Ultra Reminders vs Todoist: One-Time AI vs Subscription

Ultra Reminders vs Todoist is $35 one-time on-device AI vs $48-a-year cloud parser: Ultra runs Qwen 3 locally and syncs through Apple Reminders, Todoist stores everything in its own cloud.

I've been a Todoist Pro subscriber for the better part of seven years. Off and on. Mostly on. Then I built Ultra Reminders, partly because the math on Todoist had stopped working for me and partly because I couldn't shake the feeling that my entire task history was sitting on someone else's server in California. This piece is the comparison I wish someone had written for me before I clicked subscribe back in 2019.

Fair warning. I have a horse in this race. I built Ultra Reminders. So read this critically. The features are real, the pricing is real, the feature gaps are real, but the recommendation is mine.

Quick verdict

Mac user who already trusts Apple Reminders: Ultra Reminders. The $35 one-time cost beats $48 a year forever, the AI runs on your machine, and you keep iCloud sync. Pixel-half-the-week or Windows user: Todoist. There is genuinely no better cross-platform option, and that justifies the subscription. Heavy team collaborator with shared projects across many people: Todoist edges out, mostly because Apple Reminders' shared list sync still has rough edges in 2026.

Side by side

Where Ultra Reminders wins

• One-time price. $35 once vs $48 every year. Over 5 years that's $35 vs $240. Over 10 it's $35 vs $480. The math gets worse for Todoist the longer you stay.
• Local AI. Qwen 3 runs on your Mac. Brain dumps cluster locally. Nothing leaves your device. If you work in legal, healthcare, or any context where data residency matters, this is the difference between "I can use this" and "no thanks".
• Apple Reminders as source of truth. Your iPhone, Watch, and shared lists keep working with the native Apple app. Ultra Reminders is the power layer, not a replacement. If you ever stop using Ultra, your data lives on, in iCloud, in Reminders. Todoist is its own walled garden. Stop paying, lose access to your archive.
• Multi-level nested subtasks. Tasks under tasks under tasks. Apple Reminders is one level. Todoist is technically deeper but the UI flattens it past two levels. Ultra Reminders treats nesting as a first-class concept.
• Sub-second capture. Hotkey, type, enter, gone. Todoist's Quick Add is good but it opens a window. Ultra Reminders is a menu bar pop that takes a fraction of a second.
• Hindi and Hinglish. The Qwen model handles "kal subah 7 baje doctor ko call karna" and parses it correctly. Todoist's parser is English-only with limited European language support.

Where Todoist wins

• Cross-platform. This is the killer feature and Ultra Reminders does not match it. Todoist works equally well on a Pixel, a Windows laptop, a Linux machine, a Chromebook, anywhere. If you genuinely use non-Apple devices for work, Todoist is the answer.
• Mature collaboration. Native shared projects, threaded comments, project-level access controls. Apple Reminders' shared lists have improved but still bug out in 2026 (one direction works, the other doesn't sync, or full iCloud accounts block sync entirely).
• Browser extensions. Todoist's extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari are excellent. Add a task from any web page in one keystroke. Ultra Reminders relies on Reminders' Safari share sheet and Shortcuts.
• API and integrations. Zapier, Make, IFTTT, custom workflows, all rich. Todoist is the integration darling. Ultra Reminders is local-first which means most third-party integrations aren't there yet.
• Karma and streaks. Honestly, some people genuinely respond to the gamification. If you're one of them, that's a feature, not a bug.
• Web app. You can log in from any browser, anywhere. Ultra Reminders is a Mac app. No web fallback.

"I left Todoist twice and came back twice. The third time I switched to Reminders plus a power layer and finally stopped paying."
paraphrased from r/macapps, March 2026

"I tried Todoist on my Mac and it just felt like a wrapped web view. Which it kind of is."
paraphrased from r/productivity, December 2025

Pricing

Ultra Reminders is $35 once. That's the entire purchase. There's a 14-day free trial. After that you pay $35 and you own it. No subscription, no renewal, no AI tier behind a paywall. Future versions may charge for major upgrades (think Things 3 going from version 2 to 3) but the version you bought keeps working.

Todoist is $48 per year for Pro. There's a Free tier but it caps you at 5 personal projects, no recurring task previews, no reminders (the irony), and the AI Assistant lives behind Pro. There's a Business tier at $72 per user per year. The Beginner Pro plan that Doist tested in 2024 was discontinued in 2025.

Total cost of ownership over 3 years:

• Ultra Reminders: $35
• Todoist Pro: $144
• Todoist Business: $216

Over 5 years:

• Ultra Reminders: $35
• Todoist Pro: $240
• Todoist Business: $360

Over 10 years:

• Ultra Reminders: $35
• Todoist Pro: $480
• Todoist Business: $720

The math is straightforward. If you stay on the Mac and you stay with Apple Reminders as your source of truth, Ultra Reminders pays for itself in less than a year and then keeps paying for itself forever.

For the broader cost-of-ownership conversation across the whole comparison cluster, see Apple Reminders vs Every Major To-Do App in 2026.

Who should pick which

1. You only use a Mac and an iPhone (or iPad). Ultra Reminders. Cleaner integration, lower cost, local AI, syncs back to Apple Reminders so your other devices keep working.
2. You use a Mac at work and a Pixel for personal. Todoist. Period. Nothing else matches the cross-platform story.
3. You use a Mac and a Windows machine half the week. Todoist. Same reason.
4. You're an independent consultant or solo founder on Apple devices. Ultra Reminders. The local AI prioritization is exactly what you need at the start of a busy day.
5. You manage a remote team of 8 with shared projects. Todoist. The collaboration story is more mature.
6. You manage a household of 4 with shared grocery lists. Apple Reminders alone (use the family share feature). Both Ultra Reminders and Todoist are overkill here.
7. You've tried five task apps and quit each one in 2 months. Try Ultra Reminders. The 14-day trial costs nothing. If you don't fall in love, $35 has not been spent and you go back to whatever you were on.
8. Privacy matters more than convenience. Ultra Reminders. Local AI, local storage, no servers.
9. Cross-platform browser extensions are a daily workflow. Todoist. Ultra Reminders has nothing equivalent.
10. You're comparing this against a different Apple-native power layer. See Ultra Reminders vs Apple Reminders: Side by Side for the head-to-head with the underlying app, Ultra Reminders vs Things 3: AI Capture vs Beautiful Stillness for the design-led alternative, and Apple Reminders vs Todoist: Why People Switch Both Ways for the no-Ultra version of the comparison. For the wider list of switch options, 7 Best Apple Reminders Alternatives in 2026 covers the field.

FAQ

Q: Will Ultra Reminders sync to my iPhone?

A: Yes, indirectly. Ultra Reminders writes to Apple Reminders via iCloud, so anything you create on the Mac shows up on your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch via the native Reminders app. The Ultra-specific features (multi-level nesting, advanced recurring rules) are visible on the Mac. Apple Reminders displays them as best it can on iOS.

Q: Does Todoist's AI work offline?

A: No. Todoist's parser and AI Assistant both run in Doist's cloud. Without internet, you can capture tasks but the AI features go dark. Ultra Reminders runs Qwen 3 on your Mac, so AI works on a plane, in a basement, or anywhere your Mac is.

Q: Can I migrate my Todoist tasks to Ultra Reminders?

A: Yes. Export your Todoist data as CSV (Settings then Backups), then import into Apple Reminders using the Reminders import flow or a Shortcuts script. Once tasks are in Apple Reminders, Ultra Reminders sees them automatically and you can layer the power features on top. There's no Ultra-specific importer, because Ultra reads Apple Reminders.

Q: What happens to my tasks if I stop paying for Todoist?

A: Your tasks remain in Doist's cloud but you lose access to most features. Free tier limits hit. Recurring tasks become invisible. You'd need to either resubscribe or export your data and migrate. With Ultra Reminders, you bought the app, so it keeps working forever, and your tasks live in iCloud regardless.

Q: What if I want a Things-style aesthetic with AI on top?

A: That's the gap nothing fills cleanly. Things 3 has the prettiest design in the category but no AI. Ultra Reminders has the AI but reads/writes through Apple Reminders, which is functional rather than beautiful. The honest answer in 2026 is you pick design or AI, not both. A few people do run both, Things 3 as the visual daily planner and Ultra Reminders parsing captures in the background, since both can sit on top of Apple Reminders. Fair warning though, that is two apps doing one job, and most people drop one within a month once the novelty wears off. If you genuinely care more about how the app looks than what it does, buy Things. If capture speed and a real daily plan matter more, Ultra Reminders is the pick.

Ultra Reminders solves AI parsing without paying forever and shipping data to a server. Free 14-day trial at ultrareminders.com.