# How to Vibe Code Your Own Todoist (and Stop Paying for It)

> A To-Do List to Organize Your Work & Life

- Site: https://todoist.com
- Category: Productivity
- Verdict: **Solid side project** (72/100 vibecodeable)
- Estimated effort: 2-3 weeks part-time

## Verdict

You can build a web-based Todoist clone for personal use with AI tools, but you will miss the native cross-device sync engine and 19 years of polish.

Vibecoding a personal task manager web app with Next.js, Turso, and Claude Code is entirely achievable within a couple of weeks. By dropping the native watchOS/desktop apps, team billing, and SOC2 compliance, you isolate the core value: fast task capture, NLP date parsing, lists/boards, and custom filters. The single biggest catch is writing a robust natural language date parser and keeping UI state snappy without feeling sluggish.

### What you can't replicate

- Deep native OS integrations and Apple Watch/Wear OS clients
- The massive ecosystem of 80+ official enterprise integrations
- Decades of edge-case debugging on multi-device real-time sync

## What it does

Cross-platform task management and project planning application with natural language processing, multiple view layouts, and task assistance.

### Core features

- Natural Language Processing (NLP) Quick Add for dates, priorities, and labels
- Hierarchical Projects, sections, sub-tasks, and priority levels (p1-p4)
- Flexible views: List, Kanban Board, and Calendar
- Custom Filter views using query expressions
- Recurring due dates and custom reminders
- Productivity stats, Karma points, and activity history
- AI Task Assist for breaking down tasks

## The business

### Pricing

- Beginner: Free — Start organizing your life with 5 personal projects and smart quick add.
- Pro: $5/mo — Organize your work and life with advanced views and AI features.
- Business: $8/mo — Manage teamwork with shared workspaces and permissions.

### Funding

$40,000 raised.
- Seed / Grant (January 2011)
Investors: Start-Up Chile

Founded 2007.
Team size: ~90-100.

## The hard parts

- Multi-platform offline-first sync engine with conflict resolution
- Robust natural language parsing engine for complex date/recurrence expressions
- Real-time collaborative project sharing with presence and role permissions
- Fluid drag-and-drop calendar and board reordering performance

## How to vibe code Todoist

### Prerequisites

- Node.js (Free): Required runtime for Next.js development and tooling.
- GitHub (Free): Source control repository and deployment hook for Vercel.
- Cursor or Claude Code ($20/mo): AI coding assistants to scaffold and iterate on the app codebase.

### Recommended AI tools

- Claude Code: Best-in-class multi-file agent for scaffolding the schema, API routes, and UI components from natural language instructions.
- Cursor: AI-native editor for refining the drag-and-drop Kanban and Calendar layouts and component styling.

### Stack

- Frontend: Next.js
- Backend: Next.js Server Actions / API Routes
- Database: Turso
- Auth: better-auth
- Payments: None
- Other: Vercel AI SDK, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui

### Hosting

- Vercel (Hosting the Next.js web application and serverless endpoints): $0/mo
- Turso (Serverless SQLite database for lightning-fast personal task storage): $0/mo

### Build guide

1. **Project Scaffolding & Database Schema** — Initialize the Next.js project with Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui, and configure Turso with better-auth tables and task schemas.

```
Scramble a new Next.js 16 app with Tailwind CSS 4, shadcn/ui, and TypeScript. Configure Turso SQLite database connection using Drizzle ORM or native libSQL. Create database tables for users, projects (with color and nesting), sections, tasks (with title, description, due_date, priority p1-p4, completed, parent_id), labels, and task_labels. Implement better-auth for secure single-user email/password authentication. Ensure the project structure is clean, modular, and ready for rapid feature additions.
```

2. **Natural Language Processing Quick Add** — Build an intelligent input parser that extracts due dates, priorities, labels, and project assignments from freeform text strings.

```
Build a Quick Add task input component in Next.js. Write a robust TypeScript utility function that parses natural language task strings (e.g., 'Review budget every Friday at 4pm p1 #Work @finance'). The parser must extract: 1) clean task title, 2) parsed due date/time and recurrence rules using chrono-node, 3) priority level (p1 through p4, defaulting to p4), 4) project name prefixed with '#', and 5) labels prefixed with '@'. Connect this input component to a server action that creates the task and assigns matching relational foreign keys in Turso.
```

3. **Project Management & Sidebar Hierarchy** — Implement sidebar navigation for Inbox, Today, Upcoming, filters, and custom nested projects.

```
Create a responsive sidebar and layout shell mimicking Todoist. Include default views: 'Inbox', 'Today', 'Upcoming', and custom user-created filters. Implement a project tree component allowing nested sub-projects and sections within projects. Add modal dialogs for creating, editing, and deleting projects with color customization. Ensure state updates instantly using React optimistic updates when tasks are added or checked off.
```

4. **Flexible Views: List, Kanban Board, and Calendar** — Build multi-view layouts for project task visualization including list sorting, board columns, and calendar grids.

```
Implement three toggleable views for project tasks: List view (grouped by sections with inline task creation and drag reordering), Kanban Board view (columns representing sections or priorities with drag-and-drop card movement), and Calendar view (monthly/weekly grid displaying tasks on their due dates). Use Tailwind CSS and standard React drag-and-drop libraries. Ensure view switching preserves filter and sort states seamlessly.
```

5. **AI Task Assist & Productivity Stats** — Integrate Vercel AI SDK to power Task Assist for breaking down complex goals into sub-tasks and calculate productivity karma.

```
Integrate the Vercel AI SDK with OpenAI API to create a 'Task Assist' feature. When a user clicks 'Break down with AI' on a task, send the task title to a server endpoint that returns a structured JSON list of sub-tasks, then automatically create those sub-tasks in the database under the parent task. Additionally, build a Productivity visualization dashboard tracking completed tasks over the last 7 days, daily streaks, and a 'Karma' score counter based on task completion volume.
```

### Cost vs paying

**Starting costs (one-time):**

- AI Coding Assistant (Cursor / Claude Code): $20
- Total: ~$20 one-time

**Ongoing costs (monthly):**

- OpenAI API credits for Task Assist: ~$2/mo
- Turso & Vercel Free Tiers: $0/mo
- Total: ~$2/mo

- Paying for the SaaS instead: $5/mo (Pro)
- Build time: 25-35 hours
- AI tool credits: $20/mo
- Break-even: Never (built for learning and personal customization)

## Sources

- [Todoist Official Website](https://todoist.com)
- [Todoist Pricing Page](https://todoist.com/pricing)
- [Crunchbase - Doist Profile](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/doist)