Foco vs Todoist: The **Best Todoist Alternative for Freelancers with Multiple Clients** That Centralizes Tasks Without Switching Apps

If you manage multiple clients as a freelancer, you know Todoist is a solid task manager, but its design—built for individual projects—can fall short when you need to handle multiple workstreams in parallel. The best Todoist alternative for freelancers with multiple clients isn’t just about having more features; it’s about how those features adapt to a fragmented workflow: emails that turn into tasks, GitHub issues that appear automatically, or meetings that generate action items without copy-pasting. In this comparison, we’ll break down where each app excels and why Foco solves concrete problems Todoist doesn’t address, like centralizing tasks from external tools without leaving the app.

1. Todoist vs Foco: Limits and Pricing for Freelancers with Multiple Clients

Before comparing features, let’s talk about costs and scalability. Todoist’s Free plan has a critical limit for freelancers: only 5 active projects total. If you work with 3 clients, a personal to-do list, and a side project, you’ve already hit the cap. The Pro plan (5 USD/month billed annually) raises this limit to 300 projects, but it doesn’t solve a key issue: each client or workstream requires a separate project, forcing you to constantly switch between tabs or use labels to simulate contexts.

Foco, on the other hand, is designed from the ground up for multiple jobs. Its Free plan includes unlimited jobs and tasks, and each job acts as an independent container with its own color and tasks. This means you can have one job for "Client A," another for "Client B," and a third for "Personal Management," all visible on the same dashboard without arbitrary limits. The Foco plan (4 EUR/month) adds collaboration and sync with Google Calendar or Outlook, while the Plus plan (20 EUR/month) unlocks AI to centralize tasks from external tools like GitHub, Jira, or emails.

When to Choose Todoist

Todoist is a more affordable option if you meet these criteria:

• You work with fewer than 5 active projects per month (e.g., one main client and personal tasks).
• You don’t need to attach files to tasks (Todoist’s Free plan doesn’t allow it).
• You use basic reminders (requires Pro plan).
• You don’t collaborate with large teams (Todoist’s Business plan costs 8 USD/user/month and requires annual billing for the discount).

When Foco Is the Best Todoist Alternative

Foco wins in these scenarios:

• You manage multiple clients or jobs in parallel and need to separate them visually without creating endless projects.
• You want to centralize tasks from external tools (emails, GitHub, Jira, Notion) in one place without copy-pasting.
• You need flexible views like Kanban or Calendar to prioritize deadlines across clients.
• You use complex recurring tasks (e.g., monthly invoices for each client) and want them to generate automatically.
• You collaborate with other freelancers or assistants and need to assign tasks without paying per user (Foco’s plan includes unlimited collaboration).

The best Todoist alternative for freelancers isn’t the one with the most features, but the one that eliminates app-switching and reduces the mental load of managing multiple contexts.

2. Centralizing Tasks from Multiple Sources: Todoist’s Weak Spot

One of the biggest pain points for freelancers is task fragmentation. A GitHub issue, an urgent client email, a meeting that generates action items—Todoist doesn’t have native integrations to pull these tasks in automatically. Its solutions rely on third-party plugins (like Zapier) or manual copy-pasting, which adds friction and increases the risk of errors.

How Foco Solves Centralization Without Switching Apps

Foco includes an AI Copilot (only in the Plus plan) that connects directly to tools like GitHub, Jira, Notion, Linear, or Asana via OAuth. When you’re assigned a GitHub issue or a Notion task, Foco automatically creates it as a task in the job you choose (or lets the AI decide based on content). Plus, with the "complete also in origin" option enabled, marking a task as done in Foco closes the original issue in GitHub or comments on the task in Notion, keeping everything synced.

Another practical example: emails that turn into tasks. With Todoist, you’d need to forward the email to a specific address (if using a plugin) or manually copy the content. Foco assigns each user a unique capture address (e.g., u-xxxx@in.heyfoco.com), and when you forward an email, it automatically extracts a task with the email attached as a note. This is especially useful for freelancers who receive briefs or feedback via email and don’t want to waste time transcribing.

Real Example: A Day in the Life of a Freelancer Using Foco

Imagine you’re a freelance developer with three clients:

• Client A (GitHub): You’re assigned an issue to review a pull request. Foco detects it and creates a task in the "Client A" job with the PR link and deadline.
• Client B (email): You receive an email with design changes. You forward it to your u-xxxx@in.heyfoco.com address, and Foco generates a task with the email attached and the due date.
• Client C (meeting): You record the meeting using Foco’s Listen Mode, which transcribes the conversation and saves the audio. From the transcription, you dictate a burst of tasks using the Burst feature (e.g., "Update wireframes by Friday, send monthly invoice, review contract"), and Foco splits them into individual tasks with automatically detected dates and priorities.

In Todoist, this workflow would require at least three external apps (GitHub, email client, and a transcription tool) plus manual copy-pasting. With Foco, it all happens in one place.

3. Views and Organization: Why Foco Adapts Better to Multiple Clients

Todoist organizes tasks into projects and subprojects, which can be useful for hierarchical structures but becomes chaotic when managing multiple clients with overlapping deadlines. Its main view is a flat list with filters, and while it allows labels and priorities, there’s no native way to see all tasks for a single client at a glance without creating separate projects.

Foco’s Job System and Color Coding

Foco uses a different concept: jobs. Each job (e.g., "Client X," "Project Y") has an assigned color, and all its tasks inherit that color. This enables two viewing modes:

• Panorama Mode: Shows all tasks from all jobs on the same dashboard, each with its color. Ideal for seeing deadlines across clients at once.
• Focus Mode: Filters the dashboard to show only tasks for a specific job, eliminating distractions. Perfect for concentrating on one client without seeing the noise from others.

Additionally, Foco offers three views that adapt to different workflows:

• List: Groups pending tasks by date (Today, This Week, Later, No Date) and includes a collapsible section for completed tasks. You can filter by start date or due date.
• Kanban: Customizable columns (e.g., "To Do," "In Progress," "Review") with drag-and-drop on desktop. On mobile, columns are swipeable tabs.
• Calendar: Displays tasks and synced events from Google Calendar or Outlook in weekly or monthly view (desktop) or daily view (mobile).

When Todoist Is Still the Better Choice

Todoist has advantages in these cases:

• You need a minimalist app with fewer options and a shorter learning curve.
• You use advanced filters to search tasks by multiple criteria (requires Pro plan).
• You prefer native integrations with tools like Slack or Gmail (though it doesn’t centralize tasks from GitHub or Jira).
• You work in large teams with defined roles (Todoist’s Business plan includes admin controls).

4. Collaboration and Task Assignment: Key Differences

If you collaborate with other freelancers, assistants, or clients, how each app handles task assignment makes a big difference.

Collaboration in Todoist

Todoist allows sharing individual projects with others, but with limitations:

• The Free plan doesn’t allow assigning tasks to others (only viewing).
• The Pro plan allows task assignment, but each guest counts as an additional user if they want to edit.
• The Business plan (8 USD/user/month) is required for shared workspaces and admin controls.

This can quickly become expensive if you work with multiple occasional collaborators.

Collaboration in Foco

Foco includes unlimited collaboration in the Foco plan (4 EUR/month), with no additional cost per user. You can:

• Invite others to a job via email (they only see tasks for that job, not the rest of your Foco).
• Assign tasks to accepted members.
• Share a specific task via a public link (without granting access to the rest of the app).

This is ideal for freelancers who need to delegate occasional tasks without paying per collaborator.

5. Conclusion: Is Foco the Best Todoist Alternative for You?

Choosing between Foco and Todoist depends on your workflow and specific needs. Todoist is a simpler, more affordable option if you manage few projects, don’t need to centralize tasks from external tools, and prefer a minimalist interface. However, if you juggle multiple clients or jobs in parallel, the best Todoist alternative for freelancers with multiple clients must solve two key problems: task fragmentation (emails, GitHub, Jira, meetings) and visual organization to prioritize deadlines without losing context.

Foco is built for that. Its job system with color coding, native integrations with development and productivity tools, and automatic task capture (emails, dictation, meetings) eliminate the friction of switching between apps. Plus, its Foco plan (4 EUR/month) includes unlimited collaboration, something Todoist’s Business plan (8 USD/user/month) requires. If your biggest pain point is managing multiple contexts without losing control, try Foco. If you prefer something simpler with fewer features, Todoist remains a solid choice. To decide, ask yourself: How much time do you waste each week copying tasks between apps or searching for client deadlines? If the answer is "too much," Foco might be the solution.

If you want to dive deeper into organizing deadlines across clients without overlaps, check out our guide on the [best task manager for freelancers with multiple time zones]( /p/best-task-manager-for-freelancers-with-multiple-time-zones-a-step-by-step-guide).

FAQ

Is Foco compatible with Google Calendar and Outlook?

Yes. Foco syncs events from Google Calendar and Outlook in its Calendar view (read-only). This lets you see meetings and tasks in one place without duplicating information.

Can I use Foco offline?

Yes. Foco works offline on mobile and desktop. Changes sync automatically when you regain internet access.

How does email capture work in Foco?

Each user gets a unique address (e.g., u-xxxx@in.heyfoco.com). Forwarding an email to this address creates a task with the email attached as a note. Only available in the Plus plan.

Does Foco have task reminders?

Yes. You can set reminders to notify you minutes or hours before a task is due. Available in all plans.

What happens if I exceed the 5 free Burst uses per month?

On the Free plan, Burst deactivates until the next month. On the Plus plan, it’s unlimited with no time limit.