Asana vs Smartsheet

Asana

• Teams coordinating projects across several departments
• Organizations that tie project work to company goals
• Nonprofits and schools that qualify for the 50% discount

Smartsheet

• Teams that are comfortable working in spreadsheets
• Project offices that need Gantt charts, reports and dashboards
• Enterprises standardizing portfolio reporting across many projects

Asana

• The free Personal plan is limited to 2 users; timeline and Gantt views, forms and custom fields start on Starter.
• Seats are sold in fixed steps: one at a time from 2 to 5 users, then blocks of 5 up to 30 and blocks of 10 up to 100.
• Portfolios, goals, approvals and built-in time tracking need the Advanced plan at $24.99 per user / month.
• The download page lists Mac, Windows, iOS and Android apps but no Linux app.

Smartsheet

• There is no free plan; a paid plan is needed once the 30-day trial ends.
• Pro is limited to 10 Members and is only available to new customers; Business requires at least 3 Members.
• Pro is capped at 250 automations a month and 20 GB of storage.
• The API is offered from the Business plan, and SAML single sign-on needs Enterprise.

Asana

Project views

Show a project as a list, board, calendar, timeline or Gantt chart. Timeline and Gantt views start on the Starter plan.

Rules and forms

Rules automate routine steps and forms turn incoming requests into tasks. Both start on Starter; form branching needs Advanced.

Goals and portfolios

Goals link projects and tasks to company-level objectives, and portfolios track groups of related projects in one place. Both are part of the Advanced plan.

Workload and resource management

Shows how much work each person has so tasks can be rebalanced. Capacity planning across the organization is an Enterprise feature.

Reporting dashboards

Charts built from live project data to show the state of a team's work, included from the Starter plan.

AI Teammates and AI Studio

AI Studio builds AI-driven workflows from a monthly credit pool: 50K credits on Starter, 75K on Advanced and 200K on Enterprise. Extra AI requests are billed per request.

Smartsheet

Sheets with multiple views

Work is stored in spreadsheet-like sheets that can be switched between grid, Gantt, card and calendar views. Timeline view starts on the Business plan.

Reports and dashboards

Reports pull together and filter rows from sheets, and dashboards summarize the results for stakeholders.

Forms

Forms gather structured input such as requests, field reports and feedback. Forms are unlimited on the Pro plan and above.

Automated workflows

Workflows can be built from templates or from scratch for tasks such as reminders. Pro allows 250 automations a month; Business and above are unlimited.

Resource management

Shows who is assigned to what, so managers can even out workloads and plan for upcoming demand. Workload tracking is listed from the Business plan.

AI tools

Smart Assist and Smart Columns help with formulas and data analysis, and Business adds connections to external AI tools through MCP.

Asana

• Personal$0

  For one or two people: unlimited tasks and projects, list, board and calendar views, and 100+ integrations.

• Starter$10.99

  per user / month, billed annually ($13.49 billed monthly)

  No seat limit. Adds timeline and Gantt views, reporting dashboards, forms, custom fields, automations and free guests.

• Advanced$24.99

  per user / month, billed annually ($30.49 billed monthly)

  Adds portfolios, goals, resource management, approvals and proofing, time tracking and form branching.

• EnterpriseCustom

  SAML authentication, SCIM provisioning, capacity planning and service accounts. An Enterprise+ tier adds further compliance controls.

Smartsheet

• Pro$9

  per Member / month, billed yearly ($12 billed monthly)

  1 to 10 Members with unlimited free Contributors. Gantt, table, board and calendar views, 250 automations a month and 20 GB of storage.

• Business$19

  per Member / month, billed yearly ($24 billed monthly)

  3 or more Members. Adds timeline view, workload tracking, unlimited automations, proofing, admin controls and 1 TB of storage.

• EnterpriseCustom

  10 or more Members. Adds SAML single sign-on, portfolios, scenario planning, directory integrations and unlimited attachment storage.

• Advanced Work ManagementCustom

  Everything in Enterprise, plus Control Center, Dynamic View, Data Shuttle, DataMesh, connectors and premium support.

Asana

• Annual discount

  Save up to 18% with annual billing

  Asana's pricing page lists Starter at $10.99 per user / month billed annually against $13.49 monthly, and Advanced at $24.99 against $30.49.

• Nonprofit

  50% off for eligible nonprofits

  Qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofits, public libraries and international equivalents can apply for 50% off a Starter or Advanced annual plan.

• Education

  50% off for education customers

  Approved schools and universities get 50% off paid plans after an eligibility check. The page still names the older Premium and Business plans.

Smartsheet

• Annual discount

  Lower per-Member price with yearly billing

  Pro is $9 per Member / month billed yearly against $12 monthly (25% less), and Business is $19 against $24 (about 21% less).