Asana vs Zoho Projects

Asana

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

Zoho Projects

• Teams of up to 5 people whose work fits in 3 projects on the free plan
• Businesses already using Zoho CRM, Zoho Invoice or other Zoho apps
• Teams that want Gantt planning and timesheets at a low per-user price

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.

Zoho Projects

• The Free plan is limited to 5 users, 3 projects and 5 GB of storage, and it does not include time tracking.
• Critical path, baselines, custom fields and single sign-on need the Enterprise plan or higher.
• Apps are listed for iOS, iPad and Android only; on a computer Zoho Projects runs in the browser.
• Local taxes such as VAT or GST are charged on top of the listed prices.

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.

Zoho Projects

Gantt charts and dependencies

Gantt charts lay out the task schedule and show where actual progress departs from the plan. Free allows finish-to-start dependencies; paid plans allow all four types.

Timesheets and invoicing

From the Premium plan, billable and non-billable hours are logged by hand or with timers, and an integration with Zoho Invoice turns timesheets into invoices.

Issue tracker

Issues are tracked next to tasks. Business rules, linked issues and a web-to-issue form start at Premium, while SLAs and webhooks need Enterprise.

Blueprints and workflow automation

Task blueprints and workflow rules automate routine steps, with monthly execution caps of 50 on Free, 5,000 on Premium, 50,000 on Enterprise and 500,000 on Ultimate.

Zia AI and MCP server

On paid plans Zia summarizes, translates, creates tasks and subtasks and surfaces insights. A Zoho MCP server, listed on every plan, lets outside AI models read and act on project data.

Budgets and portfolio tracking

Premium adds project budgets and earned value management. Enterprise adds a portfolio dashboard, critical path and baselines.

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.

Zoho Projects

• Free$0

  Up to 5 users, 3 projects and 5 GB of storage, with subtasks, a whiteboard, mobile apps and 50 workflow executions a month.

• Premium$4

  per user / month, billed annually ($5 billed monthly)

  Unlimited projects, 100 GB of storage, time logs and timesheets, task blueprints, project budgets, Zia AI features and 5,000 workflow executions a month.

• Enterprise$9

  per user / month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)

  Adds critical path and baselines, a portfolio dashboard, custom fields, profiles and roles, single sign-on, a sandbox and 10 read-only users.

• Ultimate$14

  per user / month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly)

  Adds 15 GB of storage per user (150 GB minimum), 100 read-only users, 100 resources, unlimited custom dashboards and multi-project timesheets.

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.

Zoho Projects

• Annual discount

  $12 less per user a year on yearly billing

  Yearly billing is $4, $9 and $14 per user / month for Premium, Enterprise and Ultimate, against $5, $10 and $15 billed monthly. The pricing page states the saving as $12 per user a year.