# sleek

> Free, open-source todo.txt manager for Windows, macOS and Linux

sleek is a free, open-source desktop app for managing tasks kept in todo.txt files. It reads and writes the plain-text todo.txt format, adding pickers, filters and search for priorities, contexts, projects, due dates, recurrence and deferred dates, and it watches each file so that changes made by other todo.txt apps show up. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and is released under the MIT license.

- **Category:** To-Do List Apps
- **Made by:** Robin Ahle (since 2020)
- **Website:** https://github.com/ransome1/sleek
- **Runs on:** macOS, Windows, Linux
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 9, 2026

## Pricing

sleek is free to use.

- **Pricing model:** Free
- **Free plan:** Free and open source under the MIT license on Windows, macOS and Linux; the Mac App Store listing is free with no in-app purchases. The developer asks for optional sponsorship toward app store fees.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0 | The complete app from the Mac App Store, Microsoft Store, Snap Store, Flathub, Homebrew, the AUR or a direct download. |

Read from https://github.com/ransome1/sleek on Oct 9, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with sleek before buying.

## Key features

- **Works on todo.txt files:** sleek opens existing todo.txt files or creates new ones and can manage several at once. A file watcher picks up changes made to a file by other todo.txt apps.
- **todo.txt attributes with pickers:** Todos carry priorities, contexts, projects, due dates, recurrence, threshold dates for deferred todos and pomodoro intervals, set by typing the syntax or through built-in pickers.
- **Filter, sort, group and search:** Todos can be filtered, sorted and grouped by any attribute, with the order of each group invertible, and an advanced search accepts filter expressions based on todo.txt syntax.
- **Recurring todos and notifications:** Marking a recurring todo complete creates the next one, and due dates can trigger notifications.
- **Archiving completed todos:** Completed todos can be shown, hidden or archived into a separate done.txt file.
- **Markdown and human-friendly dates:** Descriptions support Markdown, including links with custom protocols such as file://. Due and threshold dates can be typed as spoken dates, and todos can be created multi-line or in bulk.

## Good for

- People who keep their tasks in a plain todo.txt file
- Using one task file from several todo.txt apps
- Desktop users who want a free graphical todo.txt app
- Keyboard users: the app is navigable with shortcuts

## Worth knowing

- Desktop only: sleek is offered for Windows, macOS and Linux, with no mobile or web version.
- Tasks live in todo.txt files, and the README and wiki describe no built-in sync service, so sharing a file between devices is left to other tools.
- The Flatpak build runs in a sandbox and needs extra file permissions before it can reopen a todo.txt file after a restart.
- The README says the backlog is growing while capacity is limited, and asks for contributors and sponsors.

**Tags:** Open source, Tasks, Local-first, Markdown, Natural-language input

## Alternatives

- [Todo.txt](https://toolgpa.com/tools/todo-txt): Plain-text to-do list format with an open-source command-line tool. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/sleek-vs-todo-txt)
- [TaskPaper](https://toolgpa.com/tools/taskpaper): Plain-text to-do lists with an outliner, for Mac. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/sleek-vs-taskpaper)
- [topydo](https://toolgpa.com/tools/topydo): Console todo.txt manager with dependencies and recurring tasks. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/sleek-vs-topydo)
- [Taskwarrior](https://toolgpa.com/tools/taskwarrior): Free, open-source to-do list manager for the command line. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/sleek-vs-taskwarrior)
- [Super Productivity](https://toolgpa.com/tools/super-productivity): Free, open-source to-do app with time tracking and a Pomodoro timer. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/sleek-vs-super-productivity)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 9, 2026:

- https://github.com/ransome1/sleek
- https://github.com/ransome1/sleek/wiki
- https://github.com/ransome1/sleek/wiki/Flatpak-Caveats
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sleek-todo-txt-manager/id1614704209
- https://api.github.com/repos/ransome1/sleek

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/sleek
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).