Asana vs Plane
Asana is work management platform for teams to organize, track, and manage projects, while Plane is open-source project management tool for software teams. Self-hostable alternative to Jira and Linear. The biggest difference up front: Plane is free, while Asana starts at $10.99/user/mo. Asana is built for cross-functional teams that need multiple project views, whereas Plane targets teams that want open-source, self-hosted project management.
At a glance
|
Asana
|
Plane
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Cross-functional teams that need multiple project views | Teams that want open-source, self-hosted project management |
| Starting price | $10.99/user/mo | Free |
| Free tier | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open source | — | ✓ |
| Free tier available | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open source | — | ✓ |
| Automations | ✓ | — |
| Cycles | — | ✓ |
| Forms | ✓ | — |
| Goals | ✓ | — |
| Modules | — | ✓ |
| Open Source | — | ✓ |
| Portfolios | ✓ | — |
| Self-Hosted | — | ✓ |
| Timeline View | ✓ | — |
| Views | — | ✓ |
Asana
Strengths
- Multiple views: list, board, timeline, calendar
- Intuitive interface that non-technical users love
- Good for cross-functional collaboration
- Strong automation and rules engine
Weaknesses
- Expensive compared to alternatives
- Free tier is quite limited
- Can be too generic for software development
- Performance slows with large projects
Plane
Strengths
- Open source and self-hostable
- Clean, modern interface inspired by Linear
- Free for unlimited users (self-hosted)
- Active development and growing community
Weaknesses
- Less mature than established alternatives
- Fewer integrations
- Self-hosting requires infrastructure management
- Some features still in development
The bottom line
Pricing: Plane is completely free, which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Asana starts at $10.99/user/mo, but Free for up to 10 users, limited views. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.
Feature gaps: Asana offers Automations, Forms and Goals that Plane lacks. Plane brings Cycles, Modules and Open Source that Asana does not have.
Team fit: Asana is geared toward mid-size teams teams, while Plane is aimed at small teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.
Open source: Plane is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Asana is proprietary — you are trusting the vendor with your data and uptime.
Where each tool shines: Asana's biggest strengths are: multiple views: list, board, timeline, calendar. intuitive interface that non-technical users love. Plane's biggest strengths are: open source and self-hostable. clean, modern interface inspired by linear.
Watch out for: With Asana, users commonly note that expensive compared to alternatives. With Plane, the main complaint is that less mature than established alternatives.
Choose Asana if...
- You need a tool built for cross-functional teams that need multiple project views
- You specifically need Automations and Forms
- You care about intuitive interface that non-technical users love
- Your team size fits the mid-size teams profile Asana is designed for
- The free tier works for you: free for up to 10 users, limited views
Choose Plane if...
- Your profile matches its sweet spot: teams that want open-source, self-hosted project management
- Budget is a hard constraint — Plane is free, Asana is not
- You need self-hosting, data sovereignty, or the ability to audit source code
- You specifically need Cycles and Modules
- You care about clean, modern interface inspired by linear
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