Trello vs. Asana: Side-by-Side Comparison

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Trello vs. Asana is a likely matchup for anyone looking for the right project management software. They’re both well-known and popular project management tools. Trello is often thought of as the go-to for kanban boards, which visualize workflow. Asana, on the other hand, is a simple-to-use work management tool.

Trello vs. Asana: Side-by-Side Comparison

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The trouble is most people want more than kanban boards, which is Trello’s bread and butter, and they want Gantt charts, which Asana doesn’t have. Yes, Trello has project management features and Asana has a timeline and other tools to help manage tasks and teams. But why use one or even both of these project management tools when there’s one that beats them both at the project management game?

ProjectManager is award-winning software that’s the winner in a contest between Trello vs. Asana because it’s true project management software. It has kanban boards, task lists, calendar views and more, including a Gantt chart, not a glorified timeline. The Gantt chart organizes tasks and shows your project on a visual timeline, but that’s only the start.

It also links all four task dependencies to avoid costly delays, filters for the critical path to identify essential tasks and sets a baseline to track your planned effort against your actual effort. Neither Trello nor Asana can do that, which helps you deliver projects on time and within budget. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

ProjectManager has Gantt charts, unlike Trello and Asana, to better manage projects. Learn more

Trello vs. Asana: Why Should You Choose Trello?

Let’s closely compare Trello vs. Asana. Both are popular work and project management software products, but only one will come out on top. Let’s start with a look at Trello.

What Is Trello?

Trello is a web-based kanban board, list-making application that’s a product of Trello Enterprises, a subsidiary of Atlassian to which it was sold in 2017. It was created in 2011 by Fog Creek Software. The name Trello comes from the word trellis, a type of framework used to support plants. Trellis was the codename for the project. The software immediately gained attention when in the September 2011 issue of Wired magazine it was one of “The 7 Coolest Startups You Haven’t Heard of Yet.” Trello is international, with localized experiences in Brazil, Germany and Spain.

What Is Trello Used For?

In the Trello vs. Asana battle, Trello is a visual tool that focuses on kanban boards. It allows teams to manage different types of projects, workflows and task tracking. It’s designed to manage and collaborate with teams who are working on projects and tasks. Its visual kanban boards are used to organize work, with a drag-and-drop interface. Here are some use cases.

Basic task creation and management
Lean task management
Team collaboration
Workflow automation
Integration with other software

Who Uses Trello?

A variety of companies in different industries use Trello, such as Electronic Arts, the Salvation Army and the City of Dallas. In terms of who Trello is made for, it’s teams that want to manage their work and collaborate on a visual board tool. It works best for teams that are smaller than 100 in number and need to track multiple projects. It allows them to visualize that work in different ways. Most Trello users reside in the United States and work in the IT and service sectors.

Trello project management software

Trello Key Features

The main feature, of course, is Trello’s kanban boards and cards for visualizing workflow. There are also list views for project management. You can make subtasks within a card and those kanban cards also have checklists, which can be helpful. You can allocate tasks to more than one team member and add deadlines.

There’s an activity log, which is used to keep the team updated on what’s going on and where it is in terms of completion. Trello has a built-in automation called Butler, which can reduce the number of common tasks through automation. The software also integrates with Slack, Google Drive, GitHub, Salesforce and more.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of Trello’s key features and their availability for each pricing plan.


Plan / Version Name	Available Views / Scope	Features (individual / key differentiators)	Price (U.S.) per user/month, billed annually
Free	Kanban board view (classic) only	– Unlimited cards – Up to 10 boards per Workspace – Unlimited Power-Ups per board – 2-factor authentication – 250 Workspace command runs/month – Web & mobile apps	$0
Standard	List/Board/Kanban views (no advanced views)	Everything in Free, plus: – Unlimited boards – Custom fields – Advanced checklists – 1,000 Workspace command runs/month – Single-board guests	$5.00
Premium	Board view + Timeline, Table, Calendar, Dashboard, Map views	Everything in Standard, plus: – Unlimited Workspace command runs – Atlassian Intelligence (AI) features – Admin & security controls – Workspace-level templates, collections, observers – Priority support	$10.00
Enterprise	All Premium views + organisation-level management (multi-workspace)	Everything in Premium, plus: – Organization-visible boards & permissions – Multi-board guests – Unlimited Workspaces – Attachment and Power-Up administration – SAML/SSO & enterprise billing	Custom (contact sales)

Trello vs. Asana: How Is Trello Better Than Asana?

The main selling point in the Trello vs. Asana contest is that Trello is a kanban board tool. The kanban system is a popular methodology that’s found in lean management. Trello is more popular for small teams and freelancers because it’s easier to use than Asana. Trello is also faster to get started with and can be set up in minutes.

There are fewer features than Asana, which makes it simple. It also has more integrations. Trello is flexible project management software and, unlike Asana, you can add multiple team members to a task. Its free plan has more features and unlimited users.

Trello vs. Asana: How Is Trello Worse Than Asana?

Asana beats Trello when it comes to visualization options. For example, Trello favors boards, but Asana includes board, list, timeline and calendar views. Not only does Asana have multiple project views, but it’s better at managing multiple projects with its portfolio feature.

There are more features with Asana than Trello, such as automated tasks, work requests and tracking team members’ workload. It has a cleaner, less cluttered interface than Trello, and Asana is better for managing small teams.

Trello vs. Asana: Why Should You Choose Asana?

Trello had its moment in the spotlight in the Trello vs. Asana competition. Now, let’s look into Asana and see what this project management software is all about.

What Is Asana?

Asana is a San Francisco-based software company founded in 2008 by Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein. They launched their Asana product in 2012. The two met at Facebook, where Moskovitz was a co-founder and vice president of engineering. Rosenstein created a productivity tool called Tasks while at Facebook. Both left the social platform to form Asana, which was added to Inc. magazine’s Best Workplace list and one of its Best Led companies. Fast Company ranked Asana number 15 on its Most Innovative Companies and Brands That Matter List.

What Is Asana Used For?

Asana is work and project management software that helps establish project timelines and goals. It’s mainly used to track task progress and offers different work views including an inbox, list view, calendar view, board view and more. Here are some use cases in the Asana vs. Trello battle.

View task and project progress
Plan sprints
Integrates with other tools
Helps achieve successful launches
Reporting

Who Uses Asana?

Asana is used by professionals from marketing and sales personnel for managing campaigns and customer data to IT people to streamline their projects while staying on top of development milestones and due dates. Human resources departments use it for tracking recruitment, employee performance reviews and the onboarding process. In the creative world, it has been used for organizing ideas and content. Recognizable brand names that use the software include Spotify, Sony Music and Zoom.

Asana Key Features

When comparing Assan vs. Trello, the first thing you’ll notice is its great collaborative features. Most project management software is also a collaboration tool, but Asana has video messaging, a feature that distinguishes them from most others. It doesn’t have a Gantt chart, but instead features a timeline and it has some task dependency tools. There’s also a kanban board view, though it has limited functionality and customization. However, only one person can be assigned to a task.

Asana tries to add fun to work with its Hacks tab. You can add dogs and cats to your dashboard, for example, with a keystroke. It’s a cute distraction, but there are also more practical hacks, such as reducing the amount of notifications you get to avoid a clutter of alerts. Speaking of tasks, you can create recurring tasks to streamline your work. There’s also an advanced search, a filterable task list and status updates to keep you on top of deadlines.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of Asana’s key features and their availability for each pricing plan.


Plan / Version Name	Available Views / Scope	Features (individual / key differentiators)	Price (U.S.) per user/month, billed annually
Personal (Free)	List view; Board view; Calendar view	– Unlimited tasks/projects/messages – Up to 10 users – Basic search/filter – Mobile & web apps	$0
Starter	All views in Free + Timeline (Gantt-like) view	Everything in Free, plus: – Workflow builder – Custom fields – Forms – Task dependencies – Unlimited free guests	$10.99
Advanced	Grid/List; Board; Calendar; Timeline; Portfolio/Roadmap views	Everything in Starter, plus: – Goals & Portfolios – Workload/resource views – Advanced integrations (Salesforce, Tableau, Power BI) – Proofing & approvals – Locked custom fields	$24.99
Enterprise	All views included (customised for large organisations)	Everything in Advanced, plus: – Enterprise-grade security (SAML/SCIM) – Admin controls & provisioning – Custom branding & support	Custom (contact sales)
Enterprise + (Regulated Industries)	Same as Enterprise + advanced compliance/data-residency	Everything in Enterprise, plus: – Audit logs, SIEM/DLP integrations – Data residency & managed workspaces	Custom (contact sales)

Trello vs. Asana: How Is Asana Better Than Trello?

If you’re price-conscious, then Asana vs. Trello is a no-brainer. Asana has a free plan that supports unlimited projects, whereas Trello only allows you to have 15 shared boards. Asana also has better reporting features than Trello. Asana has more project views, such as boards, but also list, timeline and calendar views. It’s just a more powerful tool than Trello, with customer fields and dependencies, which will please those who use it to manage projects.

Trello vs. Asana: How Is Asana Worse Than Trello?

If you’re looking to get started fast, then Trello is going to be your pick. Trello is faster to get started with. In fact, your initial setup can take only minutes. Trello is also easier to use because it has fewer features and options. Plus, it has more integrations than Asana. You can also add multiple assignees to a task, which you can’t do with Asana, and its free plan is more generous.

Trello vs. Asana: Pricing Comparison

The deciding factor in the Trello vs. Asana debate is likely going to boil down to price. If you’re going to make a bottom-line decision, then here are the three tiers of subscription offered by Trello. Note that you get more features when you pay more.

Free: $0 user/month, billed annually
Standard: $5 user/month, billed annually
Premium: $10 user/month, billed annually
Enterprise: $17.50 user/month, billed annually

While the free version of Asana is good, you do get more bang for a bigger buck with the paid subscriptions. For example, the Premium plan offers automatic processes. Also, the free tier is only up to 10 users, which makes it great for an individual or small team. If you’re looking for more, then here are your options.

Personal: $0.00/user/month, billed annually
Starter: $10.99/user/month, billed annually
Advanced: $24.99/user/month, billed annually
Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing

ProjectManager Is Better Than Trello and Asana

Trello vs. Asana, who to choose? If you’re looking for project management software, then the answer is easy: ProjectManager. Its software has similar features, such as automation, recurring tasks, global search and multiple project views. Only ProjectManager’s Gantt chart is better than Asana’s and Trello’s Gantt charts. They have a list, a better kanban board than even Trello and also a calendar and sheet view, the latter if you prefer working in a spreadsheet mode. Not only does it beat Asana vs. Trello at their own game, but has more features, such as risk management to identify and track issues until they’re mitigated, and enhanced data safety. Plus, you can add more than one person to a task.

Use Powerful Resource Management Features

Trello vs. Asana in terms of resource management features is pretty weak. ProjectManager excels at planning, managing and tracking your resources in real time. You can plan human resources and nonhuman resources on the Gantt. When you assign team members, their availability can be set so you can see if they have PTO, vacation time or even if it’s a global holiday when managing remote teams.

Toggle over to the color-coded workload chart and view your team’s allocation. You can then balance their workload right from the chart to keep them working at capacity and productive. Its secure timesheets streamline payroll and also help you manage labor costs while the team page outlines task allocation across projects.

Monitor Progress With Real-Time Project Tracking and Reporting

Most project management software makes you set up their dashboards. Who has the time? Not only does it pull you away from more important tasks, but it can be complicated. ProjectManager’s dashboard is ready when you are with a high-level overview of your project. It automatically gathers real-time data and displays it on easy-to-read graphs and charts that show key performance indicators (KPIs), such as time, cost and more.

For more detailed information, use our reporting tools. It’s easy to generate status and portfolio reports as well as reports on variance, timesheets, workload and more. These reports can then be shared in a variety of formats with stakeholders to keep them updated.