Asana vs monday.com vs Smartsheet: Features, Pricing and Reviews Compared
- Starting price
- $10.99/user/mo · free plan
- Ease of use
- 8.8
- Functionality
- 8.7
- Value for money
- 7.6
- Customer support
- 8.0
Best for
- Marketing, operations and product teams juggling dozens of projects with shared people
- Managers who need portfolio and goal roll-ups, not just a task list
- Teams that want a polished mobile and desktop experience
- Starting price
- $9/user/mo · free plan
- Ease of use
- 8.7
- Functionality
- 8.9
- Value for money
- 7.5
- Customer support
- 8.1
Best for
- Teams that want to design their own workflow rather than adopt someone else's
- Operations and marketing teams that need dashboards leadership will actually look at
- Companies replacing spreadsheets with something shareable and automated
- Starting price
- $9/user/mo
- Ease of use
- 7.3
- Functionality
- 7.8
- Value for money
- 6.8
- Customer support
- 7.6
Best for
- Teams moving project tracking out of spreadsheets
- Operations and PMO groups that need approvals and dashboards
- Organizations with compliance requirements such as HIPAA or FedRAMP
Our verdict
Asana and monday.com tie at 83/100. Flexible views of the same work: list, board, timeline, calendar. Asana is the better fit for cross-functional teams that need clear ownership. monday.com makes more sense if you need highly visual boards that are easy to customize or you want to start cheaper ($9/user/mo vs $10.99/user/mo).
On Asana: Asana is the project tool we recommend for teams that run many concurrent projects and need to see how they roll up into goals and portfolios. Task management is fast and keyboard-friendly, views are flexible, and the automation builder is approachable. The weakness is cost: the useful views live on Starter, the planning features live on Advanced, and per-user pricing adds up for large teams who could get by on monday.com or ClickUp.
Features comparison
The 8 project management capabilities we check on every product, ordered by importance to buyers.
| Feature | Importance | Asana | monday.com | Smartsheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kanban boards | 88% | Included | Included | Included |
| Mobile app | 71% | Included | Included | Included |
| Automations | 67% | Included | Included | Included |
| Gantt charts | 64% | Included | Included | Included |
| Time tracking | 59% | Included | Included | Included |
| Guest access | 55% | Included | Included | Included |
| Docs & wikis | 48% | Not included | Included | Included |
| API access | 33% | Included | Included | Included |
What stands out in each
Tasks, subtasks and views
Every task has an assignee, due date, custom fields and subtasks, and the same project can be viewed as a list, board, timeline, calendar or Gantt chart. The interface is quick and the keyboard shortcuts make bulk editing fast.
Workflow builder and rules
Starter includes a visual builder for intake-to-done workflows with triggers and actions (assign, move section, set field, notify Slack). Automation counts are capped per month by plan.
Goals, portfolios and workload
Advanced adds portfolios that roll projects up with status, owner and progress, goals linked to the work that drives them, and a workload view that shows who is over capacity. This is the layer that justifies Asana over cheaper tools.
Reporting
Project dashboards with charts of tasks by status, assignee and custom field; Advanced extends to cross-project reporting. Exports to Tableau and Power BI exist for deeper analysis.
Boards and column types
Boards are tables with typed columns (status, people, date, timeline, numbers, formula, files, dependencies). Groups, subitems and multiple views (kanban, calendar, Gantt, chart, map) make one board serve several audiences.
Automations
A recipe-style builder ("when status changes to Done, notify owner and move to group") covers most needs without code. Standard allows 250 actions a month, Pro 25,000; heavy teams hit the Standard cap quickly.
Dashboards
Widgets for charts, numbers, timelines, workload and battery (progress) pull from one or many boards. Dashboards are the most presentable in the category, which is why leadership teams tend to like monday.com.
Work management products
monday work management is the core; monday CRM, monday dev and monday service are packaged variants with the same engine. Buying the right product avoids rebuilding a CRM from a blank board.
SmartsheetMultiple work views
Users see the same work as a Grid, Gantt, Calendar, Table, or Board view, with Timeline added on Business and higher. Teams can choose the layout that fits each project without duplicating data.
Automated workflows
Automated triggers send alerts, reminders, update requests, and approval requests when dates or statuses change. This removes manual follow-up for routine status updates and approvals.
AI-built dashboards
Users describe the metrics and timeframe they need, and Smartsheet AI builds the dashboard from live work data. Executives can see project status, risks, and ROI without manual setup.
Forms and request intake
Forms collect requests and feed the results directly into sheets, where they can be tracked and approved. This centralizes intake for teams that currently handle requests through email.
Pricing comparison
Asana starts at $10.99/user/mo with a free plan (30-day trial); monday.com starts at $9/user/mo with a free plan (14-day trial); Smartsheet starts at $9/user/mo (Free trial). Plans are shown as the vendors publish them; the BSR Value subscore reflects what you get for the money.
Personal
Up to 10 users. Tasks, lists, boards and calendar.
- Up to 10 teammates
- Unlimited tasks and projects
- List, board and calendar views
- Basic integrations
Starter
Timeline, Gantt, workflow builder, dashboards and 250 automations a month.
- Timeline and Gantt views
- Workflow builder
- Project dashboards
- Custom fields and forms
Advanced
Goals, portfolios, workload, approvals and 25,000 automations.
- Goals and portfolios
- Workload management
- Time tracking
- Approvals and proofing
Enterprise
SAML, admin controls, audit logs and data residency.
- SAML SSO and SCIM
- Admin console
- Audit log API
- Data residency
Paid plans are billed per user with a minimum of two seats, and seats come in bundles at some sizes. The free Personal plan caps collaborators at ten. Monthly billing costs about 20% more than annual. Asana AI features are included on paid plans but some advanced AI capabilities are limited by tier.
Value for money: 7.6/10 · Monthly, Annual, Minimum 2 seats · Vendor pricing page ↗
Free
Up to 2 seats, 3 boards, 200 items.
- 2 seats
- 3 boards
- Unlimited docs
- 200+ templates
Basic
Unlimited boards and items, 5GB storage, one dashboard per board.
- Unlimited items
- Unlimited free viewers
- 5GB storage
- Prioritised support
Standard
Timeline, Gantt, guest access, 250 automation and integration actions.
- Timeline and Gantt
- Calendar view
- Guest access
- 250 automations/mo
Pro
Private boards, time tracking, formulas, 25,000 automations.
- Private boards
- Time tracking
- Formula column
- 25,000 automations/mo
Seats are sold in minimum packs (3 on paid plans, in bundles above that), so a two-person team pays for three. Prices shown are annual; monthly billing is roughly 18% more. Automation and integration actions are capped per plan. Guest access starts at Standard; free viewers are unlimited.
Value for money: 7.5/10 · Monthly, Annual, Minimum 3 seats · Vendor pricing page ↗
SmartsheetPro
For people and teams who want to track, share, and manage projects, with 1 to 10 members.
- Unlimited free Contributors
- Gantt, table, board, and calendar views
- Rich formulas
- 250 automations per month
Business
For businesses that need to align people, projects, and programs, with a minimum of three members.
- Unlimited free Guests
- Timeline view and workload tracking
- Admin capabilities
- Unlimited automations
Enterprise
For organizations building complex solutions that need company-wide security and controls.
- Scenario Planning
- Portfolios
- SAML-based SSO
- Enterprise Plan Manager
Advanced Work Management
For organizations managing large-scale portfolios of work and connecting across many systems.
- Control Center
- Dynamic View
- Data Shuttle
- Connectors
Smartsheet offers a free trial, and Pro is the lowest-priced plan at $9 per member per month billed annually. Business requires a minimum of three members and Enterprise requires at least 10. Add-ons include Brandfolder, Resource Management, Data Shuttle, and Premium Support, and Pro is available only to new customers.
Value for money: 6.8/10
Integrations comparison
5 integrations in common · 2 only in Asana · 4 only in monday.com · 49 only in Smartsheet. Logos link to our review when we cover the tool.
Both connect to
Only Smartsheet49Which one is best for my use case?
Who each product is built for, who should look elsewhere, and the jobs it gets bought for, from our editorial review and the vendor's own customer profile.
Ideal for
- Marketing, operations and product teams juggling dozens of projects with shared people
- Managers who need portfolio and goal roll-ups, not just a task list
- Teams that want a polished mobile and desktop experience
Not for
- Very small teams who need Gantt or timeline views; the free plan lacks them
- Budget-conscious teams that need Advanced features (workload, time tracking) at scale
- Teams that want a database-style tool with heavy customisation (consider monday.com or Notion)
Common use cases
Sells to: Small businesses, Mid-size companies, Enterprises, Nonprofits. Common industries: Marketing and creative, SaaS and technology, Operations, Education, Healthcare, Financial services.
Ideal for
- Teams that want to design their own workflow rather than adopt someone else's
- Operations and marketing teams that need dashboards leadership will actually look at
- Companies replacing spreadsheets with something shareable and automated
Not for
- Teams that need only simple task lists; the Basic plan is thin and Standard is the real floor
- Organisations with strict seat budgets; minimum seat packs raise the effective price
- Teams who want opinionated project structure out of the box (Asana does this better)
Common use cases
Sells to: Small businesses, Mid-size companies, Enterprises. Common industries: Marketing and creative, Operations, Construction, SaaS and technology, Real estate, Nonprofits.
SmartsheetIdeal for
- Teams moving project tracking out of spreadsheets
- Operations and PMO groups that need approvals and dashboards
- Organizations with compliance requirements such as HIPAA or FedRAMP
Not for
- Individuals who need a permanent free plan
- Small teams that want the lowest possible per-seat price with no extras
Common use cases
Sells to: Freelancers, Small businesses, Mid size businesses, Enterprises.
Support, training and setup
How you get help, how you learn the product, and how fast you can be running.
- Support score
- 8.0/10
- Ease of use
- 8.8/10Leads
- Support channels
- Email and chat (paid plans)
- Help center
- Community forum
- Priority support (Enterprise)
- Training
- Asana Academy
- Documentation
- Live webinars
- Customer success (Enterprise)
- Deployment
- Cloud / SaaS
- iOS app
- Android app
- Mac app
- Windows app
- Typical setup
- Same day
- Languages
- English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese +7
- Support score
- 8.1/10Leads
- Ease of use
- 8.7/10
- Support channels
- 24/7 support (all plans)
- Help center
- Community
- Dedicated customer success (Enterprise)
- Training
- monday.com Academy
- Documentation
- Webinars
- Template center
- Tailored onboarding (Enterprise)
- Deployment
- Cloud / SaaS
- iOS app
- Android app
- Mac app
- Windows app
- Typical setup
- Same day
- Languages
- English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian +8
Smartsheet- Support score
- 7.6/10
- Ease of use
- 7.3/10
- Support channels
- Email/Help Desk
- FAQs/Forum
- Knowledge Base
- Phone Support
- Chat
- Training
- In Person
- Live Online
- Webinars
- Documentation
- Videos
- Deployment
- Web
- Typical setup
- Not published
- Languages
- English, Deutsch, Español, Français, Italiano, Português +2
Security and reliability
Certifications and controls as published by each vendor. We list them; we don't audit them.
- Security
- SOC 2 Type II
- ISO 27001
- GDPR
- HIPAA (Enterprise)
- SSO (SAML)
- Two-factor authentication
- Data residency (Enterprise)
- Public API
- Yes
- Mobile apps
- iOS · Android
- Company
- San Francisco, CA · 1,800+ employees · founded 2008
- Security
- SOC 2 Type II
- ISO 27001
- GDPR
- HIPAA (Enterprise)
- SSO (Pro+)
- Two-factor authentication
- Audit log (Enterprise)
- Public API
- Yes
- Mobile apps
- iOS · Android
- Company
- Tel Aviv, Israel · 2,500+ employees · founded 2012
Smartsheet- Security
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- GDPR
- FedRAMP
- HIPAA (BAA)
- ISO 42001 (in progress)
- SAML and OAuth 2.0 SSO
- Admin-enforced multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- SCIM user provisioning
- Role-based access control
- AES-256 encryption at rest
- TLS 1.2/1.3 in transit
- Public API
- Yes
- Mobile apps
- None published
- Company
- Bellevue, Washington, USA · Over 3,000 employees · founded 2005
Pros and cons
Our editors' pros and cons for each product. No user reviews have been published for these products yet.
Pros
- Flexible views of the same work: list, board, timeline, calendar
- Clear task ownership and dependency tracking
- Large integration library and a mature API
Cons
- Free plan caps collaborators and lacks timeline view
- Pricing climbs quickly for larger teams
- No built-in wiki or long-form documents
Pros
- Highly visual boards that are easy to customize
- No-code automations and dashboards
- Broad use beyond project management: CRM, HR, marketing
Cons
- Three-seat minimum and seat bundles on paid plans
- Time tracking and advanced features need Pro or above
- Can become cluttered on large, complex projects
SmartsheetPros
- A free trial is available before purchase, so teams can test the platform with their own work.
- The Android and iOS mobile apps are included on all four plans.
- Business includes unlimited automations, Timeline view, workload tracking, and 1 TB of attachment storage.
- Security certifications include SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, FedRAMP, and HIPAA (BAA), with SSO, MFA, and AES-256 encryption at rest.
Cons
- There is no free plan, and the lowest paid tier starts at $9 per member per month billed annually.
- The Pro plan is available only to new customers and is capped at 10 members with 250 automations per month.
- Business requires a minimum of three members, and Enterprise requires at least 10 members.
- Customer-managed encryption keys, data egress controls, and event reporting are add-ons even on Enterprise and Advanced Work Management.
Full side-by-side table
monday.com leads in 7 of 9 rows where they differ. Green marks the leader in each row.
Smartsheet 74Leads 3 of 9 rows · Best for mid-size and enterprise teams moving project tracking out of spreadsheets into governed workflows| Feature | Asana Best for cross-functional teams that need clear ownership | monday.com Best for teams that want a highly visual, customizable board | Smartsheet Best for mid-size and enterprise teams moving project tracking out of spreadsheets into governed workflows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scores | |||
| BSR score | 83 | 83 | 74 |
| Ease | 8.8 | 8.7 | 7.3 |
| Features | 8.7 | 8.9 | 7.8 |
| Value | 7.6 | 7.5 | 6.8 |
| Support | 8.0 | 8.1 | 7.6 |
| Pricing | |||
| Starting price | $10.99/user/mo | $9/user/mo | $9/user/mo |
| Free plan | Included | Included | Not included |
| Free trial | 30-day trial | 14-day trial | Free trial |
| Features | |||
| Features included | 7 / 8 | 8 / 8 | 8 / 8 |
| Kanban boards | Included | Included | Included |
| Gantt charts | Included | Included | Included |
| Time tracking | Included | Included | Included |
| Guest access | Included | Included | Included |
| Automations | Included | Included | Included |
| Docs & wikis | Not included | Included | Included |
| API access | Included | Included | Included |
| Mobile app | Included | Included | Included |
| Details | |||
| Biggest strength | Flexible views of the same work: list, board, timeline, calendar | Highly visual boards that are easy to customize | A free trial is available before purchase, so teams can test the platform with their own work. |
| Biggest weakness | Free plan caps collaborators and lacks timeline view | Three-seat minimum and seat bundles on paid plans | There is no free plan, and the lowest paid tier starts at $9 per member per month billed annually. |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Windows, Mac | Web, iOS, Android, Windows, Mac | Web |
| Best fit | 2–5,000 users | 3–2,000 users | Freelancers, Small businesses, Mid size businesses, Enterprises |
Asana vs monday.com vs Smartsheet: FAQs
Is Asana better than monday.com?
Asana and monday.com tie on BSR score at 83. Asana is stronger on ease of use, while monday.com wins on support. The right choice depends on which of those matters more to your team.
Which is cheaper, Asana or monday.com or Smartsheet?
monday.com has the lowest starting price at $9/user/mo and offers a free plan. Asana starts at $10.99/user/mo; Smartsheet starts at $9/user/mo. Per-user pricing, annual discounts and add-ons change the real total, so price out your actual seat count.
Which has more features?
monday.com covers 8 of the 8 project management features we track, including Docs & wikis which not every product here offers.
Do Asana and monday.com integrate with the same tools?
Both connect to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Dropbox, Zapier. Only Asana lists Canva, Power BI; Only monday.com lists Google Drive, Mailchimp, Stripe; Only Smartsheet lists Microsoft Outlook, Okta, Domo.
How this comparison was made
Each product was scored on the same four subscores (Ease, Features, Value, Support) from the vendor's published pricing and documentation, our editorial review, then combined into a 100-point BSR score. Hands-on tested: Asana, monday.com. Feature checks use one list per category; plans, integrations, support and security come from what each vendor publishes and are refreshed when listings change. Green marks the leader in a row. Sponsored placements are labeled elsewhere on the site and never touch a comparison. Full methodology →