Foco vs Todoist: The Best Todoist Alternative for Freelancers with Multiple Clients and Time Zones

Managing multiple clients, projects, and time zones as a freelancer isn’t just about organization—it’s about preventing your day from turning into a puzzle of tabs, notifications, and scattered lists. If you use Todoist, you know it’s a solid tool for task lists, but when you juggle multiple jobs at once (on top of personal tasks), its limitations become clear. This is where Foco emerges as an alternative designed specifically for this scenario: centralizing in one place what you currently manage across multiple apps, without fragmentation. In this comparison, we analyze when Todoist remains useful and why Foco stands out as the best Todoist alternative for freelancers with multiple clients and time zones.

1. The Fragmentation Problem: Why Todoist Falls Short with Multiple Clients

Todoist is built for managing projects, not for handling multiple jobs in parallel. Its structure relies on projects (limited to 5 active in the free plan), labels, and filters. For a freelancer with 3 or 4 clients, this means:

• Active project limit: In Todoist’s free plan, you can only have 5 active projects at once. If each client is a project, you’ll hit your limit within a week (and that’s without counting personal or recurring projects).
• Paid shared workspaces: If you need to collaborate with clients or teams, Todoist’s Business plan (8 USD/user/month) is mandatory. Each team member consumes a license, making collaboration expensive.
• Lack of visual context: Todoist doesn’t visually differentiate tasks by client. Using labels or prefixes (e.g., [Client A]) is a workaround, but it doesn’t prevent all tasks from mixing in one list.
• No native integration with work tools: While Todoist allows integrations with apps like Google Calendar or Slack, it doesn’t automatically pull tasks from tools like Notion, GitHub, or Jira. Every time a task is assigned to you in another platform, you must create it manually in Todoist.

The result is constant fragmentation: jumping between Todoist, your email, Notion, GitHub, and your calendar, copying and pasting information. For a freelancer with multiple clients and time zones, this isn’t just inefficient—it increases the risk of missing deadlines or priorities.

2. How Foco Solves Fragmentation: One Place for All Your Jobs

2.1. Jobs as Independent Containers (No Limits)

In Foco, each job (client, project, or personal area) is an independent container with its name and color. Unlike Todoist, where projects are global and limited, Foco lets you create unlimited jobs even in the free plan. Each task is displayed with its job’s color, so you can instantly identify which client it belongs to—no need for labels or prefixes.

Example: If you manage a project for a client in Spain (CET time zone) and another in Mexico (CST), you can create two jobs with different colors. In Panorama mode, you’ll see all your tasks mixed, each with its color. If you need to focus on one client, switch to Focus mode, and the board filters tasks for that job automatically.

2.2. Centralizing Tasks from Other Apps (No Copy-Pasting)

One of Foco’s biggest strengths for freelancers is its ability to automatically pull tasks from other tools. With the Plus plan (20 EUR/month), Foco connects via OAuth to apps like Notion, GitHub, Jira, Linear, or Asana and extracts tasks where you’re mentioned or assigned. Each connection has a destination job: you can choose to send GitHub tasks to your "Web Development" job or let the AI decide automatically based on content.

Additionally, with email capture (part of the Copilot), each user gets a unique address (e.g., u-xxxx@in.heyfoco.com). Forwarding an email to that address creates a task with the email attached as a note. This eliminates the need to manually copy deadlines or instructions.

2.3. Flexible Views for Managing Deadlines and Priorities

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 execution date (when you’ll work on it) or due date (the deadline).
• Kanban: Customizable columns (e.g., To Do, Doing, Review, Done). On desktop, you drag and drop tasks; on mobile, they’re swipeable tabs.
• Calendar: Shows your tasks and synced events from Google Calendar or Outlook in a weekly or monthly view (desktop) or daily view (mobile). Tasks with an execution date appear on the calendar, helping you plan days across multiple time zones.

In Todoist, the calendar view requires the Pro plan (5 USD/month) and only shows tasks with due dates, not external events. Foco, on the other hand, syncs your calendar starting from the Foco plan (4 EUR/month), displaying tasks and events together.

3. Collaboration and Time Zones: Where Each Tool Wins

3.1. Todoist: Better for Small Teams with a Single Project

Todoist shines in scenarios where a team works on a single project or area. Its Business plan (8 USD/user/month) allows shared workspaces with admin controls, which is useful if you collaborate with an assistant or colleague on a one-off project. However, for a freelancer managing multiple clients with different teams, this becomes costly: each client or collaborator requires a license.

3.2. Foco: Collaboration by Job and Public Links

Foco is designed for collaboration by job, not by user. You can invite a client or colleague to a specific job via email, and they’ll only see tasks for that job. Plus, you can share a single task via a public link, without granting access to the rest of Foco. This is ideal for freelancers who need to:

• Send a task to a client for review (e.g., "Review article draft").
• Assign a subtask to an external collaborator (e.g., a designer or translator).
• Keep other clients’ tasks private while working with one.

Regarding time zones, Foco lets you assign execution dates with time and duration blocks to tasks. This is key for planning meetings or deliveries across time zones: for example, you can schedule a task for 10:00 CET (your client’s time in Spain) even if you’re in Mexico (CST).

4. Task Capture: Voice vs. Text

Both Todoist and Foco allow voice task creation, but with different approaches:

• Todoist: Its voice feature is basic: you dictate the task title, and if you mention a date (e.g., "tomorrow"), it detects it. It doesn’t transcribe notes or attach audio.
• Foco: Voice capture transcribes what you dictate and automatically detects dates, times, priorities, and recurrences. For example, if you say, "Meeting with Client A on Thursday at 3:00 PM, important, 30-minute reminder," Foco creates the task with those fields filled and attaches the audio. Plus, with Ráfaga (Plus plan), you can dictate multiple tasks in a row, and Foco separates them in real time.

For a freelancer who receives verbal instructions in meetings or calls, Foco saves time by eliminating the need to manually write every detail.

5. Pricing: Which Is More Cost-Effective for Freelancers?

Todoist and Foco’s pricing targets different profiles:

• Todoist: Ideal if you manage few projects or work in a team on a single area. Its Pro plan (5 USD/month) unlocks reminders and unlimited projects, but real collaboration requires the Business plan (8 USD/user/month).
• Foco: Designed for freelancers with multiple clients. Its Foco plan (4 EUR/month) includes calendar, Google Calendar/Outlook sync, collaboration, and task assignment. The Plus plan (20 EUR/month) adds AI (unlimited Ráfaga, connections to Notion/GitHub/Jira, email capture, and daily briefing).

If we compare Todoist’s Pro plan (5 USD/month) with Foco’s Foco plan (4 EUR/month), Foco offers more features for managing multiple jobs (calendar, job-based collaboration, event sync). Foco’s Plus plan (20 EUR/month) is pricier, but it includes automations Todoist doesn’t, like pulling tasks from other apps or the daily briefing.

The best tool isn’t the cheapest—it’s the one that removes friction from your workflow. For a freelancer with multiple clients, fragmentation is the real hidden cost.

6. When to Choose Todoist and When to Choose Foco

6.1. Choose Todoist if...

• You manage fewer than 5 active projects and don’t need advanced collaboration.
• Your workflow relies on simple lists and you don’t use tools like Notion, GitHub, or Jira.
• You prefer a minimalist interface and don’t need views like calendar or Kanban.
• You work in a small team and everyone can use the Business plan (8 USD/user/month).

6.2. Choose Foco if...

• You manage multiple clients or projects in parallel and need to visually differentiate them.
• You use multiple tools (Notion, GitHub, Jira, email) and want to centralize tasks in one place.
• You collaborate with different teams or clients and need to share tasks without granting access to your entire board.
• You work across different time zones and need to plan dates and times precisely.
• You receive instructions via voice or email and want to automate task creation.

In short, Todoist is a great option for simple task lists or small teams with a single project. But if you’re a freelancer managing multiple clients, time zones, and tools, Foco is the best Todoist alternative to avoid fragmentation and centralize your work in one place.