Lovable
Good default for a synced web app with auth.
Productivity · updated 2026-11-03
Can you vibe code a Todoist clone?
Easy: Yes, easily Yes for a personal to-do app in a day; the polish Todoist sells is natural-language dates, recurring tasks and native apps everywhere.
3–8 h
MVP build time
$0–$35/mo
Your running cost
$5/mo
Todoist Pro
up to $60
Saved per year
The honest verdict
A web to-do app with projects, due dates and labels is a textbook vibe coding project. The harder parts are recurring task rules, quick-add parsing like "every other Friday at 9", reminders that fire on your phone, and fast sync across devices. Todoist Pro is $5 a month on annual billing, so build it if you want a workflow that fits you exactly or want to learn.
Todoist is a to-do list and task manager with projects, natural-language dates, reminders and apps on every platform. This page is about building your own version for personal or internal use, or to learn how this kind of product works, not about copying Todoist to compete with it. How we grade.
What's easy and what's hard
Easy with AI
- Tasks, projects and labels
- Due dates and priority
- Today and upcoming views
- Keyboard shortcuts
Hard (where AI won't save you)
- Recurring tasks with complex rules
- Natural-language date parsing
- Reminders and push notifications on mobile
- Offline sync and conflict handling across devices
- Native apps, widgets and integrations
Todoist feature checklist
Difficulty is for a solo builder using an AI coding tool. Skip means not worth building yourself.
| Feature | Difficulty | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Tasks, projects, labels | Easy | Simple relational schema. |
| Today and upcoming views | Easy | Queries by due date in the user's time zone. |
| Quick add with natural language | Medium | Use a date-parsing library; LLM parsing works but adds latency and cost. |
| Recurring tasks | Medium | Store an RRULE and generate the next occurrence on completion. |
| Reminders | Medium | Scheduled jobs plus email or web push. |
| Subtasks and drag-and-drop ordering | Medium | Fractional indexing keeps ordering cheap. |
| Shared projects | Medium | Membership table and permission checks on every query. |
| Native mobile apps and widgets | Skip | A PWA covers most personal use. |
Build time and running costs
Your own version vs Todoist, at personal or small-team scale.
Build time
- Working MVP for yourself
- 3–8 h
- Polished, relied on daily
- 3–6 days
- MVP time at $50/h equals
- 55 months of Todoist
Todoist price (checked 2026-11-03)
Pro: $5/mo billed annually
Beginner plan is free; Pro is $5 a month billed yearly ($7 monthly); Business is $8 per user a month billed yearly.
Source: todoist.com/pricing. Prices change; check before deciding.
| Running cost | Per month | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | $0 | Free tier. |
| Database and auth | $0–$25 | Free tier for one person or a small team. |
| Email reminders | $0–$10 | Transactional email free tier. |
| Total | $0–$35/mo | Saves up to $60 a year vs Todoist Pro; at the top of the range it costs $360 a year more. |
Recommended vibe coding tools
Starter prompt
Paste it into your tool, then ask for a plan before any code. Edit the specifics to match what you need.
prompt.txt
Build a personal task manager web app (PWA) for me. Features: - Projects, tasks, subtasks, labels, priority (P1-P4), due date and optional time. - Quick add bar that parses natural language like 'Pay rent every month on the 1st #home p1' into due date, recurrence, project and priority using a date-parsing library. - Recurring tasks stored as RRULE; completing one creates the next occurrence. - Views: Inbox, Today (including overdue), Upcoming (7 days), per project, per label. - Keyboard shortcuts (q for quick add, j/k to move, x to complete). - Optional email or web push reminders. - Drag to reorder using fractional indexes. Data model: projects, tasks (id, user_id, project_id, parent_id, title, notes, priority, due_at, rrule, completed_at, sort_key), labels, task_labels. Security: - Auth required; every query scoped by user_id via row level security or server checks. - Sanitize task notes if rendered as Markdown. - Tests for recurrence and time zone handling.
Security pitfalls to check
AI tools often get these wrong by default. Check each one before anyone else uses the app.
- 01Rendering Markdown notes without sanitizing allows stored XSS.
- 02Shared projects need permission checks on every read and write, not just in the UI.
- 03Database rules that check only that a user is logged in, not that they own the row, expose everyone's tasks.
- 04Reminder emails should not include sensitive task content if they go to shared inboxes.
Indie makers who built a real productivity business
They went far past the prototype: support, payments, reliability and years of iteration. Their profiles show what that took.
Mustafa Yusuf built Tasks
To-do and kanban app for Apple platforms, featured as App of the Day.
Chris Raroque built Ellie
Minimalist daily planner with timeboxing.
Leo Mehlig built Structured
Visual day planner combining tasks and calendar.
Or just use these indie-made tools instead
If you need Todoist's job done rather than a project, these are built and supported by independent makers.
Ellie
ellieplanner.com
Minimalist daily planner with brain dump, timeboxing and calendar timeline across web, desktop and iOS.
by Chris Raroque
Benji
benji.so
All-in-one Life OS for tasks, habits, routines, journaling, fasting, workouts and nutrition across web, mobile and desktop.
SyncTasks
synctasks.app
Minimalist iOS to-do app that syncs tasks with Notion, built with developer @karl_apps.
by Easlo
Tasks
thetasks.app
To-do list, reminders and kanban app for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro; featured by Apple as App of the Day.
by Mustafa Yusuf
Structured
structured.app
Visual day planner that combines tasks, calendar events and focus sessions in a single timeline.
by Leo Mehlig
What building it teaches you
You learn data modeling, recurrence rules and keyboard-driven UI, all skills that transfer to bigger apps.
Can you vibe code these too?
Vibe coding Todoist: FAQ
Can you vibe code a Todoist clone?
Easy. Yes for a personal to-do app in a day; the polish Todoist sells is natural-language dates, recurring tasks and native apps everywhere.
How long does it take to vibe code a Todoist clone?
A working personal or internal MVP takes about 3–8 h with a tool like Lovable. A polished version you would rely on every day takes about 3–6 days, mostly spent on recurring tasks with complex rules.
How much does it cost to run your own Todoist alternative?
Expect $0–$35/mo at personal or small-team scale (hosting, database and auth, email reminders). Todoist Pro costs $5/mo (checked 2026-11-03), so the most you would save is $60 a year, before counting your time.
Can I build my own to-do app like Todoist with AI?
Yes. A web to-do app with projects, labels, due dates and recurring tasks is a realistic one-day vibe coding project. Native mobile apps and reliable push reminders take much longer.
How much does Todoist Pro cost?
Todoist Pro is $5 a month billed yearly or $7 billed monthly, and Business is $8 per user a month billed yearly, checked on 2026-11-03.
How do recurring tasks work in a to-do app?
Most apps store a recurrence rule in the iCalendar RRULE format and create the next occurrence when you complete the current one. Libraries exist for parsing and generating these rules.
Is it legal to build your own Todoist clone?
Building your own tool that solves the same problem is common and generally fine. Copying Todoist's code, design assets, brand name or content is not. Use your own name and design, respect their terms of service, and get proper advice if you plan to sell it. This page is not legal advice.