissal schedule. Invite everyone by email. These two notes alone replace most of what a household actually opens a task app for.
Assign items to whoever is best placed — or leave them unassigned for whoever gets there first. Keep recurring chores (trash day, the weekly shop, the standing appointments) on one reusable list so nobody starts from scratch each week. Clear the completed items once a week and the list is ready again.
Here is the honest advice: do not delete Todoist if your personal system lives there. InkSync will not replace your filters, your karma, or your calendar view — it is not trying to. Let Todoist keep the solo work and let InkSync own the shared lists. Most households end up happily using both.
For shared household lists, yes — that is exactly the case where this Todoist alternative wins. Todoist is built for one person running a personal system (filters, labels, karma, 150 filter views), and its free plan caps you at 5 projects with reminders behind the paywall. InkSync gives the whole household shared checklists with real-time sync, task assignment, and per-person accounts, free for 50 notes. The honest split: Todoist wins for personal systems; InkSync wins when the job is a list the whole household shares.
Plenty, and we will not pretend otherwise. Todoist has filters and custom filter views, labels, karma, natural-language date entry, a calendar layout with time blocking, recurring tasks, and custom reminders — all genuinely useful for personal productivity. InkSync has none of those: it is shared lists and notes, with tags instead of filters and recurring items kept on a reusable list instead of auto-recurrence. If your day runs on filters and a calendar view, stay with Todoist — or keep it for the personal stuff and let InkSync own the household lists.
Nothing to start: InkSync's free plan covers 50 notes and checklists with real-time sync and note locking. Premium is $0.99 a week or $33.99 a year for unlimited notes and real-time collaboration. Compare that with Todoist: Pro is $5 a month billed annually ($60 a year) per account, and Business — the plan for real household sharing — is $8 per user per month billed annually. Four people on Pro costs $240 a year; four on Business costs $384 a year. One InkSync Premium subscription covers the household's shared lists for $33.99 a year. Prices checked November 2026; check the current pages — they can change.