A Todoist alternative for tasks that start in a note.
Updated
Todoist is one of the best task managers there is, and I am writing a page about leaving it. So here is where it wins first.
Todoist works on Apple, Windows, Android, and the web. It shares projects with other people. It takes a typed sentence like “pay rent every first of the month” and turns it into a recurring task. It has an Inbox, boards, filters, and a library of templates for GTD, time blocking, and the Eisenhower matrix. If your tasks are shared or recurring, or you work across platforms, stay.
The case for a different shape
My tasks do not arrive as tasks. They arrive inside a sentence I am writing about something else.
A call is happening. Someone says the numbers need checking before Friday. I am typing what they said, so the task goes into the note, because opening another app costs me the next two minutes of the call. The note holds a task that no task app knows about.
I tried the usual fix, which is copying it over later. That gives me the same commitment twice, once in the note looking undone and once in the app. I tick one. The other keeps lying.
Todoist’s Quick Add is fast. Capture and thinking happen in the same breath, and switching apps breaks the breath.
What Remlo does instead
You type a checkbox in any note. That line is a to-do, collected on the To-dos page with every other one. Tick it in the note or on the page, and it is done in both, because it is one to-do with two places to look at it.
A slash command inside the note schedules it for today, tomorrow, or a date you pick. A to-do has a due date for when it must be finished, a scheduled date for when you mean to do it, and a someday flag for neither. Anything scheduled or due shows up in Today.
The To-dos page has a list view and a board view. The board stages are yours: in progress, waiting, review, done, or whatever your work does in between.
Every to-do links back to the note it came from. A task from Tuesday’s call opens Tuesday’s call.
Remlo creates a page for every day, so there is always somewhere to type before you decide what the thing is. Habits are included and tick against the same day. Links point both ways, and a project page collects the days that mentioned it.
What you give up
Recurring tasks written as a sentence, like Todoist does them. Remlo schedules with a slash command and a date picker.
Shared projects and assigning a task to someone. Remlo is single player on purpose. Your notes live in your own iCloud, which is why they are private and why they are not collaborative.
Windows, Android, and the web. Remlo is native on Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and that is all.
A big library of templates and integrations. Remlo has no integrations, on purpose. They are where bloat and extra subscriptions come from.
Who should switch
The person who keeps a notes app and a task app and spends the day copying between them. The person with a lot of meeting notes. The person whose to-do list has a note field full of context nobody reads.
If you open Todoist forty times a day and almost never write anything longer than a line, you do not need Remlo.
Remlo is $19 a year with seven days free, or $149 once. One purchase covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
A task manager is a place for tasks. Mine are in my notes, so that is where the list comes from.
Common questions
Is Remlo a full Todoist replacement?
For a person who works on Apple devices alone, mostly from notes, yes. For a team, no. Remlo has no sharing, no collaboration, and no Windows or Android app. If you need any of those, Todoist is the right call.
Does Remlo understand typed dates the way Todoist does?
Not in that style. In Remlo you set a date with a slash command inside the note, choosing today, tomorrow, or a date you pick. A to-do carries a due date, a scheduled date, or a someday flag.
Can I move my Todoist tasks into Remlo?
There is no importer. Tasks you want to keep are quickest to retype as checkboxes on a page, which is also a decent way to find out which ones you still mean.
Does Remlo have a board like Todoist?
Yes. The To-dos page has a list view and a board view, and the stages on the board are yours to name.
What does Remlo cost?
A yearly subscription, with a lifetime option available at launch. Current numbers are on the pricing page.
Give your mind one place.
Remlo is on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, and on the Mac App Store. One purchase covers all your Apple devices, with 7 days free to start.
