Trello vs Asana: Which is better?

Project management software brings many benefits to businesses, regardless of their type and size.

According to the results of Capterra’s PM software market research, 60% of project managers reported that it helped them estimate a project’s timeline more accurately. Another benefit that the majority of respondents (55%) highlighted is that a project management tool contributes to using project resources more effectively. 

Apart from these 2, there are plenty of other helpful features that project management software offers to make your workflow run smoothly.

However, when we decide to introduce a project management tool to our work, a problem arises — which one to choose?

In this article, we’ll try to make this choice easier for you by presenting 2 of the most popular project management tools — Trello and Asana.

We’ll compare these tools based on the following criteria:

• Pricing,
• User interface,
• Task management,
• Team collaboration,
• Progress tracking,
• Administration,
• Integration,
• Support, and
• Security.

So, let the best one win!

Trello vs Asana overview

Trello is a project management tool based on Kanban-style boards. 

It is simple to use and pretty customizable. Its intuitive interface enables you to easily organize projects, assign tasks, and track their progress.

This web-based tool is available for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

Asana is a comprehensive work management tool suitable for all sizes of businesses.

It helps you manage your tasks and makes team collaboration easier and more organized.

This tool is available for web, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android and is translated into 13 languages.

Let’s take a closer look at the features that these 2 tools offer:

Feature	Trello	Asana
Pricing	Free plan, Paid plans start from $5 per user/month	Free plan, Paid plans start from $10.99 per user/month
User interface	Intuitive, interactive	Easy to navigate, user-friendly
Task management	Well-organized and simple	More complex, several different views
Team collaboration	Communication within cards, tagging people, notifications	Communication within tasks, inbox notifications
Progress tracking	Kanban view, Watch button, Power-ups, Timeline*, Calendar*, Table*, and Map* views	Kanban, Calendar, and table views, Goals, Milestones, Filter and Sort options
Administration	Admin, Member, Guest, and Observer*	Task, Project, Team, and Comment-only permissions
Integrations	200+ (Power-ups)	200+
Support	Knowledge base, blog, articles and guides, priority support*	Tutorials, forums, guides, support forms
Security	Advanced	Advanced

*This is a paid feature.

Trello vs Asana pricing 0:1

Trello and Asana offer several plans to choose from.

Trello’s free plan includes:

• Up to 10 boards per workspace,
• Unlimited users and cards,
• Unlimited storage (10MB upload limit per file), etc.

If you need more, you’ll have to upgrade to one of the paid plans.

Trello’s Standard plan ($5 per user/month if billed annually, or $6 if billed monthly) includes:

• Unlimited boards per workspace,
• Unlimited storage (250MB upload limit per file),
• 1,000 workspace command runs per month, and more.

If you want other views apart from Kanban, Trello’s Premium plan ($10 per user/month if billed annually, or $12.5 if billed monthly) may be the solution you need. It offers:

• Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard, and Map views,
• Workspace views: Table and Calendar,
• Unlimited workspace command runs, and more.

If your team is a large one and the features these plans offer are not enough for you, try the Enterprise plan.

Trello’s Enterprise plan offers additional security and support features and enables better coordination of work among teams.

Unlike Trello, Asana’s free plan is limited to 15 users. However, there are plenty of features that it offers, and some of them are:

• Unlimited storage, projects, and tasks,
• Unlimited messages,
• Unlimited activity log,
• Board, List, and Calendar view, etc.

If your team needs more than that, you should take a look at Asana’s Premium plan. 

One of the features it offers is a reporting dashboard that allows you to add custom fields and generate various project status reports.

The Asana Premium plan is available at $10.99 per user/month if billed annually, or $13.49 if billed monthly. 

If you still need more, there’s the Asana Business plan.

Its feature Portfolios could be of great help to large teams that manage multiple projects, as it helps them keep track of each project within a group.

Trello vs Asana pricing verdict

The free plans these 2 apps offer have certain limitations, so chances are you’ll have to upgrade to some of the paid versions.

Trello’s free plan doesn’t limit the number of users, but it allows you to create only 10 boards (projects). On the other hand, Asana’s free version is limited to up to 15 users, but the number of projects you can create is limitless.

However, although Trello’s paid plans are cheaper than Asana’s, we award a point in this category to Asana since its free plan offers more features and views.

Pricing	Trello	Asana
Free version	✓	✓
Free trial	✓ (14 days)	✓ (30 days)
Starting price	$5	$10.99
Overall impression	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trello vs Asana user interface 1:1

One of the crucial features users look for in a project management tool is an intuitive and easy-to-grasp user interface.

Trello’s user interface is simple and Kanban-based, and within it, you can create:

• Boards,
• Lists, and
• Cards.

Cards represent tasks, and tasks are grouped into lists according to common characteristics. For example, you can have a list of tasks named To Do, Doing, and Done. As your work progresses, you can easily drag a card from one list to another.

Additionally, Trello offers templates that you can customize. They are divided into different categories, such as:

• Business,
• Design,
• Education,
• Marketing, etc.

Trello’s Kanban board is created to be visually appealing, and it can be personalized by:

• Changing colors,
• Adding board backgrounds,
• Adding stickers to cards, etc.

All in all, Trello’s interface is easy to navigate, and you won’t need to waste time trying to figure out where each option is located.

When it comes to Asana’s interface, it is not difficult to get the hang of it. 

You can switch between dark and light themes, and there is also a mode created for color-blind people to allow them easy navigation.

Apart from this, Asana offers a template library where each template is configured in an appropriate view depending on the project it is intended for (Calendar view, Timeline view, List view, etc.). Each template comes with automated workflow suggestions and app integrations. You can also create your own templates from your existing projects.

Asana also offers an option to automate repetitive tasks and save time.

Trello vs Asana user interface verdict

Considering their user interface, both Trello and Asana creators have done a great job. 

Both of their interfaces are simple and clean and very easy to navigate. They’re user-friendly and intuitive, so it won’t take you a lot of time to find the options you need.

Therefore, we award each of these apps a point in this round.

User interface	Trello	Asana
Structure	Clean	Clean
Layout	Clean	Clean
Customization	Average	Average
Overall impression	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trello vs Asana task management 0:1

One of the most important project management functionalities is certainly task management. Therefore, you need a tool that will make this process easy and well-organized.

In Trello, within each workspace, you can create a board for each project. 

Project tasks are represented as cards on a Kanban board. These cards are grouped into columns consisting of similar tasks, such as those with the same status. 

Cards can be moved from one column to another, and you can click on each card to add various elements to them, such as:

• Dates,
• Labels,
• Checklists,
• Comments,
• Attachments, etc.

In Asana, you can create tasks and group them in various ways, depending on the view you choose. For instance, in the Board view, tasks are grouped into columns, similarly to Trello, and in the List view, they are part of sections.

You can create custom fields for your tasks to keep up with their progress — for instance, to track their status or priority.

Asana also allows you to have the same task in several different projects. Then, you can make changes to that task in one project, and the changes will automatically apply to the same task in all other projects.

Trello vs Asana task management verdict

Although both Trello and Asana are good tools for task management, they are not suitable for the same types of projects. 

Trello is better suited to projects that consist of similar types of tasks that progress the same way. 

On the other hand, Asana is a better solution if your team has more complex projects that are not very similar to each other. 

Since Asana offers slightly more options for task management than Trello, it wins a point in this round.

Task management	Trello	Asana
Board/task views	6	4
Workflow automations	Yes	Yes
Overall impression	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trello vs Asana team collaboration 1:1

In project management, good communication is one of the crucial factors in avoiding project failure. 

A project management tool, among other things, should facilitate collaboration among team members and help keep everyone updated. Thus, you should pay attention to what options your project management app offers to make team communication seamless.

In Trello, there are various ways to communicate with your team. You can:

• Leave a comment on a task card and reply to comments and questions,
• Add attachments to cards,
• Tag @someone or an entire @board, and they get instantly notified,
• Set reminders for deadlines for team members,
• Leave emoji reactions to comments, etc.

It’s also worth mentioning that Trello offers a Watch option. It enables users to receive notifications regarding any changes that occur on a board, within a list, or on a task card, even if they are not assigned to that board, list, or card.

Asana offers several ways to communicate with your team members, and they include:

• Task conversation,
• Project conversation, and
• Team conversation.

You can add team members to a task so they can comment and reply to comments related to that task. You can also tag @someone from the team, and they’ll get notified.

Also, team members working on the same project can post comments and attach documents relevant to it. Within a project, there is space for conversation where all communication related to the project takes place.

In addition to sending direct messages to individual team members, you can also create a space for conversation with the whole team.

Apart from that, there is an inbox built within the app, so members will receive notifications — for example, a reminder when a task is approaching its due date or when someone messages them.

Trello vs Asana team collaboration verdict

As for team collaboration, the creators of both apps have put a lot of effort into making communication within teams simple but effective.

Although Asana offers slightly more options for communication, users can sometimes get overwhelmed by a large number of notifications in their inboxes. 

On the other hand, Trello’s collaboration features are easy to use and still keep you updated about all important changes.

All things considered, both Trello and Asana deserve a point in this category.

Team collaboration	Trello	Asana
Built-in communication channels	Yes	Yes
Collaborative workdocs	No	No
Overall impression	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trello vs Asana progress tracking 0:1

To stay on top of your projects, you should be able to track progress and regularly receive updates about any changes that occur.

Trello’s Kanban board enables you to group tasks by their status and rearrange them as their status changes.

Inside each card, you can create a checklist with items that you have to complete, and you’ll see an indicator of your progress at all times. 

You have at your disposal a collection of stickers that you can also use to mark certain tasks and show their progress.

In addition to the Kanban view, Trello’s paid plans feature other views that enable you to have an overview of how the project is progressing. Some of these views are:

• Dashboard,
• Timeline,
• Calendar,
• Map, etc.

As for Asana, it offers a variety of options for progress tracking that are worth mentioning. 

For instance, you can set your project task list to display only those tasks that are due or those completed. This way, you can filter out completed tasks so that you can focus only on tasks to be done.

Another way to single out particular tasks is by using the option Favorites. It allows you to mark certain tasks as favorites so that you can easily access them.

Users will also love the feature Workload, as it gives you an overview of what each team member is working on, as well as the deadlines for each of those tasks. This way, it will help you notice if some team member is stuck with too much work so that they can share their workload with other team members.

Trello vs Asana progress tracking verdict

Both Trello and Asana offer useful progress-tracking options, but most of them belong to some of their paid plans. 

Although Trello’s solutions are more colorful and visually attractive, Asana’s options are better suited to a wide variety of teams. 

Therefore, Asana wins a narrow victory in this category.

Progress tracking	Trello	Asana
Activity log	Yes	Yes
Time tracking	Yes	Yes
Reporting	Yes	Yes
Overall impression	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trello vs Asana administration 1:1

Now’s the time to check out how user permissions in Trello and Asana function.

In Trello, you can create a workspace that contains all your projects — boards. Boards can be:

• Workspace visible — all members of the workspace the board belongs to can view the board and edit cards.
• Private — only members of that particular board can view it and edit cards.
• Public — anyone who has the link to that board can view it, but they cannot edit cards.

Board admins can decide who can comment on a card within that board, invite members to the board, or delete existing board members.

A board can have a guest member, too. A guest is a member of a board but not a member of the workspace the board belongs to. A guest can make changes to the board like other board members.

There is also an observer role. It is a member that can view the board and participate in the discussion on the cards but cannot make any changes to the board.

When it comes to project permissions, the types of project permissions in Asana are:

• Public — any team member or other people from the company who are given permission can access these projects.
• Private — only project members can access these projects, and they require permission for viewing.
• Private to you — only you can access these projects.
• Comment-only — users can view these projects and comment on them, but they cannot edit them.

Admins can manage workspace permissions through the Admin Console. They can:

• Add and remove members,
• Create teams,
• Export data to CSV,
• Set security options, etc.

There are 2 types of admin roles in Asana — admins and super admins. Admins can access user and team management features and user security settings. Super admins have access to all features and can manage security settings for the entire company.

Trello vs Asana administration verdict

We award a point to each of these 2 apps in this round because they both offer a variety of user roles and well-organized admin permissions.

Administration	Trello	Asana
Advanced permissions	Yes	Yes
Custom roles	No	Yes
Overall impression	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trello vs Asana integrations 1:1

To enrich your project management tool with additional features and personalize it better, you can integrate it with some of the apps you use.

Trello offers 100+ integrations and 200+ Power-Ups to improve your user experience.

Power-Ups are options that are basically add-ons and are similar to integrations. The only difference is that integrations connect other apps to Trello, while Power-Ups add features to your Trello board without sending any data to other apps or tools.

Some of the most popular integrations and Power-Ups that you have at your disposal in Trello include:

• Google Drive,
• Card Annotations,
• Last Seen,
• Slack,
• GitHub,
• Clockify,
• Dropbox, etc.

Trello also offers an option to create your own Power-Ups by using Trello’s API.

You are allowed to use an unlimited number of Power-Ups per board with all plans (including the free plan), but some of them require paying an additional fee.

Asana offers 200+ integrations, and 100+ of them are available in the free plan.

Some of the integrations that you get in Asana are:

• Google Drive,
• Zoom,
• GitHub,
• Slack,
• Figma, etc.

Bear in mind that some integrations are available only in the Business and Enterprise plans.

Asana, just like Trello, offers an option to create your own integrations using its API.

Trello vs Asana integrations verdict

In terms of integrations, both Trello and Asana have a lot to offer, so whichever app you choose, you won’t be disappointed.

Thus, each app gets a point in this category.

Integrations	Trello	Asana
Number of integrations	200+	200+
Overall impression	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trello vs Asana support 0:1

One of the crucial factors many users consider when choosing a project management tool is the efficiency of its customer support.

Trello offers various forms of support, but some of them are limited only to certain paid plans.

Free plan users can make use of self-help resources only. Still, Trello’s knowledge base is quite comprehensive, and its blog contains a variety of educational texts about project management.

You can also ask community members for help and tips.

If you are a Standard plan user, you can contact support by submitting a form that you fill out on their website. However, bear in mind that you will have to wait a while until you receive the reply. 

There is an option for priority email support, but it’s limited to Premium and Enterprise users.

The Standard plan offers 9–5 regional support, while the Premium and Enterprise plans offer 24/7 support. Only the Enterprise plan includes phone support.

Asana, just like Trello, offers an extensive base of articles and guides where you can find help. Also, you have access to additional resources like:

• Forum,
• Webinars,
• Use cases,
• Video tutorials, etc.

If you want to reach the support team, you can go to the support page and fill out a contact form describing the issue. However, be prepared to wait a bit longer for the response (sometimes a whole day).

All paid plans in Asana offer premium support, but 24/7 support is only available for Premium plan users.

Trello vs Asana support verdict

Both Trello and Asana offer lots of resources in textual form to help you out when you come across an issue. However, if your problem requires contacting their support team, you will have to be a paid plan user to get full support. 

Still, Asana’s support is slightly better than Trello’s as it offers premium support to all its paid plan users, so we award it a point in this category.

Support	Trello	Asana
Knowledge base	Yes	Yes
24/7 support	Premium and Enterprise plans only	Paid plans only
Overall impression	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trello vs Asana security 1:1

You probably want to know how your project management tool handles sensitive customer data. Both Trello and Asana take care of the security of their user’s personal information pretty seriously.

Trello possesses several certifications that prove its safety, and some of them are:

• SOC 2 and SOC 3,
• ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27018
• FedRAMP,
• GDPR, and others.

Also, Trello implements TLS 1.2 with 128-bit advanced encryption. This way, your data is protected while being transmitted to Trello’s servers.

Additionally, Trello adds an extra layer of security to your personal data by enabling two-factor authentication. This means that, besides having to use your password to log into your account, you will need to type in the code that you receive on your phone.

Asana possesses a number of certifications and attestations, such as:

• ISO,
• SOC 2 (Type 2) and SOC 3,
• GDPR,
• HIPAA,
• CCPA,
• APPI, etc.

Asana uses Amazon’s relational database services (RDS) for managing user data and stores this data in their data centers located in Europe, Australia, and Japan.

All data in Asana is encrypted both in transit and at rest.

There is also a feature called Enterprise Key Management (EKM) that allows you to encrypt your data with your own encryption key. However, this feature is available only for Enterprise users.

Asana also offers a multi-factor identification option and Google Single Sign On (SSO).

Trello vs Asana security verdict

Whether you opt for Trello or Asana, you can be sure that your data is protected, since both apps offer advanced security features.

As a result, we award each app a point in this category.

Security	Trello	Asana
Two-factor authentication	Yes	Yes
Data encryption	Yes	Yes
Relevant certifications	Yes	Yes
Overall impression	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trello vs Asana: verdict

It’s time to announce the winner of this battle. 

And the winner is — Asana! 

Let’s take a look at the scoreboard and see in which categories Asana beats Trello.

Feature	Trello	Asana
Pricing	0	1
User interface	1	1
Task management	0	1
Team collaboration	1	1
Progress tracking	0	1
Administration	1	1
Integrations	1	1
Support	0	1
Security	1	1
Total score	5	9

Although it seems that Asana is far superior to Trello judging by the number of points it gained, it doesn’t mean that Trello is not worth considering.

In terms of the user interface, team collaboration, administration, integrations, and security, both apps have a lot to offer, so in these categories, they are equally great.

However, Asana shines brighter than Trello in terms of pricing, task management, progress tracking, and support.

Still, when choosing a project management tool for your team, you should primarily consider your own needs. This article offers some guidelines that can help you make the right choice for you.

In conclusion, if your workflow isn’t complex and a simple and easy-to-use Kanban tool can satisfy your needs, Trello could be a good choice. 

On the other hand, if your team is bigger and your project workflow more complex, Asana could be a better option as it offers more features.

Looking for a Trello or Asana alternative? Try Plaky

If neither Trello nor Asana seems to possess what you are looking for, you should take a look at Plaky.

Plaky is a project management tool that is easy to use and offers a variety of features. You can use it in any industry and customize it according to your specific needs.

Plaky is a great Trello alternative since it offers an unlimited number of projects and tasks totally free of charge. Also, Trello’s free plan gives you only a Kanban board view, while in Plaky, you can switch between Kanban and table views for free.

Plaky can also be a good alternative to Asana. Asana’s free plan is limited to 15 users, while Plaky is free for any number of users. As opposed to Asana, Plaky offers 24/7 support totally free of charge, and you can expect a reply from the support team within 1 hour on average.

Here is what you can do with Plaky:

• Create an unlimited number of projects and tasks,
• Customize your projects using project management templates,
• Track your progress using filter and sort options,
• Add comments for each task and @mention other team members,
• Create private workspaces, and much more.

As for security, you can rest assured that your sensitive data is safe with Plaky as it’s ISO certified and SOC 2 and GDPR compliant.

✉️ Have you already used Trello or Asana? What is your experience with these apps? Is there anything about them that you’d like to let us know? If so, write to us at blogfeedback@plaky.com, and we may feature your comments in this or in some future post. Also, if you know someone who’d be interested in learning about these apps, share this post with them.