Asana vs Smartsheet
Written by Priya Nandakumar ·
Edited by Sebastiaan Smits ·
Fact-checked by Connor Blake ·
Published September 30, 2026 · Updated September 30, 2026
Asana starts from a task with one owner and a date, then layers portfolios and goals on top. Smartsheet starts from a grid in which rows become tasks and formulas do the reporting. Companies coordinating many functions usually choose Asana; PMO and operations teams that already think in spreadsheets choose Smartsheet and get governance across many projects.
Side by side
 Asana |  Smartsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Task-first work management with portfolios and goals | Spreadsheet-style project management for PMOs |
| Best for | Mid-sized companies coordinating many teams | Operations and PMO teams used to spreadsheets |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Pricing model | Per user / month | Per user / month |
| Pricing | Free Personal plan limited to 2 users, then per-user Starter and Advanced tiers sold in seat bundles; timeline and dependencies start on Starter, while portfolios, goals and workload sit on Advanced. | Per-user Pro and Business plans with enterprise tiers quoted; premium capabilities such as Control Center and Dynamic View are sold separately. |
| Free option | Free plan | Free trial |
| List price as listed on September 30, 2026 | $13.49 per user per month billed monthly, or $10.99 billed annually (Starter) | $12 per member per month billed monthly, or $9 billed yearly (Pro, 1 to 10 members) |
| Place in our project management software ranking | #4 of 12 | #6 of 12 |
| Website | asana.com | smartsheet.com |
Both are reviewed in full in Best Project Management Software in 2026. Position in that ranking can be paid for; the wording of a review or of this comparison cannot. Placement disclosure.
Which one to choose
Choose Asana if
the people who must use it span marketing, operations and other functions, dislike project tools, and need a clear task list with portfolio status for department heads.
Asana, #4 in the ranking · Visit Asana →
Choose Smartsheet if
your projects already live in shared spreadsheets, managers expect formulas and cell links, and a PMO wants one standard template rolled out and aggregated across dozens of projects.
Smartsheet, #6 in the ranking · Visit Smartsheet →
Where they differ
Adoption outside the project office
Asana's unit of work is easy to read, and people who resent project software tend to put up with it. Smartsheet is the shortest step for a team leaving spreadsheets, but its grid looks flat and dated to anyone used to boards, and uptake beyond operations is often weak. For a mixed audience, Asana gets used by more of the company.
Edge: Asana
Governance over many parallel projects
Asana's portfolio view shows a department head the status of a dozen projects without opening each one. Smartsheet goes further for a PMO: Control Center rolls a standard template across dozens of projects and aggregates them, and the product holds up under hundreds of parallel projects. The catch is that Control Center is a separately priced premium capability.
Edge: Smartsheet
Calculation and reporting logic
Smartsheet's cross-sheet formulas, cell links and reports behave the way finance-literate managers expect, which lets them build their own rollups. Those links turn fragile at scale and a broken rollup is tedious to debug. Asana's reporting stops at dashboards, and its time tracking and budgets are basic. For teams that want to compute things, Smartsheet offers more to work with.
Edge: Smartsheet
What the list prices include
In US dollars billed yearly, Smartsheet lists less: Pro at $9 per member per month against $10.99 for Asana Starter, and Business at $19 against $24.99 for Asana Advanced. Pro stops at 10 members, though, and Control Center and Resource Management are add-ons, with Dynamic View starting at $125 a month. Asana keeps portfolios, goals and workload on Advanced and sells seats in blocks.
Edge: even
Tally: Asana 1, Smartsheet 2, even 1.
When neither fits
Neither is right for an agency that bills by the hour and must know whether each client is profitable. Asana's time tracking and budgets are basic, and Smartsheet is built around PMO governance. Teamwork.com and Productive both combine projects, time and budgets for client work.
See Teamwork.com and Productive among the 12 products in Best Project Management Software in 2026.
Questions and answers
Does Asana or Smartsheet have a free plan?
Asana has a free Personal plan, limited to 2 users, with list, board and calendar views. Smartsheet offers a 30-day free trial without a credit card, then paid plans from $9 per member per month billed yearly, with unlimited free contributors. Only Asana can be used long term without paying.
Is Smartsheet better than Asana for a PMO?
For a PMO standardizing many projects, generally yes. Smartsheet can push one template across dozens of projects and aggregate the results, and it copes with hundreds running in parallel. Asana's portfolios give a good status view but are aimed at department-level oversight.
How do Asana and Smartsheet handle task dependencies?
Both include them on the entry paid plan. Asana Starter lists timeline and Gantt views with task dependencies, and Smartsheet Pro lists Gantt view with dependencies. Asana's free Personal plan has list, board and calendar views only, so dependency scheduling there starts at Starter.
What do Asana and Smartsheet cost per user?
Asana Starter is $10.99 per user per month billed annually or $13.49 monthly, and Advanced is $24.99 or $30.49. Smartsheet Pro is $9 per member per month billed yearly or $12 monthly, and Business is $19 or $24 with a three-member minimum. Enterprise tiers are quoted by both.
Sources
Prices, plan limits and product facts on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on September 30, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.
- Asana pricing page: Asana plan prices, the 2-user Personal plan, seat increments and which tier holds dependencies, portfolios, goals and workload
- Smartsheet pricing page: Smartsheet plan prices, member limits, the 30-day trial, dependencies on Pro and the add-on status of Control Center, Dynamic View and Resource Management