Shortwave vs Todoist
The ultimate side-by-side head-to-head analysis for 2026.
Short answer
- Price: not directly comparable — Shortwave is free tier available, Todoist is from $4/user/mo.
- How to start: Shortwave is free tier available, Todoist is from $4/user/mo.
These lines are generated from the pricing we track, not from a paid placement. We do not publish a quality score, because we do not have one we can stand behind. They cannot tell you which tool fits your workflow — the sections below are there for that. How we score tools.
Shortwave
Todoist
Category
Productivity
Productivity
Base Price
Free tier
$4/user/mo
Public API
Yes
Yes
Mobile app
Yes
Yes
Open source / self-hostable
No
No
SSO (SAML)
Yes
Yes
Choose Shortwave if:
Heavy Gmail users drowning in threads.
Choose Todoist if:
Busy Professionals, Students, and Minimalism Lovers.
Shortwave: pros & cons
- AI summaries of long threads
- Fast keyboard-driven interface
- Works on top of existing Gmail
- Gmail only
- Subscription on top of your mail account
- AI features require sending content to a model
Todoist: pros & cons
- Speed: Entering a task takes just seconds; the keyboard shortcuts are industry-best.
- Universal Access: Available on more platforms (and works better) than almost any competitor.
- Simplicity: Does not push features on you unless you explicitly go looking for them.
- Karma System: Gamify your productivity by earning points for finishing your tasks.
- Reminders: A basic feature like task reminders requires a paid subscription.
- Calendar View: Its internal calendar view is newer and less mature than some rivals.
- Notes: Not designed for long-form writing or storing massive amounts of notes.
Our verdict on Shortwave
A real improvement over the Gmail web client. Non-Gmail users are out of luck.
Our verdict on Todoist
The best-balanced app for recording and managing your daily tasks at lightning speed.