Project management tools have been essential for organizations looking to streamline their work. But over time, especially with the digital revolution, they have become a basic need for businesses. This growing demand has also caused a surge in the number of options available in the market. And, if you have ever searched for the best project management tools on the internet, you must have come across the names ‘Asana’ and ‘ClickUp’ multiple times.

Both Asana and ClickUp are currently the most popular project management tools available. Both of the tools have lots of interesting features that make project management a lot easier and faster. These tools help businesses plan their tasks, set multiple milestone deadlines, and connect and coordinate with teams seamlessly.

Prima facie both these tools sound amazing, right?

Well, that is what the most common verdict is! But do you think ‘Asana’ and ‘ClickUp’ both tools are alike? Can you pick either and think it wouldn’t make much difference? Well, to come to an informed decision you will need to have a comparative analysis between both of them. In one simple sentence, we can just say that ‘Asana’ and ‘ClickUp’ may look similar but they definitely aren’t really so!

Both of them are cloud-based Project Management tools that allow you and your team to collaborate from anywhere. Both of them allow the user to track task updates and remain on the same page as their team. But, there are definitely things that make them different from each other. You can know which one suits your need better only when you understand the differences between the two.

So, let’s help you with it, read on for a detailed comparative analysis –

Asana vs. ClickUp: Comparative Analysis

Ease of Use

Ease of use is one of the important factors when choosing a business tool to be used by many people. Not every team member can be equally tech-friendly. The rule of working in a team says that we need to think about every member. So, businesses that want to keep their not-so-tech-friendly team members equally in the loop prefer picking the tool with a simpler learning curve.

When we simply look from the viewpoint of ease of use or a simpler learning curve, ‘Asana’ seems to be a better option than ‘ClickUp’. ‘Asana’ is equipped with an easy-to-understand ‘getting started’ guide to facilitate user onboarding. It is more intuitive and simpler to use. ‘ClickUp’ is loaded with features. While these are extremely functional, they can sometimes be overwhelming for a non-techy person. So, if you have a team that is not very tech-friendly you will definitely choose ‘Asana’ over ‘ClickUp’.

Options of Customization

A few businesses might do with the basic templates of any project management tool but most businesses require customization. Every business has different needs and different ways of working, and no size-fits-all. Just like every other aspect of a business, the way your team coordinates and collaborates is also entirely different from another company, even if it is your competitor. So, you and your competitor working with the same tool may have different customization needs.

Talking from the viewpoint of customization, ‘ClickUp’ leaves ‘Asana’ way behind. It’s not that ‘Asana’ does not provide customization options but they are mostly included in the paid plans. With ‘ClickUp’ you can customize everything as per your needs and wishes. From customizable font and field options to customizable views and dashboards, ClickUp does it all! And, these customization options do not burn holes in your wallet.

Native Integration

No project management tool can survive today without native integration. Every business and every team today works with various tools to get their work done. If a project management tool does not pair with those tools or applications, the team will have a hard time jumping from one place to another and this will simply ruin the purpose of having a project management tool. So, if you are looking for a project management tool you will want to make sure that it has native integration with all those programs and tools your team uses on a day-to-day basis.

If the list of programs or tools used by your team is long, you most probably will need to go with ‘Asana’. It has native integration with more than 200 programs, tools, and apps. You can literally think of any tool your team uses and it will have native integration with ‘Asana’. Though ‘ClickUp’ is also not a very bad choice if you use just the basic tools; it has native integration with some 50-odd tools.

Automation

Automation is again a very important need for businesses today. Automation allows taking off the burden of repetitive tasks that can bore and de-motivate a human team member. Every business using project automation tools today will want the tool to have automation features to make their tasks go faster.

When it comes to automation options, your natural choice will be ‘ClickUp’. They have highly customizable automation options. This means you can choose how you want to automate your tasks and take off some burden from your team. Though ‘Asana’ also has some solid automation options but you can get them only in the paid version whereas ‘ClickUp’ provides these in their free plan as well.

Customer Support

Customer support is one of the very important aspects of any tool like ‘Asana’ or ‘ClickUp’. You need someone to look up to when you or your team gets stuck at any place while using the tool. You will need someone to hold your hand or guide you through the journey wherever you need. Though you can find answers to many of your questions online but that doesn’t always help or at least we expect something more.

Seeing from the viewpoint of customer support you will choose ‘ClickUp’ over ‘Asana’. You will be amazed to know that they provide 24*7 customer supports even to the users of the free version. With ‘Asana’ you can get this service only when you have an enterprise-level plan.

Pricing

No business can make a final decision about any product or service without considering the pricing. While paying for any tool you need to be sure that it’s worth the price and it will create enough value for your team and your business. So, the discussion about ‘Asana’ vs. ‘ClickUp’ cannot be complete without making a comparison of the pricing.

When you compare both options based on the price, you might lean more towards ‘ClickUp’. ‘Asana’ is free with its basic features only for a team of up to 15 members. On the other hand, the free version of ‘ClickUp’ has everything that small and large team requires and has no such restrictions.

Asana vs. ClickUp: Which One Suits Your Team’s Need Better?

Now that you know both these project management tools comparatively, you are in a better position to take your decision. What do you think, which one of the two suits your team’s needs better?

And, which one do you think is the perfect tool?

If you take a pause before answering, you will realize that you might choose the one that serves your need ‘better’ but none of the two tools is the perfect project management tool.

If you choose ‘Asana’ for ease of use for your team you will need to compromise on the optimization factor. It will be easier for your team to get started but you won’t be able to customize things according to your business needs. If you choose ‘ClickUp’ because you want proper customization you may struggle on the native integration part. Your team might already be working with a certain program or tool that is not integrated with ‘ClickUp’. This will create some complexities in the management of your project.

You can easily choose ‘Asana’ if you can do it with a traditional project management tool.  It is easy to learn for even non-tech-friendly members of your team and gives you many options to integrate different tools you already use for different purposes. And, you must be ready to pay for the tool. But, if you are looking for a cost-effective project management tool with plenty of customization options and advanced features, ‘ClickUp’ is your go-to choice.

Is it now High Time to Move to New-Age Playbooks?

The above discussion clearly shows that while ‘Asana’ and ‘ClickUp’ are still popular project management tools; they are not the perfect ones. You can be happy with some of their features but you may also be looking for something that’s personalized to your needs. That’s where new-age playbooks enter.

While most of the new-age tools to are packed with these traditional features, they do offer certain advanced features that fit very well with your modern-day needs.

Wondering about these advanced features? Let’s discuss a few –

1. Integration boosters

Well, the integration boosters that the new-age playbooks offer are just great! Most of these tools have been designed with the changing business and team dynamics in mind. Thus, these playbooks combine task/project management with other productivity-boosting and offer features such as goal planning, habit tracking, and time blocking. All these features together help teams stay on top of the workflows and get work done.

Take Notion for instance, this new-age task management tool offers a host of productivity-boosting features such as task management, time blocking, goal planning, and habit tracking. All these amazing features integrated into one platform make work and collaboration easy and convenient.

2. Personalization

We live in an era where people value personalization and customization more than ever! And the new-age playbooks capture this need/ demand very well. With them, you can customize your labels, views, and layouts, add categories, and make sure that the workflows fit your specific needs.

For instance, Trello, a new-age playbook offers high levels of high customization options. This task management tool lets you create custom categories and labels according to your convenience. Additionally, you may also add or move tasks between different. This makes task management tailored to organizational/ individual preferences.

3. Prioritize mindset and motivation

Now, this is something to appreciate about the new-age playbooks. These tools often incorporate elements of positive psychology, mindfulness, and motivation into their design. This is something great with respect to taking care of the employees. Such features and elements help the team members stay focused, engaged, and motivated while also managing tasks.

Take the new-age playbook Habitica for instance, this app incorporates motivational elements and gamifies productivity. The teams can earn points for being productive. This is a great way to keep them motivated. Additionally, the app also has social features where employees can share their achievements with their peers and this encourages them to be more accountable.

Wrapping Up

To wrap it up, Asana and ClickUp are the OGs of task management. They do have great features and have also incorporated some features to accommodate evolving requirements. But with new-age playbooks, there is definitely an edge. They have been designed to address new-age demands and preferences. So it is advised to give them a try before fixing something.

---