15 Best Asana Alternatives for Growing Teams

A former colleague who runs a six-person consulting team asked me about Asana alternatives last month. She’d loved Asana for a year: every client project had a clear owner, a timeline, and a tidy board. Then a client asked for a breakdown of billable hours, and she found that native time tracking only comes with the Advanced plan, at more than double what her team pays now.

That’s the point where many teams start looking around. Asana still works. It just stops fitting how the team bills, plans, and grows.

So I’ve rounded up 15 alternatives to Asana, from simple boards to tools built for client work. Each entry covers who it suits, pricing, pros and cons, and the catch worth knowing.

Why Do Teams Look for Asana Alternatives?

Most teams leave Asana for one of five reasons: the free plan stops at two people, key features sit on the Advanced plan, each task has only one owner, the AI doesn’t match what they now expect, or the setup feels heavier than the work. None of these matter on day one, but they add up as a team grows.

• A small free plan: Asana’s free plan covers up to 2 users, so even a three-person team has to start paying.
• Features held for Advanced: Native time tracking, workload, goals, and portfolios start on the Advanced plan at $24.99 per user per month, billed annually, compared with $10.99 on Starter. Asana now sells a Timesheets & Budgets add-on for Starter, but it’s a separate purchase.
• One assignee per task: Shared work often gets split into duplicate subtasks just so more than one person can own a piece of it.
• Rising AI expectations: A study by Capterra in 2025 found that 55% of project management buyers say adding AI functionality is the top trigger for buying new PM software. That means teams are comparing what each tool’s AI actually does on the plan they can afford.
• Setup and clutter: As projects multiply, keeping sections, rules, and fields tidy takes real admin time, and less technical teammates stop updating their tasks.

If any of these sound familiar, each tool below solves at least one of them.

15 Best Asana Alternatives & Competitors

Some of these Asana competitors are built for specific teams, like developers or agencies, while others are general project management tools with a simpler setup or fairer pricing. Here’s how they compare on fit, starting price, and G2 rating.

1. ProProfs Project – Simplest Project Management Tool for SMBs With Client Invoicing, Time & Billing

My team plans and bills its client work in ProProfs Project, from quarterly marketing campaigns to one-off website builds. Among these Asana alternatives, it’s one of the few that puts time tracking and invoicing on every plan, including the free one.

That’s the exact gap that pushes many teams off Asana, where native time tracking waits on the Advanced plan. Here, time tracking logs billable and non-billable hours against each task, invoicing turns those hours into client invoices, and resource allocation shows who’s overloaded before work slips. ProProfs Project is the simplest project management tool for SMBs with client invoicing, time & billing. The Business plan is also a flat price for unlimited users, so the bill doesn’t climb every time you add a teammate.

Everyone works in the view that suits them. Day-to-day work moves across Kanban boards, timelines run on Gantt charts with dependencies, and deadlines sit on a shared calendar. Clients and stakeholders follow along through guest access, while roles and permissions control what each person can change.

AI reports answer questions like “which projects are overrunning?” from live data on every plan. On the Business plan, AI project creation builds a project’s tasks and stages from a plain-language description. The available ProProfs Project features also cover resource management, time tracking, invoicing, reporting, and AI-assisted project planning.

Pros:

• Time tracking and invoicing are included on every plan, including Free.
• The Business plan charges a flat price for unlimited users.
• List, Gantt, Kanban, and Calendar views are available on every plan.
• Resource management flags overallocated teammates before deadlines slip.
• AI reports surface at-risk projects from live data on every plan.

Cons:

• Dark user interface option not available
• No dedicated account manager for the free plan, unlike paid plans

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $39.97.

The United Nations Development Program built a national monitoring system for its remote field staff in ProProfs Project and immediately saw more progress reports, better record-keeping, and stronger accountability.

Read The Full Case Study

2. Jira – Best for Project Issue Tracking for Developers

The operations lead at an IT services firm I know saw both sides of Jira. Her developers loved it for tracking bugs, features, and releases, but when her business team tried to run client projects in it, they found it far heavier than they needed.

For software teams, though, the depth is hard to beat. Every bug, task, and feature becomes an issue with its own workflow, priority, and owner, moving through Scrum or Kanban boards from backlog to release. Developers can log time at the issue level, and repository integrations link commits and pull requests to the work they resolve.

The trade-off shows up outside engineering. Non-technical teammates often find Jira’s issue types and workflows confusing, and automation is capped at 100 rule runs a month on the free plan and 1,700 on Standard. Teams that need something lighter can compare these Jira alternatives.

Pros:

• Scrum and Kanban boards, backlogs, and sprints are built in.
• Custom workflows, fields, and issue types fit how dev teams actually work.
• Repository integrations link commits and pull requests to issues.
• The free plan supports up to 10 users.

Cons:

• Automation is limited to 100 rule runs a month on Free and 1,700 on Standard.
• Non-technical teams often find its workflows too complex.

Pricing: Free for up to 10 users. Paid plans start at $7.91/user/month.

3. Worksection – Best for Project Management With Built-In Time Tracking & Budgeting

Worksection is an Asana alternative worth considering if your team needs to manage projects, track working hours, and keep budgets under control without switching between multiple tools.

What makes Worksection stand out is how it brings task management and project finances together. Teams can organize tasks and subtasks, assign responsibilities, set deadlines, and visualize progress using Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and calendars.

It also offers built-in time tracking, hourly rates, cost tracking, and planned vs. actual project reporting. That makes it particularly useful for agencies, consulting firms, and service teams that need to understand how much time and money each project consumes. Flexible guest access and permissions also make it easier to collaborate with clients while keeping internal information private.

Pros:

• Built-in time tracking with hourly rates to monitor billable hours and project costs
• Gantt charts and Kanban boards to visualize tasks, deadlines, and project progress
• Planned vs. actual cost tracking and project reports
• Flexible client and guest access with customizable permissions
• Task comments, file sharing, checklists, and reports to keep everyone aligned

Cons:

• Fewer third-party integrations than platforms such as ClickUp or monday.com
• Time tracking, budgeting, and Gantt charts require the higher-tier Business plan

Pricing: Free plan available for up to 5 users and 2 projects. Paid plans start at $5/user/month, or $3.75/user/month billed annually. Time tracking and budgeting are available on the Business plan, starting at $10/user/month, or $7.50/user/month billed annually.

4. ClickUp – Best for Highly Customizable Workspaces

I tested ClickUp on a client onboarding project, with a list for each phase, a board for the design team, and a doc holding the kickoff brief. Within a week, it was clear why so many teams consider it when they outgrow simpler tools.

Customization is the main draw. Statuses, fields, views, and automations can all be shaped around how a team works, and the Unlimited plan, at $7 per user per month billed annually, adds Gantt charts, unlimited storage, and native time tracking, which Asana keeps for its Advanced plan.

That breadth comes with a learning curve. ClickUp has so many views and settings that it took my team a while to settle on one structure. Its AI features cost extra per user on top of any plan, and the free plan’s 60MB of storage ran out quickly once we started attaching files.

Pros:

• The free plan includes unlimited tasks and unlimited members.
• The Unlimited plan adds Gantt charts, unlimited storage, and native time tracking at $7 per user per month.
• A built-in Asana importer brings over existing projects.
• Docs, tasks, and dashboards live in one workspace.

Cons:

• The free plan caps storage at 60MB.
• AI features cost extra per user on top of any plan.

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $7/user/month (billed annually).

5. Trello – Best for Project Workflow Automation

I ran a weekly content pipeline on Trello, with one board, a list for each stage, and a card for every piece. What kept it running smoothly wasn’t the board itself but Butler, Trello’s built-in automation.

I set rules so a card moved to “In Review” automatically when a writer marked their checklist complete, and the editor was assigned the moment it landed. Due-date reminders went out without anyone chasing them. For a small team, that removed most of the admin that usually clutters a project tool.

It started to feel limited as the work grew. The free plan caps each workspace at 10 boards and 250 automation runs a month, and the Standard plan, at $5 per user per month billed annually, still sticks to the board view. Timeline, calendar, and dashboard views only come with Premium at $10 per user.

Pros:

• Butler automation is built into every plan, including Free.
• Drag-and-drop Kanban boards are easy for anyone to learn.
• The free plan supports up to 10 collaborators per workspace.
• The Standard plan adds unlimited boards and custom fields for $5 per user.

Cons:

• The free plan is limited to 10 boards and 250 automation runs a month per workspace.
• Timeline, calendar, and dashboard views require the Premium plan.

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $5/user/month (billed annually).

6. Workstatus – Best for Project Visibility & Performance Tracking

Workstatus is a project and workforce management platform designed to help teams stay productive, accountable, and on track. It’s an excellent Asana alternative if you’re looking for deeper visibility into project progress and time spent.

What sets Workstatus apart is how it combines time tracking, productivity monitoring, and project management in one platform. Managers can monitor team activity in real time, track project budgets, and measure actual work output against planned timelines, which gives them a clear picture of progress and performance.

With features like automated timesheets, proof of work, and Productivity Intelligence, managers can make data-backed decisions and prevent bottlenecks before they affect deadlines.

Pros:

• Real-time project and task tracking to ensure deadlines are met efficiently
• Smart dashboards offering clear visibility into team performance and workload distribution
• Proof of work through intelligent activity logs and optional screenshots for better accountability
• AI-powered productivity insights to help identify time drains and improve efficiency
• Flexible integrations with popular tools to streamline workflows and enhance collaboration

Cons:

• The initial setup may require time to tailor dashboards for your specific projects
• Offline tracking options are limited on some plans

Pricing: Free trial available. Paid plans start at $3/user/month.

7. Smartsheet – Best for Spreadsheet-Style Project Tracking

A construction project manager I know moved her team’s schedules from Asana to Smartsheet because her subcontractors and site leads already thought in rows and columns. Each row held a phase, an owner, a start and end date, and attachments, so the plan looked like the spreadsheets her team had always used, only with live updates.

Her stakeholders didn’t need paid seats to follow along. The Pro plan, at $9 per member per month billed annually, includes unlimited free viewers, so owners and inspectors could check progress without adding to the bill. The same rows switched into Gantt, card, and calendar views, and dashboards turned them into weekly status reports.

Growth exposed the limits. Pro supports up to 10 members and 250 automations a month, while timeline view, workload tracking, and unlimited automations sit on the Business plan at $19 per member, which requires at least 3 members. Smartsheet has also closed its free plan to new sign-ups, so teams now start on a 30-day trial. Teams weighing other options can compare these Smartsheet alternatives.

Pros:

• The spreadsheet-style grid feels familiar to teams coming from Excel.
• Unlimited free viewers let stakeholders follow progress without paid seats.
• Grid, Gantt, card, and calendar views run on the same data.
• The Business plan adds unlimited automations, timeline view, and workload tracking.

Cons:

• The Pro plan is limited to 10 members and 250 automations a month.
• There’s no free plan for new sign-ups, only a 30-day trial.

Pricing: Starts at $9/member/month (billed annually).

8. monday.com – Best for Project Resource Management

A marketing operations manager I worked with chose monday.com after her team kept double-booking designers across campaigns in Asana. On monday.com, every campaign became a colorful board, and the workload view showed each person’s assignments across boards, so she could spot an overloaded designer before agreeing to a new request.

The flexibility kept her there. She built boards for campaigns, creative requests, and launches, set automations to notify owners when a status changed, and used the Standard plan’s Gantt and calendar views to map launch dates. Columns for status, priority, and due dates made it easy to see where every piece of work stood at a glance. Clients and stakeholders follow along through guest access and task comments, while roles and permissions control what each person can change.

The pricing took more planning than she expected. Every paid plan requires at least 3 seats, Standard caps automations at 250 actions a month, and time tracking and task dependencies only come with Pro at $19 per seat per month, billed annually. Teams comparing their options can see these monday.com alternatives.

Pros:

• The workload view shows each person’s assignments across boards.
• Gantt, timeline, and calendar views start on the Standard plan.
• Automations notify owners when a task’s status changes.
• Customizable columns track status, priority, and due dates at a glance.

Cons:

• Every paid plan requires at least 3 seats.
• Time tracking and task dependencies require the Pro plan at $19 per seat per month.

Pricing: Free plan available (up to 2 seats). Paid plans start at $9/seat/month (billed annually, 3-seat minimum).

9. Wrike – Best for Automating Administrative Workflows

I’ve seen Wrike in action through an industry peer who runs operations for a multi-department services company. Her biggest headache in Asana was administrative: requests arriving by email, tasks that needed several owners, and approvals that stalled in inboxes.

Wrike handled most of that automatically. Dynamic request forms turned submissions into projects with the right template and assignees, automation rules moved work along as statuses changed, and approval steps kept reviews in order. Unlike Asana, Wrike also lets a single task be assigned to several people, so cross-functional work stopped splitting into duplicate subtasks.

The trade-off is cost and complexity. The Team plan, at $10 per user per month billed annually, caps at 15 users, and deeper resource and capacity planning sits on higher-tier plans. She also said new teammates needed a few weeks to get comfortable with the interface, which is why some teams look at Wrike alternatives for something lighter.

Pros:

• Dynamic request forms launch projects and workflows on submission.
• Tasks can be assigned to multiple people, avoiding duplicate subtasks.
• In-platform proofing covers 30+ file types, including video.
• Interactive Gantt charts with dependencies are available from the Team plan.

Cons:

• The Team plan caps at 15 users.
• Advanced resource and capacity planning requires higher-tier plans.

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $10/user/month (billed annually).

10. Basecamp – Best for Remote Work Collaboration

The founder of a fully remote design studio I know moved her team to Basecamp because Asana’s task lists weren’t helping with what remote work actually needed: fewer meetings and fewer scattered conversations.

In Basecamp, each project combines a message board, to-dos, a schedule, docs and files, and Campfire group chat, so decisions stay with the project instead of getting buried in email. Automatic check-ins replaced her weekly status call, and Card Tables gave her team a simple Kanban-style board for tracking work. Pricing is flat on every plan, with no per-user fees.

The caps are the catch. Every plan below Pro Unlimited limits both active projects and users, starting with 3 projects and 5 users on Freelancer at $29 per month. Time tracking only starts on Pro Plus at $99 per month, and Basecamp has no Gantt charts, so detailed scheduling needs another tool. Here are some Basecamp alternatives for teams that need more planning depth.

Pros:

• Flat pricing with no per-user fees on any plan.
• Message boards, Campfire chat, and automatic check-ins keep remote teams aligned without meetings.
• Card Tables add a simple Kanban-style view for tracking work.
• Pro Unlimited includes unlimited users and projects.

Cons:

• Every plan below Pro Unlimited caps both active projects and users.
• Time tracking requires the Pro Plus plan at $99 per month or higher.

Pricing: Free plan available (1 project, up to 3 users). Paid plans start at $29/month flat for up to 5 users.

11. Ninety – Best for Goal Tracking & Team Accountability

Ninety is an Asana alternative for leadership teams that want to connect company goals with day-to-day execution and accountability. It brings goal tracking, meetings, scorecards, To-Dos, Issues, and process documentation together in one structured workspace.

One thing that stands out is its built-in operating framework. Instead of requiring teams to create their own workflows from scratch, Ninety provides dedicated tools for planning, meeting agendas, documentation, and accountability from day one.

Ninety also includes Ask Maz, an AI assistant that helps teams search company knowledge, prepare for meetings, find information across the workspace, and make better data-driven decisions.

Pros:

• Scorecards and quarterly Rocks for tracking priorities and performance
• To-Dos and Issues for managing day-to-day execution
• Recurring meeting tools to keep teams aligned and accountable
• Process documentation to keep important company knowledge organized
• Ask Maz AI assistant for searching information across the workspace

Cons:

• Some AI-assisted features are available only on higher-tier plans
• The range of features may take some time to explore and get used to at first

Pricing: Free plan available for small teams. Paid plans start at $12/user/month.

12. Airtable – Best for Product Management

A product manager friend runs her roadmap in Airtable because her work is really a web of connected data: feature requests, customer feedback, releases, and the teams responsible for each. Linking those tables meant that opening a feature showed every request and customer behind it.

That flexibility is what Asana couldn’t give her. She built a grid view for prioritization, a Kanban board for engineering status, and a calendar for release dates, all on the same data. Automations updated records when a status changed, interfaces gave stakeholders a cleaner read-only screen, and integrations with Slack, Jira, and Google Drive kept product data in sync with the rest of the team.

The catch is per-editor pricing and data caps. The free plan allows 5 editors, 1,000 records per base, and 100 automation runs a month, and Gantt and timeline views aren’t included. The Team plan, at $20 per seat per month billed annually, raises those limits, but every person who edits data counts as a paid seat. If that’s a dealbreaker, here are some Airtable alternatives to consider.

Pros:

• Linked records connect features, feedback, and releases across tables.
• Grid, Kanban, and calendar views run on the same product data.
• Integrations with Slack, Jira, and Google Drive keep workflows connected.
• Read-only collaborators are free on paid plans.

Cons:

• The free plan caps at 5 editors, 1,000 records per base, and 100 automation runs a month.
• Gantt and timeline views aren’t available on the free plan.

Pricing: Free plan available (up to 5 editors). Paid plans start at $20/seat/month (billed annually).

13. Adobe Workfront – Best for Portfolio Planning

A former colleague on an enterprise marketing team moved from Asana to Adobe Workfront when her department grew to dozens of concurrent campaigns. She needed to decide which projects to fund and staff, not just track tasks, and Asana’s portfolios weren’t built for planning at that scale.

Workfront gave her that portfolio view. Leadership could compare incoming requests against strategic goals, prioritize them, and see team capacity before approving new work. Review and approval workflows kept creative assets moving, and the integration with Adobe Creative Cloud meant designers could work from the tools they already used.

It’s built for large organizations, and it shows. Pricing isn’t published, so every plan (Select, Prime, and Ultimate) requires a custom quote, and Workfront Fusion automation is only included on Ultimate. She also said setup and onboarding took months, not weeks.

Pros:

• Strategic portfolio planning helps prioritize projects against business goals.
• Resource management shows team capacity before work is approved.
• Review and approval workflows are built into every plan.
• Integrates with Adobe Creative Cloud and Experience Manager.

Cons:

• No published pricing; every plan requires a custom quote.
• Setup and onboarding demand significant time and admin effort.

Pricing: Custom pricing (quote-based).

14. Teamwork.com – Best for Client Management

An agency owner I know switched from Asana to Teamwork.com because her real problem wasn’t tasks. It was clients. She needed to log billable hours against each account and see which projects were running over budget.

Teamwork.com is built around that. Time logging is included from the free plan, clients can be added as free users with permissions that limit them to their own projects, and task dependencies keep deliverables in the right order. Gantt charts gave her account managers a clear timeline to share during client calls.

The money features sit higher up, though. Invoicing from logged time, time budgets, and workload planning start on the Accelerate plan at $24.99 per user per month, which requires at least 5 users. The entry Basics plan, at $9.99 per user, requires at least 3 users, so it can’t be bought for a single person.

Pros:

• Time logging is built in, starting on the free plan.
• Clients join as free users and only see their own projects.
• Task dependencies and Gantt charts keep client timelines on track.
• The Accelerate plan adds invoicing from logged time and workload planning.

Cons:

• Invoicing requires the Accelerate plan at $24.99 per user per month, with a 5-user minimum.
• Paid plans have user minimums, starting at 3 users on Basics.

Pricing: Free plan available (up to 5 users). Paid plans start at $9.99/user/month (billed annually, 3-user minimum).

15. ProofHub – Best for Built-in Proofing Tools

A creative team’s lead at a mid-sized company I know picked ProofHub because her design reviews kept getting lost between Asana comments and email. In ProofHub, reviewers mark up designs and documents directly in the tool, and every version and comment stays attached to the project.

The pricing model was the other reason. ProofHub charges a flat monthly fee for unlimited users, so adding freelancers or reviewers from other departments never raised the bill. Her team also used its Kanban boards, Gantt charts, built-in chat, and time tracking, which covered most of what they’d used Asana for.

The catches are in the plan details. The Essential plan, at $45 per month billed annually, caps teams at 40 projects and 15GB of storage. Ultimate Control, which unlocks unlimited projects and custom roles, starts at $89 per month for the first three months, then rises to $135 per month, billed annually.

Pros:

• Built-in proofing lets reviewers mark up designs and documents directly.
• Flat pricing covers unlimited users on both plans.
• Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and calendars visualize work in different ways.
• Built-in chat and time tracking reduce the need for extra tools.

Cons:

• The Essential plan is limited to 40 projects and 15GB of storage.
• Ultimate Control’s $89 introductory price rises to $135 per month after three months.

Pricing: No free plan. Paid plans start at $45/month flat for unlimited users (billed annually).

How Did I Evaluate These Asana Alternatives?

Switching off Asana means moving projects and retraining a team, so a bad pick costs you twice. I judged each alternative on six factors that show whether a team will actually stick with it:

• User Reviews and Ratings: I checked every tool’s rating on G2, using each product’s own listing rather than a vendor-wide average. I also read recent reviews for complaints that came up again and again, such as setup taking weeks or key features sitting on higher plans, and those patterns shaped each tool’s cons.
• Essential Features and Functionality: I looked at how well each tool covers the core work Asana handles: tasks with clear owners, multiple views, timelines, automations, and collaboration. I gave extra weight to the gaps that push teams away from Asana, including native time tracking, workload views, multi-assignee tasks, client access, and billing. These are the features that separate the best PM software from tools that just track to-dos.
• Ease of Use: I considered how quickly the least technical person on a team could find and update their own tasks without training. I also checked whether each tool can import projects from Asana, since a painful migration can stall a switch before it starts.
• Customer Support: I compared the support channels available on each plan, including whether live chat or phone help is reserved for higher tiers, and looked at the quality of help docs and onboarding resources.
• Value for Money: I checked every price against vendor pricing pages and confirmed billing terms, seat minimums, and which plan unlocks which features. Per-seat pricing deserves extra scrutiny, because a study by Zylo in 2026 found the average organization uses only 54% of the software licenses it pays for. Feature gating mattered just as much. For example, native time tracking requires Asana’s $24.99 Advanced plan, starts at $7 per user on ClickUp, and comes with every ProProfs Project plan.
• Personal Experience: I used three of these tools myself: ProProfs Project for client work, ClickUp for a client onboarding project, and Trello for a weekly content pipeline. For the rest, I relied on operations leads, project managers, and agency owners who have run real projects in them, and I checked their accounts against each vendor’s documented features and plan limits.

What Are My Top 3 Asana Alternatives?

The right pick depends on what’s pushing you off Asana, so each of these solves a different problem:

1. ProProfs Project

Choose ProProfs Project if the jump to Asana’s Advanced plan is what’s driving you away. Time tracking and invoicing come with every plan, and the Business plan is a flat price for unlimited users, so you’re not paying more each time someone joins. Start with a single client project on the free plan to see how it handles your real workload.

2. ClickUp

Choose ClickUp if you want to shape every status, field, and view around how your team works. Its built-in importer brings your Asana projects over, which shortens the switch. Set aside time for setup, though, and budget extra if you want its AI features.

3. Teamwork.com

Choose Teamwork.com if you run an agency and need detailed client profitability reporting alongside your projects. Clients join as free users with access limited to their own work. Just note that invoicing and workload planning start on the Accelerate plan, which carries a 5-user minimum.

Find the Asana Alternative Your Whole Team Will Actually Use

Asana works well for many teams. But its 2-user free plan, features held for the Advanced plan, and single-owner tasks push plenty of others to look elsewhere. Most tools on this list fix at least one of those problems without forcing your team to start from scratch.

Before you switch, write down the one thing Asana can’t do for your team today, whether that’s tracking billable hours, sharing work with clients, or keeping setup simple. Then move a single active project into your top pick and run it for two weeks. Whether you’re weighing Asana software competitors or just want a tool your whole team will actually use, that trial will tell you more than any feature list.

If your team bills clients for its time, I’d start with ProProfs Project. It’s what my team uses to keep tasks, hours, and invoices in one place, and the free plan is enough to test it on one project. If it doesn’t fit, you’ll know within those two weeks.