Your team is growing. The post-its no longer stick. And that shared Excel? Nobody’s happy with that. You’ve come across two names: Trello and Asana. Both popular. Both different. I’ve tested both extensively, and I’ll help you choose.
Trello in brief
Trello is the digital version of post-its on a whiteboard. You create boards, put lists on them (think: “To Do”, “In Progress”, “Done”), and in those lists you create cards. Drag a card from left to right when the status changes. That’s it. That simplicity is exactly what Trello focuses on: visual, intuitive, quick to understand. Perfect for teams that don’t want to think about the tool, but just want to work.
Asana in brief
Asana is a full-fledged project management platform. Where Trello says “keep it simple”, Asana says “let’s organize this properly”. You get not only boards, but also list views, timelines (Gantt charts), portfolios and workload views. It’s built for teams that run complex projects with dependencies, deadlines and multiple projects simultaneously. More possibilities, but also more buttons.
Trello vs Asana: the differences
The biggest difference lies in the philosophy. Trello is a blank canvas. You get boards, lists and cards, and you figure out the rest yourself. Want a content calendar? Create lists per month. Sprint planning? Lists per week. That flexibility is fantastic, but it also means you have to think about structure yourself.
Asana, on the other hand, has an opinion about how project management works. You create projects, which consist of tasks, and those tasks can have subtasks. Tasks can depend on each other. You see at a glance who is working on what and whether someone is overloaded. That structure helps, but sometimes feels like a straitjacket when you just want to quickly arrange something.
Then the views. Trello revolves around the Kanban board. Yes, with paid plans you can also get timelines, tables and calendars, but that feels like extras. At Asana, those views are built into the DNA. Switch with one click between list, board, timeline or calendar. Same data, different lens. Working with deadlines and dependencies? That timeline view is worth its weight in gold.
Automation is present in both, but works differently. Trello has Butler, a fairly simple automation tool that works with “if this, then that” rules. Card moved to “Done”? Automatically add a label and send a notification. It works, but the free version only gives you 250 commands per month. Asana’s automation sits deeper in the system and feels more powerful, especially since the introduction of AI features that let you create rules by simply typing what you want.
And then the personal overview. This is where Asana really shines. The “My Tasks” view shows everything you need to do, across all projects, sorted by deadline. With Trello you have to browse through your boards yourself to see what’s on your plate. Working on multiple projects at once? That Asana overview is a lifesaver.
Reporting is a different story. Trello has limited reporting capabilities, even in the expensive plans. You see what’s happening, but you’ll need to look elsewhere for in-depth analyses. Asana offers reporting from the Starter plan onwards, and in the Advanced plan you get portfolio management that lets you track multiple projects in one dashboard. For managers who want overview: Asana wins.
Something else to keep in mind: Trello recently rolled out a controversial interface update. Many users are not happy with the new, more compact view and changed navigation. You can’t go back to the old interface. Asana has also introduced a new “Compact Mode”, but that’s optional.
Pricing compared
Both tools have a free plan, but with limitations. Trello’s free plan supports a maximum of 10 boards and 10 team members per workspace. Since 2024, that’s much stricter than before. You also only get 10MB per file attachment and 250 automation commands per month. For a small team just starting out it’s sufficient, but you’ll quickly run into limits.
Asana’s free plan (Personal) gives you unlimited tasks and projects, but also a maximum of 10 team members. You do miss timelines and advanced reporting. You only get those starting with the Starter plan.
For paid plans, Trello is cheaper. The Standard plan costs €5 per user per month (annual subscription), Premium €10 per month. Asana’s Starter plan starts at €10.99 per user per month, and Advanced costs €24.99. That’s a significant difference. But note: Asana requires a minimum of 2 users for paid plans, so you always pay for at least two seats.
Is that extra price for Asana worth it? That depends on what you need. Do you get standard features with Asana that you only get with expensive Power-Ups or in higher plans with Trello? Yes. But if you just want a visual board without frills, you pay less at Trello for more than enough.
Honestly? For a team of 5 people, you pay €25 per month with Trello Standard. With Asana Starter you’re looking at €65.94 (with the 2-seat minimum even more). That’s a difference of over €480 per year. You need to earn that back in extra functionality.
Conclusion
Which one should you choose? Simple: it depends on your situation. Are you working with a small team on straightforward projects and do you mainly want to be able to switch quickly? Trello. Those visual Kanban boards remain superior in simplicity. The price is friendlier and you have your first board ready within five minutes.
But are you running complex projects with dependencies, deadlines, and multiple teams? Then Asana is the better choice. Those built-in timelines, the overview across projects, and the reporting capabilities are worth the higher price. Especially as you grow and need structure.
Personally? I use Trello for personal projects and simple team collaborations. That speed and flexibility beats extra features for me. But for client projects with strict deadlines and multiple dependencies, I go with Asana. That structure prevents things from slipping through the cracks.
My advice: test both. The free plans give you enough room to experience which one fits you. Pay attention to how your team handles them. The best tool isn’t the tool with the most features, but the tool your team actually uses.
