How Pikos compares
Most of these apps are built around one thing and add the other two. TickTick and Todoist are task managers whose calendar views cost extra. Obsidian is a notes app whose tasks and calendar come from plugins. In Pikos all three are the same page: write it, tick it off, put it on a day. It's desktop only for now, with no phone app and no sync yet.
| App | Notes | Tasks | Calendar | On your computer | No account | Phone app | Sync | No subscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pikos | — | — | ||||||
| NotePlan | — | |||||||
| Notion | — | — | ||||||
| Obsidian | Plugin | Plugin | Paid | — | ||||
| Logseq | Plugin | Paid | — | |||||
| TickTick | Paid | — | — | — | ||||
| Things | — | — | Paid | |||||
| Todoist | — | Paid | — | — | — |
No subscription means nothing in the row needs one; a one-off purchase doesn't count. Paid means that part costs extra, and Plugin means it needs a community plugin. Checked in September 2026 against each app's own pricing and help pages. These apps change often, so if something here is out of date, send a correction.
What the table can't show
In most of these apps a note, a task, and an event are three separate things, even when one app holds all three. In Pikos they're one page. Write the notes from a meeting, tick off what came out of it, drag it onto Thursday, and it's still the same page. Notion can do this once you've built a database for it, and NotePlan comes close, since its tasks live inside notes. In Pikos it's how every page works, with nothing to set up.
The same goes for calendar events. Write on one, tag it, or tick it off, and it becomes your page. Disconnect the calendar later, or delete the event there, and the page stays in Pikos. Events you never touched are removed.
Which one fits
They're all good apps. Each one is the right pick for someone.
- Apple Notes, Reminders, and Calendar if you want free, already installed, and on your phone.
- NotePlan if you want all three on Mac and iPhone today, as Markdown files, and a subscription is fine.
- Notion if you work with other people, or you want databases.
- Obsidian if your work is writing and linking notes, and you enjoy shaping your tools.
- Logseq if you think in outlines and daily journals, and want open source.
- TickTick if you're tasks first, on every platform, with habits.
- Things if you want a focused, beautifully made task manager on Apple devices.
- Todoist if you want tasks everywhere, shared with other people.
- Pikos if you want your notes, tasks, and calendar to be one thing, on your computer, with no account and no subscription.
Pikos vs Apple Notes, Reminders, and Calendar
You already have all three. They're free and they sync to your phone with no setup, which Pikos can't match yet. Reminders now show up in Calendar, but notes still sit apart: the note from a meeting and the task it produced live in different apps. In Pikos they're one page, sitting on the day it happened.
The longer comparison, including what to do about years of existing Apple Notes.
Pikos vs Obsidian
Obsidian is the better tool for linking notes into a knowledge base, and it runs everywhere, phones included. Pikos doesn't link pages yet. Out of the box Obsidian has checkboxes but no due dates and no calendar, so plugins fill the gap. Pikos has both built in.
The longer comparison, including moving a vault across.
Pikos vs Notion
Notion does all three and reaches much further: shared workspaces, databases, a phone app. It keeps your work on its servers, needs an account, and works offline only for pages you've marked. Pikos keeps everything on your computer and needs no account. If you work with other people, Notion is the better tool.
The longer comparison, including what an export does and doesn't bring.
Pikos vs NotePlan
The closest match. Notes, tasks, and a calendar, stored as Markdown files on your device, with iPhone and iPad apps and iCloud sync that Pikos doesn't have yet. It's $99 a year after a short trial. Pikos is a free download, and its App Store and iPhone versions will be one-time purchases.
Pikos vs TickTick
The closest to Pikos, and a very good app. It's a task manager first, with notes as a separate kind of item. It runs everywhere and syncs, which Pikos doesn't yet. It also needs an account, keeps your data on its servers, and charges a subscription for the calendar views.
Pikos vs Things
A beautifully made task manager that keeps your data on your devices. To-dos can hold notes and your calendar events show up in Today, but there are no standalone notes and no calendar view. It's $49.99 once on Mac, with separate iPhone and iPad apps. If a focused task manager is all you want, Things is hard to beat.
You can always take it with you
Pikos imports Markdown folders and TickTick or Todoist exports. Everything you write is one file on your computer, so backing up is copying it. Leaving is just as easy: Pikos exports Markdown, CSV, and calendar files other apps can open.