Why Look for Asana Alternatives?
Asana is a well-established project management tool with clean UX, multiple views (list, board, timeline, calendar), and portfolio tracking. For marketing teams and cross-functional operations, it does the job.
But product teams run into friction in specific places. Here are the four that come up most:
Pricing at scale. Asana's free tier caps at 10 users with no timeline view, no custom fields, and no workflow rules. The Premium plan ($10.99/user/month) adds those features, but reporting, goals, and portfolio management require Business at $24.99/user/month. For a 30-person product org, that is nearly $9,000/year before you hit Enterprise.
Rigid workflows at higher tiers. Asana's workflow builder is capable, but it assumes a task-centric model. Teams running sprint planning cycles, managing backlogs, or working in a dual-track discovery/delivery model often find that Asana's structure does not map cleanly to how they actually work.
Limited developer tool integrations. Asana connects to GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket through third-party integrations or its API, but the connections are shallow compared to tools built for engineering teams. If your product and engineering teams need a shared system, you will feel the gaps.
Reporting locked behind Business. Dashboards, custom charts, and workload management all sit behind the Business plan. Teams on Premium can see task status but cannot build the cross-project reports that product leaders need for planning and stakeholder updates.
If any of these friction points sound familiar, these seven alternatives are worth a closer look.
The 7 Best Asana Alternatives
1. Monday.com
Best for: Visual teams wanting strong automation
Monday.com shares Asana's emphasis on visual project management but leans harder into automation and customization. Its 30+ column types let you track anything from status and priority to time estimates and formulas. The automation builder is one of the best in the category: you can set up "when status changes to Done, notify the channel and move item to archive" without writing code.
Where Monday beats Asana is in dashboards. Even on the Standard plan ($12/seat/month), you get cross-board widgets that aggregate data from multiple projects. Product teams use these to build portfolio-level views without upgrading to the most expensive tier. Monday also offers a kanban view alongside timeline, Gantt, calendar, and workload views.
The trade-off is pricing. Monday's free tier only covers 2 seats, and the per-seat cost climbs quickly once you add automations and integrations on Pro ($19/seat/month). But for teams that found Asana's reporting too locked down, Monday opens it up earlier.
Pricing: Free (up to 2 users), Basic $9/seat/mo, Standard $12/seat/mo, Pro $19/seat/mo
Pros:
- Automation recipes are more powerful and easier to build than Asana's rules
- Cross-board dashboards available on Standard (not locked behind top tier)
- Highly visual with strong color-coding and column customization
Cons:
- Free plan is limited to 2 seats
- Pricing scales steeply with team size and plan upgrades
- Can feel heavy for teams that prefer simplicity
2. ClickUp
Best for: Feature-hungry teams on a budget
ClickUp tries to be everything: docs, goals, whiteboards, time tracking, mind maps, sprints, custom fields, and 15+ views. It is the kitchen-sink approach to project management, and for teams frustrated by Asana's "pay more to get more" model, ClickUp delivers features at a fraction of the price.
The hierarchy system (Workspace > Space > Folder > List > Task) gives you more organizational layers than Asana's flat project structure. Product teams use this to separate discovery work, delivery sprints, and roadmap planning within a single workspace. ClickUp's built-in docs mean you can write PRDs and specs next to your tasks without switching to Confluence or Notion.
The downside is real: ClickUp can feel overwhelming. New users face a learning curve that rivals Asana's, and performance can slow down in large workspaces. But if your team is willing to invest in setup, the Unlimited plan at $7/user/month gives you more functionality than Asana's $24.99 Business tier.
Pricing: Free (unlimited users), Unlimited $7/user/mo, Business $12/user/mo
Pros:
- Generous free tier with unlimited users
- All-in-one feature set at a price that undercuts Asana significantly
- Built-in docs, goals, and whiteboards reduce tool sprawl
Cons:
- Feature overload slows adoption for new users
- Performance can degrade in large, heavily customized workspaces
- Mobile app is less polished than Asana's
3. Linear
Best for: Engineering-led product teams
Linear is what happens when you design a project management tool for people who care about speed. The interface is keyboard-first, loading times are measured in milliseconds, and the workflow is opinionated: triage inbox, cycles (sprints), projects, and roadmaps are baked in rather than configured from scratch.
For product teams that work closely with engineers, Linear closes the gap between planning and execution better than Asana. Issues move from roadmap to cycle to completion inside a single tool. There are no Power-Ups to install, no integrations to wire up between your planning tool and your issue tracker. They are the same tool.
Linear will not satisfy teams that need cross-functional project management for non-engineering work. It is intentionally scoped to software product development. But if Asana felt too generic for your eng-heavy product team, Linear's tight focus is the antidote. Score your features with the RICE Score Calculator before pulling them into Linear cycles.
Pricing: Free (up to 250 issues), Standard $8/user/mo, Plus $14/user/mo
Pros:
- Fastest, most responsive UI in the project management category
- Opinionated workflows reduce setup time and process debates
- Roadmap, cycles, and issue tracking are natively connected
Cons:
- Not designed for non-technical stakeholders or cross-functional work
- Less flexible than Asana for marketing, operations, or agency workflows
- Roadmap and reporting features are still maturing
4. Notion
Best for: Flexible teams combining docs and project management
Notion is not a project management tool by default, but its database system lets you build one that fits your exact workflow. Board views work like kanban boards. Timeline views function as roadmaps. Relational databases connect features to goals, epics to tasks, and user research to product decisions.
The real advantage over Asana is that docs and project management live in the same workspace. Product requirements, meeting notes, retro summaries, and task boards share a single source of truth. For teams already using Notion for documentation, adding project tracking eliminates the context-switching tax of juggling Asana and a separate docs tool.
The cost is maintenance. You are building your system from scratch, which means no pre-built sprint workflows, no automated workload management, and no built-in prioritization scoring. Teams that thrive in Notion tend to have a PM or ops person who owns the workspace structure. Without that ownership, things get messy fast.
Pricing: Free (personal use), Plus $8/user/mo, Business $15/user/mo
Pros:
- Total flexibility to build exactly the PM system you need
- Docs and project management in one workspace reduces tool sprawl
- Plus plan ($8/user/mo) is cheaper than Asana Premium and more versatile
Cons:
- Requires upfront setup work and ongoing system maintenance
- No built-in automation, sprint management, or prioritization scoring
- Performance can slow with very large databases
5. Basecamp
Best for: Small teams wanting flat pricing and simplicity
Basecamp takes the opposite approach from Asana. Instead of adding features with each plan tier, Basecamp offers a fixed feature set at a flat per-user price. To-do lists, message boards, file storage, group chat, and automatic check-ins are included. There is no feature gating, no premium tiers to chase, and no surprises on your invoice.
For small product teams (under 15 people) frustrated by Asana's per-seat pricing and tiered feature locks, Basecamp's simplicity is refreshing. Everything is included from day one. The Pro Unlimited plan at $299/month flat is especially compelling for growing teams. Add as many people as you want without the cost scaling.
The trade-off is real: Basecamp has no timeline view, no Gantt charts, no kanban boards, no custom fields, and no automation. It is a communication-first tool with basic task management. Product teams that need sprint cycles, workload visualization, or cross-project reporting will find Basecamp too limited.
Pricing: Basecamp $15/user/mo, Pro Unlimited $299/mo flat
Pros:
- Flat pricing eliminates per-seat cost anxiety as the team grows
- Built-in messaging and check-ins reduce the need for Slack or Teams
- Dead-simple onboarding with zero configuration needed
Cons:
- No kanban, timeline, Gantt, or calendar views
- No custom fields, automation, or reporting
- Too limited for teams with structured product development workflows
6. Wrike
Best for: Enterprise teams needing advanced reporting and resource management
Wrike targets the same enterprise segment as Asana Business and Enterprise but includes advanced features that Asana locks behind add-ons or does not offer at all. Resource management with workload charts, time tracking, proofing and approvals, and custom request forms are all built into the platform.
For product teams embedded in larger organizations (financial services, healthcare, agencies), Wrike's project-level permissions, audit trails, and compliance features are stronger than Asana's. The reporting engine supports custom dashboards with real-time data across hundreds of projects. If you have tried to get cross-portfolio visibility in Asana and hit walls, Wrike delivers it natively.
The interface is functional but less polished than Asana's. Wrike optimized for power users managing complex, multi-team programs. Smaller product teams will find it heavyweight. But for enterprise PMOs and product orgs managing 10+ concurrent workstreams, Wrike's depth justifies the learning curve.
Pricing: Free (up to 5 users), Team $9.80/user/mo, Business $24.80/user/mo, Enterprise custom
Pros:
- Built-in resource management, time tracking, and proofing workflows
- Stronger reporting engine than Asana, especially at portfolio level
- Enterprise-grade permissions, audit trails, and compliance features
Cons:
- UI is less intuitive than Asana's, with a steeper learning curve
- Overkill for small or mid-size product teams
- Business plan pricing is comparable to Asana Business
7. Smartsheet
Best for: Teams that think in spreadsheets but need project management
Smartsheet bridges the gap between spreadsheets and project management tools. If your team lives in Excel or Google Sheets for tracking and finds Asana too rigid, Smartsheet gives you the familiar grid interface with Gantt charts, automations, dashboards, and resource management layered on top.
Product teams in organizations where stakeholders are more comfortable with spreadsheets than project management software find Smartsheet easier to adopt. The grid view feels like home, but with dependencies, critical path calculations, and automated notifications built in. Cross-sheet references and roll-up reports let you build portfolio-level views from individual project sheets.
The weakness is the same as the strength: Smartsheet's spreadsheet DNA means it lacks the task management polish of Asana, Monday, or ClickUp. You will not find a clean kanban board or a drag-and-drop sprint planning experience. But for teams where spreadsheets are the lingua franca and you need to level up to real project management, Smartsheet is the most natural bridge.
Pricing: Free (up to 1 user, 2 sheets), Pro $7/user/mo, Business $25/user/mo
Pros:
- Familiar spreadsheet interface flattens the adoption curve
- Gantt charts with dependencies and critical path analysis
- Strong formula engine and cross-sheet data references
Cons:
- Lacks the task management polish of Asana, ClickUp, or Monday
- No native kanban board view
- Business plan is required for resource management and dashboards
How to Choose
Choose Monday.com if: You need Asana-level visual project management with better automation and earlier access to dashboards and reporting. Good for cross-functional product teams.
Choose ClickUp if: You want maximum features at minimum cost and are willing to invest setup time. Best value if you are comparing against Asana's Business tier.
Choose Linear if: Your product team is engineering-led and you want planning integrated directly with issue tracking. Best for software teams building products. If you are comparing Scrum vs Kanban workflows, Linear supports both.
Choose Notion if: You already use Notion for docs and want to consolidate project management into the same workspace. Ideal for flexible, smaller teams.
Choose Basecamp if: You want flat pricing, built-in communication, and no feature tiers to navigate. Best for small teams that value simplicity over power.
Choose Wrike if: You need enterprise-grade reporting, resource management, and compliance features beyond what Asana offers.
Choose Smartsheet if: Your team thinks in spreadsheets and you want a familiar grid interface with project management capabilities bolted on.
Not sure which direction to go? The PM Tool Picker recommends tools based on your team size, workflow, and budget.
Bottom Line
Asana is a solid project management tool, but product teams often outgrow it in predictable ways: reporting locked behind expensive tiers, limited developer tool integrations, and workflows that do not map cleanly to how software teams actually ship. The right alternative depends on which gap matters most to your team.
For a broader look at how these tools compare, check out the Trello alternatives roundup if you are evaluating simpler options, or browse the PM Software Directory for head-to-head comparisons across the full market. If you are building roadmaps outside of any tool, a roadmap template in Google Slides or PowerPoint can get you started in minutes while you evaluate platforms.