Linear vs Todoist: Which Is Better in 2026?
Linear is an issue tracker for software product teams, known mostly for being fast. Todoist is a to-do list that scales up to small teams. Linear’s strength is giving engineers and product managers a quick, uncluttered place to plan and ship; Todoist’s is capturing and organizing tasks with almost no friction, for one person or a handful.
01Pricing
Linear: the Basic plan costs $10/user/mo, about $100 a month for a team of ten. Todoist: the Pro plan costs $5/user/mo, about $50 a month for a team of ten. At ten people Todoist is cheaper by about $50 a month, or $600 a year. Linear has a free plan (unlimited members, capped at 250 issues). Todoist has a free plan (5 personal projects with 5 people on each).
| Team size | Linear | Todoist |
|---|---|---|
| 5 users | $50 | $25 |
| 10 users | $100 | $50 |
| 25 users | $250 | $125 |
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Limits | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 250 issues; 2 teams; Unlimited members; 10MB file uploads | |
| Basic | $10/user | n/a | 5 teams | Unlimited issues; 5 teams; Unlimited file uploads; Admin roles |
| Business | $16/user | n/a | Unlimited teams; Private teams and guests; Triage Intelligence; Code Intelligence | |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Annual billing only | SAML and SCIM; Invoice/PO billing; Enterprise-grade security; Priority support |
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Limits | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 5 personal projects; 5 people per project; 5 MB file uploads; 3 filter views | |
| Pro † | $5/user | $7/user | 300 personal projects; 100 MB file uploads; 150 filter views | Calendar layout; Task duration; Custom reminders; Unlimited activity history |
| Business † | $8/user | $10/user | Up to 500 team projects; 250 people per team project; Up to 1,000 team members | Shared team workspace; Shared templates; Team activity logs; Team roles and permissions |
Prices are per month on annual billing. † marks prices taken from the vendor’s documentation or page data instead of its visible pricing page. Linear pricing and Todoist pricing have the full detail.
02The Two Tools
Linear
Linear is an issue tracker for software product teams, known mostly for being fast. Keyboard shortcuts drive everything, cycles replace sprints, and projects and roadmaps sit on top of the issue list. It has firm opinions about how product development should run and offers little room to argue.
- Best at
- Giving engineers and product managers a quick, uncluttered place to plan and ship.
- Falls short
- It is built for software teams, so marketing, operations and client work fit it badly, and its reporting is lighter than Jira’s.
Todoist
Todoist is a to-do list that scales up to small teams. Tasks are typed in plain language, sorted into projects, and filtered by labels, priorities and due dates, with boards and calendars as alternative views. It is quick and unobtrusive, and it does not pretend to be a full project manager.
- Best at
- Capturing and organizing tasks with almost no friction, for one person or a handful.
- Falls short
- There are no Gantt charts, dependencies or workload views, and reporting is minimal.
03Which Fits Your Situation
| If you are | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small Business | Todoist | Enough for a small team whose work is a shared list of tasks. |
| Enterprise | Linear | A strong fit for the engineering organization inside a larger company, less so for everyone else. |
| Freelancers | Todoist | A quick personal task list that costs little and needs no setup. |
| Startups | Linear | The default for software startups that want to plan and ship without ceremony. |
| Remote Teams | Linear | Fast, asynchronous issue tracking for distributed engineering teams. |
04Verdict
Choose Linear if you are a software team that values speed and focus over configurability. Choose Todoist if you mostly need a shared task list, not a project-management system.
05FAQ
Is Linear or Todoist cheaper?
For a team of ten, Linear comes to about $100 a month and Todoist to about $50. Prices are per month on annual billing.
Do Linear and Todoist have free plans?
Linear has a free plan (unlimited members, capped at 250 issues). Todoist has a free plan (5 personal projects with 5 people on each).
Which is easier to learn, Linear or Todoist?
Todoist is quick to set up; Linear is moderately involved to set up. It is built for software teams, so marketing, operations and client work fit it badly, and its reporting is lighter than Jira’s.
Which is better for freelancers, Linear or Todoist?
Todoist. A quick personal task list that costs little and needs no setup.