Asana

Your team is growing. Projects are piling up. And somewhere between the fifth Slack thread and the umpteenth Excel sheet, you lose track. Sound familiar? I’ve been using Asana intensively over the past few months for various projects – from content calendars to product development. Time to tell you exactly what works and where you’ll run into issues.

Asana: the company

Asana was founded in 2008 by Dustin Moskovitz (yes, the Facebook guy) and Justin Rosenstein. Both were frustrated with how teams collaborated at Facebook. Too many meetings. Too much confusion about who was doing what. They wanted a place where everyone could see exactly what was happening.

That frustration led to Asana – a tool that revolves around transparency and clarity. No more endless email threads to figure out who’s responsible for that one task. Everything in one place, visible to everyone.

Today, more than 150,000 organizations use Asana. From small startups to companies like Spotify and NASA. It has grown into one of the biggest players in project management, with offices around the world and a valuation of billions of dollars.

Who is Asana actually for?

Asana targets teams that need structure without drowning in complexity. Think marketing teams planning campaigns, product developers managing sprints, or HR departments tracking onboarding processes.

It works well for teams from 5 to 500 people. Smaller than that? Then Asana is probably overkill – Trello works fine then. Larger than 500? Then you might want more enterprise features that you’ll find in tools like Jira.

Not ideal for freelancers working alone. The strength lies in collaboration and overview across multiple people. Also not perfect for teams that want to work very visually – Monday.com wins on color and flair. And if you’re looking for an all-in-one tool with CRM, documents and chat in one package, check out ClickUp.

Asana features

Let’s be honest: Asana is packed with features. But which ones do you actually use?

• Workflow Builder – Bouw je eigen processen zonder te hoeven coderen. Nieuwe blogpost gepland? Dan gaat die automatisch naar de redacteur, daarna naar design, en uiteindelijk naar publicatie. Je zet het één keer op en het draait vanzelf. Scheelt eindeloos gepruts met handmatige updates.
• Tijdlijn (Gantt-grafieken) – Zie in één oogopslag welke taken van elkaar afhankelijk zijn. Schuif je een deadline op? Dan verschuiven alle gekoppelde taken mee. Ideaal voor complexe projecten waar alles op elkaar moet aansluiten. Wel even wennen als je nog nooit met Gantt-grafieken hebt gewerkt.
• Automatisering van taken – Iemand markeert een taak als “Klaar”? Die gaat automatisch naar de volgende fase. Deadline nadert? Verstuur een reminder. Je kunt dit allemaal instellen zonder technische kennis. Het scheelt echt uren per week aan handmatig gepruts.
• Portfolios voor projectoverzicht – Heb je vijf projecten tegelijk lopen? Met portfolio’s zie je de status van alles in één scherm. Rood betekent vertraging, groen loopt op schema. Perfect voor managers die het grote plaatje willen zien zonder in details te verdrinken.
• Werkbelasting (Workload management) – Zie precies hoeveel uur iedereen deze week heeft. Eén teamlid zit overvol terwijl een ander niks te doen heeft? Dan kun je taken verschuiven voordat het escaleert. Dit voorkomt burn-out en frustratie.
• Doelen en mijlpalen tracking – Koppel je dagelijkse taken aan grotere bedrijfsdoelen. Zo zie je of dat werk aan die social media posts daadwerkelijk bijdraagt aan je Q4-target. Geeft context aan alles wat je doet.

The different views deserve some extra attention. You can view the same project as a list (simple and clear), as a board (Kanban-style for those who work visually), as a timeline (those Gantt charts), or as a calendar. Everyone on your team can choose their own preference. One person loves lists, another wants to be able to drag those cards.

And then the integrations. Asana connects with virtually everything: Slack for notifications, Google Drive for documents, Zoom for meetings, Harvest for time tracking. You don’t have to constantly switch between apps. Everything comes together in Asana.

Asana pricing

Let’s start with the good news: there’s a free version. The Personal plan costs nothing and works for up to 10 team members. You get unlimited tasks and projects, plus the basic views (list, board, calendar). For a small team just getting started, this is actually quite generous.

But. That free version lacks the powerful features. No timelines, no automation, no advanced reporting. For many teams, it quickly feels too limited.

Then the paid plans. The Starter plan costs €10.99 per month per user with annual billing (€131.88 per year total). Paying monthly? Then you’re looking at €13.49 per month. This includes timelines, automation, and workflow builder. For most growing teams, this is the starting point.

The Advanced plan jumps up significantly: €24.99 per month per user with annual billing (€299.88 per year). Monthly that becomes €30.49. Here you get portfolios, workload management, and advanced reporting. Particularly interesting for larger teams or when you need to oversee multiple projects simultaneously.

Enterprise and Enterprise+ don’t have fixed pricing – you need to contact them for a quote. That usually means: expensive. These plans are really for large organizations with specific security requirements and support needs.

Honestly? For small teams, €10.99 per person per month is pretty steep. Especially if your team has 15 people, you’re quickly looking at €165 per month. Monday.com and ClickUp are often cheaper for comparable functionality. On the other hand: Asana’s free version is more generous than Monday’s.

You can try it free for 30 days. No credit card required for the trial. Use that time well – especially test those automations and timelines, because that’s ultimately what you’re paying for.

What should you watch out for?

Let’s talk about the frustrations. Because they exist.

First annoyance: you can only assign one person to a task. Might sound logical – one person responsible prevents confusion. But in practice, people often collaborate on the same task. You can add “followers,” but they don’t get notifications like the main person responsible. Cumbersome.

Then the price. I mentioned it already, but it’s really a pain point. For Dutch startups and scale-ups, €25 per person per month for the Advanced plan is just a lot of money. Especially if you have 20+ people. Then you’re talking about €500 per month. That’s €6000 per year on project management software.

The notifications are set way too aggressively by default. You get bombarded with emails about every little update. Someone adds a comment? Email. Task shifts a day? Email. Your inbox fills up. Yes, you can adjust this in the settings, but why is the default so excessive?

Time tracking is a half-baked story. Asana recently added a native time tracking feature, but it’s only in the paid plans and is quite basic. Many teams still have to integrate with Harvest or Toggl. Why not just a decent built-in timer?

And then the learning curve. Asana looks simple, but as soon as you dive deeper into custom fields, templates and automations it becomes complex. New team members really need a few weeks to get the hang of everything. Not as bad as ClickUp, but also not as intuitive as Trello.

Last point: the mobile app is okay, but not great. Viewing and creating tasks works fine. But adjusting complex workflows or viewing reports? Do that on your laptop. The app feels more like an emergency solution than a full-fledged workplace.

What do others think?

The general sentiment about Asana is positive, but with clear reservations. People especially appreciate the clean, clear interface. No unnecessary bells and whistles – just a tool that does what it’s supposed to do.

The free version gets a lot of praise. Compared to Monday.com, Asana offers more value without paying. Unlimited tasks and projects for 10 people is pretty generous. Many small teams stay on that for years.

The timelines and calendar views are often mentioned as major advantages. Teams coming from Excel sheets or whiteboards find it refreshing to have everything digital and organized. And the integrations with Slack and Google Drive really work seamlessly – that’s not just marketing talk.

But then the complaints. That one-person-per-task rule keeps coming up in reviews. “Why can’t I just assign two people?” is a frequently heard frustration. It feels like an artificial limitation.

The pricing is the other major discussion point. Especially small teams find the jump from free to €10.99 per person quite steep. And then they discover they actually need the Advanced plan for portfolios and workload management. Suddenly you’re talking about €25 per person. That’s just too much for many Dutch companies.

The email notifications are a recurring annoyance. People switch to Asana to get fewer emails, and then they still get flooded. Yes, it can be adjusted, but why is the default so annoying?

Notable: many people call Asana “boring” compared to Monday.com. No colors, no animations, no visual flair. For some that’s actually nice – no distraction. For others it feels outdated.

Asana alternatives

Doesn’t Asana quite fit your team? Then look at these options:

• Monday.com – Visueler en kleurrijker, vaak makkelijker voor niet-technische teams. Kies hiervoor als je een zeer visuele interface wilt en CRM-achtige functies nodig hebt. Monday voelt moderner aan en is vaak intuïtiever voor mensen die niet dagelijks met projectmanagement-tools werken.
• Trello – Eenvoudiger en beperkter, focust puur op Kanban. Kies hiervoor als je alleen simpele taakborden nodig hebt zonder complexe projectstructuren. Perfect voor kleine teams of persoonlijk gebruik. Veel goedkoper ook – de gratis versie is voor de meeste mensen genoeg.
• ClickUp – Meer functies (all-in-one) en goedkoper, maar steilere leercurve. Kies hiervoor als je maximale functionaliteit wilt voor een lagere prijs en bereid bent tijd te investeren in de inrichting. ClickUp heeft documenten, chat, doelen, tijdregistratie – alles ingebouwd. Maar het is ook overweldigend voor nieuwe gebruikers.

Frequently asked questions

Is Asana free to use?

Yes, the Personal plan is free for teams up to 10 people. You get unlimited tasks and projects, but you do miss the powerful features like timelines, automation and advanced reporting. For a small team just starting out it’s a fine starting point, but you quickly run into the limitations.

Does Asana have built-in time tracking?

Yes, Asana recently added a native time tracking feature. It’s only available in paid plans and is fairly basic. Many teams still choose to integrate with specialized tools like Harvest or Toggl. These offer more reporting capabilities and billing options.

Can I use Asana offline?

The mobile apps for iOS and Android have limited offline functionality. You can view tasks and create new ones, which sync once you’re back online. But the web version requires an internet connection. For teams that are frequently on the go or work in locations without wifi, this is a drawback.

Conclusion

Asana is a solid project management tool that works especially well for teams seeking structure without drowning in complexity. The interface is clean, the basic features work well, and the free version is surprisingly generous.

But it’s not perfect. The price is on the high side for Dutch teams, especially if you need the Advanced plan. The one-person-per-task rule remains frustrating. And the time tracking could have been better.

Choose Asana if you want a reliable, professional tool without too many bells and whistles. If your team consists of 10-50 people, you regularly have complex projects with dependencies, and you have the budget for a paid plan. The automations and timelines are really valuable when you use them properly.

Choose something else if your budget is tight (try ClickUp), if you want a very visual interface (go for Monday.com), or if you just need simple task boards (Trello is enough). And if you’re a freelancer working alone? Then Asana is overkill – use Notion or Todoist.

Personally? I still use Asana for client projects. Not because it’s perfect, but because it’s reliable and my clients understand it. That’s ultimately what counts: a tool that your team actually uses, instead of that one fancy app that disappears into oblivion after two weeks.