When comparing Nirvana vs Todo.txt, the Slant community recommends Todo.txt for most people. In the question“What are the best cross-platform task apps?” Todo.txt is ranked 9th while Nirvana is ranked 49th. The most important reason people chose Todo.txt is:
Todo.txt can be edited in plain text and then displayed with neat styles.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Streamlined for Getting Things Done
Designed specifically for the Getting Things Done methodology as created by David Allen.
Pro One of only few faithful implementation of GTD approach
The Nirvana approach is one of the few that successfully encapsulates the spirit of Getting Things Done.
Pro Flexible structure for simple to complex usages and workflows
Pro Clean layout
It has a very simple, understated design.
Pro Useful history of actions
Nirvana offers a chronological look at completed tasks that is good for reporting and improving future estimations. That said, it could be improved by incorporating a true journal view rather than a simple list broken up by week.
Pro Easily editable format
Todo.txt can be edited in plain text and then displayed with neat styles.
Pro Editable from any text editor without needing any proprietary software
Because todo.txt is just a todo standard with various compatible apps to edit it, you can update it from any device as long as it can edit text and you can access your todo.txt file
It's convenient to be able to access your todo list quickly via your programming environment so you don't have to switch contexts, and to have a separate todo.txt file per project.
Pro Works with lots of apps for every platform
Todo.txt lists can be edited in virtually every text editor ever made and accessed on devices that support Dropbox. The user community has also created a number of apps for dozens of platforms.
Pro Command line support
You can edit your lists using the command line (e.g., Terminal) via a supplied bash script.
Pro Full control over your to-dos
You have full access to the underlying programming rules, and therefore total control over your task lists.
Pro Extensible
Has been extended to include most things people want, including a multiple of interfaces and app for all platforms.
Pro Easy syncing
Todo.txt automatically and seamlessly syncs through Dropbox.
Pro Wide range of interface apps
The community has developed a wide range of apps that interface with the basic file structure. These apps vary in how much they accomplish, how much hand-holding they do, their level of glitz, etc. They range from plugins for an editing app like vim to stand-alone, platform-specific GUI's. So YMMV depending on what you use. (todopy is particularly nice, a Python program that has a "console" mode which provides a keyboard-driven GUI.)
Pro Follows the unix philosophy
Does one thing: to do lists
Pro It's free
It runs on MacOS, Android, and Python (in the Mac's Unix CLI) -- all for free.
Pro Easy to sync up between lots of devices and interfaces
At a bare minimum you just need to be able to edit text, but there are many apps and advanced interfaces you can install on many devices to supplement your to-do list editing.
Cons
Con No native OS X & Windows apps
There are currently no native apps for Windows or OS X, although the company has claimed to be working on them.
Con The Pro service tier still does not have common features
Common features such as notifications and sharing between applications aren't available, even in the Pro-tier. Its only native integration with other applications is adding tasks via a specialized email address generated for your account.
Con No support for reoccurring tasks
Tasks have dates corresponding to creation and completion, but there is no explicit support for due dates or for tasks that reoccur.
Con Nested tasks not supported
Many todo tasks for developers end up having sub tasks that need to be performed for a parent task to be completed, but the todo.txt format does not have any nesting.
Con Android app not updated since 2013
The app only seems to support Dropbox. It would be nice to see support for different and newer file storage services.
