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Asana is a cloud-based project management software tool used by over 100,000 businesses worldwide. According to our testing and research, it’s one of the best project management options for both task management (4.3/5) and displaying project data (4.8/5).
At the same time, it’s also one of the simplest project management platforms to use, coming 3rd out of 10 providers on our 2024 ease-of-use tests. When I tested Asana, I found it much quicker to set up and use than many rival project management tools, such as ClickUp and Jira. What’s more, the wide range of integrations made it easy to connect Asana to the rest of the apps I use at work, such as Slack, Gmail and Miro, while the workflow menu ensured I could automate tasks slowing me down.
However, Asana isn’t without its downsides – it’s more expensive than competitors like monday.com, there’s no phone-based support, and it doesn’t have the biggest range of collaboration tools. In this Asana review, we’ll walk you through the interface and discuss the provider’s strengths and weaknesses, revealing who it’s ultimately best for through our test results.
Asana Pros, Cons & Test Summary
Below we’ve highlighted some of the strengths and weaknesses of Asana, which excels at task, budget, and data management but it only has basic collaboration tools when compared with some of its competitors.
Included is some imagery from a recent group testing session, during which we tested Asana and nine other project management apps.
Pros
- Unlimited storage
- Plenty of third-party integrations
- Incredible clean and intuitive interface
- Easy to use dashboards and chart builder
Cons
- Most key features require a Premium plan
- Very high prices for larger teams
- No phone-based support
Test Summary (2024)
I found Asana’s intuitive layout extremely easy to get to grips with. Starting a new project takes just seconds and, once you’ve imported all of your tasks, there’s not much of a learning curve. Even building complex automations is relatively straightforward, which isn’t the case with Wrike or Jira. As software goes, there aren’t many surprises, which is exactly what you want.
This is why I’d put Asana up there with monday.com and Teamwork in terms of ease of use. These are the three platforms I’d recommend to any team leader concerned that members of their team may find a project management platform too difficult to use, having only just gotten their head around spreadsheets.
While the interface can feel a little cramped when you open up an individual task menu or want to use the AI tool, it’s still a breeze to use. Plus, the integrations on offer will save you a lot of time you’d otherwise spend moving data between apps or repeating processes. The only problem is the price – it’s a lot of money when compared with the two alternative providers mentioned above.
Asana’s Key Features Reviewed
While we also have scores and results to share with you from our group testing series, I’ve created a test project or intermediate complexity (building a website and launching a content strategy) to see how functional Asana is.
For more information on the results from our recent testing series and provider research sprint, skip to the next section.
Setting up with Asana
Setting up a project in Asana is extremely simple. First, you’ll need to import your project data – unless you’re starting from scratch (in which case, you can simply start with a preset project management template).
Asana’s data import was extremely fast – much quicker than ClickUp and monday.com. It was instantaneous for me. However, I was unable to edit the columns/information before it appeared in the software, which meant I had to do a bit of tweaking first.
During the start of my test, I found it really easy to import tasks from a CSV file. Image: Tech.co’s testing process.
After you import your data, rather than choosing a project template, you’re immediately dropped into the pre-constructed “list” view, which houses all of your tasks.
Asana’s project views
Asana has a wide range of ways you can view the progress of your project. All the classics I have come to expect from project management software tools are included, such as a list, Gantt, Kanban board, dashboard, and calendar view.
Using Asana’s board and calendar views to view my project tasks. Image: Tech.co’s testing process.
I like that Asana includes a “workflow” view in the main menu tab, rather than hiding away its automation capabilities in different parts of the software. It makes it easier to access and I built more automations than I did when testing competitors.
Asana’s Workflow menu, where you can build automations. Image: Tech.co’s testing process
However, the standout project view for me in Asana is the dashboard. You can create beautiful, visual displays showing all the important data from your project, giving you a granular overview of its progress, and possible obstacles that may impact its success.
We’ll discuss this further in the section about Asana’s data visualization results. Before we get to my dashboard, below is an example of something you can build in Asana if you combine data from multiple sources:
Asana’s dashboard view makes it really easy to display project data with its “add chart” button. Image: Asana
Managing tasks with Asana
Asana scored 4.3/5 for task management in our research. During hands-on testing, I found it capable of managing complex, multi-stage tasks with ease, and there are just so many features available compared to software like Basecamp, which is more of a glorified to-do list when compared to Asana.
For instance, you can instantly add sub-tasks to any of your core tasks, while with task comments you can tag your teammates to make it easy to log changes and review activity.
Drawing a dependency between two tasks I imported into Asana. Image: tech.co’s testing process
There’s even a default “cost estimate” field for each task, which a lot of competitors don’t provide by default even though its useful for budget tracking.
As you can see from the picture above, Asana also makes it easy to draw dependencies between tasks, and this made it very simple for me to map out the critical path of the project I used to test Asana. I also like how you can quickly swap the dependency around and you don’t have to open a new task to do that (which is usually the case in most other project management platforms)
Commenting on a task in Asana to ensure my team is informed and up-to-date. Image: Tech.co’s testing process
As you can see from the image above, it can get quite cramped when you’re managing a task, making the interface feel quite noisy. It’s definitely not a deal breaker, but monday.com really cleverly uses blank space to make the UI feel uncluttered, even when viewing a lot of information.
If you’re looking for an even cheaper alternative, Teamwork also excels in this area, scoring 4.3/5 for task management. It also scored slightly higher than Asana in our ease-of-use tests thanks to a better automation builder and the quickest setup process out of any provider.
Teamwork’s Starter plan ($5.99 per user, per month) is almost half the price of Asana’s Starter plan, but the interface and general functionality is very similar.
Teamwork’s table view, which is slightly simpler but serves much of the same purpose as Asana. Image: Tech.co’s testing process
Building automations and making rules in Asana
Asana definitely has one of the easier-to-use automation builders in the project management software space – it’s up there with monday.com’s – and this helped Asana score 4.1/5 for workflow creation. In the image below, I created an automation that would assign tasks to one of my team members if they’re moved to “in progress”.
Asana’s workflow menu groups automations you make in a very clear way. Image: Tech.co’s testing process.
I really like the way Asana breaks up your workflow rules into “sections,” and you can build on an existing workflow rule rather than have to start a new one. I’m yet to see such good automation grouping from another project management provider.
Along with automating processes within Asana, you’ll be able to incorporate external app actions. For example, when testing Asana, I created an automated workflow rule where a Slack message is automatically sent to the owner of any task if its status changes.
As I mentioned above, Asana provides a workflow view that allows you to manage all of your automations on the main menu, affording it a space on the mantelpiece that neither ClickUp or monday.com provide:
Creating an automation in monday.com, which is just as easy, but harder to find. Image: Tech.co’s testing process
This is the place where all the automations you build are stored and where you can edit them. This makes it a lot easier to manage workflow rules in Asana than in Wrike, which has a clunkier, harder-to-understand automation builder that I found quite tricky to use.
Collaborating with your team in Asana
Asana only scores 3/5 for collaboration, so it’s fair to say that this isn’t its strong suit. It doesn’t have an online whiteboard like ClickUp and there’s no “team chat” function, which comes as an add-on for providers like Teamwork but is built into Smartsheet.
However, it does have a “Messages” view, which is effectively a simple project message board where you can post updates for your team. It saves you from having to post on platforms where you can’t quickly link to work or reference data held in Asana. It makes keeping people up to date a low-effort process.
Leaving a message on Asana’s project message board. Image: Tech.co’s testing process.
Like monday.com and ClickUp, Asana has released Asana Intelligence, its AI assistant. You can use it to brainstorm ideas, call on it for help with organizational tasks, and use it to analyze data.
It can assist you with several tasks, for example, I asked it to summarize the work that still needs to be completed:
Using Asana Intelligence, the provider’s AI assistant, to create a list of incomplete tasks. Image: Tech.co’s testing process
Displaying project data in Asana
Asana scored 4.8/5 for data visualization in our 2024 tests, the second-best score out of the 10 providers we tested (only monday.com was awarded a higher score).
Asana will auto-populate the dashboard for you with existing data from your project the first time you use it, and then you can add charts of your own. In the image below, I’ve used a couple of charts Asana made for me, as well as a few of my own.
Charts and widgets I made myself in Asana. Image: Tech.co’s testing process
Adding a new chart is super easy – all you have to do is click the button in the top left-hand corner, and it’ll bring you to a menu where you can choose what chart you want.
There are multiple different chart types to choose from that can display information about complete/incomplete tasks, the amount of money you’ve spent, how proportionately tasks are being assigned, and how much work your team members are completing.
Asana Review: Full Test Results
Asana received a 4.1/5 score for features and functionality, but this wasn’t the only way we assessed the provider. Here are the remaining results from our project management testing series. The scores are derived from more than 50 criteria across six core assessment categories.
Ease of use (4.2/5)
As we’ve mentioned, Asana performed really well in our most recent ease-of-use tests, scoring 4.2/5. This is the third-highest score achieved out of the 10 providers we tested – putting it just behind Teamwork and monday.com.
When using Asana, users will notice that it has a logical layout, such as the “my tasks” button in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
The teams > portfolios > projects hierarchy is straightforward enough that I rarely got lost during testing and spent minimal time menu-diving. This makes Asana a good option for businesses planning to have multiple teams working on the same, central software platform.
The only reason Asana lost a few points is because the interface can feel a little cluttered when you open a task or the AI assistant. Compare this to monday.com, which utilizes a lot more white space and is just that little bit easier on the eye.
While this may sound like a purely aesthetic consideration, it really does make a difference if you’re opening the software every day of your working life.
monday.com’s interface doesn’t feel quite as busy as Asana’s – and that’s why I prefer it. Image: Tech.co’s testing process.
Value for money (3.7/5)
Asana’s pricing plans saw it score an uninspiring 3.7/5 for value for money. This is not a reflection of the platform’s features, it’s just very expensive for what you get.
Asana’s Business plan is the most expensive plan with public pricing currently on offer from the 10 providers we regularly test, at $24.99 per user, per month. Again, it’s an excellent platform for managing projects, but ClickUp’s Business plan is half the price.
Other providers – like monday.com, Teamwork, and Zoho – all provide cheaper plans that serve effectively the same purpose as Asana’s. So, unless money is no object, I’d advise looking at some of the other, cheaper providers available.
Help and support (4.5/5)
Asana has pretty decent help and support options, helping it to a 4.5/5 score for customer support. This is one of the better scores, but not as good as monday.com, which has 24/7 live support available and an incredible live chat function, scoring 5/5.
The provider has an extensive help center with a range of tutorials, how-to guides, and other explanatory content. You can also book live training courses run by the company, and contact the company by email.
However, there is no phone-based support provided on any plan, despite more and more providers, like Teamwork and Wrike, now offering this on multiple plans in 2024. You’ll also need the Enterprise plan if you want 24/7 live assistance and onboarding help.
Disappointingly, Asana also doesn’t have a live chat function. When I tested monday.com, I was able to use its live chat functions to quickly contact a support agent, and it was incredibly useful. Getting stuck in Asana, however, isn’t so easy to fix.
Integrations (4.7/5)
As we’ve mentioned already, Asana is one of the best project management platforms for integrations. When I sat down to review the software, I was surprised at the sheer size of the integrations library. It’s so much bigger than Teamwork’s, for example.
I’ve had a little browse, and virtually very application I used in my work life is in there somewhere! There are all the standard Google and Microsoft apps (Gmail, Teams, etc.) as well as Slack, Canva, Looker, Adobe, Salesforce, and hundreds more.
Asana’s integrations library. Image: Tech.co’s testing process
Unlike some integration libraries provided by project management software tools, Asana actually includes explanations of what its integrations do, and how to use them. Trello doesn’t go into that much detail, and neither does monday.com.
Security (4.4/5)
Asana has a pretty similar set of security options to the other big-name providers, which helped it score 4.4/5.
There are two-factor authentication options available on every Asana plan, and the provider adheres to a large range of data compliance certifications and global privacy codes. The company also has a public bug bounty program.
The only thing worth noting is that further sign-in security options like SSO and Google authentication are reserved for Asana’s paying customers, as are in-app functions like user permissions, which let you restrict parts of the software different employees can access.
Asana Plans Reviewed
If you’re familiar with Asana’s products, you may have noticed that it changed its plan names at the start of the year. There are now four plans available: Personal, Starter, Advanced, and Enterprise.
Personal
Despite the 15-person user limit, this plan is only really suitable for solo users and teams of up to three members. The reason is that it just has minimal functionality when compared with the paid plans, and won’t suit anyone who really wants to transform their team’s workflows.
There’s no automation, and the free plan is missing key task management features like milestones, custom fields, and task dependencies, and no tools at all for displaying project data – which just restricts the types of teams that will benefit from the plan.
Starter
The Starter plan, available for $10.99 per user, per month, is the plan most small teams will want to go for. The task management features that are omitted from the free plan are included, along with a Gantt chart, a form builder, and a custom chart and widget builder.
Other highlights include onboarding assistance – which is only available on Asana’s free plans – and an automation builder you can use to create 250 workflow rules for your team.
Advanced
Asana’s Advanced plan is geared towards large businesses with multiple teams all utilizing the same software – and you’ll be able to make up to 20 different portfolios on this plan.
There are more automations (25,000 per month), and you’ll also be able to use Asana Intelligence, the company’s AI assistant, more frequently.
Enterprise
Asana’s Enterprise plan is only suitable for very large businesses, as the flagship features are largely unnecessary for smaller teams.
The plan includes unlimited workflow rule creation, data export & deletion, attachment controls, custom branding, cross-regional backups and priority support, and it integrates with Salesforce, Tableau, and Power BI.
Who Is Asana Best For?
Asana will be a solid option for medium to large teams, as well as departments or businesses with multiple teams. It has a clear organizational structure, budget tracking capabilities, and unlimited storage, so it can handle complex, long-term projects with far-off deadlines. Asana’s wide range of task management features also means it can function capably as a Work OS – a central hub for a team or business’s day-to-day activities, as well as their project work.
Asana is also perfect for larger businesses because of the number of ready-made integrations available. The larger your team, department or company, the more apps you’re likely to have – and spending big on software that doesn’t integrate with many (or any) of them will be a huge waste of time. Asana has a vast library of them that you can peruse before you even purchase the software.
Due to its price tag, Asana is also best for teams with a sizeable software budget that want a truly premier project management solution. If you don’t have a large budget to work with, we’d recommend looking elsewhere.
Asana vs Competitors
Asana is a great platform, but it didn’t top our tests. monday.com performed the best, followed by Teamwork, while ClickUp was awarded the same overall score as Asana.
| Price From All prices listed as per user, per month (billed annually) | Free Version | Verdict | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Best for Budget Tracking  | Best for Task Management  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| A great task management system due to strong customizability and support team, with a generous free trial. | A great user experience all round, with an easy-to-use automation builder and great budget tracking capabilities. | Slick software with a highly powerful core and an AI assistant, plus a genuinely usable free tier for individuals. | A simple task-list-based project management platform with an acceptable free tier. | A feature-rich service with two plans for enterprises, and a free tier for new users to try. | A fairly-priced, stripped-down option best for small teams who need a central location for basic task management. | A great tool for spreadsheet-natives, which can take your Excel-based task planning to the next level. | A great value piece of software that’s ideal for tech, software development and engineering teams. | A solid project management solution with an attractive free tier for small teams and a very affordable premium plan. | A very basic, relatively limited software that’s a lot simpler than its competitors. |
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How did We Rate Asana, and Other Project Management Software?
At Tech.co, we conduct independent research into all of the markets, products, software, and services we write about.
This involves speaking to businesses about their top priorities and creating research frameworks that align with them, scoping out the top players on the market, and subjecting them to rigorous and extensive ease-of-use testing.
For project management, we focused our research on six core areas: value for money, ease of use, functionality, security, integrations, and customer support. Functionality was broken down further into task management, workflow creation, data visualization, and collaboration.
Research and testing procedures like this ensure we can remain editorially independent. All of our project management reviews, rankings, ratings, and recommendations are based solely on the results of this research.
Verdict: Is Asana Really Worth It?
Yes and no. The software is incredibly easy to use with a smooth setup process and all the tools you could possibly need to manage projects and day-to-day work. So, in that sense, you definitely won’t be disappointed if you end up choosing Asana.
However, the price tag remains an issue. It’s not that Asana isn’t worth purchasing, it’s just that providers like monday.com are cheaper and better. monday.com is a little bit easier to use, more customizable, and offers similar help and support options.
So, while Asana is a very good platform, we found that there are cheaper options out there. If you have a large budget for software and want a provider that connects to all the rest of your software, Asana is one of the best options. However, if you’re a small or medium-sized business, you’ll get more joy out of monday.com without paying nearly as much.
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