Compared

nokko vs ClickUp, for a freelancer or a small studio.

ClickUp is a cloud workspace for teams, with roles, automations and a thousand integrations. nokko is a native Mac app for a few people who bill for their time, and its data is a folder of Markdown files. They overlap on projects, boards and a timeline; they differ on everything around that.

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If your team needs roles, automations or sprints, keep ClickUp.

ClickUp has permissions, approval flows, automations, dashboards for a department, sprints and story points, and integrations with most of the software a company runs. nokko deliberately has none of those: no admin console, no roles, no Agile vocabulary. A team that needs them has outgrown nokko before it starts.

If you want your projects as files, offline, with the invoice in the same app.

nokko is for a freelancer or a studio of two to about eight people who want the project list, the timer and the invoice in one native Mac app, and who want the data to be theirs in the plainest sense: a Markdown file per project on their own disk, opening in Obsidian or any editor, working with no connection and no account.

Where ClickUp has time tracking in its cloud, nokko writes the session into the task's own file and drafts the invoice from it, with rates, VAT and a PDF. Where ClickUp shares through its servers, nokko shares through your own private GitHub repository or your own SFTP server, with every change a commit in the person's own name.

The Storefront board for Halden Coffee — To Do 7, In Progress 2, Waiting 1 and Done 4 — under a header reading 6 of 17 tasks done, 35%, with 17h25m logged. — A board in nokko: one lane per state. Dragging a card changes the checkbox character in the file and nothing else.

Export from ClickUp, import the CSV.

nokko reads a ClickUp CSV export: spaces, folders and lists arrive as they were, with priorities and dates. Anything the importer cannot map is listed rather than quietly dropped, so you know what to check. From then on the projects are files, and ClickUp can be cancelled or kept for the team work that stays there.

Capability by capability.

Both columns are stated as capabilities. Prices change and belong on each product's own page; this says only what each one does and where it keeps the result.

nokko compared with ClickUp
Capability	nokko	ClickUp
Free to use	Read everything, forever	Free plan, limited
One-time purchase available	Yes	No
Your files, on your disk	Yes	No
Works fully offline, no account	Yes	No
Projects, boards, list, calendar	Yes	Yes
Timeline / Gantt	Yes	Yes
Time tracking	In the task's own file	In their cloud
Invoices from tracked hours	Yes	No
Native Mac app	Yes	Desktop app, web-based
iPhone app	Yes	Yes
Share through your own GitHub or server	Yes	No
Per-person change history you can read from your own repository	Yes	Activity log, in their cloud
Roles, permissions, automations	No	Yes
Sprints and story points	No	Yes
Import from the other	ClickUp CSV	No

Swipe sideways for the other columns.

nokko stores projects, hours and invoices as files on your Mac; ClickUp stores them in ClickUp's cloud. That one difference decides most of the rows.

The things people ask.

Is nokko a ClickUp alternative?

For a freelancer or a small studio, yes: nokko covers projects, boards, a timeline and time tracking, adds invoices drafted from the hours, and keeps everything as Markdown files on your Mac with no account. For a company that needs roles, automations and integrations, no; ClickUp is built for that.

Can I import my ClickUp workspace into nokko?

Yes. Export a CSV from ClickUp and import it; spaces, folders and lists arrive as they were, with priorities and dates. Anything that cannot be mapped is listed rather than dropped. Tracked time in ClickUp is not imported; nokko's timer starts fresh.

Does nokko have ClickUp's time tracking?

nokko has a timer, a Pomodoro, idle detection and a timesheet, and every session is a line under its task in the Markdown file. ClickUp tracks time in its cloud. nokko then drafts an invoice from the hours; ClickUp does not invoice.

Can a team use nokko like ClickUp?

A small one. A studio shares one workspace through its own private GitHub repository or SFTP server, with every change a commit in the person's own name and a per-person history. There are no roles, permissions or an admin console, so a team that needs those should stay on ClickUp.

Everything else is on the features page and under pricing.

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macOS 26 · Apple silicon · iOS 26