Daily Captain vs Todoist
Checked 22 Sep 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if something is out of date: hello@dailycaptain.app.
Todoist is a task manager, and one of the best: quick add in plain language, projects, labels, filters, recurring tasks, a calendar layout, 80+ integrations, teams. The free plan covers five projects; Pro is $5 a month billed yearly or $7 monthly.
Daily Captain is not a task manager. It holds seven goals for today, asks at midday whether the plan is still the plan, and at night whether they happened. No projects, no recurring chores, no integrations. One person sees your week. 8 free days, then $9.99 a month.
Many people use Todoist’s Today view as a daily list. If that is all you use, Daily Captain does that job on purpose and adds the part Todoist does not have: a close-out and a witness. If you need everything else Todoist does, keep Todoist.
| Feature | Todoist | Daily Captain |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Capturing and organising every task you have, personal and team. | Deciding what today is for, and being honest about it at night. |
| Price | Free for 5 projects. Pro $5 a month billed yearly ($60) or $7 monthly. Business $8 or $10 per user. | 8 days free, then $9.99 a month. One price, everything included. |
| Free plan | Yes, with limits: 5 projects, 3 filter views, one week of activity history, basic reminders. | No free plan. 8 free days, then one flat price. |
| A day looks like | A Today list drawn from every project, plus Upcoming, filters, list, board or calendar layouts. | One sheet a day: up to seven goals in the morning, one check at midday, an honest count and tomorrow’s first goal at night. |
| Platforms | Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple Watch, Wear OS, browser and email add-ons. | iPhone (App Store), Android (Google Play) and any browser. Same account everywhere. |
| Integrations | 80+ named, plus Google Calendar and Outlook and automation partners. | None. No calendar sync, no task import. |
| Accountability | Shared projects and a team workspace. No buddy feature. | One buddy sees your week and answers. A public page shows the goals you switch on. No feed, no ranks, no points. |
| Streaks or points | Karma points, levels and daily or weekly streaks, with a vacation mode. | None. No streaks, no red days, untick allowed. A missed day leaves nothing to repair. |
| History | One week free, full history on Pro, completed-tasks archive, CSV export. | The week view: said versus done, no charts. Your writing exports as plain text and JSON. |
| Support | Help centre at todoist.com/help. | A person answers at hello@dailycaptain.app, and feedback sits inside the product. |
Todoist holds everything. Daily Captain holds seven things.
A task manager is a place for everything you could do. That is its strength and, for a personal day, its weight: the list grows faster than you can finish it, and the overdue pile is always there in red.
Daily Captain caps the day at seven goals and ends it. What did not happen is not overdue; it is either tomorrow’s first goal or gone. The question is never "what is left" but "did today move me toward the goal".
Goals, not tasks
Todoist is very good at tasks: things with a due date that get done and disappear. Daily Captain is built for the layer above: what you want this year, and whether today served it. You write the best possible year, highlight the few you care about most, and every daily goal can point at one of them. A Tuesday is connected to something.
Nothing to fall behind on
Todoist’s Karma rewards you with points, levels and streaks for meeting daily goals. Daily Captain has none of that. No red days, no streak to protect, untick allowed. If that sounds like less, it is meant to: the thing people fall behind on is usually the tool.
What people who leave Todoist say, and what we did about it
We read the 60 most recent critical App Store reviews of Todoist (January to September 2026), its Trustpilot and Capterra reviews, on 22 Sep 2026. Three themes came up most. One of them is a fair question about us too.
- Reliability: tasks lost after an update, sync conflicts, the app freezing, and slow or silent support when it happens.
- What we did: We cannot claim a better record: Daily Captain is new and has few reviews. What is different is small and human: a person reads every message and answers, and a sheet is one day, small enough to rewrite if something goes wrong. Your writing exports as plain text at any time.
- Reminders and other basics sit behind the Pro plan.
- What we did: Nothing in Daily Captain is behind a second wall; reminders for all three moments are in the one price. The honest flip side: there is no free plan, so if Todoist’s free plan is enough for you, we are more expensive.
- Too much for a personal list: projects, teams and layouts in the way.
- What we did: No projects, no teams, no labels, no layouts. Seven lines and a close. We also have no calendar sync and no integrations, which for a task manager would be a flaw and for a goal sheet is the point.
Sources: Todoist on the App Store, Todoist on Trustpilot, Todoist on Capterra
Pricing
Todoist
Todoist Beginner is free with 5 personal projects. Pro is $5 per month billed yearly ($60) or $7 billed monthly, and adds 300 projects, calendar layout, custom reminders and full history. Business is $8 per user per month billed yearly or $10 monthly. There is a 7-day Pro trial. Read on Todoist’s pricing page on 22 Sep 2026.
TickTick, the other task manager people compare with Todoist, is cheaper still and does more (habits, Pomodoro, calendar). If you are choosing between task managers, we are not the answer; this page is for people who want a goal sheet instead of one.
Daily Captain
Every account starts with 8 free days. After that it is $9.99 a month, one flat price with nothing behind a second wall: the buddy, the yearly goals, the reminders and the apps are all in it. Plus tax where it applies, shown before you pay. Cancel any time and your writing stays readable.
There is no free plan. If you want the method for free, the paper version, the Daily Goal Sheet PDF, is at heegstra.io/goal-sheet.
Sources: Todoist pricing, Daily Captain pricing, on the home page
When to choose Todoist
- You manage projects, recurring chores or shared lists.
- You want tasks captured from email, Slack or your calendar.
- The free plan is enough for you.
- You like Karma, streaks and a completed-tasks history.
When to choose Daily Captain
- You only ever use the Today view, and the rest is noise.
- Your backlog has become the thing you feel bad about.
- You want the day judged by goals, and someone who sees the result.
- You want a flat price with reminders included.
Trying it
Nothing to import and nothing to set up. Sign in, write what today is for, and tonight write tomorrow’s first goal. If it is not for you after 8 days, nothing has happened to your card and you have lost about a minute a day.
Questions
Can I import my Todoist tasks into Daily Captain?
No. There is no import. You write today’s goals by hand each morning; that is the method, and it takes about a minute.
Can I use Daily Captain and Todoist together?
Yes, and some people will: Todoist for the tasks, Daily Captain for the seven things that matter today and the honest count at night.
Is Daily Captain cheaper than Todoist?
No. Todoist has a free plan and Pro is $5 to $7 a month. Daily Captain is $9.99 a month after 8 free days, with everything included.
Why goals instead of to-dos?
Because being busy is not the same as getting closer. A to-do list holds everything you could do; a goal sheet holds the few things that move you toward what you want, and asks at night whether they happened.
Why does someone else see my week?
Because being seen works, the way people work harder in a library than alone at home. One person who knows what you set out to do is enough. They see exactly what you wrote, and only when you send it.
Does Daily Captain have streaks?
No. No streaks, no red days, no guilt mechanics. You can untick anything, and a missed day is just a day.
Ready to try Daily Captain instead of Todoist
Start your first sheet8 days free, then $9.99 a month.