Taskwarrior vs topydo

Taskwarrior

• People who work in a terminal and want to manage tasks by typing
• Keeping task data in a local database, with sync as an option
• Scripting a personal workflow with hooks and custom fields

topydo

• People who keep tasks in a todo.txt file and work in a terminal
• todo.txt users who want dependencies and recurring items
• Keyboard users who want several filtered lists side by side

Taskwarrior

• The project ships only a command-line program. Graphical, web and mobile front ends are separate community tools.
• On Windows it runs through the Windows Subsystem for Linux or MSYS2; Cygwin is no longer supported.
• No hosted sync service is included: you run a TaskChampion sync server or configure a cloud storage bucket yourself.
• Since version 3.0 the docs warn that file-sync tools such as Syncthing or rsync can corrupt task data and are unsupported.

topydo

• Console only: there is no graphical, web or mobile app. The docs say there is no native Android build and describe running it under Termux.
• Column mode does not work natively on Windows; the docs point Windows users to Cygwin for it.
• Dependencies, recurrence and start dates rely on tags that, the README says, other todo.txt tools may not interpret properly.
• The documentation describes no sync feature, and releases are infrequent: PyPI shows 0.14 in December 2020, 0.15 in April 2025 and 0.16 in February 2026.

Taskwarrior

Task commands in the terminal

Tasks are added, modified and completed with short task commands, and carry attributes such as project, tags, priority and due date out of more than 20 standard ones.

Filters, reports and contexts

Reports list tasks through filters you combine on the command line. A context is a named filter that stays active, for example to show only work tasks.

Urgency score

Each task gets a numeric urgency score summed from a dozen or more factors such as priority, and the next report sorts tasks by it.

Sync between replicas

The task sync command exchanges changes with a TaskChampion sync server, an AWS or Google Cloud storage bucket, a local file or a git repository.

Hooks and user defined attributes

Hook scripts in any language run at set events in the program, and user defined attributes add your own fields that can be stored, sorted and shown in reports.

JSON import and export

Task data moves in and out through a documented JSON format, which the community tools listed on the project's Tools page build on.

topydo

Command line, prompt and column modes

Runs as one-off shell commands, as a prompt with Tab auto-completion, or as a text interface of side-by-side columns with vim-like keys, where each column has its own filter and sort order.

Due dates, start dates and relative dates

Due and start dates are stored as tags on the todo.txt line. When adding items you can type relative dates such as tomorrow, 1w or fri, which are written to the file as absolute dates.

Dependencies between items

The dep subcommand links a parent item to child items that should be done first. A parent with open children is hidden from the default list, and a Graphviz Dot export can draw the dependency tree.

Recurring items

A rec tag such as rec:1w creates a new instance of an item when it is completed, counted from the completion date or, in strict mode, from the original due date.

Filtering, sorting and output formats

Filter expressions select items by text and by tag comparisons such as due:<today, and sort and group expressions order the result. The ls command can also output iCalendar, JSON and Graphviz Dot.

Backups and revert

After each change topydo stores a backup of the todo and archive files, 5 by default, and the revert subcommand undoes the last command or a numbered earlier one.

Taskwarrior

• Free$0

  The full command-line program under the MIT license. Sync needs your own server or a cloud storage bucket, which the docs say carries a small cost.

topydo

• Free$0

  The full program with its command-line, prompt and column interfaces. Prompt mode, column mode and iCalendar output each need an extra pip dependency.