Looking for a Google Tasks alternative?
Google Tasks is the fastest way to write something down without leaving Gmail. It was never meant to hold a whole system. If your list has outgrown it, tingdo picks up where it stops.
What makes tingdo different
Contexts
No labels and no tags. A task belongs to a list and can carry a date, a star, and one level of subtasks. That is the whole structure.
Open #computer, #calls, or #errands and see only what you can act on where you are. Contexts are built in, not bolted on.
Projects and next actions
Lists hold tasks, with one level of subtasks. That limit lives in the Google Tasks API, so no third-party client can go deeper.
A project carries an outcome and one next action. Everything else in the project waits until it is actually next.
How the list is ordered
Sorting is manual by default, or by date, deadline, or star. Nothing decides what comes next for you, and a task without a date simply waits in the list until you remember it.
Next actions come first, grouped by context. A date gets added when there is a real one, and not before.
Weekly review
Nothing prompts you to look at the whole list. Trust in it fades quietly, and one day you stop opening it.
A guided weekly review walks through every project and waiting-for item, one step at a time.
Notes and reference
One plain text field per task. There are no file attachments. A task made from an email or a chat keeps a link back to where it came from, and that is all.
Tasks and reference notes live inside the same project. Type + for a task, * for a note.
Focus mode
Nothing of the kind. A task is a line in a list, and there is no way to sit with one or record the time it took.
Focus Mode gives one task the whole screen and keeps time while you work on it. The session is logged against the task.
What you see when you open tingdo
No calendar, no red badges. Your next actions, grouped by where you are and what you have with you.
#errands
- Buy oat milk
- Return package at post office
- Pick up prescription
#computer
- Draft project proposal for Q2
- Cancel that subscription you forgot about
- Reply to Marco's email
And one thing you won't find anywhere else
Most task apps give you a search screen, a new-task dialog, and a menu. tingdo gives you one quiet box that does all three. Start typing to find any task, project, or note. Type + and a title to capture a task, / to jump to a project, # to open a context. About two seconds, all without leaving the keyboard.
Bring your tasks with you
Google Tasks has no CSV export. Google Takeout gives you a JSON file instead. If you are comfortable converting that to CSV, tingdo's import takes it from there. Most people skip the file. A Google Tasks list is usually short, and typing it into tingdo fresh doubles as a first mind sweep, which is where GTD starts anyway.
New to GTD? Learn how the methodology works before you switch, or see the full GTD task manager overview to understand how tingdo implements each step.
A different approach
Next actions, not deadlines.
The only question that matters: what's the next thing you can do? Everything else is context, not urgency.
No guilt.
There is no red-badge panic. No shame. A task is either done or it is not, and that is fine.
Capture in seconds.
A title is all you need. Project, context, deadline: all optional, all addable later.
Review, don't react.
A calm weekly review keeps your system trustworthy. One step at a time, no overwhelm. See how the weekly review works.
Notes live with your tasks.
Reference material like passwords, dimensions, or policy numbers lives right inside your projects. No separate notes app needed. Read more about how tasks and notes work together.
One input for everything.
Search, create, navigate: all from a single input field. Type to find anything, capture a task, or jump to a project. See how the next bar works.