An open-source Todoist alternative
Todoist is a good list app. If what you want next is source code you can read, tasks that live on your own disk, and no subscription between you and your own reminders, Mindwtr is built that way from the start. It is completely free — not a free tier, not a trial, no premium plan waiting behind the next feature — and it runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android without an account. Below is how the two differ, checked against Todoist’s own pages.
Mindwtr vs Todoist
Head to head, on current public capabilities. Rows where Todoist is ahead are in the table too. The wider field is on how Mindwtr compares.
Yes Partial No
| Capability | Mindwtr | Todoist |
|---|---|---|
| Open source | ||
| Completely free, no paid tier | ||
| No account required | ||
| Works offline | ||
| Native apps for Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android | ||
| Full GTD method out of the box | ||
| Unlimited projects without paying | ||
| Custom and repeating reminders at no cost | ||
| Tasks stored on your device, synced only where you choose | ||
| Your own AI API key or an on-device model | ||
| Shared projects, task assignment, team comments | ||
| Hosted integration marketplace |
Method. Checked against Todoist’s official pricing, download, and help pages. “Full GTD” requires first-class Inbox, Next, Waiting, Someday, Review, and sequential projects. “No” means official sources do not document the capability; “Partial” means only part is supported. On price: Mindwtr is free under AGPL-3.0 with no paid tier, while Todoist’s free Beginner plan caps you at 5 active personal projects and 3 filters with one week of activity history; Pro is $7 per month or $60 per year, and Business is $10 per user per month or $96 per user per year, both effective December 10, 2025. Todoist’s free plan includes recurring dates and automatic reminders for tasks with a date and time, while custom, time-based, location-based, and recurring reminders are Pro features — hence “Partial”. Todoist works offline, but its help page notes you must be logged in first: “Without doing so, you can’t access or make changes to your tasks or projects.” Sources: Mindwtr, Todoist pricing, plans FAQ, Pro pricing update, Business pricing update, apps, offline mode, and integrations.
What you get instead of a subscription
The habits carry over. Quick capture with natural-language dates, projects and labels, recurring tasks, reminders, home-screen widgets, and calendar views are all here, and none of them sit behind a plan. What’s underneath is different: your tasks are a SQLite file on your own disk with a documented JSON export, the source is public under AGPL-3.0, and there is no account to create, no server holding a copy you didn’t ask it to hold. Reminders repeat on a 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60-minute interval when you want the nudge, and cost nothing when you do.
A list app versus a whole method
Running GTD in Todoist means building it: filters that stand in for Next Actions, a label for Waiting For, a project you remember to treat as Someday, a recurring task reminding you to review. It works, and plenty of people have done it. Mindwtr ships that structure as the app itself — Inbox processing, Next, Waiting and Someday lists, Areas above projects, sequential projects that only surface their next step, and a guided Weekly Review that walks the loop rather than leaving you a checklist to interpret. Nothing to assemble, and nothing that breaks when you rename a label.
What Todoist does better
Todoist is a team product and Mindwtr is not. Shared projects, task assignment, comment threads, and the whole Business tier have no equivalent here — if you delegate work, Todoist wins that outright. Its integrations directory spans thirteen categories and, in its own words, lets you “integrate with thousands of other apps via our automation partners”; Mindwtr’s automation is a local API, a CLI, and MCP, which suits tinkerers and doesn’t suit someone who wants a two-click Slack hookup. Todoist has also had a large team polishing the same app for well over a decade, and it shows in the small places. Pick the one that matches the work.
Moving your Todoist tasks over
Half a minute, and you don’t have to delete anything on the Todoist side. Export a project as CSV from Todoist’s project menu under Manage data, or download a full backup ZIP, which contains one CSV per active project. In Mindwtr, open Settings → Data → Import from Todoist, pick the file, check the preview summary, and confirm. Projects, sections, subtasks as checklist items, labels as tags, descriptions, priorities, and resolvable due dates come across, and active tasks land as Next Actions. Recurring schedules are the exception: the original recurrence text is kept in the task description so you can decide how to model it. Full detail in the Todoist import guide.
Common questions
Is Mindwtr really free, or free for now?
Really free. It is free software under AGPL-3.0 — no subscription, no premium tier, no trial period, no feature paywall, no seat count. Development runs on donations.
Where does my data live?
In a local SQLite database on each device, with JSON and CSV export built in. Nothing leaves the device unless you turn on sync. See data & sync.
Can I still sync between my phone and laptop?
Yes, and you choose the route: iCloud, Dropbox, WebDAV, a folder watched by Syncthing, or a small server you host. File-based targets can carry an optional passphrase that encrypts the files before they leave the device. Sync is opt-in — leave it off and Mindwtr is purely on-device.
What if I want to go back to Todoist?
Nothing stops you. Your data is already on your disk in a documented format, export is built in, and there is no account to close or subscription to cancel.
Keep comparing
The full field — seven task managers side by side — is on how Mindwtr compares. If you are weighing a different app, there is also the TickTick alternative page and, if you landed here from a phone, the free GTD app for Android page.