Notion vs ClickUp vs Todoist: Which Has the Best AI Task Automation?
A deep comparison of Notion AI, ClickUp AI, and Todoist AI—covering writing, automation, task management, and what’s missing.
Notion, ClickUp, and Todoist all have “AI.” But they mean very different things by it.
If you’re comparing these three popular tools based on AI capabilities, you’re probably looking for intelligent automation that handles task management for you—not just writing assistance or chatbots.
Here’s the reality: Notion AI excels at content creation. ClickUp AI offers comprehensive project features with some AI suggestions. Todoist AI provides conversational task management. All three are excellent tools.
But none of them deliver true AI task automation—the kind that autonomously schedules your work, considers your capacity, and proactively adapts throughout the day.
This guide breaks down exactly what each tool’s “AI” actually does, compares their strengths for task management, and introduces a fourth option built specifically for AI-powered task automation that these three don’t attempt.
Quick Summary: Notion vs ClickUp vs Todoist
Notion: Workspace with AI Writing
Notion is an all-in-one workspace combining docs, wikis, databases, and basic task management. Notion 3.0 (September 2025) introduced AI Agents that can perform multi-step autonomous workflows across pages and databases.
AI Focus: Content creation, knowledge management, meeting notes, and database automation
Key AI Features:
AI writing assistance (drafting, editing, tone changes)
Content summarization and Q&A on your workspace
AI Meeting Notes with automatic transcription
AI Agents for multi-step workflows
Multiple AI models (GPT-5, Claude Opus 4.1, o3)
Research Mode pulls info from web and workspace
Pricing:
Free: Limited AI trial (20 responses)
Plus: $12/month, limited AI trial
Business: $18/month ($20 monthly), full AI included
Enterprise: Custom pricing, full AI included
Best For: Teams needing comprehensive workspace for docs, wikis, and databases with AI writing assistance
ClickUp: Project Platform with AI Features
ClickUp is a comprehensive project management platform with AI features woven throughout. ClickUp Brain includes AI writing, knowledge management, project automation through Super Agents, and Autopilot Agents for workflow automation.
AI Focus: Project management automation, writing assistance, and knowledge search
Key AI Features:
AI writing for task descriptions, summaries, docs
BrainGPT knowledge search across workspace
Super Agents (autonomous AI agents for workflows)
Autopilot Agents for routine task automation
AI subtask generation
Multiple AI models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini)
50+ automation triggers and actions
Pricing:
Free: Limited AI trial
Unlimited: $7/month, Brain AI add-on $9/user/month
Business: $12/month, Brain AI add-on $9/user/month
AI Super Credits: Cost-plus pricing for automatic AI usage
Best For: Teams needing all-in-one project management with comprehensive features and AI assistance
Todoist: Focused Task Manager with AI Assistant
Todoist is a streamlined task manager with AI features focused on conversational task creation and management. Task Assist (powered by Todoist Assist) provides intelligent suggestions for breaking down tasks and planning projects.
AI Focus: Natural language task creation and conversational task management
Key AI Features:
Task Assist for breaking down complex tasks
Natural language task creation
Filter Assist for creating powerful filters
Email Assist for converting emails to tasks
Tips for completing tasks
Making tasks more actionable
Smart scheduling suggestions
Pricing:
Beginner (Free): No AI features
Pro: $5/month ($60 annually), includes Task Assist
Business: $8/user/month ($96 annually), includes Task Assist
Best For: Individuals and small teams wanting simple, fast task management with conversational AI help
Understanding “AI Task Automation” vs “AI Features”
Before comparing these tools, we need to distinguish between AI features and true AI task automation. Most tools market “AI” when they really mean AI-assisted features, not autonomous automation.
What IS AI Task Automation
True AI task automation means:
Autonomous Task Scheduling: AI decides when tasks should be done based on multiple factors (calendar, deadlines, priorities, capacity)
Automatic Prioritization: AI continuously ranks tasks based on importance, urgency, and your ability to complete them
Proactive Rescheduling: When plans change, AI automatically adjusts remaining tasks without manual intervention
Intelligent Capacity Planning: AI considers your energy levels, meeting fatigue, and cognitive load when scheduling work
Pattern Learning & Adaptation: AI learns from your behavior and outcomes to improve scheduling over time
What ISN’T AI Task Automation
These are useful AI features, but not task automation:
AI Writing Assistance: Helps you write task descriptions, docs, or content (valuable, but not automation)
Natural Language Parsing: Understands “Meeting with Sarah Tuesday 3pm” (convenience, not automation)
Content Summarization: Summarizes meetings or documents (helpful, but not automation)
Chatbot for Adding Tasks: Conversational interface for manual task creation (easier input, but still manual)
What Each Tool Actually Does
Notion AI:
✅ Writes and edits content for you
✅ Summarizes meeting notes and documents
✅ Q&A on your workspace knowledge
✅ AI Agents for multi-step database workflows
❌ Doesn’t schedule tasks automatically
❌ Doesn’t automate day-to-day task management
Verdict: AI for content and knowledge, not task automation
ClickUp AI:
✅ Writes task descriptions and content
✅ Summarizes comments and docs
✅ Generates subtasks from tasks
✅ Super Agents automate workflows (e.g., assign tasks based on rules)
⚠️ Some automatic task suggestions
❌ No autonomous daily scheduling based on capacity
Verdict: AI for writing + workflow automation, light task suggestions
Todoist AI:
✅ Natural language task creation
✅ Conversational interaction
✅ Breaks down tasks into subtasks
✅ Suggests next steps for tasks
❌ No automatic scheduling
❌ No autonomous task management
Verdict: AI assistant for adding and organizing tasks, not automation
The Gap: None do true AI task automation (autonomous scheduling, capacity-aware planning, proactive daily management).
Detailed Comparison Table
Head-to-Head Comparisons
Notion vs ClickUp (AI Perspective)
Notion’s Advantages:
Superior AI writing and content creation with multiple premium models
Better for building knowledge bases and wikis
AI Agents automate database workflows and multi-step processes
More elegant interface for docs and pages
Research Mode connects workspace knowledge with web search
ClickUp’s Advantages:
Stronger core project management features
More comprehensive all-in-one solution (tasks, docs, chat, goals, time tracking)
Super Agents and Autopilot offer workflow automation
Better for teams managing complex projects
More affordable AI ($9/user/month vs Business plan required)
Winner: ClickUp for project management and teams. Notion for workspace and knowledge management.
Notion vs Todoist (AI Perspective)
Notion’s Advantages:
All-in-one workspace (Todoist is just tasks)
Much more powerful AI (writing, summarization, agents)
Better for teams needing docs + tasks
Database flexibility for custom workflows
Meeting transcription and notes
Todoist’s Advantages:
Dramatically simpler and faster
Best natural language task creation
Much cheaper ($5/month vs $18+)
Better for pure task management focus
Excellent cross-platform consistency
Winner: Notion for teams and comprehensive needs. Todoist for individuals wanting simplicity.
ClickUp vs Todoist (AI Perspective)
ClickUp’s Advantages:
Comprehensive project management platform
More AI features (writing, knowledge search, agents)
Better for complex projects and teams
Everything in one tool (tasks, docs, chat, goals)
Workflow automation capabilities
Todoist’s Advantages:
Significantly simpler interface
Faster task management
Much cheaper ($5/month vs $16/month with AI)
Better mobile experience
90+ integrations included
Best natural language processing
Winner: ClickUp for power users and teams. Todoist for simplicity and individual focus.
Detailed Feature Analysis
AI Writing Capabilities
Notion: ★★★★★
Notion AI offers the most sophisticated writing assistance of the three. With access to GPT-5, Claude Opus 4.1, and o3, you can toggle between models based on your needs. The AI writes, edits, translates, changes tone, and summarizes across any page or database.
Particularly strong for: Long-form content, meeting summaries, knowledge base articles, documentation
ClickUp: ★★★★☆
ClickUp Brain provides solid AI writing for task descriptions, project updates, doc creation, and comment summaries. Not as polished as Notion’s interface, but gets the job done within the project management context.
Particularly strong for: Quick task descriptions, project summaries, status updates
Todoist: ☆☆☆☆☆
No AI writing features. Task Assist helps make tasks more actionable and suggests next steps, but doesn’t generate content.
Winner: Notion dominates AI writing.
AI Task Automation Capabilities
Notion: ★★☆☆☆
Notion 3.0’s AI Agents represent the first step toward task automation—they can perform multi-step workflows across databases. For example, an agent could update database properties, generate rollup reports, or maintain data hygiene automatically.
However, these agents don’t schedule when you should do tasks, don’t consider your capacity, and don’t manage your daily task flow.
ClickUp: ★★★☆☆
ClickUp’s Super Agents and Autopilot provide the most task automation of the three. You can create agents that:
Assign tasks based on workload
Update priorities automatically
Create subtasks and checklists
Post progress summaries
Trigger actions based on status changes
This is genuine workflow automation, but not capacity-aware daily scheduling. The AI doesn’t know if you’re fried after six meetings or have high energy at 9am.
Todoist: ★☆☆☆☆
Task Assist helps you break down tasks and suggests next steps, but offers no automation. Everything is manual—you decide when to do tasks, how to prioritize them, and when to reschedule.
Winner: ClickUp offers the most automation, though none provide true capacity-aware scheduling.
Core Task Management
Notion: ★★☆☆☆
Task management in Notion is database-driven, which offers incredible flexibility but steep learning curve. You build task systems using databases with properties, filters, and views. Powerful but complex.
For basic “I need a to-do list,” Notion is overkill. For “I need a custom CRM-task-project hybrid,” Notion excels.
ClickUp: ★★★★☆
ClickUp offers the most comprehensive task management with subtasks, dependencies, priorities, custom fields, multiple views (list, board, calendar, Gantt, timeline), and extensive customization. Feature-rich but can feel overwhelming.
Todoist: ★★★★★
Todoist is the purest task manager—fast, reliable, intuitive. Natural language entry, projects, labels, filters, and priorities. It does one thing extremely well: managing your tasks without getting in the way.
Winner: Todoist for simplicity and speed. ClickUp for power and features. Notion for customization but complexity.
Price & Value
Notion: ~$18-20/month for AI
Notion’s pricing changed in 2025. New users need the Business plan ($18/month annually, $20 monthly) to get full AI access. Free and Plus plans only get 20 AI responses as a trial. If you’re already invested in Notion’s ecosystem, the value is good—you get workspace + AI. If you only want task management, it’s expensive.
ClickUp: $7-12/month + $9/month for Brain AI
ClickUp’s base plans are affordable ($7 Unlimited, $12 Business), but AI costs an additional $9/user/month. Total: $16-21/month for full AI features. Competitive if you need comprehensive project management. Expensive if you only want tasks.
Note: Heavy AI usage (Super Agents, Autopilot) consumes AI Super Credits beyond the base subscription.
Todoist: $5/month
At $5/month ($60 annually), Todoist offers exceptional value. Task Assist is included. For pure task management with AI help, this is the most affordable option by far.
Winner: Todoist delivers best value for task management. ClickUp and Notion justify higher prices with additional features.
Who Should Choose Which
Choose Notion if:
✅ You need an all-in-one workspace for docs, wikis, and databases
✅ AI writing assistance is a priority
✅ You want everything centralized in one tool
✅ Team collaboration on documents matters
✅ You need knowledge management and research tools
✅ You’re willing to invest time in setup and customization
✅ Budget allows $18-20/month per user
Don’t choose Notion for: AI task automation (it doesn’t have it), simple task management (too complex), or budget constraints.
Perfect for: Knowledge workers, content teams, startups building internal wikis, anyone needing flexible databases with AI writing support.
Choose ClickUp if:
✅ You need comprehensive project management
✅ You want everything (tasks, docs, chat, goals, time tracking)
✅ You’re managing complex projects with teams
✅ You need workflow automation
✅ You want most feature-rich platform
✅ You can handle the learning curve
✅ Budget allows $16-21/month per user
Don’t choose ClickUp for: Simplicity (it’s feature-heavy), pure AI task automation (limited), or if you prefer specialized tools over all-in-one.
Perfect for: Project managers, agencies, marketing teams, anyone juggling complex workflows across multiple stakeholders.
Choose Todoist if:
✅ You want focused, fast task management
✅ Simplicity is priority over features
✅ You need reliable, cross-platform tool
✅ Natural language task entry appeals to you
✅ You want best value ($5/month)
✅ You prefer specialized tool over all-in-one
✅ You don’t need docs or comprehensive project management
Don’t choose Todoist for: AI automation beyond task creation, project management, team collaboration features, or workspace capabilities.
Perfect for: Individuals, freelancers, students, anyone who wants task management that just works without complexity.
Choose None of These if:
You want:
True AI task automation (autonomous scheduling)
Automatic daily planning (not manual)
Capacity-aware intelligence (considering energy, not just time)
Proactive task management (adapts without your input)
Autonomous AI assistant (acts independently, not just assists)
That’s the gap rivva fills.
The AI Task Automation Gap (And How rivva Fills It)
Notion, ClickUp, and Todoist have AI features. But none have AI task automation. Here’s the difference—and why it matters.
The Gap in All Three
What they have:
Notion: AI for writing, content, and knowledge management
ClickUp: AI for writing, knowledge search, and workflow automation
Todoist: AI for conversational task creation and organization
What they don’t have:
❌ Autonomous task scheduling based on your actual capacity
❌ Capacity-aware planning (considering energy, meeting fatigue, sleep)
❌ Proactive rescheduling throughout the day
❌ Automatic task capture from email without manual forwarding
❌ Energy-based intelligence from wearable data
❌ Truly autonomous AI assistant that plans for you
This is true AI task automation—and it’s missing from all three.
What AI Task Automation Actually Means
Scenario: You have 5 tasks to complete this week, plus ongoing meetings.
Notion:
You create tasks in a database
Notion AI can write task descriptions
You manually decide when to do each task
You manually update when things change
AI helps with content, not scheduling
ClickUp:
You add tasks to a project
ClickUp AI can suggest subtasks
You manually schedule on calendar (or use basic auto-schedule)
You manually reschedule when plans change
Super Agents automate workflows, but don’t consider capacity
AI helps with suggestions and automation, not intelligent daily planning
Todoist:
You add tasks via AI chat (natural language)
AI parses “Send report Friday 2pm” correctly
You manually decide priorities and timing
You manually adjust when needed
AI helps with adding, not managing
AI automatically extracts 3 of your 5 tasks from email (no manual entry)
You chat with Nia (rivva’s AI assistant) to add the other 2 tasks
AI analyzes: your calendar, sleep data, energy forecast, task complexity, deadlines
AI automatically schedules all 5 tasks at optimal times based on capacity
Meeting runs long Tuesday? AI reschedules remaining tasks automatically
Wednesday’s sleep is poor? AI moves demanding strategy work to Thursday when you’ll have better capacity
This is AI task automation.
What rivva’s AI Actually Automates
1. Task Capture
Notion: You type into database
ClickUp: You create task manually
Todoist: You tell AI to add task (or quick add)
rivva: AI extracts from email automatically
2. Scheduling
Notion: You decide when (manual)
ClickUp: You drag to calendar (or basic auto-schedule)
Todoist: You set due date (manual)
rivva: AI schedules based on capacity + calendar + deadlines
3. Prioritization
Notion: You sort database (manual)
ClickUp: You set priority levels (manual)
Todoist: You assign priority (manual)
rivva: AI ranks based on deadline + importance + your capacity
4. Adaptation
Notion: You update manually when plans change
ClickUp: You reschedule manually (or use automations for status changes)
Todoist: You adjust manually
rivva: AI reschedules proactively when anything changes
5. Energy Awareness
Notion: ❌ Not considered
ClickUp: ❌ Not considered
Todoist: ❌ Not considered
rivva: ✅ Core feature (integrates wearable data)
Compare “AI” Capabilities
Who Should Choose rivva
Choose rivva over Notion if:
✅ You want AI for task automation (not content writing)
✅ You don’t need comprehensive workspace features
✅ You want autonomous scheduling based on capacity
✅ You’re an individual focused on task execution
✅ You want automatic email task extraction
✅ You value simplicity over customization
Honest comparison:
✅ rivva: True AI task automation
✅ rivva: Capacity-aware (Notion only considers time)
✅ rivva: Simpler for task focus
❌ rivva: No docs/workspace features (Notion excels here)
❌ rivva: No team wiki/database capabilities
Choose rivva over ClickUp if:
✅ You want true AI task automation (not just workflow automation)
✅ You don’t need comprehensive project management
✅ You want capacity-aware intelligence
✅ You prefer simplicity + intelligence over feature count
✅ You’re primarily an individual user
✅ You want automatic task capture from email
Honest comparison:
✅ rivva: True capacity-aware automation (ClickUp offers workflow automation)
✅ rivva: Simpler, more focused
✅ rivva: Better for sustained productivity without burnout
❌ rivva: No project management features (ClickUp comprehensive)
❌ rivva: No team features yet (ClickUp excellent for teams)
❌ rivva: iOS only (ClickUp cross-platform)
Choose rivva over Todoist if:
✅ You want autonomous AI (not just conversational assistance)
✅ You want automatic scheduling (not manual due dates)
✅ You want capacity-aware planning
✅ You need automatic task capture from email
✅ You want AI to handle the planning, not just help with it
✅ You’re willing to pay more for automation ($13.99 vs $5)
Honest comparison:
✅ rivva: Autonomous AI (Todoist is conversational only)
✅ rivva: Automatic scheduling (Todoist manual)
✅ rivva: Capacity-aware (Todoist time-only)
✅ rivva: Email extraction (Todoist requires forwarding)
❌ rivva: More expensive ($13.99 vs $5)
❌ rivva: iOS only (Todoist excellent cross-platform)
❌ rivva: Newer product (Todoist battle-tested)
Choose rivva over all three if:
✅ AI task automation is your priority #1
✅ You track sleep/recovery with wearables
✅ You’ve experienced burnout from tools ignoring your energy
✅ You want truly intelligent scheduling, not just features
✅ You value sustainable high performance
✅ You want to wake up to a day already planned
✅ You’re tired of spending 15-30 minutes planning daily
rivva: Purpose-Built AI Task Automation
Key Features
Automatic Email Task Extraction
Tasks automatically captured from emails—no forwarding, no manual entry. Nia spots commitments and action items.
Capacity-Aware Scheduling
Strategic work scheduled during peak hours, routine tasks during valleys. Matches work to your actual capacity, not just availability.
Nia (Autonomous AI Assistant)
Truly autonomous assistant that plans, reschedules, and manages your day without constant input.
Visual Daily Timeline
See entire day with tasks, meetings, breaks, and energy curve mapped out clearly.
Proactive Rescheduling
When plans change, Nia adjusts automatically. Meeting runs over? Remaining tasks reschedule intelligently.
Two-Way Calendar Sync
Works seamlessly with Google Calendar. Tasks scheduled in rivva appear on your calendar.
iOS App
iOS app available for on-the-go usage
Pricing
Monthly: $13.99/month
Quarterly: $31.50/quarter ($10.50/month billed quarterly)
7-day free trial
Final Verdict: Which Tool Should You Choose?
The best tool depends entirely on what you actually need from AI.
For All-in-One Workspace + AI Writing: Notion
Notion 3.0 delivers sophisticated AI for content creation, knowledge management, and workflow automation through Agents. If you need a comprehensive workspace where teams collaborate on docs, maintain wikis, and manage databases—with excellent AI writing support—Notion is unmatched. Worth the $18-20/month for teams invested in the ecosystem.
For Comprehensive Project Management: ClickUp
ClickUp offers the most feature-rich project management platform with meaningful AI enhancements. Super Agents and Autopilot automate workflows, Brain provides knowledge search, and AI writing accelerates content creation. For teams managing complex projects who want “everything in one tool,” ClickUp justifies the $16-21/month investment.
For Simple, Fast Task Management: Todoist
Todoist excels at doing one thing brilliantly: managing your tasks without complexity. Task Assist makes natural language entry even better, helps break down work, and suggests next steps. At $5/month, it’s exceptional value for individuals who want reliable task management that stays out of their way.
For AI Task Automation: rivva
If you want truly intelligent scheduling that considers your energy and capacity—not just your calendar availability—rivva is the evolution none of the others have attempted. You get daily structure without spending time planning, and work gets scheduled when you’re actually capable of doing it well.
Bottom Line
All four tools are excellent at what they do. Notion automates content and knowledge work. ClickUp automates project workflows. Todoist simplifies task creation. And rivva automates the actual scheduling and management of your daily tasks based on capacity.
The real question isn’t “which has better AI?”—it’s “what do you need AI to do?”
If you need AI writing and workspace → Notion
If you need project management with AI → ClickUp
If you need simple tasks with conversational AI → Todoist
If you need task & schedule automation → rivva
The best way to decide? Try them. Notion, ClickUp, and rivva offer 7-day trials. Todoist gives you 30 days. Test your top two choices for a week each.
The right tool will feel like it’s solving the specific problem you have—not just offering features you might use someday.
Ready to try purpose-built AI task automation?
Low planning time. Maximum daily structure. See what it’s like to wake up to a day already orchestrated around your energy, not just your calendar.