Choose Todoist if you work alone, or nearly alone, and the job is remembering things at the right moment. Choose ClickUp if a client or a collaborator needs to see status without asking you, or if your work has stages rather than just deadlines. A freelancer who picks ClickUp for a workload Todoist would carry spends the first fortnight configuring instead of working.
Some links earn the site a commission, without changing your price or our ranking. How we handle partnerships
These two get compared because they both end up answering 'where do my tasks live'. They answer it at completely different scales, and the cheaper one is not automatically the smaller decision.
Todoist Pro is 7 € a month billed monthly for one person; a team moves to Business at 10 € per user plus local taxes. ClickUp Core is $12 per user a month billed monthly. The two are priced in different currencies, and the price is not what separates them.
At a glance
| Criterion |  Todoist |  ClickUp |
|---|---|---|
| Used mainly for | Task capture, client to-do lists | Project and task management, team docs and goals |
| Entry price | €7.00/mo · Pro | $12.00/mo · Core |
| Free plan | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| Free trial | Not stated | ✕No |
| Works on | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, API | Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Apple Watch, Browser extension |
| Documented integrations | Google Calendar, Slack, Zapier, Make, API | Slack, HubSpot, Google Drive, GitHub, Zoom |
| Setup | Easy: minutes | Moderate: 1-2 hr |
| Main limitation | No Gantt or workload view, so it stops short of project management | The pricing page displays 60MB storage on Free Forever, while a separate official upgrade article references a 100MB threshold; verify the current enforced limit before relying on it |
| Our evidence level | Vendor documented | Vendor documented |
| Try it | Try Todoist ↗Partner link | Try ClickUp ↗Partner link |
Every cell comes from the tool's record, built from its official documentation and pricing page. The integrations listed are the ones the vendor documents, not tested by us.
Capture speed against structure
Todoist's whole argument is that typing 'invoice Ardent Friday 4pm' creates a dated task and nothing else happens. That sounds small until you count how often a task dies between thinking of it and recording it. ClickUp can be made fast too, but it arrives asking for spaces, folders, lists, statuses and custom fields, and the default configuration is built for a team of twelve. For a single person the setup cost is real and lands before any of the benefit does.
Where Todoist stops
There is no Gantt view, no workload view and no resource planning. If your projects are a sequence of deadlines this is not a limitation; if they are a sequence of stages with dependencies, you will be rebuilding that structure out of labels and filters, badly. Reminders and calendar sync also sit behind the paid plan, and the free tier caps active projects, which is usually what pushes a freelancer to the 7 € tier rather than any advanced feature.
Where ClickUp costs you
ClickUp's breadth is genuine and so is its overhead. Every view it offers is a decision you now have to make, and a solo user gets the full configuration surface with none of the team that justifies it. The second cost is per seat: at $12 a month month-to-month on Core, bringing in two collaborators for a three-month project is $72 of tooling on top of their fees. The annual rate drops to $9, but that is a twelve-month commitment for a three-month collaboration.
The client-visibility test
Ask one question: does anyone other than you need to look at the state of the work? If no, Todoist wins on every axis that matters and the comparison is over. If yes, Todoist starts requiring screenshots and status emails, and the time that costs each week is what ClickUp's seat price is actually buying. This is the same trade the Airtable and Notion comparison turns on, and it settles more tool decisions for freelancers than any feature list.
Pricing side by side
| Tool | Verified price | Billing condition | Free | Checked | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Todoist | €7.00/mo · Pro | 7 € a month for one person, billed monthly; 5 € a month billed annually (60 € a year); teams use Business at 10 € per user a month plus local taxes | Yes | 25.10.2026 | Visit ↗Partner link |
| ClickUp | $12.00/mo · Core | $9 per user/month billed yearly; $12 per user/month billed monthly | Yes | 03.11.2026 | Visit ↗Partner link |
Frequently asked questions
Is Todoist's free plan enough for a freelancer?
Often, for a while. It caps active projects, and the ceiling arrives when you start keeping one project per client. Reminders and calendar sync are also paid. Most people who stay past a few months end up on the 7 € Pro plan for the project count rather than for a feature.
Does ClickUp's free plan work for solo use?
Yes, and it is unusually generous. The reason to pay is rarely a capability you cannot reach on the free plan; it is usually guests, permissions or a view a client needs. Test that specific thing during the free period rather than the product in general.
Which is cheaper over a year?
For one person, Todoist Pro is 84 € a year month to month or 60 € on the annual plan; ClickUp Core is $144 or $108. They are priced in different currencies, so we do not rank them: either amount is small next to the cost of working in the wrong tool.
Can either replace a project management tool for client work?
ClickUp is one. Todoist is not trying to be, and treating it as one is the most common way people end up disappointed with it. If you need stages, dependencies and someone else's visibility, do not ask a task list to provide them.
Recently at these tools
Todoist: Task Capture Assist leaves beta, and tasks can be reordered in Today while a filter is on. Source ↗
ClickUp: Release 4.09: automations can create lists from templates, personal time off now feeds planning and workload, and parent task dates sync from their subtasks. Source ↗
Read on each vendor's official changelog, not tested by us.