Onyx vs Todoist: List or System?
Todoist is one of the best pure to-do apps ever made. The question isn't whether it's good — it's whether a to-do list alone is enough, or whether your tasks belong inside a larger personal system with notes, boards, and goals.
| Todoist | Onyx | |
|---|---|---|
| Core focus | Tasks and to-do lists, refined over a decade | A complete personal system: tasks, notes, kanban, goals, memory |
| Prioritization | Priority flags (P1–P4), filters, and labels | Eisenhower urgent/important matrix as a first-class view |
| Notes | Task comments and descriptions; no standalone notes | Full rich text notes with knowledge graph, folders, and attachments |
| Kanban | Board view on projects | Personal kanban boards synced with lists and the priority matrix |
| Goals | No native goal tracking | Life goals with time horizons, vision areas, and milestones |
| Focus tools | Via integrations | Built-in Pomodoro timer and Atrium spaced-repetition memory system |
| Platforms | Mature apps on every platform, offline support | Fast modern web app |
| Pricing | Free tier; Pro subscription for full features | Free during early access; planned $5/mo or $40/yr, everything included |
Where a to-do list stops
A dedicated task app optimizes one loop: capture, organize, check off. It does nothing for the context around tasks — the meeting notes that spawned them, the research they depend on, or the long-term goals they serve. So most Todoist users run a second app for notes and a third for goals, and the connections between them live in their head.
Onyx's bet is that for individuals, the connections are the point. One workspace where a note becomes a task, a task sits on a kanban board, and the board serves a goal — with an Eisenhower matrix deciding what deserves today. If that's the system you've been assembling from three apps, it's already assembled here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Onyx a Todoist alternative?
Yes, if what you want is broader than a to-do list. Onyx covers the same core job — capturing and prioritizing tasks — and adds native notes, kanban boards, life goals, and focus tools in the same workspace. If you only want tasks, Todoist remains a superb dedicated tool.
When is Todoist the better choice?
Choose Todoist if you need mature native apps on every platform with offline support, share projects with family or colleagues, or want the lightest possible pure to-do app. It has a decade of polish at exactly that job.
When is Onyx the better choice?
Choose Onyx if your tasks need context around them — the notes that produced them, the kanban board that tracks them, and the goals they serve. It replaces the app-juggling (to-do app plus notes app plus goals spreadsheet) with one connected personal system.
Does Onyx have an Eisenhower matrix like Todoist's priorities?
Onyx goes further than priority flags: the Eisenhower matrix is a built-in view that sorts tasks by urgent vs. important into four quadrants, so you decide what to do first based on both dimensions, not a single P1–P4 label.
Upgrade from list to system
Everything Todoist does for you, plus the context around it — free during early access.