July 22, 2026 · 7 min read

Google Tasks vs Todoist on iPhone, do you need the subscription?

This comparison usually gets framed as simple versus powerful. That framing skips the question that actually decides it, which is where your tasks need to live and what you are willing to pay to see them properly on iPhone.

The honest one-paragraph answer

Todoist is the stronger standalone task manager: labels, filters, priority levels, natural language input, and board views, with the most useful parts on the paid plan (around 4 dollars a month billed annually). Google Tasks is completely free and lives where Gmail and Google Calendar users already are, but its iPhone app is thin. If your tasks need to stay in Google, Todoist does not really solve that; it replaces the ecosystem instead of fixing the iPhone experience.

Where Todoist genuinely wins

Structure. Projects, sections, multi-level subtasks, labels, and saved filters. Google Tasks has flat lists and one level of subtasks.
Natural language. Type "every other Tuesday at 9am" and Todoist schedules it. Google Tasks recurrence is more rigid (see how Google Tasks recurring tasks work).
Cross-platform. Native apps for Windows and Mac alongside iPhone, Android, and the web.
Collaboration. Shared projects with assignments and comments, mostly on paid plans.

If you manage complex projects across platforms and do not care where the data lives, Todoist is a fair subscription.

Where Google Tasks wins

Price. Free, no tiers, no upgrade prompts.
Gmail and Calendar. Tasks appear in the Gmail side panel and on Google Calendar natively. Todoist connects to Google through add-ons and integrations, but it is a second system, not the same one.
Zero learning curve. Lists, checkboxes, dates. Nothing to configure.

What both leave broken on iPhone

Here is the part the usual comparisons skip. On iPhone, stock Google Tasks shows one list at a time, has no month or week planner, no alarms that ring, minimal widgets, no Apple Watch app, and no list sharing. Todoist fixes several of those, but its answer is: move your tasks out of Google and pay for the good parts, since time-based reminders and calendar views sit on the paid plan.

So Gmail-first users face a false choice: keep Google Tasks and accept a weak iPhone experience, or pay Todoist and lose the native Gmail and Calendar integration they picked Google Tasks for in the first place.

The third option: keep Google, upgrade the iPhone side

ETasks takes the other path: your tasks stay in Google Tasks with two-way sync, and the iPhone side gets the native treatment, free and ad-free:

Every list in one combined view, with drag and drop between lists
Real alarms that ring like your morning alarm, not just banners
Month, week, day, and agenda planning views
Eight widget types for Home Screen and Lock Screen, plus a full Apple Watch app
Shared lists by invite link, which stock Google Tasks cannot do at all
Offline-first editing, and a fully local mode with no Google account

The trade-off to know: ETasks is not a heavyweight project manager. No time tracking, no team dashboards, no karma scores. It is a task app for people whose tasks live in Google and whose devices are Apple.

How to decide in one minute

Choose Todoist if you need cross-platform project management with labels, filters, and team features, and leaving the Google ecosystem is acceptable.

Stay with stock Google Tasks if a bare checklist inside Gmail genuinely covers you and you rarely work from your phone.

Choose ETasks if Gmail and Google Calendar are home base but you want your iPhone to treat tasks seriously: alarms, widgets, planning views, sharing, and Watch, without a subscription.

Quick answers

Is Todoist better than Google Tasks? As a standalone app, yes: more structure, better input, more platforms. But it replaces Google Tasks rather than improving it, and the best features are paid.

Is Google Tasks good enough on iPhone? The backend is solid; the stock iPhone app is minimal. One list at a time, no alarms, no Watch app, no sharing.

Can I get Todoist-level features without leaving Google Tasks? On iPhone, yes. ETasks adds alarms, widgets, all-lists view, calendar planning, and shared lists on top of two-way Google Tasks sync, free.

Does Todoist sync with Google Tasks? No. Todoist integrates with Google Calendar and Gmail through add-ons, but it does not use Google Tasks as its backend.