ClickUp vs Asana in 2022: Full Comparison of Features, Cost & More
With so many options, it’s difficult to know which project management tool to go for. In this ClickUp vs Asana throwdown, we take a look at two popular services, put them side by side and choose an overall winner.
Online project management tools are more popular than ever, especially in the world of remote teams. Two commonly used project management software services are ClickUp and Asana.
However, which one is the better project management tool? Buckle up for this ClickUp vs Asana competition, where we compare features, pricing, user-friendliness, customer support and more.
Key Takeaways:
- Our Asana vs ClickUp head-to-head shows that Asana is the better product, but ClickUp offers the better value for your money.
- Both tools are very easy to use and packed full of features, meaning they’ll appeal to individuals, small teams and larger businesses.
- Whichever service you choose, both will help you track progress of tasks and projects, as well as improve team communication and collaboration.
This isn’t the first battle either ClickUp and Asana have had to endure.
They’ve also gone up against some of the best project management software, like monday.com (check out our monday.com review), Trello and Jira. We consider both services to be some of the best options your money can buy — and they also have exceptionally good free versions.
Although very similar in terms of what they offer, it is true that they’re not the same, and both ClickUp and Asana have their little quirks that you’re sure to find attractive. With that in mind, saying which one is better is somewhat subjective, and it mainly depends on what you and your team need from a project management platform.
Asana is an online project management tool that allows you and your entire team to create, develop and complete projects.
ClickUp is a project management tool that offers a range of features for basic and heavy use. ClickUp’s features include Gantt charts, kanban boards, a document creator and many more.
It depends on what you need from a project management tool. ClickUp certainly offers excellent features for a cheap price, and ClickUp’s free version rivals Asana’s free plan. That said, Asana’s features function better and the software is easier to use.
If neither ClickUp nor Asana interest you, we can suggest monday.com as the best project management tool.
ClickUp vs Asana Project Management: The Criteria
Below we’re going to break down what we believe are the core elements every good project management tool should have in its software. We’ll take a look at both ClickUp’s and Asana’s main features, how well they perform, the security and privacy on offer, plus how well each service supports its customers.
Of course, we’ll also be looking at how much each service costs.
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1. Features
Both ClickUp and Asana are versatile project management tools. They can help the basic user with light task management, and they will assist project managers with long-term project planning.
As is standard with project management software, both services spread their features across different paid plans; the more you pay, the more you get to use. That said, both of the free versions are great, which is what we’ll start with.
ClickUp vs Asana: Free Version Features
Having used both ClickUp’s and Asana’s free plan, we can say with confidence that both of them offer excellent project management tools.
For everyday task management and a to-do list, both services have a list view, and they’re very similar. You can set due dates and mark your tasks in order of priority. However, ClickUp offers more flexibility by allowing you to add more custom fields within your list view.
Other basic features include a kanban board. Asana is exceptionally easy to use and lets you customize your board in a way that suits your needs. It’s not the best project management tool for kanban boards — that title goes to Trello (read our Trello review); however, it’s certainly the second best.
ClickUp’s is good too, it’s just a little harder to grasp compared to Asana.
A robust free plan needs to offer something more than the basics, and both options certainly do. Both services let you add unlimited tasks, and the Asana Basic free plan gives you unlimited storage space, although file size upload is restricted to 100MB.
The ClickUp Free Forever plan only offers limited storage space of 100MB. ClickUp also has some advanced tools that let you implement sprint management, perfect for those looking for free Agile tools.
ClickUp vs Asana: Paid Plan Features
Because ClickUp and Asana don’t offer the same number of paid plans, and their features differ throughout each plan, it’s difficult to compare them exactly side by side. However, we will give you a rundown of what’s on offer, and discuss value later in the pricing section.
ClickUp ups the ante by offering a Gantt chart view for your projects. It’s not as advanced as TeamGantt (check out our TeamGantt review), but it’s pretty decent all the same. Asana, in theory, also offers a Gantt chart view.
Similar to monday.com, Asana refers to its Gantt chart as “timeline view.” It’s very intuitive; task data is easily digestible, and it functions well too. Is it better than monday.com’s timeline view? Take a look at our monday.com vs Asana comparison.
Asana and ClickUp also offer time-tracking tools, a range of project templates for quick access and reporting tools to help you analyze projects. Feature-wise, they’re very similar, but not identical. ClickUp also offers a spreadsheet view of projects and tasks, while Asana comes with tools designed for long-term planning.
ClickUp vs Asana: Integrations
If you like to use third-party applications when managing projects, there’s a good chance you can integrate them into ClickUp and Asana. Both project management platforms allow third-party integrations, which can help improve team communication, collaboration, productivity and creativity.
For file sharing, both services offer third-party integrations with some of the best cloud storage providers, such as Google Drive and Dropbox. You can integrate Slack (check out our Slack alternatives) to create tasks and manage them.
Asana also lets you integrate Adobe Creative Cloud, which allows you to share designs with another team member — something that might pique the interest of all you creative butterflies.
Both ClickUp’s and Asana’s third-party integrations are impressive. With Asana, you have access to over 200 integrations that can help with almost every project management need you can think of, including team collaboration, automation, time tracking and marketing tools. ClickUp offers around 300 integration options, making it a little more versatile.
Comparing Features
It’s difficult to proclaim which piece of project and task management software offers the best all-round features, as both ClickUp and Asana offer a lot.
In terms of more advanced features, it’s fair to say ClickUp has the edge. Its scrum management tools make it great for software development (although we would recommend Jira for the serious scrum users. Read our Jira review).
Features aside, Asana clearly has more advanced integrations, which means you can take your project management in any direction you see fit.
Asana also has the better views in terms of usability (more on that later), as its kanban, timeline and calendar view work like a charm. If you’re wondering why we don’t rate Asana as highly as Trello for its kanban board, check out our Asana vs Trello comparison.
Because of the level of integrations, and the quantity of quality features on offer, Asana swings this round.
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| $5 / month (All Plans) | $10.99 / month (All Plans) | |
| ClickUp Review | Asana Review | |
| Management Views | ||
| Kanban board | ||
| List | ||
| Calendar | ||
| Timeline | ||
| Spreadsheet view | ||
| Gantt charts | ||
| Workload planning | ||
| Long-term planning | ||
| Management Features | ||
| Multiple project management | ||
| Dependency management | ||
| Native scrum management | ||
| Set user permissions | ||
| File storage | ||
| Time-tracking | ||
| Built-in integrations | ||
| Reporting features | ||
| General Features | ||
| Free plan | ||
| Free Trial | 30 days | |
| Web app | ||
| Windows | ||
| MacOS | ||
| Android | ||
| iOS | ||
| Support | ||
| Ticket-based support | ||
| Tutorials | ||
| Knowledgebase | ||
| Forum | ||
| Live chat | ||
| Phone support |
2. Pricing
When it comes to the cost of each service, Asana and ClickUp are on either end of the pricing spectrum. ClickUp is pretty cheap — especially its Unlimited plan — which offers unlimited file storage, unlimited dashboards and unlimited integrations (and more) for just $5 per user per month (billed annually).
Asana, on the other hand, is quite expensive, starting at $10.99 per month (billed annually) for its Premium plan, which offers the same unlimited features. Let’s take a deeper look at both services’ pricing structure.
ClickUp Pricing
In total, ClickUp has five plans to choose from: a free plan, three paid plans and an enterprise package for large businesses and teams. We’ve mentioned the price of the Unlimited plan, and with what’s on offer, $5 per user per month (on the annual plan) is an absolute bargain.
The trend continues with the Business and Business Plus plans, which cost $12 and $19 per user per month. We should note that these monthly prices only apply when you pay for an annual subscription; otherwise, the month-to-month cost is almost double. The Enterprise plan is priced on a case-by-case basis, and users need to contact the sales team to negotiate the cost.
Asana Pricing
Although Asana has a free plan, the three paid plans don’t really cater to those on a budget. On top of the Premium plan, there’s also a Business Plan and an Enterprise plan. The business plan costs $24.99 per month on an annual subscription (otherwise, it’s $30.49 month-to-month).
We spoke to the sales department about the Enterprise plan and we were told it would cost $600 per user per year, for which we would receive better security, support and other features.
It’s hard to say that Asana offers good value, especially when services such as Trello and nTask (read our nTask review) offer great prices and aren’t too far behind in terms of quality.
If it’s not clear already, ClickUp takes the winner’s medal when we consider pricing and overall value. It’s great for those on a budget; however, if you can’t afford the upfront yearly costs, you may wish to consider one of the other best cheap project management tools. At this stage of the comparison, both ClickUp and Asana are tied at one round each.
3. User-Friendliness
A project management tool can have all the best features in the world, but if it doesn’t offer the best user experience, all those features are pretty much useless.
Thankfully, both Asana and ClickUp make straightforward tools that are simple to use. Both services have web-based versions of the software, and mobile apps for both iOS and Android, plus desktop apps for Windows or macOS. ClickUp also offers Linux compatibility, but Asana does not.
Our experience using both services was pleasant, as both ClickUp and Asana have designed simple and easy-to-navigate user interfaces. The kanban board adopts the popular drag-and-drop functionality when moving the task cards around. With both services, it’s clear how to assign tasks and tag team members in comments within the task cards.
While Asana was extremely responsive when we were assigning tasks, ClickUp was a little slow and it sometimes took a couple clicks to ensure the task was assigned correctly. The same is true when we tried to drag and drop tasks, as we would experience some minor stutters with ClickUp.
Other Useful Features
Other key features, like setting due dates and task dependencies, are all very self-explanatory, and you shouldn’t have to spend too much time figuring out how things work. We were hoping to create some basic automations, but they are reserved for subscribers to one of the paid plans. It would be nice to automate recurring tasks on the free plans, like you can with other apps like Trello.
Some project management solutions are guilty of overwhelming you with information, especially when working on multiple projects. With ClickUp and Asana, you can enjoy a well-spaced overview of your projects, making it simple to navigate from one project to the next. The layout for all views is consistent, and you won’t have an issue using the default view and the advanced views.
Should you become a little lost with using Asana and ClickUp (we can’t imagine you would), you can refer to some tutorials to help you get back on track. We’ll go into them in more detail later in this article; in short, both tutorials offer what you need, but there’s room for improvement.
The two services are very close in terms of ease of use. However, Asana is the winner here, as its slick performance is one of the reasons it’s so highly rated in the project management space. Going into the next round, Asana has a one-point lead.
4. Customer Support
Neither Asana nor ClickUp offers the best customer support. The likes of monday.com and Trello offer a better all-around customer experience. They might not be the best, but Asana and ClickUp aren’t the worst either. They both have tutorials and articles that teach you how to use the software, and there’s some direct customer support available.
Asana’s learning tools are very well mapped out, and they offer clear and concise information that should help you with the day-to-day issues that may arise when using a new piece of software. ClickUp, on the other hand, lacks some law and order with its tutorials and articles, and navigating through them is harder than it should be.
Direct Support
The tables turn when we begin to focus on direct support. We should begin by saying that neither service provides direct telephone support, so you’ll be disappointed if you prefer a verbal conversation. The only live human-to-human communication comes from ClickUp, through its live chat feature, but it’s only available on the paid plans.
In fact, pretty much all of ClickUp’s direct support is only available on its paid plans, including its ticketing system. We used the free plans for our tests, but we were able to put Asana’s ticketing system to the test.
We made a couple of customer service requests and received an answer within one hour, but both were related to pricing. It took much longer to find a resolution when we contacted the team about user issues.
The reality is that Asana and ClickUp let themselves down when it comes to customer service and support. Not having phone support will likely put off business users, especially when you need a quick fix to a problem. If they can both improve in this area, maybe they’ll be up there with other project management services in terms of support.
Nothing separates the services in the support department — they’re just as bad as they are good — so we’re calling this one a tie.
5. Security & Privacy
We read both ClickUp’s privacy policy and Asana’s privacy policy to understand how much they protect their customers’ information. Each provider collects minimal user data, and it’s only used to improve its services and market its own products. This is pretty standard, and we’re pleased to know user data isn’t sold to third-party companies. There’s one issue, however.
While ClickUp’s privacy policy is consistent across all its plans, Asana segregates its customers into two camps: free users and paid users. Free users don’t enjoy the same approach to privacy as paid subscribers, and those on the free plan can expect additional data to be collected, including mobile data and metadata.
None of the extra information is sold, but for some reason, Asana wants to know more about its free users (likely to find ways to encourage paid subscriptions).
Security
Both Asana and ClickUp are secure and take all the standard measures to ensure your data is safe. ClickUp uses AES-256 encryption in-transit and at-rest, as does Asana. Each service has had their security measures audited by third-party organizations and have received SOC 2 certification, which suggests they’re doing everything right.
Although they’re very similar on a security and privacy front, ClickUp takes the edge as it doesn’t treat its free users differently. With that in mind, the platforms are tied, each having scored two rounds each, in addition to the tie.
The Verdict
We’ve now reached the end of our ClickUp vs Asana head-to-head. As you can see, both project management software are extremely competent tools that will help improve project management, team communication and basic task management.
Asana has the better features, and it’s slightly easier to use, but it’s more expensive and doesn’t have the same security features as ClickUp.
If you’re on a budget and need something that allows you to have unlimited users, unlimited projects and unlimited storage, ClickUp is certainly the way to go.
Despite its flaws, it will serve you well for the most part.
However, if money is no issue, we recommend going with Asana. It’s similar to its biggest rivals, Trello and monday.com, and in certain ways, offers a better product.
The best way to learn which service is for you is two read our detailed reviews. Both our Asana review and our ClickUp review dive deep into each service, and will give you a better understanding of what they can do for you.
Who wins in your Asana vs ClickUp head-to-head? Does Asana’s costly paid version put you off the service? What other products would you like us to compare? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading.
