Comparison
Dumpling vs TickTick
Last updated: August 16, 2026
Of the four apps we compare ourselves to, TickTick is the closest in shape. It quietly built one of the best task managers around, put a real calendar and a genuinely good habit tracker next to it, added focus timers, and priced the whole thing low. It's dependable and it runs everywhere. If that list covers your needs, TickTick is a sensible, proven choice.
Where the two part ways is everything around the tasks. Dumpling treats notes as a full editor rather than an attachment, keeps lightweight records of the people and organizations in your work, finds the connections between all of it automatically, and puts an AI assistant on top that can actually change things — create the task, move the deadline, update the note — with your permission settings deciding what it sees.
Side by side
| Feature | Dumpling | TickTick |
|---|---|---|
| Tasks | Priorities, subtasks, recurrence, kanban, natural-language quick add | Excellent — natural language, kanban, filters, mature and fast |
| Calendar | Two-way Google Calendar sync; day, timeline, month views | Strong built-in calendar with external calendar integrations |
| Habits | Built in, with streaks, next to goals | Built in and genuinely good, with streaks |
| Notes | Rich block editor: callouts, code blocks, version history, daily notes | Simple notes and task descriptions — not a full editor |
| Connections | Automatic — keyword + semantic matching across 8 entity types | None — lists and tags are the organizing tools |
| AI | Agentic assistant with persistent memory that executes changes; per-data-type visibility toggles; MCP server | Lighter AI features around tasks |
| People | Lightweight contacts and organizations, linked to your work | None |
| Focus tools | None — no pomodoro timer | Pomodoro timer and focus stats built in |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android — native performance, no web app, no Linux | Everywhere, including web and Linux |
| Pricing | Free plan (50 active tasks, 10 notes, 5 projects, 2 areas); Pro $9.99/mo or $79.99/yr | Free plan; premium costs noticeably less per year than Dumpling Pro |
Choose TickTick if…
- Tasks, calendar, and habits are the whole job — you don't need deep notes or contacts.
- Price matters most; TickTick's premium is one of the best deals in the category.
- You need a web app or Linux, or you use pomodoro timers daily.
- You want something long-proven. Dumpling is in beta.
Choose Dumpling if…
- Notes are half your day and deserve a real editor with version history.
- You want your tasks, notes, calendar, and people connected to each other — automatically.
- You want an AI assistant that remembers context and does the work, not just a feature bolted on.
- Your work revolves around people — clients, colleagues, collaborators — worth tracking next to the work itself.
The honest bottom line
TickTick and Dumpling agree on the premise — one app should carry more of your day than a to-do list does — and disagree on how far to take it. TickTick stops at tasks, calendar, and habits, executes them very well, and charges little. Dumpling keeps going: real notes, people and organizations, goals, a knowledge graph that assembles itself, and an AI assistant that changes things instead of describing them. That extra ground is the whole pitch, and it's fair to want none of it. If you do want it, everything you put in stays exportable, and a lapsed subscription leaves your data visible read-only — the receipts are in the changelog, shipping most weeks.
Dumpling is in beta. Free to join, and your data is exportable at every moment.
Join the waitlist