TickTick vs. Microsoft To Do Summary
Who is TickTick for?
TickTick is a feature rich task management app that also integrates productivity features found in other apps: habit tracking, note taking, Eisenhower matrix, Pomodoro timers etc.
TickTick is ideal for people who need a generalist to-do app that can do many things at once and thus replace multiple other apps such as habit trackers or simple note apps.
Who is Microsoft To Do for?
Microsoft To Do is a completely free task management apps with a decent number of features, but with the mention that Microsoft To Do wants to be used in a certain way. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending if your needs fit what Microsoft To Do can offer.
Microsoft To Do is also integrated with the Microsoft software ecosystem, but in our experience this integration isn’t as good as how Google Tasks is integrated into Google’s ecosystem.
Unfortunately, the interface isn’t as simple to use as other to-do apps. Because of this fact alone, we think only people and organizations that are deeply integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem should use this app.
Ease of use
TickTick ease of use
TickTick’s user interface is simple and straightforward, but is also very modular and easy to configure.
For example, you can customize the “Add task” button itself. You can change what features are available to customize the task: tags, convert to note, add image, set priority etc.
Similarly, you can also customize what features you want to use (or not use) in the bottom navigation bar: calendar view, Pomodoro timer, habit tracker, search function, countdown etc.
The modularity of TickTick is one of its greatest strengths, since you can make it as complex or as simple as you want.
However, this modularity can also make its interface appear cluttered and chaotic if you use all of its features.
Microsoft To Do ease of use
The biggest problem with Microsoft To Do is its user interface. Most task apps let you see or create a task from the first screen when opening the app.
Microsoft To Do does things differently, and the first screen you see in the app shows you various subdivisions such as My Day, Important, Planned etc.
These subdivisions cause confusion whenever you open the app, since you spend a second or two each time trying to remember what each section does, or where a task is located.
Another problem with Microsoft To Do is that many common actions require extra clicks, taps or swipes compared to competing apps.
Over time, this creates frustration and makes using the app feel like work rather than as a tool to write stuff down quickly.
For example, creating a task requires two clicks in Microsoft To Do instead of a single one in most other to-do apps.
This is because you first click on a task list, and then click on the add task button.
Organization
TickTick organization
TickTick lets you organize tasks in the following ways:
- Lists: such as Work, Personal, Inbox.
- Sections: sub divisions of lists.
- Priority: From High to No Priority.
- Labels: custom labels you can attach to any task.
- Subtasks: for simplifying a task into smaller steps.
If you want to save information, you can choose to convert a task into a note. This lets you write quickly write down a lot of information. It’s not as advanced as Evernote or Google Keep, but it’s great for saving information in the same place as tasks.
You can also attach checklists to individual tasks or subtasks, so you can better visualize all the steps required to complete the to-do.
The extra flexibility the features provide is great, but it does take a while to train your eyes so you can immediately recognize what is a task, what is a checklist, and what is a note.
Overall, TickTick gives you lots of different ways to store your tasks and ideas, and then to organize each one into its own little corner.
Unfortunately, TickTick doesn’t have a search function or good filtering features. If you are an intensive user you have to properly organize and label your tasks, otherwise you risk having “orphan” tasks and projects that are hidden away and easy to forget.
Microsoft To Do organization
Microsoft To Do has the following task organization options for tasks:
- Groups
- Lists
- My Day
Groups contain lists, and lists contains tasks. My Day is a pre-built filter that shows tasks that are due within 24-36 hours.
Microsoft To Do doesn’t have a tagging feature, which can be a valuable feature for some users since it helps them better organize and filter their tasks.
Another big missing feature is subtasks. In Microsoft To Do, you can break down a task into steps, but these steps mostly work as a simple checklist, instead of actual tasks that are subordinate to a main task.
In other to-do apps, subtasks have the same features as regular tasks: reminders, labels, priority signs, descriptions, file attachments etc.
For finding tasks, Microsoft To Do has a built in search where you can quickly navigate to tasks or lists. We like this feature, it’s very handy and surprisingly rare among task management apps.
Each task list also has a sorting feature for organizing tasks based on the following criteria: importance, due date, tasks in My Day section, alphabetically or by task creation date.
A minor criticism here is that Microsoft To Do doesn’t have a unified task list that contains all of your tasks from every group or list.
This would have been nice so you could see all your active tasks in one place, without constantly switching from one task list to another.
Scheduling and reminders
TickTick scheduling and reminders
Ticktick’s reminder features lets you schedule reminders for both one-time tasks, or repeating tasks.
For repeating tasks, you can schedule them to repeat in any time configuration you want:
- Repeats every day, except on weekends.
- Repeat every week, but only Monday and Tuesday.
- Repeat every month on the first workday etc.
- First workday or last workday of the month.
- Second or third Wednesday of the month etc.
The paid version of TickTick adds more features such as:
- Constant Reminders. A reminder that stays active for 5 minutes (on Android) or non-stop (iOS) until manually stopped.
- Task duration for calendar view.
- Location reminders.
Microsoft To Do scheduling and reminders
In Microsoft To Do, tasks can have both a reminder and a due date. The Due Date feature is mostly used to organize tasks based on urgency and when they must be completed.
The reminder feature lets you create single use or repeat tasks.
Reminders for tasks that repeat daily or weekly work great. However, repeating reminders for monthly and yearly tasks is a bit more limited.
Here are some of the configurations you can schedule a task in Microsoft To Do:
- Repeat every week, but only on certain days such as Wednesday or Tuesday.
- Repeat every 5 weeks, but only on certain days.
- Repeat every month, but only on a certain calendar day (the 3rd for example).
Monthly reminders could be better. For example, Google Tasks or Todoist lets you customize a monthly reminder to receive a notification on the first Monday of the month, or the last Tuesday of the month, or a certain day of the month, etc.
Finally, it would have been nice if Microsoft To Do let you attach multiple reminders to a single task, like 3 hours before, 2 hours before, on time of task etc.
Calendar and other integrations
TickTick calendar and other integrations
Unfortunately, TickTick calendar integrations are only available on the paid version of the app.
This means the free version of TickTick doesn’t let you add new tasks and to-do’s on your Google, Outlook or iCloud calendar.
You can however allow TickTick to read and display events from your calendars inside the app.
Besides the calendars, TickTick also supports a handful of other major integrations such as: Notion, Gmail, Outlook and IFTTT.
Microsoft To Do calendar and other integrations
One reason to use Microsoft To Do is its integration with the Microsoft ecosystem, in particular with Outlook and Microsoft Teams.
Problem is that this integration isn’t automatic. Creating a task in Microsoft To Do and adding a due date and reminder to it doesn’t automatically add it to Outlook Calendar.
We’ve investigated this a bit more and it turns out that you must manually copy/paste tasks from the Microsoft To Do app to the Outlook Calendar as if it’s the year 2000.
Integrating with other calendars such as Google Calendar or iCal also isn’t possible directly, but requires complex workarounds.
Overall, we’ve found Microsoft To Do to poorly integrate with calendars, including Microsoft’s own Outlook Calendar.
AI Features and Integrations
TickTick AI Features and Integrations
TickTick doesn’t natively support any integrations with AI/LLMs such as ChatGPT.
You might be able to improvise something using various tools such as IFTTT, but it’s not guaranteed it will work properly.
TickTick also has a very basic implementation of natural language processing. In theory, this feature should let you save tasks by writing them, and then having the app figure out the title, date, repeat times etc.
However, TickTick’s implementation is slow and doesn’t work that well, which is probably why the feature is turned off by default.
Microsoft To Do AI Features and Integrations
Microsoft To Do doesn’t have any AI features built into the app.
However, Microsoft does offer some basic natural language processing features on the Windows and iOS versions of the app, but is only available in English.
This natural language feature recognizes certain words such as “tomorrow”, “Friday” or “11 PM” and automatically transforms them into reminders.
Special or unique features
TickTick special or unique features
TickTick is a generalist to-do app that combines many different kinds of features into a single package. Out of all these features, these are the ones we like the most:
- Customization. In our experience, TickTick is the most modular and customizable to-do app on the market. You can make it as simple or as complex as you want.
- Notes and checklists. Great for users who want to add more context and information to their tasks.
- Various tools such as: Eisenhower matrix, habit tracking, Pomodoro focus timer, etc. TickTick is great for people that use these features, since it removes the need for installing multiple apps.
Microsoft To Do special or unique features
Microsoft To Do feels distinct in comparison to its competitors, with a very particular philosophy on how tasks should be done.
Below are the features that make it stand out:
- The “My Day” list. We like this feature, it automatically lets you view tasks that are due today or a bit later than that. It’s simple and clean.
- Integration with the Microsoft ecosystem. We wish the integration with Outlook Calendar would have been better, but overall this is a big advantage of Microsoft To Do.
- Flagged email. If you use Outlook as your main email client, this feature allows you to flag an email and it automatically appears in Microsoft To Do as a task. It’s a great feature that helps organize your tasks and declutters your emails.
Cross-platform compatibility
TickTick cross-platform compatibility
TickTick is available for download on the following platforms:
- Desktop/laptops: Windows and macOS.
- Mobile: Android and iOS.
- Other: Android and iOS smartwatches.
TickTick also has a web version for both mobile and desktop.
Microsoft To Do cross-platform compatibility
Microsoft To Do can be downloaded on the following platforms:
- Desktop/laptops: Windows and macOS.
- Mobile: Android and iOS.
Microsoft To Do also has web versions for both mobile and desktop.
Collaboration and sharing
TickTick collaboration and sharing
TickTick offers a basic form of collaboration, where two or more users can work together to complete tasks found within a list.
Users can assign tasks to other users, and even comment on tasks to provide more information.
This is about the extent of TickTick’s collaboration features. In our opinion, they are sufficient for sharing tasks with family and friends, or even small work projects.
Microsoft To Do collaboration and sharing
Microsoft To Do lets you collaborate with others by sharing task lists, but only to other users who have a Microsoft account.
The feature is also quite limited however since you cannot leave comments or assign tasks to different people.
We’ve found the feature to mostly be useful for families, or small projects with 2-3 people.
Microsoft To Do is only worth using for collaboration if your organization or company uses Microsoft for day-to-day operations. Apps such as Planner, Teams, Sharepoint or Outlook work well with Microsoft To Do, and allow users to send, assign or share tasks directly to the users todo app.
Pricing
TickTick pricing
The paid version of TickTick has a single subscription plan:
- Premium: $4 per month / $36 yearly ($3 per month).
The paid version of TickTick unlocks numerous features:
- More calendar views (monthly/weekly/day/3-day).
- Integrations with calendars from Google, Outlook, iCal etc.
- Notion integration.
- More attachments per day (99 vs 1 in free).
- More tasks per list.
- Etc.
Microsoft To Do pricing
Microsoft To Do is completely free.