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It's a split decision.
Smartsheet has the lower paid entry price: Pro is $9 per member/month billed annually, versus Asana Starter at $10.99 per user/month billed annually. But Asana has a free Personal plan for two users; Smartsheet has no free plan. Choose Asana for shared tasks, projects, goals, and dependencies, or Smartsheet for portfolio visibility, resource planning, intake, and milestone tracking. Check seat fit: Smartsheet Pro covers 1–10 members, while Asana Starter lists no seat limit.
01Side by side
| Asana | Smartsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting paid price | $10.99/user/month, billed annually | $9/member/month, billed annually |
| Free plan | Personal: free for 2 users | No free plan |
| Best for | Task, project, goal, and dependency workflows | Enterprise projects, portfolios, and resource planning |
| Core strength | Shared Work Graph and AI Teammates | Portfolio visibility and resource planning |
| Learning curve | Not published | Not published |
| Integrations/data | 100+ free integrations | Brings work from other apps into shared plans |
| Team/seat costs | Starter: no seat limit; $10.99/user/month annually | Pro: 1–10 members; $9/member/month annually |
| Support | Review score: 5 | Review score: 5 |
Asana Choose Asana if
- Choose Asana if you need a free plan for individuals or pairs.
- Choose Asana if you want goals, dependencies, and shared workflows.
- Choose Asana if Starter's no-seat-limit plan fits your budget.
Smartsheet Choose Smartsheet if
- Choose Smartsheet if lower paid annual entry pricing matters most.
- Choose Smartsheet if you manage portfolios, resources, and milestones.
- Choose Smartsheet if your team fits Pro's 1–10-member limit.
02Pricing compared
Smartsheet has the lower paid entry price: Pro is $9 per member/month billed annually, compared with Asana Starter at $10.99 per user/month billed annually. Monthly billing is $12 for Smartsheet Pro and $13.49 for Asana Starter, according to the published pricing details. Asana also has a free Personal plan for two users; Smartsheet has no free plan.
Check the seat limits before comparing totals. Smartsheet Pro covers 1–10 members, while Asana Starter lists no user seat limit. Smartsheet Pro includes 250 automations per month and 20 GB of attachment storage. Asana Starter includes unlimited automations and 75K AI Studio credits per billing account each month. Higher-tier costs can change the calculation: Asana Advanced is $24.99 per user/month billed annually, while Smartsheet Business is $19 per member/month billed annually. Both list custom pricing for some enterprise offerings.
03Features and depth
Asana’s Work Graph connects people, tasks, projects, goals, and dependencies, with project planning that turns briefs into tasks, owners, timelines, and dependencies. Its stated strengths also include service management for IT, HR, facilities, and legal, plus AI Teammates that work inside shared workflows. Advanced adds portfolios, goals, and resource management; enterprise plans list governance and security features such as SAML authentication, SCIM provisioning, audit logs, and data residency, depending on tier.
Smartsheet puts more emphasis on portfolio and resource visibility across teams. Its listed features include portfolio dashboards, workload and capacity planning, milestone and dependency tracking, intake and approval workflows, and client collaboration portals. The platform also describes AI work intelligence for project and portfolio insights. Business includes unlimited automations and 1 TB of attachment storage; Pro is capped at 250 automations a month and 20 GB. In short, Asana’s feature set centers on connected work and workflows, while Smartsheet’s is geared toward structured project and portfolio coordination.
04Ease of use and learning curve
The published review assessments score Asana 7/10 for ease of use and Smartsheet 6/10. That is a modest difference, not proof that either product will be easier for every team. The review describes Asana as a capable project-and-workflow hub, while Smartsheet is framed as a fit for structured PMOs and less compelling for simple, low-cost tracking.
A practical way to choose is to map your work first. If the team needs shared tasks, projects, goals, and dependencies, Asana’s model aligns with that. If you need portfolio visibility, resource planning, intake, and milestone tracking, Smartsheet’s feature list is closer. Confirm seat counts and required features before committing; enterprise pricing for both is custom.
Questions people ask
What is Smartsheet best for?
Based on its listed features, Smartsheet is aimed at coordinating projects and portfolios across teams. It includes portfolio dashboards, resource and capacity planning, milestone tracking, and intake workflows. Its review summary says it is worth considering for structured PMOs, rather than simple, low-cost project tracking.
Is Asana similar to ClickUp?
The published product information does not describe ClickUp, so we cannot make a grounded feature-by-feature comparison. Asana is described here as a work management platform for tasks, projects, goals, dependencies, and shared workflows for people and AI agents.
What's better, Asana or Notion?
The published product information does not cover Notion, so it is not enough to make a fair comparison. For this choice, Asana’s listed features center on connected tasks, projects, goals, and dependencies; compare those needs with Notion’s current plans and capabilities before switching.
Can Power Automate work with Smartsheet?
The published Smartsheet information does not confirm Power Automate support, so we cannot say whether a particular integration or connector is available. Check Smartsheet’s current integration documentation and your Power Automate plan before building a workflow around it.