Todoist says what to do. Immersed counts how long, and what it added up to.
Todoist is one of the most popular task managers in the world, and plenty of learners run their language routine through it: "Anki every day", "one episode, no subtitles", "italki on Tuesday". A checked task says it happened, and even hours only say how long; what you did in that time is the thing, so Immersed records each session as one of nine activities and shows what your hours were made of. Immersed is a language immersion tracker and planner. It turns immersion into something you can see, plan and keep: a free plan built from your answers, a daily timeline for the shows, podcasts and books you learn from, and reports of your hours.
Free. About two minutes. No account, no card.
The short version
Checked October 24, 2026.
Something out of date? Tell me.
If your language routine is a handful of daily and weekly tasks next to everything else in your life, and you want one fast inbox for all of it on every device, Todoist is excellent and its free plan goes a long way.
If you want to know how many hours you actually spent listening, reading and watching, what kind of immersion they were, and whether your comprehension is rising, a checked task cannot tell you. Immersed plans those hours, times them and reports them.
01The routine
A checked box says you did it. It does not say how much.
Todoist is very good at routines. Type "Anki every day at 7am" and natural language turns it into a recurring task. Set a daily goal, and Karma tracks your streak of days you hit it, with days off and a vacation mode so a trip does not break it. For a language, that is a solid way to make sure the basics happen.
The limit is that every task is done or not done. "Watch an episode" checked off looks the same whether it was 20 minutes with English subtitles or two hours without. Todoist Pro adds a task duration, but that is how long you planned, not a timer of what you did.
- Todoist: tasks, due dates, recurring dates, Karma goals and streaks
- Immersed: timed sessions in nine immersion activities, with how much you understood
02Before you plan
Todoist holds the tasks you write. Immersed helps you write them.
A to-do list is only as good as what goes in it. Most learners know they should immerse more but not how many hours a day, at what level, or with what.
Immersed starts with a free blueprint, about two minutes of questions about your time, goals, level and what you already watch. It returns milestones for your first months, a daily protocol, the Hidden Immersion Time in your day (the commute, the dishes, the gym), first-month sprints, and a library of things to watch, listen to and read in your language. No account needed, just a name and email.
03During the day
A timeline where the task and the timer are the same thing.
With Immersed Pro, the timeline lays out your day from Wake up to Wind down. Plan a podcast into the commute and an episode after dinner, set them to repeat, get reminders, and tick them off, much like a to-do list. There is an Inbox for things without a time yet, and quick add reads plain language the way Todoist does: type "Netflix 7pm 40m" and it lands on today at 19:00 for 40 minutes.
The difference is what happens when you start. Press play, pick an activity (Active Listening, Passive Listening, Active Subtitles, Reading, Study, SRS, Speaking, Writing or Shadowing), paste a YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts link and it plays inside the session. Stop, rate how much you understood, and the hours land on your timeline. Forgot to press play? Log it afterward.
04Looking back
Tasks completed, or hours immersed.
Todoist's Productivity view shows tasks completed, your daily and weekly goals and your streaks. It is good at answering "did I keep up?" On the free plan, activity history covers one week; Pro keeps the full history.
Immersed's Growth page stacks your hours by the nine activities, so you see how much was active listening, how much passive, how much reading or speaking. A comprehension line shows whether you understand more, and the shows and channels you spent the most hours with are linked from the report. That mix is what explains progress: two learners with the same hours can be months apart because of how the hours were spent. Export a PDF, Excel or CSV, keep monthly reports in My reports, or share a report link.
Where Todoist has Karma, Immersed has Aim, its mascot, who earns outfits from your hours and habits (a 7-day streak, 20 dawn sessions, 1,000 hours in a language), and ten Profile badges that level up from grey to gold. With Pro, each month's Sprint gives you a Mission and Daily Quests that count from the sessions you log, with a medallion and that month's Aim for finishing. Nothing is sold; every reward comes from immersing.
Side by side · checked October 24, 2026
Immersed and Todoist, feature by feature.
Planning
A plan for your language and your day
Immersed · Free blueprint from your answers
Todoist · No, you write your own tasks
Recurring tasks
Immersed · Repeating tasks on the timeline
Todoist · Yes, typed in plain words
Quick add in plain words
Immersed · Inbox quick add: "Netflix 7pm 40m" lands on today
Todoist · Yes, natural language dates and repeats
Day view with times
Immersed · Timeline from Wake up to Wind down
Todoist · Calendar layout and task duration on Pro
What to watch, listen to and read
Immersed · Immersion Library, Toolkit and Discover
Todoist · No
Work, errands and life tasks too
Immersed · Not what it is for
Todoist · Yes, everything in one place
Tracking
Timer
Immersed · Session timer per immersion activity
Todoist · No built-in timer
Play YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts in a session
Immersed · Yes
Todoist · No
Comprehension rating
Immersed · Per session, charted over time
Todoist · No
Daily goals and streaks
Immersed · Weekly goal, consistency grid, a Streak badge that levels up
Todoist · Karma daily and weekly goals with streaks
Rewards
Immersed · Outfits for Aim earned by immersing, badges, monthly Sprints with medallions (Pro)
Todoist · Karma points and levels
Reports
What it measures
Immersed · Hours, stacked by the nine activities, top shows linked
Todoist · Tasks completed
History
Immersed · Week, month, year, all time
Todoist · One week free; full history on Pro
Apps and price
Platforms
Immersed · Web app on phone and computer; Immersed for Chrome (unlisted); Android app in testing for Google Play
Todoist · iOS, Android, desktop, web, watches, browser extensions
Integrations
Immersed · CSV import, including Toggl Track
Todoist · 80+ integrations
Free plan
Immersed · Blueprint, games with leaderboards, Discord, sample app
Todoist · Beginner: 5 projects, 3 filters
Paid plan
Immersed · $60 a year or $9.99 a month
Todoist · Pro, $5 a month billed yearly or $7 monthly
Credit where it's due
Both are good. At different things.
What Todoist does well
- Fast capture: type a task in plain words and Todoist sets the date and the repeat
- Recurring tasks that handle almost any schedule, from every day to every other Tuesday
- Karma daily and weekly goals with streaks, days off and vacation mode
- Apps on every platform, plus watches, browser extensions and email add-ons
- More than 80 integrations, so it fits into whatever else you use
- A useful free plan, and one list for your language next to work and life
- Polished and dependable: 4.8 stars from about 130,000 ratings on the US App Store
What Immersed does that Todoist doesn't
- Builds your plan from your time, goals and level, so you know what tasks to write
- Times each session and knows nine immersion activities, from Passive Listening to Shadowing
- Plays YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts inside the session
- Shows what your hours were made of: time by each of the nine activities, a comprehension line, your top shows and channels linked, exportable as PDF, Excel or CSV
- Rewards you only earn by immersing: outfits for Aim, badges that level up, monthly Sprints with medallions
- Comes with a Library, Toolkit and Discover feed in your language
Pick Todoist if
- You want one list for your language and everything else in your life
- Your routine is a few clear tasks a day and checking them off is enough
- You want native apps on every device and lots of integrations
- Your language work includes admin like booking tutors or exam deadlines
Pick Immersed if
- You want to know how many hours you really immersed, not just tasks done
- You want the hours split into listening, reading, subtitles, speaking and more
- You want help deciding what to watch, listen to and read at your level
- You want a plan for your language and proof you can export or share
Use both, or move over
Todoist for the to-dos, Immersed for the hours
Many learners will keep Todoist. A clean split: Todoist holds the admin (book the italki lesson, register for the exam, pay for a course), and Immersed holds the immersion itself, planned on the timeline and timed when you press play.
If your Todoist language project is mostly "listen to X" and "watch Y" every day, those tasks are a better fit as repeating tasks on Immersed's timeline, where finishing them also records the hours.
Pricing · checked October 24, 2026
What each one costs.
Immersed
- Free: the blueprint for one language (with the Toolkit, Library picks and the Fluency Checklist's Foundations), the listening games in 12 languages with their leaderboards, Aim Runner, the Discord and the sample app. A free account also gets the Fitting Room's day-one outfits, Hour Marks and badges from game time.
- Immersed Pro: $60 a year (starts with a free week, about $5 a month) or $9.99 a month. Timeline and Inbox, sessions, Discover, Library, Growth and reports, monthly Sprints, more languages.
Todoist
- Beginner (free): 5 personal projects, 3 filter views, one week of activity history, Karma, limited Todoist Assist.
- Pro: $5 a month billed yearly ($60 a year) or $7 billed monthly. 300 projects, calendar layout, task duration, custom reminders, deadlines, full history. The US App Store lists Pro at $59.99 a year or $6.99 a month.
- Business: $8 per user a month billed yearly, or $10 monthly, for teams.
Both cost about $60 a year on their yearly plans, so price is not the deciding factor. For a language routine of a few daily tasks, Todoist free may be all you need. Immersed's blueprint is free, so you can get your plan before you pay for anything.
FAQ
Questions people ask.
Is Todoist good for language learning?+
For keeping a routine, yes. Recurring tasks like "Anki every day" and Karma streaks help the basics happen. It does not time your sessions, know what kind of immersion you did, or suggest what to watch or listen to.
Can Todoist track how long I study?+
Not by itself. Todoist Pro lets you give a task a planned duration, but there is no built-in timer, and its reports count tasks completed, not hours. Immersed times each session and reports hours by activity.
How much does Todoist cost?+
The Beginner plan is free. Pro was $5 a month billed yearly or $7 billed monthly when I checked in October 2026, and the US App Store lists it at $59.99 a year or $6.99 a month. Check their pricing page for your price.
Does Immersed connect to Todoist?+
No. Immersed has no Todoist integration, and it doesn't read your viewing history. You plan on its timeline and press play (one click on the YouTube page with Immersed for Chrome) or log a session afterward; the Discover scroll and the free listening games log themselves. It does import CSV files, including Toggl Track exports.
Can I use Immersed as my to-do list?+
For your language, yes: the timeline lets you plan tasks into the free gaps of your day, repeat them, get reminders and tick them off, and the Inbox holds things without a time yet. It is not built for work projects or errands, so most people keep a general task manager too.
Is Immersed free like Todoist?+
Partly. The blueprint, the listening games with their leaderboards, the Discord and the sample app are free. The timeline, sessions, Discover and reports are Immersed Pro: $60 a year with a free week first, or $9.99 a month.
More comparisons
Stop guessing. See what your hours add up to.
Answer a few questions and Immersed builds your plan: a daily routine that fits your life, milestones for your first months, and things to watch at your level. Free, about two minutes, no account needed.
The plan is free and stays free. No card.
Checked October 24, 2026 against published product information. Prices and features change; if something here is out of date, tell me on Discord and I'll fix it.