ClickUp vs Asana: Which Is Best?

When it comes to ClickUp vs Asana, our project management software testing shows that ClickUp and Asana tied overall, both scoring 4.5/5. You'll find ClickUp has a better range of tools for task management and collaboration than Asana, so you might prefer it if you're managing complex projects. However, Asana is simpler and easier to set up than ClickUp. In summary…

ClickUp – better for task management, collaboration and overall funcntionality – and much cheaper than Asana
Asana – Cleaner, simpler interface with less tools, and slightly quicker to set up during testing

If you don't have a lot of budget to spend on software right now, check out ClickUp's genuinely useful free tier, which includes paid-level features like custom fields and sub-tasks that help with the management of information-heavy tasks.

In contrast, Asana's free plan is significantly limited. ClickUp's paid plans are also much more affordable than Asana, starting from $7 per user, per month, which is cheaper than Asana's first paid plan ($10.99 per user, per month) – although Teamwork's cheaper plans undercut them both. However, Asana has a better range of integrations on offer, scoring 4.7/5 to ClickUp's 3.3/5 – and there's nothing worse than wasting money on software that doesn't fit into your existing stack.

ClickUp provides much for money, but there are other options out there aside from Asana – so make sure you check out other top project management software deals before you make your decision.

In this ClickUp vs. Asana match-up, you'll find:

• ClickUp vs Asana: Head to Head
• ClickUp Pricing vs Asana Pricing
• Best for Ease of Use: Asana
• Best for Business Features: ClickUp
• Best for Value: ClickUp
• Best for Customer Support: Asana
• ClickUp: Overview and Core Features 
• Asana: Overview and Core Features
• Is It Easy to Switch Between ClickUp and Asana?
• Research Methodology
• ClickUp vs Asana Verdict: ClickUp is Better
• FAQs

ClickUp vs Asana: Head to Head

In short, ClickUp is the better option if you'd like a feature-rich project management platform that can function as a central collaboration hub for all of your business's operations. Asana will be the better choice for your team or business if you want a traditional, easy-to-use project management tool to help you get better visibility over the progress of tasks.

• ClickUp and Asana both offer capable project management tools
• ClickUp has better features than Asana, and is more functional
• Asana has a better range of integrations than ClickUp
• ClickUp offers a better free plan than Asana
• ClickUp's paid plans are better value than Asana's plans
• Asana is easier to use and set up than ClickUp
• ClickUp offers more powerful features than Asana

Both ClickUp (4.5/5) and Asana (4.5/5) include the basics, so let's check those off, first. Asana and ClickUp are cloud-based – you can access their interfaces from any computer, tablet, or phone. Both ClickUp and Asana give you list, board, and calendar views that aid team collaboration and help users track task statuses.

When it comes to collaboration and task management, ClickUp takes the lead on Asana, scoring 4.7/5 for collaboration and 4.7/5 for task management, compared to Asana's 3/5 and 4.3/5. This is partly due to ClickUp's great time-tracking tool and team instant messenger.

Where ClickUp loses some steam is on its ease of use — Asana is simpler and easier to set up than ClickUp. with a beginner-friendly automation builder. ClickUp's automation builder is clunkier, but then it's also got significantly more to offer teams that want a multi-purpose app to replace all the others they use.

Although Asana may edge things when it comes to new users, ClickUp makes the transition for people switching between project management software tools much easier. For example, you can import data directly from Asana into ClickUp, facilitating minimal downtime, but you'll have to convert your tasks and info into a CSV if you want to do it the other way around.

ClickUp will be well-suited to teams that want to centralize their workday operations around a single space. Asana will suit smaller teams that want a no-frills way to organize their projects, as well as the efficiency boost from automating mundane tasks.

One key area in which they differ is value – ClickUp is far cheaper than Asana. Pricing plans for both ClickUp and Asana include advanced features that let businesses get painstakingly detailed, with expanded time tracking and custom views and fields – but it's ClickUp that really excels when it comes to providing a wealth of useful features.

Here are the biggest pros and cons you may experience if you opt for ClickUp over Asana:

Here are the merits and pitfalls you may run into if you opt for Asana over ClickUp:

ClickUp Pricing vs Asana Pricing

ClickUp vs Asana isn't just about features – so, how do their prices compare? Here's a brief summary:

• Asana's free plan has fewer features than ClickUp's free plan.
• Asana's first paid plan costs $3.99 per user, per month more than ClickUp's first paid plan – and offers fewer features.
• Asana's Business plan is double the price of ClickUp's Business plan – available for $24.99 per user, per month.

Asana's Plans are significantly more expensive than ClickUps – we score ClickUp 4.4/5 for pricing, whereas Asana only scores 3.7/5. ClickUp has an excellent free plan and a very robust first paid plan that costs just $7 per user per month.

This ClickUp plan (the Unlimited plan) has features like custom automations, an online whiteboard, and tools for managing resources, which Asana doesn't offer on this plan. Asana is a competent piece of software, but its Premium plan is twice as expensive as ClickUp's Unlimited plan – and it's still not as good.

ClickUp pricing plans are the aforementioned Unlimited plan ($7 per user per month), the Business Plan ($12 per user per month), and the Enterprise Plan. ClickUp Unlimited comes with no limits on storage, additional features, integrations, and advanced reporting. ClickUp Business adds features useful for large operations: Two-factor authentication, quick sign-in through Google accounts, and (coming in the near future) advanced data exporting.

In contrast, Asana pricing plans are Premium ($10.99 per user per month), Business ($19.99 per user per month), and Enterprise. In addition, Premium's pricing changes to $9.99 per user after the first 15 users. Premium adds functionality to support a timeline, task dependencies, and milestones. Business's notable features include portfolios, forms, proofing, and lockable custom fields

Asana's pricing is around or a little higher than the industry average — monday.com's pricing ranges from $8 to $16 per user per month, for example. ClickUp, on the other hand, actually undercuts the industry average across the board, with $7 per user, per month for its most popular plan, compared to Asana's $10.99 price for similar.

ClickUp vs Asana: which provider has the best free plan?

Both services offer a free plan, but it's easy to pick a winner in this part of our ClickUp vs Asana head-to-head: The free ClickUp option is head and shoulders above Asana's free plan. The sheer number of features you're able to get for free with ClickUp significantly contributed to the provider getting a better overall pricing score (4.4/5) than Asana (3.9/5).

Not only do ClickUp free's perks include unlimited users, but the plan also supports task dependencies, while the free Asana Basic plan does not. Task dependencies let users pick which tasks must be completed ahead of other tasks, setting up a steady, predictable workflow.

It's these kinds of features that make even ClickUp's free plan capable of managing groups of intricate tasks – the same cannot be said for Asana's simpler offering, which is more limited on the whole and doesn't include task dependencies (among other features). ClickUp scores a test high of 4.7/5 for task management features (Asana scores 4.3/5), and ClickUp's free plan has all the task management tools the paid plans do aside from burndown charts.

Asana's free plan, Asana Basic, includes tasks that are sortable into a list view, board view, or calendar. It's a decent sample of the basics for tracking projects, although it is limited to 15 users and doesn't include task dependencies, milestones, or a timeline. There are also no data visualization tools on Asana Basic, whereas ClickUp's free plan has preset charts and widgets you can use, as well as a dashboard for displaying project data.

In summary, the ClickUp free plan lets you operate the essentials of project management for your business, while the Asana one is more of a taster. Still, in most cases, you'll need to upgrade to a paid plan to meet the requirements of a decent-sized team.

ClickUp's List view. Image: Tech.co's testing process

Best for Ease of Use: Asana

ClickUp and Asana both have customizable dashboards as their main view, with menus that allow users to quickly navigate to the right feature with a click or two. However, Asana scores 4.2/5 for ease of use, whereas ClickUp scores 3.9/5. When we tested both pieces of software, it was Asana that had a tidier interface and was easier to navigate. This made it quicker to set up. All in all:

• ClickUp is more usable overall: It can handle more complex tasks and projects than Asana; it's more useful overall.
• Asana is easier to use for beginners: It has a simpler interface and it won't overwhelm you with features like ClickUp.

ClickUp scores slightly higher (4.6/5) for functionality than Asana (4.2/5), which means ClickUp will suit a wider variety of teams who are working on progressively more complex projects and tasks. It won't leave you stranded on any front, with tools for managing resources, budgets, and multiple teams.

As we've said, Asana is simpler and therefore easier to use initially. We found Asana marginally quicker to set up than ClickUp, and it was easier to create automations with the provider's rule-based automation builder. However, medium-sized teams may find Asana more limiting than ClickUp further down the line, when their projects are considerably more complex and the need to collaborate at depth is more essential.

Asana's automation builder. Image: Tech.co's testing process

It's worth noting that we found Smartsheet's spreadsheet-style interface easier to use than both ClickUp and Asana – Smartsheet is actually our easiest-to-use provider overall. ClickUp does, however, offer a comprehensive spreadsheet functionality, as it supports formula columns, which allow you to calculate things automatically, whereas Asana and other competitors like monday.com don't provide this.

However, Asana wins with its automation and form builders, as both were not only easier to use, but also had more features and options within them – in fact, ClickUp and Asana are fairly level on workflow creation features like this, with ClickUp scoring 4.3/5 and Asana 4.1/5. In Asana, the ability to add questions to forms and create basic automations with ease means it can compete with the top-rated provider.

Asana's Timeline view. Image: Tech.co's testing process

Best for Business Features: ClickUp

ClickUp scores 4.6/5 overall for functionality, which is higher than the 9 other project management software tools we tested. ClickUp's various ways to view task progress (including a List View, Gantt Chart, Spreadsheet with formulae, and Kanban Board) helped it to a 4.7/5 score for task management. This makes ClickUp a better option than Asana for teams who want to keep a keen eye on project progress – Asana's spreadsheet doesn't have formulae options, and there's no time-tracking function either.

ClickUp also scores 4.3/5 for workflow creation, which is higher than Asana (4.1/5). One of Asana's key strengths, its easy-to-use custom automation builder, is really useful – although custom automations are only available on the Business plan. ClickUp actually offers this on its free plan (as well as all subsequent plans). So, although it might take a bit more getting used to, you won't have to spend a cent to get to grips with it.

ClickUp and Asana score the same for data visualization, scoring 4.8/5. ClickUp and Asana both offer preset and custom charts and widgets, as well as a dashboard for displaying them. However, building these dashboards in ClickUp was easier and they were more useful once we'd finished. What's more, ClickUp offers more data visualization tools than Asana on its free plan – Asana doesn't offer any. Opt for ClickUp if your team doesn't want to spend a cent on your data-heavy project, but both providers will be serviceable options otherwise.

One place where Asana does beat ClickUp is available integrations. Asana scores a test high 4.7/5 for integrations, whereas ClickUp scores a respectable 3.4/5. Asana has a wider variety of software types available. For instance, ClickUp has no common marketing integrations, whereas Asana does, and ClickUpand only integrates with a couple of communications tools like Zoom and RingCentral, while Asana integrates with over 50.

Overall, ClickUp is the best project management software tool for functionality, with a better score than the 10 other competitors we also tested – although Asana isn't far behind. ClickUp is also the best pick for task management and collaboration whereas both providers scored highly for data visualization and workflow creation, so ClickUp wins comfortably.

The Kanban board view in ClickUp. Image: Tech.co's testing process

Best for Value: ClickUp

Value is all about how many features and tools you get for the price you pay. ClickUp provides better task management and workflow creation features than Asana, all while being a cheaper product. Overall, ClickUp scores the second highest out of all 10 providers we tested for pricing, beating Asana.

Even though ClickUp's first paid plan is less than half the price of Asana's (ClickUp's Unlimited Plan is $7 per user, per month, while Asana's Premium Plan is $10.99 per user, per month), it has custom automations, time tracking, 24/7 support, a resource management feature, and a team instant-messenger, all of which Asana does not offer on its Premium Plan (or not at all).

Custom automation in ClickUp. Image: Tech.co's testing process

Asana is still a good project management tool, it's just on the more expensive end of the spectrum. Along with having a better set of features available on cheaper plans, our research found ClickUp to be slightly more usable than Asana, largely down to the fact it's somewhat difficult to operate Asana when it doesn't have a dedicated feature for something you want to do – ClickUp, in contrast, has more dedicated features.

Zoho Projects is perhaps the only project management tool that provides better value for money, and that's largely because it's so cheap, at just $4 per user, per month for the Premium plan. It has everything you need for basic task management and project tracking, along with an impressive set of collaboration features, but the user limit of 50 and a project limit of 20 means it's unsuitable for medium-to-large businesses.

Best for Customer Support: Asana

Our research has shown that Asana has the edge in customer support. In fact of the 10 services we tested, it came joint second in this category. By contrast, ClickUp is somewhat lacking, scoring just 3.3/5 compared to Asana's 4.5/5.

Although you can contact ClickUp by email, and the provider has a knowledge base for troubleshooting issues yourself, it has no community forum, which Asana offers – and this is available on all plans. Asana used to have no live chat function, which ClickUp has provided for some time, but now, both providers offer it to subscribers on all plans.

If you contact Asana's sales team, you'll be able to acquire some sort of onboarding assistance on the provider's Premium, Business, and Enterprise plans. This support option is only available on ClickUp's Enterprise plan. ClickUp's Enterprise plan also comes with a dedicated success manager, which not every project management software offers.

The fact ClickUp has better customer support options is a shame, as it's slightly more complicated than Asana to set up – although, compared to some programs like Jira, it's still comparatively easy. Asana offers more, yet you're less likely to run into many problems thanks to the simplicity of the interface.

With downtime virtually a non-negotiable for businesses in the current economic climate, we'd recommend Asana over ClickUp for customer support.

ClickUp: Overview of Core Features

• Unlimited Tasks, Members, Storage, Integrations, and Dashboards
• Unlimited List, Board, and Calendar views
• Guests and Permissions
• Goals, Portfolios, and Custom Fields
• Google SSO
• Goal Folders
• Custom Exporting
• Private, Protected, and Default Views
• Mind Maps & Timeline Views
• Advanced Time Tracking
• Workload

ClickUp goes far beyond the basics of project management software. It isn't simply a task tracker or fancy-looking “to-do list” – if that does sound more like what you need, we'd recommend Asana, which is a bit more basic.

ClickUp scores 4.5/5 overall, and excelled when it comes to collaboration (4.7/5) and task management (4.7/5). Indeed, the company has positioned its software as being a complete WorkOS – an operating system that will help a business or team arrange and plan all of their key tasks, long-term initiatives, and daily must-dos. It's an intriguing new approach to more effective project collaboration, and WorkOS might just be the future of project management.

This is quite different from Asana, which is a more traditional, straightforward project management tool that doesn't offer the wide variety of features that ClickUp's cheapest paid plan does, such as unlimited storage, integrations, and dashboards, added to the unlimited tasks and members that the free plan starts out with. With ClickUp, you'll even have features specifically for “agile” teams like sprint points and Work in Progress limits, so it's very versatile.

ClickUp's Business plan includes SSO, custom export options, and private views for more granular control over who sees what. Time-tracking tools are included as well, helping managers keep an eye on workers' movements.

Asana: Overview and Core Features

• Unlimited tasks, projects, messages, and activity log
• Unlimited file storage (100MB per file)
• Collaborate with up to 15 teammates
• List view, Board view, Calendar view
• Assignee and due dates
• Project Overview
• Project Brief
• iOS and Android mobile apps
• Custom fields
• Admin Console
• Custom rules builder

Asana's paid plans come with Forms, Rules, and Milestones in addition to all the typical project management fixings (tasks, projects, messages, and activity logs). Projects can be summarized with overviews or briefs, and tasks can be checked off over the mobile app, available on iOS and Android.

It's got a nice, uncluttered feel to the interface and isn't as intimidating as some people find ClickUp's endless list of features. Asana still scored highly for workflow creation (4.3/5) thanks to a better automation builder than many of its competitors offer, including ClickUp. If you opt for the cheaper plans you'll have to make do with preset automations, but custom automations can be used to streamline workflows on Asana's Business and Enterprise plans.

Users will also get advanced integrations that can connect commonly used software including Salesforce, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Tableau.

See how Asana matches up against Basecamp in our comparison guide

Is It Easy to Switch Between ClickUp and Asana?

All things considered, it's a little easier to switch from Asana to ClickUp because you can import directly from the former service to the latter. ClickUp provides detailed instructions on how to switch between Asana and its own platform.

Importing data to Asana from a CSV file is very easy, but it's an extra step that you don't have to do the other way around. However, you could opt to use a tool like Relokia, which facilitates data migration between project management services.

However, most project management tools, including both Asana and ClickUp, have put significant effort into making their respective setup processes quick and easy. So even converting your tasks and project data into a CSV, if you're switching from ClickUp to Asana, isn't going to take up a lot of time.

If you're currently using finding Asana a little limiting – and you don't want to sign up for the provider's pricey $24.99 per user, per month Business plan – you'll find making the switch to ClickUp is worth it. It might take a little time, but you'll have a more feature-rich platform to play with more support to achieve a wider range of tasks. Plus, ClickUp's Business plan is $12 per user, per month, so quite a bit cheaper.

However, if you use neither ClickUp nor Asana and you're thinking of switching, the type of project you're completing and the team you've got completing it will determine which is the best option. Teams working on complex projects that need a single, customizable location for all their communications, task tracking, and brainstorming should opt for ClickUp.

Asana will suit teams that need a more basic program for simpler task tracking and want to become more organized.

ClickUp vs Asana: Our Project Management Research Explained

Here at Tech.co, we test all of the products, software, and services we write about. We put together research frameworks that take into consideration businesses' pain points, concerns, and needs, and devise criteria upon which to test everything from project management software to CRM and Business Telephone systems.

We've put 10 of the top project management tools to the test to determine which is the best for your business. When we test project management software, the five key areas our we focus on are Ease of Use, Pricing, Security, Integrations, and Functionality. There are also four sub-categories assessed within “Functionality”: Task Management, Workflow Creation, Data visualization, and Collaboration.

Although we have commercial partnerships with some of the providers we write about, this never affects our research scores, writers' opinions, or overall editorial independence, which are solely based on the data we collect from testing – whether it's this ClickUp vs Asana head-to-head, or any other content we produce.

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