Should you build your own TickTick?
Combine tasks, habits, calendar, focus timer, and recurring reminders in one local app
The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For TickTick, combine tasks, habits, calendar, focus timer, and recurring reminders in one local app. The hard boundary is cross-platform sync, mobile widgets, calendar integrations, and years of recurrence polish, plus cross-device reliability and workflow polish.
ENOriginal research content in English. Original prompt preserved in English.
Build a personal replacement for TickTick in an empty repository.
Use Tauri 2, React, TypeScript, SQLite, and desktop notifications; do not offer alternative stacks.
The core loop is: capture tasks, habits, and recurring reminders in one local app with a calendar and focus timer, schedule or repeat them, work from a focused today view, and keep history locally.
Make the first run work locally with one documented command.
Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward.
Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials.
Create inbox, today, upcoming, someday, and completed views with fast keyboard capture.
Support projects, tags, due dates, start dates, priorities, notes, subtasks, and attachments.
Implement robust daily, weekly, monthly, and custom recurring rules with tests.
Add a focus view with one active task, timer, and optional desktop notification.
Provide search, saved filters, undo, and a completed-task archive.
Export and import a documented JSON format and make automatic local backups.
Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states.
Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs.
Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path.
Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps.
Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane.
Deliberately leave out team assignment and comments.
Deliberately leave out two-way calendar or email synchronization.
Deliberately leave out native mobile apps and cloud accounts.
Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used.The prompt opens pre-filled in your agent. Review it before running. · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
What would building your own look like?
Capture tasks, habits, and recurring reminders in one local app with a calendar and focus timer, schedule or repeat them, work from a focused today view, and keep history locally.
What you will need
- macOS, Windows, or Linux
- notification permission
- local SQLite database
People still pay for TickTick because task software is sticky because trust, speed, and ubiquitous capture matter more than the database schema. The recurring cost buys recurrence edge cases, notifications, sync conflicts, calendar APIs, mobile capture, and backups, not just the visible interface.
xcross-platform sync, mobile widgets, calendar integrations, and years of recurrence polish
xperfect mobile sync
xcalendar and email integrations
xshared workspaces
xbehavioral coaching polish
Prefer something ready-made?
LunataskTasks, seven habits, a daily calendar, reminders, recurrence, and Pomodoro; external calendar sync is paidFree↗License, setup, and limitations for each alternative.
How much does TickTick cost?
- Monthly billing
- $4.17/mo$4.17/mo
- Per year
- $50.04/yr$50.04/yr
- On a Brazilian card, with 3.5% IOF
- R$21.79/moR$261/yr
Saved to My list. You will see a notice on this site when the price changes.
You complete the purchase on TickTick’s site. Vibe Radar does not handle payments.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| free | $0/user | $0/user | 9 lists; 99 active tasks/list; 19 checklist items/task; 2 reminders/task; 5 habits; 2 users/shared list including owner; 1 attachment/day; planner 2 times/week. |
| premium | $4.17/user≈ $4.17 | $4.17/user≈ $4.17 | 299 lists; 999 tasks/list; 199 subtasks/checklist items/task; 5 reminders/task; 299 habits; up to 30 users/shared list; 99 attachments/day. |
Free tier9 lists; 99 active tasks/list; 19 checklist items/task; 2 reminders/task; 5 habits; 2 users/shared list including owner; 1 attachment/day; planner 2 times/week.
Billing termsmonthly + annual; current web annual promotion is $35.99/year (28% off regular $49.99); platform prices vary
Additional costsThe $35.99 annual price is a limited-time promotion; renewal/platform pricing may be the regular $49.99; app-store billing rules apply.
Price historyPremium, month-to-month: $3 → $4.17 (2026-10)
verified 2026-10-20 · source ↗
Is it cheaper to build or buy TickTick?
Adjust the numbers: hours to build, your hourly rate, running costs and the subscription price.
Over 24 months, subscribing is cheaper.
Starting hours estimated from the analysis (one sitting). Does not price what you give up (support, integrations, security).
Can I rebuild TickTick?
Yes. A competent AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) can build a usable personal TickTick replacement in one session with the prompt on this page. It runs on your own machine or server with no subscription.
How much does TickTick cost?
TickTick costs about $4.17/mo (Premium, checked 10/20/2026), which is $50.04 per year. That’s what you save by replacing it with one prompt.
What do I lose by replacing TickTick?
Honestly: cross-platform sync, mobile widgets, calendar integrations, and years of recurrence polish; perfect mobile sync; calendar and email integrations; shared workspaces; behavioral coaching polish. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to TickTick?
Yes: Lunatask (Tasks, seven habits, a daily calendar, reminders, recurrence, and Pomodoro; external calendar sync is paid) The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.