Doist (Todoist)
Todoist is a bootstrapped to-do list and task app with 50M+ users, no VC funding.
On the record
Checkpoint: Any OS vendor shipping default AI task capture routed into its own native app instead of Todoist
The call
Todoist has outlasted bigger free rivals on habit and taste, and the open question is whether AI-native task capture at the OS level quietly starves its funnel.
Todoist helps millions of people organize their to-do lists and daily work. It is hard to replace because users have built habits around it over many years, and it works smoothly with many other tools people already use. However, Apple, Google, and Microsoft are all building task features into their own operating systems and AI assistants, and if those built-in tools become good enough, new users might never switch to Todoist in the first place. The real test is whether the big tech companies' free, pre-installed task managers grab enough new users that Todoist stops growing.
Why
01
AI pressure: OS-level AI assistants (Apple Intelligence, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot). If phones and PCs capture tasks by default via AI, new users may never open Todoist; MCP lets agents write into it instead, blunting that for now. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Microsoft To Do, Google Tasks, Apple Reminders (free, bundled with the OS). Free bundled task apps have sat next to Todoist for 15+ years without pulling meaningful share; the risk is AI making them good enough by default. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. 19 years of habit lock-in, 90-97% retention, and MCP hooks that let AI agents feed tasks into Todoist rather than replace it.
What would change this call
Apple, Google, or Microsoft ships default AI task capture routing to their own app instead of Todoist via MCP. Would show OS vendors are cutting off Todoist's top of funnel.
Reviews or churn data after the December 2025 Business tier price hike show measurable customer loss. Would show pricing power is weaker than retention numbers suggest.
Amir Salihefendic reduces public role or steps back from Doist without a named successor emerging. Would show key person risk crystallizing without bench strength.
Reviews or churn data after the December 2025 Business tier price hike show measurable customer loss. Would show pricing power is weaker than retention numbers suggest.
Amir Salihefendic reduces public role or steps back from Doist without a named successor emerging. Would show key person risk crystallizing without bench strength.
Key numbers
- $0 VC funding, 19 years bootstrapped
- 50M+ users on Todoist
- Business tier price up 33% ($6 to $8)
Named risks
- OS-level AI assistants from Apple, Google, or Microsoft could natively capture task creation, drying up new-user funnel.
- December 2025 price hike (33% on Business tier) risks user churn amid cheaper competitors like TickTick.
- Key-person dependency on founder Amir Salihefendic with no other named executive leadership publicly identified.
- Revenue and headcount figures wildly inconsistent across third-party trackers, no verified financials since company is private.
- Ramble AI feature still maturing, with only 62% task-creation success rate as of December 2025.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| TickTick | losing to | TickTick Premium priced $35.99/yr vs Todoist Pro $60/yr, undercutting on price as of 2026-07-12 |
| Notion | contesting | Notion launched Custom Agents for autonomous AI workflows in February 2026 |
| Microsoft To Do | contesting | Free, OS-bundled alternative backed by Microsoft distribution, ongoing threat to top-of-funnel signups |
| Apple/Google/Microsoft OS assistants | gaining on | OS-level AI (Apple Intelligence, Gemini, Copilot) could capture task creation natively, threat accelerating through 2026 |
| Things 3 | contesting | Apple-only, one-time purchase competitor praised for calmer design in 2026-05-17 review roundup |
Questions people ask
- Is Todoist profitable in 2026?
- Doist, the maker of Todoist, is a bootstrapped company with $0 in VC funding and states it has no plans to sell out or get acquired, as reaffirmed by founder Amir Salihefendic in May 2026. Exact profit figures are not disclosed, but the company has operated independently for 19 years without outside capital.
- Could AI replace Todoist?
- AI poses a real long-term risk since OS-level assistants like Apple Intelligence, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot could capture task creation natively. Todoist is responding by absorbing AI into its product via Ramble (GA January 21, 2026) and an MCP server letting Claude, ChatGPT, and Copilot read and write tasks directly.
- Who owns Todoist?
- Todoist is owned by Doist, a fully remote, founder-led private company started by Amir Salihefendic in 2007 in Aarhus, Denmark. Doist has raised $0 in venture capital and states explicitly it has no plans to sell out or get acquired, as of May 2026.
- Who is Todoist's biggest competitor?
- Todoist's closest rivals are TickTick, which undercuts on price at $35.99 per year versus Todoist Pro's $60, and Notion, which launched Custom Agents for autonomous AI workflows in February 2026. Free bundled apps like Microsoft To Do and Google's tools also compete for the same top-of-funnel users.
- Did Todoist raise its prices recently?
- Yes, on December 10, 2025 Todoist raised its Business plan annual pricing from $6 to $8 per user per month, a roughly 33 percent increase, which drew visible user criticism since it arrived without a simultaneous major feature launch.
- How many users does Todoist have?
- Todoist states it has 50 million-plus users as of its App Store listing dated July 6, 2026, while Wikipedia cited over 30 million registered users as of 2024. Google Play separately recorded 10 million-plus installs as of December 17, 2025.
Timeline
- 2026-06-25Doist MCP server GitHub repo updated, enabling Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Copilot to read and write Todoist tasks
- 2026-05-11Founder Amir Salihefendic reaffirms 50M users and bootstrapped status at Podim 2026 conference
- 2026-05-05Google Cloud publishes case study co-authored by Doist's CTO on Ramble's AI architecture
- 2026-02Notion launches Custom Agents for autonomous AI workflows, competing with Todoist's AI push
- 2026-01-21Todoist Ramble AI voice-to-task feature reaches general availability
- 2025-12-10Todoist raises Business plan annual pricing from $6 to $8 per user per month
- 2025-11-19Todoist Ramble public beta launches with roughly 150,000 testers
- 2025-08-01Founder states Doist has grown to over 120 employees across 30 countries
- 2025-05Notion eliminates standalone $10/mo AI add-on, pushing AI to $20/user/mo Business tier
Revision history
22 July 2026
First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- The remote company behind Todoist & Twist
- $11.2M Est. ARR, $33.7M Valuation (2025-09-01)
- Best Task Management for 2025 (2026-06-25)
- Todoist: To Do List & Calendar (App Store) (2026-07-06)
- Todoist (2026-06-12)
- Todoist: To Do List & Calendar (Google Play) (2026-07-08)
- How Amir Salihefendić Scaled Doist with Asynchronous Work (2025-08-01)
- Todoist vs Notion 2026: Honest Comparison, Pricing Tested (2026-06-10)
- Introducing Todoist Ramble (2026-01-21)
- Todoist's app now lets you add tasks to your to-do list by speaking to its AI (2026-01-21)
- Turning stream of consciousness into real action (2026-05-05)
- Doist/todoist-mcp GitHub (2026-06-25)