Asana and monday.com are some of the best project management software suites around. With both platforms being robust and user-friendly, it can be challenging to choose between them. This comparison will cover the key features of each platform to help make the decision easier.
We’ll go over project and task management tools, real-time collaboration features, pricing, administration and security, integrations and automation, and if the software is easy to use. By the end of this guide, you’ll know which software to pick for your next predictive or Agile projects.
monday.com vs. Asana: At a Glance
The table below will give you a quick look at some of monday.com’s and Asana’s key features; however, this table is not exhaustive and does not paint a complete picture of each platform.
| monday.com | Asana | |
|---|---|---|
| Star Rating | 4.9 | 4.6 |
| Starting Price | Free, $12.00 per user per month (billed monthly, three-user minimum) | Free, $13.49 per user per month (billed monthly, two-user minimum) |
| Project and Task Management | Yes, suitable for traditional methodologies and Agile frameworks | Yes, ideal for traditional methodologies and Agile frameworks |
| Real-Time Collaboration | Yes, collaborative documents, whiteboards and image proofing | Yes, collaborative documents and image-proofing |
| Integrations | Yes, it offers over 200 integrations | Yes, it offers over 200 integrations |
| Automation | Yes, automated workflows and recurring tasks are possible | Yes, automated workflows and recurring tasks are possible |
| Reports and Dashboards | Yes, customizable dashboards and reports | Yes, customizable dashboards and reports |
| Learn More | - | |
| Read Reviews |
As you can see, monday.com and Asana have many similarities. Both offer workflow management tools for traditional project management methodologies and Agile frameworks. They also provide real-time collaboration tools. However, I can also tell you there are differences—some large enough to perhaps make you choose one platform over another.
Featured Partners
1
monday.com
Yes
From $8 monthly per user
Zoom, LinkedIn, Adobe, Salesforce and more
2
ClickUp
Yes, for unlimited members
$7 per month
Slack, Microsoft Outlook, HubSpot, Salesforce, Timely, Google Drive and more
3
Wrike
Yes
$10 per user per month
Salesforce, Adobe, Miro, Netsuite, QuickBooks, SAP
4
Hubspot
Yes
$15 per seat per month
Zoom, Slack, Google Workspace, QuickBooks and more
Key Features: monday.com vs. Asana
These are the key features of each platform. Let’s take a look at the similarities and differences between the two and determine which platform “wins” the category. To learn more about how we rate and review project management software, read our project management software ratings methodology.
Project and Task Management Tools
Both monday.com and Asana are loaded with workflow and project management tools. You’ll find Kanban boards, calendars, Gantt charts, tables and timelines. Those in the construction industry will appreciate that monday.com also offers a map view showing where projects are located. The tools in both platforms are intuitive thanks to a drag-and-drop mechanic, and it’s easy to add assignees, due dates and other pertinent task information.
Outside of Trello, monday.com offers the best Kanban board experience.
Along with workflow management tools, you’ll find countless project templates that can get projects up and running quickly, risk registers, resource management tools, time-tracking features and budgeting tools, all of which can help you avoid scope creep. I found all these features as easy to use as the task management views. Old and new teams can hit the ground running with monday.com and Asana.
Asana’s Gantt charts are clean and functional and support dependencies.
Winner: The project and task management category is a tie. Both monday.com and Asana offer all the tools modern project management teams and SMBs need to manage a variety of projects successfully.
Collaboration Features
If you manage distributed teams, you’ll need real-time collaboration tools. Fortunately, monday.com and Asana provide just enough for remote teams to collaborate. Both offer collaborative documents that can be used to create project scopes, meeting agendas, marketing campaigns and more. The documents found on monday.com are slightly more advanced than those in Asana, as they support project elements such as boards, timelines and calendars.
The collaborative documents on monday.com support many project elements and videos from YouTube and Vimeo.
Additionally, both platforms provide users with image-proofing tools, which are great for marketing teams or those in content creation fields. One difference is that monday.com offers collaborative whiteboards that can be used for brainstorming sessions. Another difference is that Asana provides a live chat tool and lets you leave @comments on tasks, while monday.com only supports @comments, which is a shame.
Asana’s collaborative documents are not as advanced as those found on monday.com, but they’re more than good enough for remote teams to get work done.
Winner: The collaboration tools section is a tie. Asana and monday.com are very similar in terms of collaboration features. You’ll need to decide what’s most important: whiteboards or a live chat tool. Otherwise, there’s little difference between the platforms.
Integrations and Automation
Asana and monday.com offer more than 200 integrations with leading business software suites. These include Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Dropbox, Slack, Google and Outlook Calendar, to name a few. Creating integrations is as simple as visiting each platform’s integration store and selecting which software you want to connect. It’s also worth noting that monday.com and Asana also support Zapier, which can help integrate more obscure platforms.
Creating integrations on monday.com takes just a few clicks.
Both platforms also support automated workflows and recurring tasks. I found it easy to use each platform’s automation builder, though I would give the slight edge to monday.com here due to the number of pre-made workflow templates. Still, in no time, I was able to create simple and complex cross-platform workflows and recurring tasks, which helped me streamline processes and save a significant amount of time.
Asana offers users over 200 integrations with popular SMB software.
Winner: The integration and automation section is a tie. It’s hard to go wrong with either platform if integrations and automations are important to you. Asana and monday.com can help link software and create powerful automated workflows.
Dashboards and Reports
Without reports, you’re running your projects in the dark, so it’s vital to have software with exceptional reporting abilities; that’s what you’ll find on monday.com and Asana. Asana’s and monday.com’s customizable dashboards allow you to add widgets that track due dates, workloads, upcoming tasks, time worked, timelines, Gantt charts, Kanban boards and financial data. You can also display line and bar graphs, pie charts and countdown timers.
Thanks to monday.com’s customizable dashboards, you can easily track KPIs.
While Asana’s dashboards are powerful, I believe monday.com provides users with the best customizable reporting dashboards in this space. The dashboards are bold, colorful and easy to read, share and customize. They’re also fun. I genuinely adore the Llama Farm widget. Llamas represent each of your tasks, and they turn green when they are completed. Is it a groundbreaking feature? No, but it adds an element of fun, and that’s never a bad thing.
Asana’s customizable dashboards put key performance indicators at your fingertips.
Winner: I have to give the win to monday.com regarding dashboards and reports. Don’t get me wrong, Asana’s dashboards are fantastic, but monday.com’s dashboards offer more customization, are easier to use, look better and add fun to your workday.
Administration and Security
Asana and monday.com offer robust security and admin features for SMBs, whether you’re a small business or an organization using scaled Agile, such as SAFe. You can assign roles, create custom roles, set private workspaces and schedules and control access to specific functions. I found limiting or granting access, inviting guests and setting security features such as two-factor authentication, single sign-on requirements and IP restrictions straightforward.
Thanks to well-designed menus, setting administration and security policies on monday.com is easy.
It’s worth noting that both platforms are HIPAA compliant, making them suitable for those working in healthcare. The biggest difference between monday.com and Asana regarding security and administration features is how the features are spread across their paid plans. Asana offers more admin and security tools in its lower-tier plans, while monday.com limits these powerful features to its more costly Pro and Enterprise plans, which is a shame.
The large number of security and administration options makes Asana ideal for larger companies and project teams.
Winner: Asana wins the administration and security round. While both platforms offer similar tools, Asana provides more security and admin tools for SMBs that may not be able to afford a top-tier plan.
Pricing and Value: monday.com vs. Asana
Now that you know more about each platform’s key features, it’s time to look at how much each software suite costs. The table below will give a quick overview of the plans. After the table, I’ll offer a more detailed explanation.
| monday.com | Asana | |
|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Yes, 14 days | Yes, 30 days |
| Free Plan | Yes, limited to three users; limited functionality | Yes, limited to 10 users, and substantial functionality |
| Base Plan | Basic plan: $12.00 per user per month (billed monthly, three-user minimum) | Starter plan: $13.49 per user per month (billed monthly, two-user minimum) |
| Intermediate Plan | Standard plan: $14.00 per user per month (billed monthly, three-user minimum) | Advanced plan: $30.49 per user per month (billed monthly, two-user minimum) |
| High Plan | Pro plan: $24.00 per user per month (billed monthly, three-user minimum) | Enterprise plan: Must contact for a quote |
| Top Plan | Enterprise plan: $16,000.00 to $19,000.00 per year, depending on number of users and features | Enterprise+ plan: Must contact for a quote |
As you can see, both platforms offer a free plan; however, just skip monday.com’s free plan. The plan is so limited that it can only be considered a demo. Asana’s free plan is much better as it supports 10 users and offers decent features and tools. If you want a free tool, read our best free project management software roundup. I also recommend skipping monday.com’s Basic plan as it’s barely better than the free option.
If you’re looking for value for money, you should pay attention to monday.com’s Standard plan, which costs $14 per user per month (billed monthly), and Asana’s Starter plan, which costs $13.49 per user per month. When you reach the more expensive tiers, my advice is to stick with monday.com, as its Pro plan at $24 per user per month (billed monthly) offers far greater value than Asana’s $30.49 per user per month Advanced plan.
It would be remiss of me not to mention that you can save money by opting for an annual subscription over a monthly plan, but this is not always feasible for SMBs. Asana and monday.com also offer discounts for those working in education and for nonprofit organizations.
Winner: The winner of the pricing section is monday.com. While its free and Basic plans are forgettable, its Standard and Pro plans offer some of the best bang for your buck in this space. The wild price jumps between Asana’s plans can be hard to swallow.
Our Expert Opinion
I believe monday.com and Asana are two of the best project management software platforms. They offer all the tools and features modern project management teams and SMBs need to complete projects. They support multiple ways of working, including Scrum, the Critical Path Method (CPM), Waterfall and hybrid frameworks such as Scrumban. They also allow you to plan, track and manage every aspect of your project without fuss.
The real-time collaborative tools are a boon for remote teams. The number of integrations and automation capabilities makes creating basic and complex cross-platform workflows simple. Still, monday.com is more polished than Asana, is more affordable and offers a better user experience. However, only you know what your business and projects need. I recommend using each platform’s free trial to see which platform is better suited to your needs.
Who Is monday.com Best For?
Whether you’re a startup or a well-established business, monday.com’s affordable plans, highly polished tools and real-time collaborative documents and whiteboards will appeal to many. Thanks to the array of project and task management tools, monday.com is ideal for those working in education, healthcare, software development, manufacturing, construction, sales and marketing and many more.
Who Is Asana Best For?
If you need a project management platform with a solid free plan or require top-tier security and administration tools, Asana could be for you if you can stomach the higher cost of entry. While it’s not hard to use, Asana does have a slightly steeper learning curve than monday.com, making it suitable for experienced project teams. Asana is ideal for teams working in healthcare, retail, construction, legal, marketing, financial services and numerous other industries.
Featured Partners
1
monday.com
Yes
From $8 monthly per user
Zoom, LinkedIn, Adobe, Salesforce and more
2
ClickUp
Yes, for unlimited members
$7 per month
Slack, Microsoft Outlook, HubSpot, Salesforce, Timely, Google Drive and more
3
Wrike
Yes
$10 per user per month
Salesforce, Adobe, Miro, Netsuite, QuickBooks, SAP
4
Hubspot
Yes
$15 per seat per month
Zoom, Slack, Google Workspace, QuickBooks and more
