Blog Home
ClickUp vs Asana: A Comprehensive Guide to Choosing the Best Project Management Software
When it comes to project management software, ClickUp vs Asana is a comparison that often comes up.
Andrew Logemann
Andrew Logemann
Head of Marketing
6.5.2023
4
min read

Project management software is useful for organizations that want to manage tasks and projects more efficiently. Two of the most popular applications that can help you do this are ClickUp and Asana. Each has its pros and cons as well as its adherents and detractors. Let's compare these two project management tools to help you decide which is right for you.

Why Use Project Management Software Tools?

Some of the main reasons businesses and organizations include the following. 

  • Saves time. According to Workzone, project management software saves managers an average of 153 hours per year.
  • Keep project data centralized. A project may have data from diverse sources. It's helpful to have a tool that lets you gather it all into a single, well-organized system. 
  • Makes collaboration easier. Projects that involve multiple individuals and teams can get out of control. Phone calls, emails, and various chat messages are hard to track without a central dashboard. Truelist reports that project management software improves team communication by 52%
  • Analytics are easier to track. Leading software such as Asana and ClickUp allow you to bring up customizable dashboards to easily access the data you need and share it as needed.
  • Makes remote work easier. As more organizations rely on remote workers, it can be more challenging to keep everyone on the same page. Project management tools allow people to communicate from anywhere using any device, as long as they have an internet connection. 
  • Manage budgets. Keeping projects within a budget is essential yet often difficult if data isn't easily accessible. Working with project management software that includes budget forecasting helps everyone involved access budget estimates during every stage of the project. 
  • Identifying risks and opportunities. Project managers need to be aware of both opportunities and threats. A good project management solution will help you analyze both so you can plan accordingly based on the level of risk stakeholders are comfortable with. 

Gantt chart visualization over a laptop
Gantt chart

How Do These Tools Work?

Project management tools are fairly simple to use though it takes a while to learn how all the features work.

  • Users can access them either as web or mobile applications.
  • These tools have many integrations to enhance the value of apps you already use. Common integrations include Dropbox, Google Calendar, Slack, Trello, Gmail, and Zapier. 
  • Tools such as Asana and ClickUp offer multiple plans, so the features team members have access to will depend on the tier of service. Asana, for example, has a Basic, Premium, Business, and Enterprise plan. Project managers assign tasks to individuals or teams. This will give teams the information they need and the ability to access necessary information about the project. Project updates are sent out as necessary.

Now we'll look at some of the features, advantages, and pricing of ClickUp vs Asana. 

Project management software with four lists from to do to done
Sample project management software with kanban view

ClickUp: Features, Benefits, and Pricing

ClickUp has quite a few distinctive features that make it a popular and useful app for project management. 

Customizations 

ClickUp lets users create custom dashboards, fields, and task statuses to tailor them to the needs of a specific project. One nice feature is that you can choose among many types of views. For example, you can view projects and timetables using list, mind map, table, chat, calendar, board, and other types of views. 

Collaboration Features

Collaboration between and within teams is one of the main advantages of using project management software. ClickUp, Asana, and other tools each have their approach to collaboration. With ClickUp, there are many ways to communicate and share data and project information.

  • Sharing and permission options - A key aspect of sharing is setting permissions so only the right people or teams have access. ClickUp provides users with full control over who can see data.
  • Whiteboards - When you want to brainstorm with visual tools such as flowcharts and diagrams to illustrate concepts, whiteboards are useful. You can share ideas across teams in real time. 
  • Chat views - Discuss projects with guests as well as team members. You can bring up a chat view alongside tasks, attachments, links, and more. 
  • Email integration - You can send and receive emails within ClickUp tasks, making it easy to view relevant messages without having to open a new window. 
  • Assigned comments - Assign comments to specific individuals and tag anyone else who may find the information useful. 
  • Proofing - Suggest edits, improvements, or other changes to task attachments whether they are PDF, video, PNG, GIF, or JPEG files.
  • Task watchers - Send notifications to "watchers," who will be notified whenever any updates are made to a project. 

Insights and Reports

Bring up data on individual and team performance in real time. You can quickly see who is behind, ahead, or on time with projects. Measure accomplishments against goals. Motivate teams using friendly competition with points, which are awarded based on factors such as tasks worked on, comments added & resolved, and tasks completed.

Pricing for ClickUp

There are several pricing options for ClickUp, starting with a free plan.

  • Free: Comes with 100MB storage, unlimited tasks, collaborative docs, real-time chat, 24/7 support, whiteboards, time tracking, and more.
  • Unlimited: $5/month per member. For small teams. Unlimited storage, unlimited dashboards, custom fields, email in ClickUp, guests with permissions, and more.
  • Business: $12/month per member. For mid-size teams. Includes all Unlimited features and unlimited teams, Google SSO (single sign-on), advanced dashboard features, timelines & mind maps, and more.
  • Business Plus: $19/month per member. For multiple teams. Includes team sharing, custom role creation, custom permissions, admin training webinar, priority support, and more.
  • Enterprise: Customizable services and pricing for large teams.

Asana: Features, Benefits, and Pricing

Now let's look at some of what Asana has to offer.

Management and Planning

Set, schedule, and prioritize tasks in several formats such as lists, Kanban boards, and Gantt charts. 

Workspaces and Organizations

Asana assigns workspaces to any individuals and teams who are working on tasks and projects.

  • People may either be workspace members or limited access members. Workspace members have full access to projects while limited access members only have access to data specifically assigned to them.
  • Invite and remove people from a workspace. Upgrade or downgrade members between limited access and Workspace member status.
  • For larger projects that involve multiple teams or departments, a workspace may be converted into an Organization. Organizations must use company emails while workspaces use personal emails.

Teams and Collaboration

Like ClickUp, Asana offers many useful collaboration features, such as:

  • Find teams — In a large organization, it's helpful to be able to, at a glance, see which teams you belong to and which you may want to join.
  • Create, join, and delete teams.
  • Send and receive messages.
  • Track projects on team calendars.
  • Move projects from one team to another.
  • Grant permissions to team members.

Project Templates

 Asana has a large template library that can be customized to all types of projects. Templates include Marketing, Operations, Design, Sales, Engineering, HR, IT, and many others. 

Time Tracking

 Included with Business and Enterprise plans.

  • Enable time tracking for projects. Start and stop live timers.
  • Estimate the time a task or project will take as well as the actual time.
  • Create reports on time tracking data.
  • Time-tracking fields can be activated in templates.

Asana Plans and Pricing

Asana's pricing is a little simpler than ClickUp's, as it only has a free plan and two paid plans (there is an enterprise option, which ClickUp also has). Here's a summary of what you get with each. 

  • Basic: Free. Includes unlimited tasks, projects, messages & activity logs, unlimited storage for files up to 100MB, list & board view projects, time tracking, mobile apps, and more than 100 integrations.
  • Premium: $10.99/month. Includes basic features and task dependencies, start times & dates, timelines, custom templates, Workflow Builder, forms, milestones, Jira cloud & server integration, and more.
  • Business: $24.99/month. Includes Premium features and Salesforce integration, proofing, approvals, form customization, and custom rules. 
  • Enterprise: Customized features and pricing for larger teams.

Project manager transitioning from manual tools to digital software
Happy project manager

ClickUp vs Asana: Which Project Management Software Is Best For My Organization?

Both ClickUp and Asana are popular and robust project management tools that offer a wide range of features. The best choice for you depends on your needs and preferences. Let's look at some of the most significant differences. 

Pricing

For small teams, ClickUp's Unlimited plan offers an economical option at $5/month. On the other hand, ClickUp's Unlimited plan is comparable to Asana's Business plan, with only a price difference of $2 per month. Comparing the top tier plans (excluding Enterprise) of the two services, you have ClickUp's Business Plus at $19/month vs Asana's Business at $25. 

ClickUp's free plan offers more features and capabilities than Asana's. However, most businesses will probably want to upgrade to a paid plan. Overall, ClickUp is cheaper than Asana. Companies looking to save money may prefer ClickUp on this basis. However, when determining value, you should also consider which service has the features that serve you best.   

Ease of Use

It's always an advantage when features are easy to learn and use. While there's always a learning curve when using a new application, some systems are easier to master than others. Asana is known as a user-friendly service. ClickUp may take more time to set up and learn.

Integrations

While both ClickUp and Asana offer plenty of integrations and code-free automation, Asana has the edge here. While ClickUp has about 50 native integrations, Asana has over 200. This difference may not matter to the average user, though, as both integrate with the most commonly used apps. 

Support

ClickUp offers 24/7 support with all plans. Asana only offers this for Enterprise plans. This is a fairly important distinction as you have better support with ClickUp's free or $5/month plan than you do with Asana's Premium or Business plans. 

Comparable Features

In many important ways, both ClickUp and Asana offer powerful tools essential for project management, including the following.

  • Unlimited tasks and users
  • Access on any device. Both services offer mobile apps for iPhone and Android
  • Task organization
  • Timelines, calendars, & progress tracking
  • Multiple task display views such as lists, forms, boards, timelines, mind maps, and others
  • Team collaboration. Both are designed to make collaboration easier, allowing you to create and assign tasks, add guests, set permissions, make edits and comments, and more. 

ClickUp vs Asana: How to Choose

Every organization needs to identify the best project management software for its needs. Smaller, budget-conscious companies may get more value out of ClickUp, while larger enterprise companies and those looking for a simpler setup and interface may prefer Asana. If you're undecided about whether ClickUp or Asana is the project management solution best suited to your needs, a simple solution is to sign up for both of their free plans. While you'll only have access to limited features, it will give you an idea of how you like the view, navigation, and options of each.

You Might Also Like

Join a live demo of Almanac
Learn how Almanac works in under 20 minutes.
Save my seat