Asana vs. Todoist: Which task management app should you choose? [2025]

As a writer, my projects are enviably uncomplicated: I'm responsible only for my own tasks and output. For that reason, I've long gravitated toward makeshift task management options like Google Sheets for projects and Notion for to-do lists. But like most productivity nerds, I also experiment regularly with more holistic solutions, looking for that holy grail app that will help me squeeze out an extra iota of efficiency.

My experience with task management apps is that they tend to fall into two buckets: straightforward to-do list apps or complex project management platforms. But Todoist and Asana have evolved into hybrid apps that can do both things well. Todoist, which originally focused on personal task management, now offers team features; meanwhile, Asana, known for team project management, works surprisingly well for solo users like me.

I recently spent more time comparing these tools head-to-head, exploring how each handles everything from basic to-do lists to complex project planning. In this article, I'll help you understand which app might work better for your needs, whether you're a solo productivity enthusiast or managing a team.

• Asana vs. Todoist at a glance

• Both apps are easy to use

• Todoist is better at task management, while Asana excels at project management

• Asana has better collaboration features

• Asana has more robust AI features

• Asana has better automations, but at a price

• Todoist is cheaper, but Asana has a stronger free version

• Asana has more native integrations, but both apps integrate with Zapier

Asana vs. Todoist at a glance

Here's my take on the key differences between these two productivity apps:

• Asana is best for teams managing complex projects. With robust project management features and multiple workspace capabilities, it's an ideal platform for teams looking to streamline their workflow and boost productivity.

• Todoist is best for personal and lightweight team task management. With its natural language recognition, clean list-based interface, and seamless Google Calendar integration, it excels at keeping all your to-dos organized in one accessible place.

Both apps are easy to use

Todoist's minimalist interface keeps things refreshingly simple. Open the app, and you're greeted by exactly what you need to see: your tasks. You can get to advanced features when you need them, but they're tucked away to avoid overwhelm. When you expand a task, for example, frequently-used options like reminders are immediately visible, while additional tools sit quietly under a three-dot menu.

It's incredibly easy to get started with Todoist, in large part due to its templates. In addition to templates for routine tasks like employee onboarding and product launches, Todoist also has a clever workspace-in-a-box that it calls "setups"—pre-built templates that implement popular productivity systems. Whether you're a fan of the Pomodoro Technique or want to try the Eisenhower Matrix, setups make it easy to experiment with ways to be more efficient.

You can also test-drive templates from productivity experts like Ali Abdaal, Carl Pullein, and Todoist's CEO (or as the Todoist website cheekily calls him, "the original Todoister").

Asana's template library is even more impressive. There are 150+ templates, many of which can save you hours of setup time because they include pre-built automation workflows and recommended integrations. What's particularly clever is that each template comes with recommended views: a straightforward project might only require a classic list view, while something more complex might justify a timeline view.

Some templates come from actual Asana-using brands, letting you mirror successful project management approaches from other companies. (For example, you can copy this client account management template from Stride, an accounting firm.)

Since Asana is a full-fledged project management tool, you might expect it to be overwhelming to navigate—it's not. It's surprisingly intuitive to use: its navigation bar makes it easy to switch between different project views, and its dashboard tab offers quick insights to track progress.

Todoist is better at task management, while Asana excels at project management

With 30+ million users, Todoist owns the personal task management space—and for good reason. At its core is a brilliantly simple approach to capturing tasks. Just type a task like you're sending a text (e.g., "Send invoices every Friday at 4pm"), and Todoist handles the rest. This natural language processing (NLP) approach removes the friction that often keeps people from actually using task management tools.

Another standout feature is how seamlessly Todoist plays with Google Calendar: your calendar and your task list live side by side, giving you a full picture of your commitments.

Todoist even manages to make task management fun. Its karma points system adds a cheerful twist to task completion: each finished task rewards you with a celebratory animation and points that level you up. You can check your Todoist karma any time to see how you're faring with your daily and weekly productivity goals.

While Todoist also lets you create projects and collaborate with other people (more on that in the next section), Asana offers a much more full-featured approach to project management. You get more of the views you'd normally expect in a project management tool, like Gantt and timeline views, and the Goals feature helps you connect your day-to-day work to bigger objectives with company goals, team goals, and personal goals.

For higher-level oversight, Asana's portfolios let you track multiple projects in a single view, making it easy to spot risks and address them proactively. And the My Priorities widget consolidates tasks from all your projects into a single view sorted by status (Upcoming, Overdue, and Completed). For analytics enthusiasts, Asana's customizable dashboards let you track whatever metrics matter most to your work.

Asana has better collaboration features

Asana's collaboration capabilities show up everywhere in the app. Every task is a sort of mini "conversation hub" where team members can share files, post updates, and have discussions. Asana's messaging system is slickly designed and includes rich text formatting, file sharing, and even video messages.

Other collaborative features in Asana are thoughtfully-designed, too. Hovering over a team member's name instantly gives you options to start a chat, create a 1:1 project, or view your collaboration history. Each project includes a dedicated Messages tab where teams can share updates. From the Inbox tab, you can easily manage all your notifications and direct messages in one place.

For project managers, Asana offers powerful tools like Workload view, time tracking, and capacity planning. The new Workload Forecast feature helps you anticipate resource needs and plan ahead to prevent burnout. (These advanced features are only available on the highest pricing tier.)

Todoist has traditionally been more focused on personal productivity, with limited collaboration features. But in early 2024, Todoist launched a new team workspaces feature. While it's surprisingly useful, with features like project folders, shared templates, and team activity tracking, it can't match Asana in terms of pure project management prowess. 

But there's one unique advantage to Todoist's approach: you can easily jump back and forth between personal and team tasks, while keeping clear boundaries between the two. For example, the Today and Upcoming views seamlessly combine both personal and team tasks, while still allowing you to filter or group tasks by project type.

Asana has more robust AI features

Asana has gone all-in on PM artificial intelligence, weaving it throughout the entire platform in ways that actually make sense. For example, you can use Asana Intelligence to generate a complete project framework simply based on your project name.

You can also use Smart Goals to refine your strategy, Smart Rules to create automations using natural language, and Smart Summaries to summarize recent task and project updates. I was particularly impressed by Smart Chat, which acts like an intelligent assistant for project-specific questions.

Just keep in mind that Asana Intelligence isn't available on the free plan and is rate-limited on paid plans: the Starter plan offers 150 AI actions per month, while the Advanced plan gives you 1,500 monthly AI actions.

Asana recently launched a new feature called AI Studio, which lets you add an AI-powered agent to your workflows to do routine tasks on your behalf. For example, you could create an AI-powered smart workflow that analyzes a customer call transcript, and then creates and assigns tasks based on the transcript's content. Although AI Studio was released in October 2024, only Enterprise customers have access for now.

Todoist takes a more targeted approach to AI. Its NLP-based task management approach saves serious time during day-to-day use by automatically creating and scheduling tasks. Todoist also has an AI Assistant. While it's not groundbreaking—it offers task and subtask generation along with in-app advice—it can help make your task management process more efficient.

Asana has better automations, but at a price

Using Asana's no-code workflow builder, you can create sophisticated automation rules—like automatically assigning tasks based on project stages or creating recurring task sequences for regular processes. For example, you could set up a workflow that automatically assigns social media tasks to your content team, complete with approval flows and due dates.

There's a catch with Asana's automations, though: you need to upgrade to a paid plan to use them. And even then, the Starter plan only gives you 250 automations per month and doesn't include advanced workflow features like proofing and approvals. For more extensive automation needs, you'll need to upgrade to the Advanced plan, which increases your limit to 25,000 monthly automations and adds features like approval workflows.

Todoist doesn't offer automations at all. While you can still use third-party integrations through platforms like Zapier to automate your workflows, Asana's native automation capabilities offer a more straightforward experience.

Todoist is cheaper, but Asana has a stronger free version

Todoist is more budget-friendly than Asana: at $5/user/month, Todoist's Pro plan offers excellent value with 300 projects, 150 filter views, and features like calendar view and AI assistance. The Business plan, at $8/user/month, adds team-focused features like shared workspaces and advanced collaboration tools.

But Todoist's free plan is limited: you only get access to five projects and three filter views, meaning it won't take long before you need to upgrade.

By contrast, Asana's free plan is impressively full-featured, with unlimited projects and tasks for up to 10 users. But Asana's paid plans add up quickly, especially as you add more users. The Starter plan runs $13.49/user/month—nearly triple Todoist's Pro plan—and includes features like timeline view and advanced reporting. The Advanced plan jumps to $30.49/user/month, which can become costly even for small teams, though it does add more reporting capabilities and higher usage limits for AI and automations.

For individuals and small teams watching their budget, Todoist offers better value with its affordable paid plans. But if you're looking for a completely free solution and also need advanced collaboration features, Asana's unlimited-projects free plan is tough to beat.

Asana has more native integrations, but both apps integrate with Zapier

Asana and Todoist each integrate with hundreds of apps, including popular tools like Google Calendar, Microsoft Teams, and Slack.

For enterprise integrations, Asana is your best bet: it connects with business-friendly apps like ServiceNow, Tableau, and EngageBay. Meanwhile, Todoist connects with a long list of personal productivity apps like Floist, Habit Tracker, and OneTask.

And because Todoist and Asana both connect to Zapier, they work with thousands of other apps. That means you can trigger actions in Todoist or Asana when things happen in the other apps you use, or send data to other apps straight from Todoist or Asana.

Learn more about how to automate Todoist and how to automate Asana, or get started with one of these pre-made workflows.

Todoist vs. Asana: Which should you choose?

If you're still weighing your options, here are some final thoughts to help you make your decision.

Go with Todoist if you need an intuitive, affordable task management solution for personal use or small teams. Its NLP features and Google Calendar integration make it perfect for managing daily to-dos, and its gamification aspects add a fun twist to productivity. While it may lack advanced project management capabilities, Todoist's straightforward approach to task management and team collaboration makes it ideal for solo users and small teams.

Go with Asana if you're part of a growing team that needs robust project management features. While it comes at a higher price point, you'll get powerful automation capabilities, customizable workflows, and excellent visibility across multiple projects. Collaboration-friendly features like messaging, capacity planning, and time tracking make it ideal for larger teams managing complex projects.

If neither app quite fits your needs, check out our roundup of the best project management software for more options to consider.

Related reading:

• Trello vs. Todoist: Which should you use?

• Asana vs. Basecamp: Which is best?

• Trello vs. Asana: Which PM tool is better?

This article was originally published in March 2024 by Hsing Tseng. The most recent update was in November 2024.