To Do Machine vs Motion (2026) — a work platform or an app built around you?
Updated . Motion facts come from Motion's own pages; see the sources at the bottom of this page.
Motion is built around one idea: let software plan your day. You add tasks with deadlines and durations, and Motion time-blocks them into your calendar, rearranging as things change. It has grown into a full work platform with projects, docs and meeting notes, all with AI built in, sold per seat for teams.
To Do Machine is a to-do app you redesign by chatting: tell To Do Machine how you work, and it builds the views, features, and layout to match. It also works with your calendar: two-way sync with Google and Apple Calendar and time-blocking that respects your meetings, focus blocks and breaks. The difference is what sits around the calendar: a team work platform in Motion, an app shaped around one person's system in To Do Machine.
AT A GLANCE
| Feature | TO DO MACHINE | MOTION |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Standard $69.99/year; Max $199.99/year. 7-day free trial (14 on Max). | Individuals: Pro AI $348/year; Business AI $468/year. Teams: $228 and $348 per person/year. Free trial. |
| Platforms | iPhone and Mac, plus the web | iOS, Android, desktop apps |
| AI | To Do Machine creates and edits tasks, projects, reminders, repeats, and calendar events, and redesigns the app itself. | Auto-scheduling that time-blocks tasks on your calendar and re-optimizes through the day; AI project manager, meeting notetaker, docs assistant, AI chat. |
| Customization | The app redesigns itself around how you work, by chatting: custom views (list, kanban, calendar, focus, blueprint), custom fields, layouts and themes, plus brand-new custom features To Do Machine builds on request. | Projects, tasks, docs, dashboards and Gantt (Business); layout is Motion's own. |
| Calendar | Two-way sync with Google and Apple Calendar; time-blocking that respects meetings, focus blocks and breaks. | Calendar-first: tasks are scheduled into your calendar automatically. |
| Sharing | Personal app; no shared projects today. | Per-seat team plans, capacity planning and permissions (Business AI). |
THE SHORT VERSION
Pick Motion if you run projects with a team and want docs, meeting notes and capacity planning in the same tool. Pick To Do Machine if you want a personal app, shaped around how you plan, that still time-blocks your day around your calendar.
Where To Do Machine is the better choice
- The app redesigns itself around how you work. Custom views, custom fields, layouts and themes, plus custom features To Do Machine builds when you ask, all by chatting. Motion’s interface is Motion’s; in To Do Machine every screen is yours to reshape, from a focus view to a blueprint of your week.
- Your system isn’t calendar-shaped. Habits, lists, a six-task day, a “hard thing first” morning: To Do Machine builds the screens for the way you plan, and not every task needs a time slot.
- You want the calendar help without a work platform. Two-way sync and time-blocking around meetings, focus blocks and breaks, inside an app that’s only about your own tasks.
- Personal life, not just work. Groceries, workouts, a reading list: if you can describe it, To Do Machine can track it.
Where Motion is the better choice
- You run projects with a team. Motion has capacity planning, Gantt charts, dashboards, permissions and per-seat billing. To Do Machine is a personal app.
- Meetings drive your work. Motion’s notetaker turns meetings into tasks.
- You want docs next to your tasks. Motion includes AI docs; To Do Machine doesn’t do documents.
- You need Android or Windows.
Switching from Motion
Bring your tasks over with screenshots. Take pictures of your Motion projects and task lists, send them to To Do Machine, and it reads them and recreates your tasks, deadlines and recurring work. It can mirror the setup you had, too. It works from the pictures, not a connection to your Motion account. Connect the same Google Calendar to keep your meetings in view.
TRY IT
Get To Do Machine on the App Store for iPhone and Mac, or open the web app. Start the free trial and tell it how you plan your day.
GET THE APPSOURCES
Each company's own pages and App Store listings, checked on October 20, 2026.
