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If youre in the market for the best project management software, you wont be able to avoid hearing the names Asana and Trello, two of the most well-known and powerful tools in this arena. So, to ensure you choose the one that fits the needs of you and your company best, not to mention your wallet, we compare the two head-to-head below.
Trello vs Asana: Features
Well kick off by comparing what our two contenders can do. If youve read our full Asana review, youll know that its practically impossible to beat since its probably one of the most fully featured project management tools out there. From basic functions to advanced planning, Asana has it all.
As a result, Asana can be made to fit almost any company. Whether you need to track a handful of tasks with a small team, or thousands of tasks across multiple teams in a large corporation, you can do it with Asana. At its core, Asana works with lists, but users can change this on the fly and order their tasks in a timeline, Gantt chart or a kanban board.
In addition, Asana also offers some amazing advanced functionality in its upper-tier plans, such as planning peoples workloads or the ability to plan projects well into the future. All this makes Asana as flexible as the yoga pose after which it’s named.
Trello, on the other hand, is much more of a one-trick pony. And that trick is a great kanban board, probably the best out there. It has other functions as well (a list, a calendar, plus a few others), but theyre nowhere near as useful as the board itself and theyre absolutely crushed by similar options offered by Asana.
However, as we explain in a bit more detail in our Trello review, the service has one other massive strength; namely the ability to plug in almost any other productivity program or app as a so-called Power-Up. All project management software can do this to some extent, but Trello takes it to another level.
Between the board and the Power-Up system, Trello can do a lot more than might appear at first glance. While it wont beat Asana blow-by-blow, for some teams especially those with a simplified workflow it will prove a much better option. Price is also a consideration, as well see below.
Trello vs Asana: Ease of use
First, lets compare how both tools fare for use day to day. Trello more or less wins by default here, considering the programs simplicity; theres just less to learn. Still, it should be said that Trello does offer superb guidance, explaining how to set up Power-Ups, how to put together automations, and so on. It really holds your hand in the initial stages.
However, its other views arent as easy to navigate they feel bolted on; not quite as slick as everything else Trello does. In addition, there isnt much integration between different views, meaning youll have to move around tasks by hand, or tinker with automations to the point everything works as youd like. In this day and age, such features should just work.
Overall, Asana is a pleasure to use; but since it offers greater functionality, this also means its more tricky to learn. Thankfully, it comes with some great tutorials to get started, as well as an impressive knowledge base. Asana is also extremely flexible, letting you move subdivisions around and have them reflect across different views.
It especially shines when it comes to subtasks. Trello lets you build small checklists on a card, but Asana lets you build entire webs of subtasks with just a few clicks. Although you shouldn’t overdo it for claritys sake, it does give Asana the edge when it comes to utility.
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Trello vs Asana: Price
When it comes to the cold hard cost of these programs, Trello and Asana are difficult to compare. This is because Trello doesnt have much in the way of features, while Asana has them by the bucket-load. One thing is for sure, though: both offer excellent free plans with excellent flexibility. All of Trellos main functions the boards, the Power-Ups and the automations can be had for free for as many users as youd like.
Asana is a bit more stingy, offering the board, a list and a number of other doodads enough to run a small company, we reckon, for up to 15 users. Any more than that and youll have to upgrade, which in the case of Asana can cost a pretty penny. Even the cheapest plan will set you back £132 per user per year, and while you do get a lot of interesting features for the money, its a big step up from free. We wont even discuss the upper tier, since that has features that Trello cant touch.
This is because Trellos paid features are fairly modest. The standard plan which we like comes in at roughly £55 per user per year, and removes the few limits the free plan places on you. The next step up, called Premium, charges double for the extra views mentioned earlier; however, at that price its only a small jump to the cornucopia that Asana offers.
As such, Trello is one of the very few project management tools you may not want to pay for; the free plan is simply that good. In fact, if your team is small enough, then you could integrate Asanas free functions into it and get the best of both worlds. That said, if your team has more than 15 people and Trellos board doesnt cut it for you, youll probably want to go with Asana.
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Trello vs Asana: Final verdict
Both Asana and Trello are among the very best project management tools on the market, thanks to their flexibility and overall usefulness. For teams of modest means and needs, Trello will likely be the better pick, while companies with extensive operations and many employees will find Asana a better fit for them.
The best way to decide which of the two works best for your companys needs is a trial run. Both offer an excellent free plan that you can use to get familiar, while there are free trials available on the paid plans, too. Asanas trial lasts for 30 days, while Trellos is 14 days.
