Foco vs Todoist for Freelancers with Multiple Clients: Why Foco is the Best Todoist Alternative for Centralizing Tasks from Multiple Sources

Managing multiple clients, projects, or jobs at once is a common challenge for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small teams. It’s tempting to turn to tools like Todoist—one of the most popular task apps—for its simple interface and minimalist approach. However, when the volume of tasks grows and they come from different sources (GitHub, Jira, emails, meetings), Todoist reveals limitations that force users to look for alternatives. This is where Foco stands out as the best Todoist alternative for freelancers with multiple clients, especially for those who need to centralize everything in one place without losing control.

1. Task Centralization: Why Todoist Falls Short for Multiple Clients

Todoist is designed to manage task lists, but its structure is based on individual projects. This works well if you’re handling one or two personal projects, but it becomes cumbersome when you work with multiple clients or task sources. For example:

• Project limit in the free plan: Todoist allows only 5 active projects in its free version. If each client or job is a project, this limit is quickly exhausted. While the Pro plan increases this to 300 projects, it’s still a fragmented approach: each project lives in its own tab, without a unified view of all pending tasks.
• Lack of deep integrations: Todoist offers basic integrations with tools like GitHub or Jira, but they’re superficial. For instance, you can create a task in Todoist from a GitHub issue, but changes in status, dates, or comments aren’t synchronized automatically. If the issue updates in GitHub, the task in Todoist becomes outdated, forcing you to manually check each tool.
• No automatic task capture: Todoist doesn’t extract tasks from emails, meetings, or mentions in external tools. If you receive an email with an urgent request, you must manually copy it to Todoist, adding friction and the risk of missing details.

Foco, on the other hand, is built from the ground up for those who juggle multiple jobs at once. Its structure is based on workspaces (containers with names and colors), not isolated projects. This allows:

• Unlimited workspaces from the free plan: There are no limits on the number of workspaces (clients, projects, or personal areas) you can create. Each has its own color, making it easy to visually identify tasks at a glance.
• Panorama view: Displays all tasks from all workspaces in a single list, each with the color of its workspace. This eliminates the need to jump between tabs or projects to see what’s pending.
• Focus mode: If you need to concentrate on one workspace, you filter the dashboard to show only its tasks, without distractions from the rest.

1.1. Deep Integrations: How Foco Unifies Tasks from GitHub, Jira, and Emails Without Migrating Data

One of Foco’s biggest strengths over Todoist is its ability to centralize tasks from multiple sources without requiring you to migrate data or check each tool separately. This is possible thanks to its Copilot, available in the Plus plan (20 €/month). Here are the key differences:

• Connections with work tools: Foco connects via OAuth to GitHub, Jira, Linear, Asana, Notion, and MCP servers. Every time you’re assigned an issue, pull request, or task in these platforms, Foco automatically brings it in as a task in the workspace you choose (or an automatic one, decided by AI). For example, if you’re assigned a GitHub issue, it appears in Foco with the title, description, due date, and even comments attached as a note. If you mark the task as done in Foco, you can configure it to automatically close it in GitHub (or add a comment, depending on your preference).
• Email capture: Every Foco Plus user has a personal forwarding address (e.g., u-xxxx@in.heyfoco.com). When you forward an email to this address, Foco automatically extracts a task with the subject as the title, the email body as a note, and attaches the original email. If the email includes dates or deadlines (e.g., "I need this by Friday"), Foco detects them and assigns them to the task’s corresponding fields.
• Listen mode: Records meetings and transcribes the audio, saving both the recording and the literal transcription as a note attached to a task. While it doesn’t create tasks automatically, it lets you capture key information without losing details. For example, if a task is verbally assigned in a meeting, you can record it, transcribe it, and then turn it into a task with one click.

Productivity isn’t about managing more tools, but reducing friction between them: if a task exists in GitHub, Jira, or an email, it should appear in your main list without you having to copy it manually.

2. Flexibility and Customization: How Foco Adapts to Complex Workflows

Todoist is a simple tool, and that’s both its greatest strength and its biggest limitation. Its minimalist approach works well for personal lists or linear projects, but it falls short when you need to customize views, priorities, or workflows for multiple clients. Here are the key differences:

2.1. Views and Task Organization

Todoist offers a main list view, with options to group tasks by project, date, or priority. However, it lacks flexibility to adapt to different workflows:

• Only one default view: There’s no Kanban mode, interactive calendar, or customizable views. If you need to visualize tasks on a board or calendar, you must rely on external integrations (like Trello or Google Calendar), which fragments your workflow.
• Limited filters in the free plan: Advanced filters (e.g., "urgent tasks from the last 3 days") require the Pro plan. In the free plan, you can only filter by project or basic labels.
• No execution dates: Todoist only allows assigning a due date per task. If you need to plan when you’ll work on a task (not just when it’s due), you must use labels or comments, complicating organization.

Foco, on the other hand, is designed to adapt to how you work, not the other way around. It offers three views you can switch between with one click:

• List view: Groups pending tasks by date (Today, This Week, Later, No Date) and shows a collapsible section for completed tasks. You can filter and group by execution date (when you’ll work on the task) or due date (when it’s due), allowing you to separate planning from deadlines.
• Kanban view: Customizable columns (e.g., "To Do," "In Progress," "Review," "Done") that work on desktop (drag and drop) and mobile (tabs). Ideal for agile workflows or visualizing the status of tasks from multiple clients at once. If you use the Kanban method for freelancers with multiple jobs, this view is a powerful tool.
• Calendar view: Displays tasks and synchronized events from Google Calendar or Outlook in a weekly or monthly view (desktop) or daily view (mobile). Tasks appear with their duration blocks, helping you plan your day without overlaps. If you manage clients in different time zones, this view is key to avoiding conflicts (more details in this article on managing deadlines across time zones).

2.2. Task Fields: Beyond the Basics

In Todoist, a task is limited to a title, a due date, a priority (1-4), and labels. Foco goes further, offering fields that help you detail and prioritize tasks without leaving the app:

• Execution date vs. due date: In Foco, you can assign two different dates to a task: one for when you plan to work on it (execution date, with time and duration block) and another for when it must be completed (due date). This is useful for separating planning from deadlines. For example, a task can have an execution date on Monday (to work on it) and a due date on Friday (to deliver it to the client).
• Visual priorities: Foco uses three priority levels (normal, important, urgent) that are displayed with colors in the list, making it easy to identify what requires immediate attention. If you use the ABCDE method for prioritizing tasks, these levels fit perfectly with its categories.
• Smart recurrence: You can set up daily, weekly (with specific days), monthly, or yearly recurring tasks. When you complete a recurring task, Foco automatically creates the next occurrence, keeping the same configuration.
• Unlimited colored labels: Unlike Todoist, where labels are simple text, in Foco each label has a color, allowing you to categorize tasks visually (e.g., red label for "urgent," blue for "client X").
• Assignees and collaboration: You can assign tasks to other members of a workspace (only to people you’ve invited and accepted) or share a specific task via a public link, without granting access to the rest of Foco.

3. Task Capture: How Foco Eliminates the Friction of Adding Tasks from Any Source

One of the biggest frustrations when managing multiple jobs is forgetting tasks or wasting time copying them manually from one place to another. Todoist offers voice capture and keyboard shortcuts, but it’s still a manual process. Foco, on the other hand, is designed to capture tasks effortlessly, even when they come from external sources:

3.1. Voice Capture and Burst: Dictate Tasks Without Typing

In Todoist, voice capture is basic: you dictate a task, and the app transcribes it as text. Foco goes a step further with two key features:

• Voice capture with automatic detection: You dictate a task (e.g., "Review GitHub pull request for client X, urgent, for Thursday at 10 AM, with a 30-minute reminder"), and Foco automatically detects the date, time, priority, recurrence, and reminder, creating the task already filled out. It also attaches the audio as a note, in case you need to review it later.
• Burst: If you dictate multiple tasks in a row (e.g., "Call María for project A. Send report to Juan for client B. Review contract for client C"), Foco separates them in real time and shows you a list of detected tasks to review, edit, or discard before saving them all at once. In the free plan, you get 5 uses per month, and dictation lasts up to 2 minutes; in the Plus plan, it’s unlimited.

3.2. Listen Mode: Record Meetings and Transcribe Them Instantly

In Todoist, if you want to capture information from a meeting, you must take notes manually or record it in another app and then copy the details. Foco simplifies this process with listen mode: you record a meeting (with timestamps), and the app transcribes the audio, saving both the recording and the literal transcription as a note attached to a task. This is useful for:

• Capturing verbal tasks assigned in meetings (e.g., "Juan, handle the contract review by Friday").
• Saving important details without wasting time taking notes.
• Reviewing key conversations without having to listen to the entire recording.

While listen mode doesn’t create tasks automatically, it reduces manual work and lets you turn information into tasks with a couple of clicks.

4. Collaboration and Synchronization: How Foco Makes Teamwork Easier (Without Expensive Plans)

If you work with other freelancers, assistants, or clients, collaboration is key. Todoist offers shared workspaces, but with significant limitations:

• Shared workspaces only in the Business plan: In Todoist, team workspaces (where multiple users can collaborate on projects) require the Business plan, which costs 8 USD/user/month (billed annually). If you work with an assistant or an occasional collaborator, this cost can be prohibitive.
• No task assignment in the free plan: In Todoist’s free plan, you can’t assign tasks to other users. This forces you to use comments or labels to delegate, complicating tracking.
• No public task links: Todoist doesn’t allow sharing a specific task via a public link. If you need to send a task to a client or external collaborator, you must copy it manually or invite them to the project (which gives them access to everything).

Foco, on the other hand, includes collaboration from the Foco plan (4 €/month), without additional costs per user:

• Invite collaborators via email: You can add other people to a specific workspace (e.g., a client or assistant) and assign them tasks. Only accepted members can see and edit the tasks in that workspace.
• Public task links: If you need to share a specific task with someone external (e.g., a client who wants to check the status of a deliverable), you generate a public link that only gives access to that task, without showing the rest of Foco.
• Calendar synchronization: Connect Google Calendar or Outlook and see your external events alongside your tasks in Foco’s calendar. This helps you avoid overlaps and plan your day with meetings and deadlines in mind.

5. Pricing: Which Option Is Best for Your Workflow?

The choice between Foco and Todoist depends on what you need to manage and how much you’re willing to pay. Here are the scenarios where each tool shines:

5.1. Choose Todoist if...

• You only manage one or two personal projects and don’t need deep integrations with other tools.
• You prefer a minimalist interface and don’t mind the limitations of the free plan (5 active projects, no reminders).
• You don’t work with multiple clients or external task sources (emails, GitHub, Jira, etc.).
• You don’t need advanced views (Kanban, calendar) or detailed task fields.

5.2. Choose Foco if...

• You manage multiple clients, projects, or jobs at once and need a unified view of all your tasks.
• You want to centralize tasks from GitHub, Jira, emails, and meetings without manually copying them or checking each tool separately. Foco is the best Todoist alternative for freelancers with multiple clients because it eliminates this friction with its Copilot (Plus plan).
• You need flexibility in views (list, Kanban, calendar) and task fields (execution and due dates, priorities, recurrence, etc.).
• You work with collaborators and want to assign tasks or share public links without paying extra per user (as Todoist Business requires).
• You prefer to capture tasks by voice, email, or meeting recordings without wasting time transcribing or copying information.

Regarding pricing, here are the key details (Todoist prices verified as of July 9, 2026):

• Todoist Free: Free, but with limits (5 active projects, no reminders, no attachments).
• Todoist Pro: 5 USD/user/month (billed annually) or 7 USD/user/month (billed monthly). Includes reminders, 300 active projects, and attachments, but no team workspaces.
• Todoist Business: 8 USD/user/month (billed annually) or 10 USD/user/month (billed monthly). Includes shared workspaces and admin controls, but the per-user cost can be high for small teams.
• Foco Free: Permanently free, with unlimited workspaces and tasks, list and Kanban views, text and voice capture, and labels. Ideal for getting started without project limits.
• Foco (4 €/month): Adds calendar view, calendar synchronization, collaboration, and task assignment. Perfect if you need more flexibility without paying for AI.
• Foco Plus (20 €/month): Includes everything above plus Copilot: connections with GitHub, Jira, Asana, Notion, and MCP servers; email capture; daily briefing; and unlimited Burst. The best option if you manage multiple task sources and want to automate capture.

The cost of a tool isn’t just its price, but the time it saves you: if Foco eliminates hours of manual work copying tasks or checking tools, its value far exceeds the investment.

6. Conclusion: Why Foco Is the Best Todoist Alternative for Freelancers with Multiple Clients

Todoist is a solid tool for managing personal task lists or simple projects, but it falls short when you need to centralize tasks from multiple sources, collaborate with others, or customize your workflow. Its minimalist approach is an advantage for some, but a limitation for those who juggle multiple clients or jobs at once.

Foco, on the other hand, is designed specifically for this profile: freelancers, solopreneurs, and small teams who need to unify tasks from GitHub, Jira, emails, and meetings in one place, without project limits or hidden costs per user. With its flexible views, detailed task fields, automatic capture, and collaboration from the basic plan, Foco eliminates the friction of managing multiple jobs, allowing you to focus on what matters: delivering results to your clients.

If you’re looking for the best Todoist alternative for freelancers with multiple clients, Foco is the option that will give you control, flexibility, and less manual work. Try the free plan and discover how it can transform the way you organize your work.

FAQ

Is Foco better than Todoist for freelancers?

It depends on your workflow. If you manage multiple clients or task sources (GitHub, Jira, emails), Foco is better because it centralizes everything in one place without project limits. If you only handle one or two personal projects, Todoist may be sufficient.

Can I migrate my tasks from Todoist to Foco?

Yes, you can export your tasks from Todoist in CSV format and then import them into Foco. However, Foco doesn’t have a direct integration with Todoist, so migration requires manual steps.

Does Foco have a mobile app?

Yes, Foco has apps for iOS and Android, as well as a desktop version. All features (views, voice capture, listen mode) are available on both platforms.

What integrations does Foco have with other tools?

Foco integrates with GitHub, Jira, Linear, Asana, Notion, and MCP servers (via OAuth). It also syncs with Google Calendar and Outlook to display external events alongside your tasks.

How much does Foco Plus cost, and what does it include?

Foco Plus costs 20 €/month and includes Copilot: connections with work tools, email capture, daily briefing, unlimited Burst, and AI features with monthly credits.