Disclosure: I make Zympl. TickTick is an excellent app, and the one I get compared to most often. TickTick facts below come from its upgrade page, help center, changelog and App Store listing as of September 2026.
Zympl vs. TickTick at a glance
| Zympl | TickTick | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99/month or $29.99/year | Free; Premium $49.99/year ($4.99/month in the App Store) |
| Free plan | No, 14-day full trial | Yes: 9 lists, 99 tasks per list, 5 habits |
| Platforms | Web; iOS and Android in development | Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, watches |
| Tasks & projects | Unlimited; recurring tasks and reminders | Lists, tags, subtasks, recurring tasks, reminders |
| Calendar | Day timeline for time blocking | Day to year views; Google, Outlook, iCloud sync; Timeline view is Premium |
| Time tracking | One-tap timer on any task; day timeline; weekly & monthly reports by project and task | Pomodoro and stopwatch; focus stats by list, tag or task (detailed view on mobile) |
| Time goals | Daily, weekly, monthly, and lifetime | No |
| Habits | Check-off, count, and timed; streaks; reminders | Check-off and amount; streaks, heat maps, mood logs |
| Notes | Markdown notes, folders, sub-folders, smart folders | “Note” lists alongside task lists |
| Journal | Dated daily markdown journal | No (habit check-ins can carry a note) |
| Extras | None, by design | Eisenhower matrix, countdowns, Kanban, AI assistant, MCP, integrations |
Where TickTick is the better choice
- It’s free to start. TickTick’s free plan is genuinely usable, with habits and a focus timer included. Zympl has a 14-day trial and then costs money.
- Every platform, today. TickTick has native apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android and watches, with widgets. Zympl is web-only until its mobile apps ship. If you plan mostly on your phone, that alone may decide it.
- Calendar integration. TickTick syncs with Google, Outlook and iCloud calendars and shows your meetings next to your tasks. Zympl doesn’t connect to external calendars.
- Breadth. An Eisenhower matrix, countdowns, Kanban boards, shared lists, and an AI assistant that can plan from your tasks, habits and focus records. If you like choosing the right view for each job, TickTick has a view for everything.
- Habit depth. TickTick’s habit module is mature, with a 60-plus habit gallery, yearly heat maps, and a mood and note on each check-in.
Where Zympl is the better choice
- Calm. This is the main reason people move from TickTick. Reviewers regularly describe TickTick’s desktop interface as cluttered. Zympl was designed around the opposite idea: one accent color, typography over chrome, and no badges or gamification. It opens on today with nothing to configure. See why so many of us go back to paper for the reasoning.
- Time as a first-class idea. In TickTick, time tracking belongs to the focus feature: you run a Pomodoro and get stats. In Zympl, every timer lands on a timeline of your day. Weekly and monthly reports show hours by project and task in the web app, and time goals turn intentions like “ten hours a week on the side project” into something you can measure.
- A place to write. Zympl’s Notes tab has folders, sub-folders and smart folders. Smart folders automatically gather every note you wrote on a task, habit, project or day. The daily journal sits beside the plan, so a five-minute shutdown has a home. TickTick’s notes are lists, and it has no journal.
- Price, for the paid version. $29.99 a year against $49.99. TickTick’s annual price went up from its long-standing $35.99 in 2026. Zympl has one plan, with no tiers or feature gates.
- Nothing locked behind limits. Everything in Zympl is unlimited on the one plan. TickTick’s free tier caps lists, tasks per list, habits and reminders, and keeps task durations and the Timeline view for Premium.
Habits: similar features, different tone
Both apps track streaks, count-based habits (eight glasses of water) and reminders. TickTick records amounts and adds mood logs and heat maps. Zympl adds timed habits (twenty minutes of reading) that count toward your time goals. The bigger difference is tone. Zympl’s streaks are designed to encourage rather than scold, so a missed day is information, not a reset you dread.
Who should pick which
Choose TickTick if…
- You want a capable free plan, or native mobile and desktop apps today.
- You need your Google or Outlook calendar alongside your tasks.
- You like having many views and tools, and the density doesn’t bother you.
- You want AI features built in.
Choose Zympl if…
- TickTick does everything you need but you’re tired of looking at it.
- You want to know where your hours went this month, and set time goals for them.
- You write: notes, reflections, a daily journal.
- You’d rather pay $29.99 for one calm plan than $49.99 for a bigger toolbox.
Switching from TickTick to Zympl
Move your recurring tasks, your active lists (they become projects), and your habits. Everything else can stay in TickTick as an archive, and your data is kept even if Premium lapses. Plan your next two weeks in Zympl during the free trial. If you catch yourself missing the matrix or the calendar sync every day, that’s a real answer too.
Still comparing? The best daily planner apps of 2026 covers TickTick, Zympl and six others side by side.