Switch from Todoist
Last updated
Relay imports your Todoist tasks without an export file, through the same Todoist connection Relay uses for sync. Any project you cannot leave yet can keep syncing for as long as you need.
Most migrations ask you to leave in one movement: export, import, hope. Relay syncs with Todoist both ways instead. New tasks in the Todoist projects you choose arrive in Relay. When you complete or edit a synced task in Relay, Relay makes the same change in Todoist. Say you share a work project in Todoist with your team: you can import everything else and keep the work project in sync. A task you add in Relay stays in Relay.
Everything arrives in your Inbox
You clarify each imported task in the Inbox, deciding what it is and where it belongs, the same as anything you type yourself. Relay keeps what Todoist knew about each task, as in this example:
Book the van
Cheapest is the one by the station.
From Todoist · Project: House move · @errands
- The project and section the task was in.
- Its labels, spelled the way you spell them.
- Its deadline, as a Relay due date.
- Its priority, when you had raised it above normal.
- Whether the task was a subtask, so you can decide what it should become.
Why nothing is filed for you
Relay could guess where each task belongs. A label called errands looks like a context, and a project looks like a project. But guessing is how you rebuild the same improvised structure you were trying to leave, inside a new app.
So Relay imports your work and leaves the deciding to you, with everything Todoist knew in front of you as you decide. Clarifying a few hundred items sounds like a chore, but it is usually the most useful hour a switcher spends, because nobody has looked at the whole list in years.
Import from Todoist in four steps
- In Relay, open Settings, then Integrations, and connect Todoist.
- Choose Import from Todoist.
- Press Read my Todoist, and check the tasks Relay finds.
- Press the Add button, for example "Add 240 to my Inbox".
If the import does not look right, press Undo that import, and Relay removes the whole import. The Undo that import button stays on the Import from Todoist screen, so you can read your Inbox properly before you decide.
At a glance
| Todoist | Relay | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on | ||
| iPhone and iPad | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Mac | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| Web browser | Yes | Yes |
| Built for GTD | ||
| Inbox, Next Actions, Waiting For and Someday/Maybe built inPartly: some are, the rest you build yourself | Partly | Yes |
| Contexts | Yes | Yes |
| Agenda lists for people | No | Yes |
| Sequential projects | No | Yes |
| Sub-projects | Yes | YesOne level |
| Areas, goals, vision and purpose | No | Yes |
| Reference material kept with its projectPartly: a separate reference list, or notes on the project itself | Partly | Yes |
| Trigger lists you can edit, for the mind sweep | No | Yes |
| Reviews and planning | ||
| Guided weekly reviewPartly: a review list, checklist or reminder, without guided steps | Partly | Yes |
| Guided daily reviewPartly: a daily list or reminder, without guided steps | Partly | Yes |
| Guided reviews in the phone appPartly: a review list, reminder or template, without guided steps | Partly | Yes |
| Next Actions filtered to the time you have | No | YesHours, calendar and daily review |
| Actions | ||
| Repeating actions | Yes | Yes |
| Checklists inside an actionPartly: sub-tasks, each one a full task | Partly | Yes |
| Snooze an Inbox itemPartly: a later date, but not one that returns it to the Inbox | Partly | Yes |
| AI help clarifying the next actionPartly: one narrow place, a beta, or a paid add-on | PartlyPro, web and desktop | Yes |
| Around the lists | ||
| Google or Outlook calendar in the app | Yes | Yes |
| Two-way sync with other task apps | No | YesFor items that came from them |
| Home-screen widgets with your lists | Yes | YesNot on Windows or web |
| Workspaces that filter your listsPartly: a filter on some views only | Partly | Yes |
| Saved custom views | Yes3 on the free plan | NoRelay saves each list's sort and grouping |
| Shared projects | Yes | Yes |
| Look | ||
| Dark theme | Yes | Yes |
| Choose your own colours | YesSome themes Pro | Yes |
| Price | ||
| Free plan | YesUp to 5 projects | No |
| Buy once, no subscription | No | No |
Sources, checked 10 October 2026
Every cell was checked against Todoist's own site, help pages, release notes or store listing.
Todoist: Todoist system requirements, Todoist GTD guide, Todoist calendar integration, Todoist usage limits, Todoist plans, Todoist filters, Todoist start dates, Todoist Task Assist, Todoist themes.
Also in Relay
- Pin an item for today, tomorrow or this week, and it shows in Engage and the daily review.
- Your own sections in Someday/Maybe.
- Choose which sections Relay shows on each task, project and reference item, for one item or as the default.
- A default workspace for new items on each device.
- On a phone, choose the screens in the bottom bar.
- Reminders to clarify your Inbox at the times you choose. In the web app, each reminder appears as a banner while Relay is open.
Six things to know before you import
- Your dates arrive, but nothing is scheduled
- A Todoist deadline becomes a Relay due date. A task with no deadline uses its Todoist due date instead. Either way, the task waits in your Inbox, because a due date in Relay says when something must be done, not the day you plan to do it. You choose that day while you clarify the task.
- Labels do not become contexts
- Todoist labels arrive as text in the notes. If a label such as @errands really was a context, give the task that context while you clarify it, and the task appears in Next Actions.
- Subtasks are flagged, not nested
- Relay has no subtasks, on purpose. Anything with its own next actions is a project, and a simple list of steps can be a checklist on the task. The notes of a former subtask include "was a subtask", as your prompt to decide whether the parent task was really a project.
- Repeating tasks arrive once
- A repeating task arrives with its next date and without the repeat. Set the repeat again in Relay.
- Completed tasks stay in Todoist
- Relay imports only your active tasks. Your archive of completed tasks is history, not work.
- A project already syncing is skipped
- If a Todoist project already syncs with Relay, Relay skips the project's tasks during the import and tells you how many it skipped. Importing a synced project's tasks would give you two of everything.
Move to Relay without leaving Todoist on day one
Import everything, keep syncing the projects you cannot drop yet, and stop using Todoist when you are ready, not on the day you create your Relay account.
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