We trust to-do apps with every task, deadline, and project that keep our lives running. Todoist is one of the better options around—sleek, dependable, and syncs flawlessly across everything. But as good as Todoist is, it’s still an app run by a third-party, which means if it shuts down, or worse, is sold, your data is left.
Now there are open-source Todoist alternatives that don’t charge you a monthly fee, and that’s the best way to take control of your data. This nagging thought sent me down a rabbit hole of open-source alternatives, and I eventually landed on Joplin—a completely free, open-source note-taking app that doubles as a surprisingly capable task manager.
Proprietary task managers don’t really belong to you
Subscriptions, lock-in, and “features” you didn’t ask for
Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOfCredit: Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
Don’t get me wrong—Todoist is fantastic at what it does. But the more I relied on it, the more I realized that I was building my entire productivity system on rented land. Every task, project note, and archived idea lived exclusively in Todoist’s cloud infrastructure. You pay an annual subscription for the privilege of not owning your own data.
And if you try exporting it, chances are you’ll get a messy CSV file that strips away all your carefully organized projects, subtasks, and due dates. It isn’t exactly portable, and it isn’t as usable in other apps as you’d think, at least without manual cleanup. In a world where setting up your own password cloud server is quite easy, a notes app that lets you own your data shouldn’t be too difficult—and it isn’t.
Why Joplin finally made me quit Todoist
Notes-first thinking beats endless checklists
Joplin caught my attention because it checks every box I care about: it’s open-source, completely free, supports robust task management, and most importantly, stores everything locally as plain Markdown files. No vendor lock-in, no mysterious cloud servers, no subscription fees. It’s also one of the best offline-first note apps that only sync when you decide.
The app itself is surprisingly well-polished for an open-source project. It runs smoothly on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, with a clean interface that doesn’t feel dated or clunky. Notes are organized in notebooks and sub-notebooks, there’s a powerful tagging system, and it even has a web clipper extension for Firefox and Chrome.
Joplin’s approach to note editing is also rather different. The writing interface is divided into two panes—one showing the raw Markdown you’re writing and the other showing the formatted result. I find this behavior annoying, as I’ve been using Markdown for a while. However, if you’re new to Markdown, being able to look at the Markdown syntax and its formatted result can help you get acquainted with it quickly.
What really stands out, though, is the flexibility. Joplin supports both inline task lists within notes and dedicated to-do notes with due dates, reminders, and checkboxes. I can create a task with a single click, assign it a due date, set a reminder, and organize it into project-specific notebooks. That’s pretty much how you’d operate in Todoist, except you’re not surrendering ownership of your data.
Afam Onyimadu / MUO
There’s also a thriving plugin ecosystem with over 400 community-developed plugins that extend functionality in ways Todoist never allows. You can find plugins for automatic backups, advanced task filtering, and even one that syncs your Omnivore reading highlights directly into Joplin.
My favorite is the To-do View plugin, which aggregates all my tasks from different notebooks into a single dashboard with due dates and priority levels. It’s essentially a lightweight version of Todoist’s task view, but completely customizable and running entirely on my local machine.
OS
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, FreeBSD, Terminal
Developer
Laurent Cozic (and community)
Price model
Free (open-source); Paid subscription for cloud storage
Joplin is a cross-platform, privacy-focused note-taking and task-management app. It supports rich features like Markdown notes, notebooks and tags, end-to-end encryption, a web clipper, self-hosted sync (via WebDAV/Nextcloud/Dropbox) or managed cloud sync with Joplin Cloud. It works offline, allows importing from Evernote, supports plugins and themes, and gives full control over your data.
Owning your data changes everything
Local files, real sync options, and no company holding the keys
Screenshot by Yadullah Abidi | No attribution required.
Unlike Todoist, which forces you into their cloud infrastructure, Joplin lets you choose how and where your data syncs. You can use Nextcloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV, or even just sync across your local network. If you’re privacy-conscious, you can enable end-to-end encryption so that even your sync provider can’t read your notes.
Regardless of the sync method you use, your tasks, project notes, and all other data sync seamlessly across multiple devices. Even if someone gains access to the cloud drive you use to sync Joplin, all they’ll see is gibberish. The encryption keys live only on your devices, which means you’re the sole person who can decrypt and read your data.
Regular notes are stored as plain Markdown files in a SQLite database, which means you can back them up, migrate them, or even grep through them from the command line if you want. There’s zero risk of losing years of work if a company pivots, gets acquired, or decides to sunset a product.
Where Joplin still falls short
Rough edges, mobile quirks, and things Todoist still does better
Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOfCredit: Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
To be fair, Joplin isn’t as immediately intuitive as Todoist. The first week of using Joplin will require some tinkering to set up sync, configure encryption, and organize your notebooks in a way that makes sense. The mobile app, while functional, doesn’t feel quite as snappy compared to Todoist’s versions as well.
Once you get past the initial learning curve, Joplin quickly becomes second nature. These are also the limitations that come naturally when working with an open-source app that relies on you to tell it just how much control you need. If you want tasks like synchronization and backups to work your way, you should be willing to set them up like that.
Privacy-first note-taking shouldn’t be a luxury
Powerful tools don’t necessarily need subscriptions
Switching from Todoist to Joplin wasn’t just about saving money on a subscription. It was about reclaiming control over the information that runs my life. In a world where companies change terms of service on a whim, get acquired, or shut down without warning, owning your data isn’t paranoia; it’s pragmatism.
Related
I switched from Obsidian to this actually open-source app and I’m not going back
True open-source note-taking, finally.
If you’re tired of renting your productivity system and want a powerful, flexible alternative that respects your privacy and puts you in the driver’s seat, give Joplin a shot. It’s free, it’s open-source, and most importantly, your data stays yours—forever.
