3 Stars = It Rocks!

2 Stars = Not So Bad!

1 Star = Hope they don’t quit their day job!

Checkvist
http://Checkvist.com

FreelanceWeekly Rating: 3 Stars

Set Up: Set up was quick and simple. You just need to enter your email address, create a user name that your checkvist co-workers will know so they can find you, and your password.

Navigation: Overall navigation and ease of use was effortless. The short cut keys are right on the page with the view options to dismiss them once you become familiar. You have the ability to add notes to the checklist as well. There is also a feature that enables users to import and export other task lists which is beneficial. Ta-da List and Todoist do not offer an import or export function.

Sharing: You can share with multiple individuals easily by entering their emails for a particular project while keeping your other projects private which is similar to Ta-da List. Also similar to Ta-da List, once a task has been marked as completed the original party will see that the task checked off.

Customer service: Customer service is available for feedback, individual email to support, development blog and a reference page for searching.

Recommendation: Of the programs viewed, Checkvist has exceptional user friendliness with options such as sharing and notes that many people would utilize. The ability to export your task lists is also a beneficial feature to take advantage of.

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Ta-da Lists (Owned by 37 Signals)
http://www.tadalist.com/

FreelanceWeekly Rating: 2 Stars

Set Up: Registration was fast and easy. On the main page it states “Sign up for free in 10 seconds” and that is all it took. Set up was very user friendly and self-explanatory.

Navigation: Overall navigation and ease of use was simple. The appearance is straight forward and uncomplicated with a definite singleness of purpose. The program does not offer dates so manual entry of due date in the title or task would be the only option. The item task fields do have a 77 character limit and no option to add additional notes. Unlike Checkvist, there is no ability to import task lists from outside programs or calendars.

Sharing: You can share with multiple individuals easily by entering their emails, separated by comma, on one form for a particular list while keeping your other lists private. Ta-da List immediately sends the other parties a unique link for editing. Ta-da Link also marks that particular list as shared. You can also share a public URL for non-editing parties. Updates to the list can be seen by all parties involved. The originator can also email their self a copy of the tasks and subscribe to the rss feed. Ta-da List also assigns the user a unique URL for easy accessibility. Ex. http://username.tadalist.com/lists

Customer service: Customer service is not available. (Not unusual for 37 signals products)

Recommendation: I would definitely use this for a daily punch list tool if I had low volume, short tasks and did not need much customer service. The inability to add notes and the limit on characters in the fields would be discouraging when sharing and adding details or instructions to the projects.

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Todoist
http://todoist.com/

FreelanceWeekly Rating: 1 Star

Set Up: Registration only requires name, email and password. Setting up task lists was a little more difficult than Ta-da Lists and Checkvist, but additional options are available such as date, time, priority, sub-tasks and sub-projects. Other options that would be useful are the multiple opportunities for customization such as Firefox sidebar, Gmail integration, labels, reminders and plugins.

Navigation: Overall navigation and ease of use was fair. To access your projects you need to type a specific date range to view by due date or click the project name. In comparison to Ta-da List and Checkvist, which do not offer due dates, the ability to have projects organized by due date and priority is a bonus. Unlike Checkvist, there is no ability to import task lists. There did not seem to be a character limit when entering tasks allowing the user to add further information to the individual task or project title.

Sharing: There is not a sharing function. If you were in need of collaboration on a project then you would currently have to share login information.

Customer service: Customer service is available via a feedback forum and a general support forum.

Recommendation: The additional options to be able to personalize the project lists are a definite plus versus Ta-da Lists and Checkvist. The current inability to share the project lists would be a factor when considering using Todoist versus the other online applications.

In a nutshell, they are all free (for now) so try each one out and see which works best for you. Our FreelanceWeekly favorite is Checkvist.