Plainlist
Love the bundle.
Tired of the cloud silo.
TickTick packs tasks, a calendar, a Pomodoro timer, and more into one subscription — genuinely useful, and it all lives inside TickTick's own cloud. Plainlist keeps your day and the rhythms that repeat beside it — a habit, a recurring task — in one plain-text file you own, paid once instead of roughly $36 a year.
Free trial · no account · pay once · macOS 12+
Mac-only today, with Windows, iOS, and Android coming soon. TickTick still wins on breadth of platforms and bundled tools.
Today: - draft Q3 report @brain - reply to client emails @ai 14:00 Beside the work: - morning pages - gym # Rhythms live in the same file, not a separate feature
TickTick bundles habits, pomodoro, and calendar into a subscription; Plainlist keeps habits and goals in the same .todo file you already own — no bundle, no subscription. TickTick is a genuine all-in-one: tasks, habits, pomodoro, and calendar, for roughly $35.99/year. If you want that bundle and cross-platform apps, it is legitimately good value. Plainlist covers the core of what most people actually use — tasks, planning, habits, goals — with the difference that your data is a plain-text file and the price is $19.99 once. TickTick's habit tracker and pomodoro are more feature-complete; Plainlist's habits (@every/@quota with streaks and week/month history) live in the same file as your day, so your rhythm and your tasks never split across modules. If you pay for TickTick mainly for tasks and habits on one platform, Plainlist is the cheaper, more ownable alternative; if you need its calendar-and-pomodoro bundle across devices, keep TickTick.
Who this is for
The reason people leave TickTick isn't the bundle — it's where the bundle lives.
People leave TickTick for the cloud silo and the subscription, not because the features are weak. TickTick is a real all-in-one: tasks, habits, pomodoro, and calendar, bundled for roughly $36/year. If you want that bundle across every platform, it's legitimately good value.
The friction comes later: your entire system sits inside TickTick's cloud, accessed through TickTick's apps and renewed every year. TickTick can export a backup, but it is not a plain-text working file you can open and edit directly. Plainlist's answer: keep the useful parts — tasks, planning, habits, goals — in one plain-text file you own. You lose the bundle; you gain the file.
What a single file gives you
Three things one plain-text file gives you that a bundle can't.
Not “we're better” — specific things that change once your day and its rhythms share one file.
Your system outlives the subscription
If Premium lapses, TickTick keeps your data but limits Premium features and adding more. A .todo file keeps working after any payment, app, or company decision — it opens in Vim, VS Code, or TextEdit.
Day and rhythms live together
In TickTick, tasks and habits are separate modules. In Plainlist, a habit (@every or @quota) and a recurring task sit lines apart in the same file — one surface, one source of truth.
No migration ever needed again
The format is open text. Whatever comes next, your plan comes with you — no export tool, no CSV reshaping.
Moving over
Migration is manual — and we won't pretend otherwise.
TickTick does support data export, so your tasks aren't trapped. But the export lands as a structured file that needs reshaping into TaskPaper-style plain text — projects, priorities, recurring rules, and habit history don't map one-to-one. Expect a one-time 30–60 minute job. If you're deep in TickTick's calendar/pomodoro bundle, weigh that effort against what you actually use — many people find they use 20% of the bundle and pay for 100%.
Practical path
- Export or copy one active TickTick list.
- Paste into a new
.todofile. - Add
-bullets and any @tags you want.
Then plan
- Give today's tasks a
@start. - Rebuild recurring items with
@everyor@quota. - Let Done become your log.
# Reshaped from a TickTick list export Work: - draft launch copy @start(2026-07-18) @est(2h) - send onboarding email @est(15m) Beside the work: - morning pages @every(day) - gym @quota(3/week)
Supporting detail
Plainlist vs TickTick, feature by feature.
TickTick wins on cross-platform reach and the pomodoro/calendar bundle; Plainlist wins on ownership, price, and keeping day + habits in one file. Checked July 2026. Re-check current pricing on TickTick's site before deciding.
@every / @quota in-file@spanWhere TickTick still wins: cross-platform apps everywhere, the pomodoro timer, and the all-in-one calendar. If those are core to your system, keep TickTick — it's good value for what it bundles.
Which one is you
Plainlist is the right call if…
Switch to Plainlist if you mainly use TickTick for tasks and habits, resent the yearly subscription, and want your system as a file you own.
Pick Plainlist if
- You pay for TickTick but rarely touch the pomodoro or calendar.
- You want habits and tasks in the same file instead of separate modules.
- You plan on a Mac and don't need mobile today.
- You want to stop renting access to your own to-do list.
The $36/year you stop paying covers Plainlist twice over in the first year.
The honest trade-off
TickTick is more bundled — a calendar, a Pomodoro timer, and true cross-platform reach today. Plainlist is one file with fewer built-in tools, paid once. If you lean on TickTick's extra tools daily, staying is the right call. The full “stay with TickTick” list is right below.
Honest cons
You should NOT switch if…
Stay with TickTick if you live on Android/iOS, rely on the pomodoro timer, or use its calendar as your primary calendar.
Stay with TickTick if…
Do you manage tasks from your phone?
Plainlist is macOS-only today — that's a real blocker if your tasks live on your phone. Mobile is coming soon, but not here yet. TickTick runs on iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, web, and smartwatches.
Is the pomodoro timer part of how you work?
Plainlist deliberately doesn't bundle one. Apps like TickTick do that better. If pomodoro is in your daily rhythm, keep it.
Is TickTick's calendar your actual calendar?
If TickTick's calendar is your primary calendar, moving just the tasks splits your system. Plainlist is for the person who wants the day and its rhythms in one file, not a bundle in a cloud.
Can I import my TickTick tasks automatically?
No. TickTick can export a backup from its settings, but there's no one-click import into Plainlist's plain-text format — you reshape it by hand.
Is there a free tier of Plainlist like TickTick's?
There's a 14-day free trial, then a one-time purchase — no ongoing free tier. TickTick's free plan covers basic use indefinitely at no cost.