TickTick:To Do List & Calendar reviews
What users love and hate, from real reviews
TickTick is a 'second brain' for overloaded minds (ADHD users especially), winning by fusing tasks, habits, calendar and pomodoro into one screen — but losing anyone who needs reliable reminders without constantly opening the app.
What users love
Merging tasks, habits and calendar into one view is the core retention mechanism
People stay for years not for any single feature but because tasks, habits and appointments live in one day in the right order — turning the app into a daily route, not a list. This is exactly why they call it a 'second brain'.
Love that I can put both habits and tasks into the same calendar view (which also has may appts) so the whole thing runs as a to do list for the day in the order I need to do it
A tool that seemlesly combines to do lists with calendar
you just want them all in one place
The app became the go-to tool for the ADHD brain
An entire ADHD segment describes TickTick as fixing executive function: it holds the chaos of school, habits and projects in one place without the pressure of streaks. It's an organically found niche competitors don't own as clearly.
this app literally changed my life - a life saver for the ADHD brain
it's awesome for ADHD
I struggle with my day to day chores and routines due to my ADHD
Tick-off-from-widget without opening the app is an underrated habit hook
Ticking a task straight from the home-screen widget is what makes people switch from other apps. It removes the friction between 'remembered' and 'checked off', and users name this small thing as the deciding factor.
the best app widget that lets you check off items without jumping to the app
especially with widget comparability
especially with widgets on my home screen
Smart date recognition in text speeds entry — but sometimes guesses wrong
Parsing dates and times straight from the task text removes the most tedious step and users call it really handy. It lowers entry friction enough that people capture more than in rival apps.
The smart date and time recognition is really handy and really simplifies assigning task due dates
The app automatically assumes things based on what I write on the task, like certain days or times
It does not recognize dates correctly
The built-in pomodoro turns the planner into a focus tool
A pomodoro timer right inside tasks moves the app from 'where to write it' to 'how to do it'. Students and procrastinators cite it specifically as the productivity driver, not just the list.
it helped focuse more because of the pomodoro method
Also the pomo thingy is really useful
It has a built in pomo timer
Cross-platform mobile+desktop+web keeps professionals locked in
Starting a list on the phone and continuing on desktop without losing context is what keeps professionals for years. It turns the app into a workstation, not a phone gadget, and raises the cost of leaving.
you can make a list on your phone and pick up where you left off on your desktop
Reliable and easy to use simultaneously across multiple devices including phones, tablets and PCs
integrates very well with PC and web apps
What users hate
Unreliable background sync breaks trust even for paying users
Tasks a user sorted into sections jump back to 'Not Sectioned', and edits take hours to reach other devices — even on a paid plan. For a 'second brain' this is fatal: if the data can't be trusted, people stop putting their life in it.
only to come back and find them under a default "Not Sectioned" section
hours after input is done on one device it still doesn't show up on another device let alone on the widgets
completed tasks or habits don't seem to sync causing notifications to complete on my phone
Reminders only work if the app stays open — a failure of the core job
A reminder app is useless if it needs to stay open: users flatly say it doesn't help unless you sit at a desk. It breaks the very reason people install one — to catch you when you've forgotten.
the app is useless unless you are constantly checking it or keeping it open
You will not get your reminders if you do not open the app several times a day
You can't use it for on the go reminders and list
Forced account creation kills people at the very first step
Being unable to make a simple list without an account scares off a whole class of users who want a quick notepad, not a service. They leave before seeing a single strong feature — a loss at the cheapest point of the funnel.
I don't want to have to log on to a service just to create a to do list on my phone
Can't use it without creating an account
You also are forced to make a google account just to use it
The schedule is buried in unintuitive views — losing neurodivergent users
The irony: the app is loved for being ADHD-friendly, yet some neurodivergent users can't even find their day — red minuses mean 'active', green checks mean 'not', views are scattered. For a brain that needs clarity, this creates anxiety and pushes them out.
They have red minus signs, which mean things are active, and green check marks, which mean things are not active
there was no way to actually view it in a way that made sense to my brain
the calendar inside the app stopped showing up
Forcing recurring tasks into the inbox breaks list hygiene
Any recurring task is forced into the inbox where you can't remove it except by deleting, and even a tagged shopping list is painful to build. For users who came for structure, this turns tidying into a chore.
Any task you set to a repeat is forced into the inbox which is extremely annoying
it is a challenge to add an item in a list without having items appearing in the IN box and have a task date
still frustrated in how to get something done in a straight-forward way
Weak smartwatch/WearOS support cuts off the on-the-go scenario
On Galaxy Watch functions don't work and users get sent back to the phone; there are no tiles or complications. For an app meant to catch you on the move, this drives users to rivals exactly when they need a quick glance.
Certain functions do not work on the watch, and they direct you to the phone
I had to briefly branch out to other apps for habits and schedules because I couldn't have my TickTick ones be readable on my watch
I do not get notifications from my watch
Eisenhower matrix defaults everything to 'not important' — a feature with no effect
The Eisenhower matrix should force prioritization, but it dumps everything into 'not urgent, not important' by default, and the habit tracker is equally passive — it doesn't nudge you to keep the habit. The tools exist but the behavioral push doesn't.
by default it keeps everything in "not urgent and not important" block which is incorrect
It should promote a user to stick to habit but it doesn't do anything like so
if I m checking the habit for that day it put it in complete but create copy of d same
No per-day custom time for habits — breaks real-life schedules
A habit can only have one time across the whole week, but real life is gym Monday at 9, Tuesday at 12. This rigidity pushes out exactly the users who wanted to merge habit gamification with their actual schedule.
ticktick doesn't allow the simple luxury of being able to set custom time slots for u habit
repeating tasks randomly dissapearing or shrinking in size whenever you check a done task
Each task should have a system of how many hours it takes
To see the week ahead you must assign tasks to days — no planning view
The app is a great daily checklist but a poor planning tool: you can't view a week without nailing tasks to specific days, and you can't keep a calendar event without turning it into a task. It traps people in 'today' mode and blocks thinking ahead.
the ability to view a task list for the week ahead, without actually allocating tasks to specific days
good for daily to do , but not for planning
I wish there was an option to put in a calendar event that stays in the calendar in the day/time you make it and it doesn't have to be ticked off
An aggressive upfront paywall hits activation before the product proves value
Basics — event duration, full-month calendar, more than 10 lists — sit behind the subscription, and the paywall pops on the first clicks, before anyone sees their first organized day. The wall lands before activation, so churn happens before the 'second brain' ever hooks.
Install. clicked first thing. Premium. clicked second thing. Premium. third thing. Premium
literally putting a duration on your events or seeing the full month on the calendar need you to have the subscription
a premium feature is the ability to have a number of categories