A start date and a deadline are different questions
A start date answers “when will I pick this up?” and decides what Today shows you. A deadline answers “when is this actually due?” and decides nothing about your day. TaskPocket keeps them as two fields, because a task you plan to start on the 12th and must finish by the 30th needs both.
By Bohdan StefaniukLast updated
The problem with one date doing two jobs
Most lists give you a single date field, and then quietly ask it to mean two things. Put the due date in it and the task sits in Today for eighteen days, going grey. Put the day you plan to start in it and the real deadline lives nowhere but your memory. Neither is a system; both are a habit you have to maintain by hand.
The failure is loudest with Apple Reminders, where one date field does all the work and the missing defer date is the most consistent complaint people have about it. Todoist is more careful about naming the problem than most — “Todoist does not support start dates that hide your tasks until their start date is due” — and its help centre offers six workarounds rather than a field: a separate “start” task, a recurring date, a deadline, a filter, a calendar sync, a reminder. Every one of those is a system you now maintain.
How the two dates behave in TaskPocket
The start date is the scheduling date. It is what Today and Upcoming read: a task appears in Today when its start date arrives, and sits in Upcoming, grouped by day, until then. Drag it to another day in Upcoming and you have rescheduled it. Nothing else moves.
One naming note, so nothing is a surprise when you open the app: the field is labelled When in TaskPocket — the same word Things 3 uses for it. This site says start date throughout because that is the term people use when they go looking for it. Same field, two names.
The deadline is a separate field and it schedules nothing. It has its own view — Deadlines — which is a list of what is actually due and when, independent of what you planned to work on. A task can have a start date and no deadline, a deadline and no start date, both, or neither.
The tax return is the worked example. Deadline: 30 April, because that is a fact about the world. Start date: 12 April, because that is a decision about your week. On the 12th it appears in Today. Move it to the 14th because something came up and the deadline does not move with it — which is the entire point, and the thing a single date field cannot express.
Typing the dates instead of picking them
Both fields read natural language on the way in. “Call the dentist tomorrow at 9” sets the date and lifts the phrase out of the title. It is a deterministic grammar rather than a language model, so it behaves the same way every time, works with no connection, and has no quota — if it does not recognise something it says so rather than guessing.
Which apps actually have both dates
This is worth being accurate about, because the field has moved. Two dates used to be a genuine rarity and it is not one any more — what varies now is whether you pay for the second one, and whether it works on repeating tasks.
| Feature | Todoist | Things 3 | Apple Reminders | TaskPocket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A date that schedules the task into Today | Yes | Yes1 | Yes | Yes |
| A separate deadline field | Partial2 | Yes | No | Partial3 |
| Deadline free on the free plan | No | Unknown | No | No |
| A deadline on a repeating task | Partial4 | Yes5 | No | Yes |
| A dedicated view for what is due | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
- Things calls it “When”.
- Todoist: “Deadlines are available on the Pro and Business plans.”
- TaskPocket: the deadline field and the Deadlines view are Premium.
- Allowed and documented, but the deadline stays fixed while the recurring date moves, so it is reset by hand each cycle. Todoist advises against the pairing.
- An "Add deadlines" checkbox on the repeating template.
The honest summary: Todoist and TaskPocket both charge for the second date, and Things 3 gives you both for a one-time purchase on Apple hardware. On repeating tasks the difference is narrower than it looks — all three allow a deadline on one, but in Todoist the deadline stays put while the rhythm moves, so you reset it each cycle. Here it advances with the series, keeping its distance from the start date.
What this doesn't do
- The deadline field and the Deadlines view are Premium. The start date, and everything that uses it, is free.
- A deadline cannot carry a reminder. Reminders attach to the start date only, so a deadline is something you look at in the Deadlines view rather than something that finds you.
- There is no start *time*, and no time on a deadline either. Both fields hold a date. A time typed into a task — “tomorrow at 9” — sets the date and becomes that task’s reminder, rather than moving the task to 9 o’clock in any view.
- No calendar sync. If you want deadlines to appear alongside meetings, TaskPocket does not do that today.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a start date and a deadline?
A start date is when you plan to begin, and it controls which day the task shows up in your list. A deadline is when the work must be finished, and it changes nothing about your schedule. Most tasks need only one; the ones that need both are the ones that hurt when you get them wrong.
Does Todoist have start dates?
No. Todoist states directly that it does not support start dates that hide tasks until the start date arrives, and its help centre lists workarounds — a separate “start” task, a recurring date, a filter — rather than a field.
Is the deadline field free in TaskPocket?
No, it is part of Premium, along with the Deadlines view. The start date is free, and so are unlimited tasks, recurring tasks and export. Todoist also gates its deadlines behind a paid plan, so this is the normal shape of the market rather than an outlier.
Can a repeating task have a deadline?
Yes — and so can Todoist and Things 3. Things has an “Add deadlines” checkbox on the repeating template. Todoist allows the pairing but advises against it, because the deadline stays fixed while the recurring date moves, so you reset it each cycle. In TaskPocket the deadline advances with the series, keeping its distance from the start date.
Will TaskPocket notify me when a deadline is close?
No. A reminder attaches to the start date, never to the deadline, so nothing fires as a cutoff approaches. Deadlines are a view you check. If you want a nudge before one, put a start date a few days earlier and set the reminder on that — which is the two-date model working as intended.
Sources
- Todoist — Does Todoist support start dates?checked 2026-09-01
- Todoist — Introduction to deadlines (plan availability, and recurring tasks)checked 2026-09-01
- Apple — Reminders User Guide for iPhonechecked 2026-09-01
The start date, the repeat engine and unlimited tasks are on the free plan. The deadline field and the Deadlines view are Premium.
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