Upbase vs Asana: Get work done—not just tracked

A simpler, faster way to manage your day and your team

Asana is a powerful platform used by large teams around the world. But for many individuals and smaller teams, it feels like too much. Complex. Hard to navigate. Missing key features that support daily focus.

Upbase is different. It's not trying to be everything. It's built to help you and your team stay organized, plan clearly, and actually do the work—without needing a full-time Asana admin.

Upbase vs Asana: How do they stand in comparison?

Category
Setup & Getting Started	Ready‑to‑go structure: tasks, subtasks, lists, planner views, personal + team workflows.	Requires configuring projects, sections, custom fields. Can be time-consuming to tailor.
UI & Navigation	Clean, minimalist, and easy to follow. Focused on clarity and speed.	Powerful but can feel cluttered and overwhelming with too many features.
Team & Personal Productivity	Combines project tasks with daily planning tools (planner, time blocking, Pomodoro).	Strong for team collaboration but lacks built-in personal productivity tools.
Customization	Offers just enough flexibility without the bloat. Designed to keep you focused.	Highly customizable—but the freedom can become friction.
Docs & Notes	Built-in Docs, Daily Notes, and file management.	Basic project notes only — not designed for organizing content.
Value	Transparent pricing, strong free tier, generous features.	More expensive for advanced features, many limitations in free plan.
Best for	Individuals, small teams, remote teams, solopreneurs, client-based work.	Larger teams with complex workflows and project portfolios.

What you get with Upbase (that Asana doesn't include)

Core features
Daily Planner
Time blocking
Reminders
View all recurring tasks in the calendar
Multiple assignees
Pomodoro Timer
2-way Google Calendar sync
Daily Notes
Docs
Global chat
File management
Links
View all projects in one page
Global calendar
Tag manager
Kanban board view
Task list view

👎 What users don't like about Asana

1. Too many features, not enough simplicity

Asana tries to serve everyone — from freelancers to enterprise teams — but that often results in feature overload.

Users say:

They spend too much time organizing tasks instead of doing them
Switching between views (list, board, timeline, etc.) creates clutter instead of clarity
New users get lost in panels, menus, and hidden settings

"I feel like I need a project manager just to manage Asana itself." — Common theme in user reviews

2. Time-consuming onboarding & setup

Asana doesn't offer an opinionated structure, so every team has to build their own system — workflows, naming systems, custom fields, templates, permissions, etc.

That means:
✅ Good if you have a full‑time ops person
❌ Painful if you're a small team, agency, or solo operator

Teams often say they need:

Training sessions just to onboard new members
Internal documentation to explain how "their version" of Asana works
Admin time just to keep everything clean and usable

3. Not built for daily focus or personal productivity

Asana is a project tracker, not a daily productivity tool.

There's no built‑in:

Daily planner
Time blocking
Unified "My Day" view
Pomodoro timer
Personal notes or journal
Daily schedule that shows both life + work

So users often pair Asana with 3–5 other apps just to manage their day (Notion, Google Calendar, Sunsama, Todoist, etc.).

4. Docs, notes, and attachments feel like an afterthought

Asana supports comments + file uploads — but that's about it.

✅ Great if every task is short and simple
❌ Not great if your work involves content, research, planning, or brainstorming

So users often have to connect:

Google Docs or Notion for documentation
Slack for communication
Drive/Dropbox for files
Loom or other tools for media

The result?
Your work becomes fragmented across multiple apps.

5. Multiple tools required for a full workflow

Most teams end up combining Asana with:

Google Calendar (because no real daily calendar)
Notion or Confluence (because of limited docs)
Slack or Teams (because no built‑in chat)
Toggl or Clockify (because no time tracking)
Sunsama or Motion (because no daily planning)

So instead of one tool, you get a tech stack of six.

6. Feels like project management admin, not actual progress

Many users say the busiest person in the team becomes "the Asana checker," not the one actually doing meaningful work.

More time updating statuses
More time clicking around boards
More time being "organized" instead of productive

And you guessed it:
The more complex the setup, the more people avoid using it.

✅ Why teams switch to Upbase

Start fast, stay focused

With Upbase, you don't need to "set up your system" before you can be productive. Tasks, planning tools, notes, and chat are already built in.

All-in-one, without the bloat

Get your daily planner, team collaboration, project management, notes, docs, and chat—all in one clean workspace.

Designed for doing

Upbase keeps distractions out and momentum in. From solo entrepreneurs to lean teams, it's designed for clarity, not complexity.

💰 Pricing: Save big with Upbase

Upbase gives you two flexible ways to pay—without forcing you into expensive per-user pricing.

Option 1: Pay per user

$15/user/month (billed monthly)
$10/user/month (billed yearly)

✅ Great for small teams just getting started.

Option 2: Flat-rate pricing — unlimited users

$119/month (billed monthly)
$99/month (billed yearly)

✅ Best value for growing teams.
✅ No per-seat fees. No surprise increases. Just one predictable price.

💸 See how much you save (30 users example)

Tool	Users	Annual Cost
Upbase (Flat rate, yearly)	Unlimited	$1,188 total
Upbase (Flat rate, monthly)	Unlimited	$1,428 total
Asana Premium ($10.99/user/month)	30 users	$3,956.40
Asana Business ($24.99/user/month)	30 users	$8,996.40

➡️ Save over $2,500–$7,800/year by switching to Upbase — and still get everything your team needs to manage tasks, docs, planning, and collaboration.

🟢 Summary: Which tool is right for you?

Choose Upbase if you want to simplify your workflow, blend team + personal productivity, and reduce the mental overhead of managing tasks.
Choose Asana if you're part of a large organization with complex workflows, multiple departments, and the need for high-level oversight.

Read what our customers say

Upbase is the best project management tool I've used. Clean and beautiful UI. It has everything that we need to manage our projects. I especially like how easy it is to keep track of all tasks I have to do and their deadline.

Asil Jacira - Project Manager

We switched to Upbase after using a number of other project management tools. It was by far the best for us as it is easy to use, has a beautiful design, and being able to see everything on a calendar is incredibly helpful.

Ándaras Draha - Designer

Upbase is a joy to work with. We loved this tool so much we made it a part of our company. The UI is great, and the ability to share information with the team is unparalleled. Everything is so easy to use and intuitive.

Ioan Gilbert - Digital Marketer

I've tried a few different project management systems, but I couldn't find anything that click for me. Upbase really is a breath of fresh air in this industry. It's easy to use and takes no time to onboard our team.

Geffrey Albert - Freelancer

Upbase helps us to consolidate all our tasks, files and discussions in one place. Collaborating and sharing information with the team is very easy. And the UI/UX are fantastic. I can tell a lot of thought went into the design of this app.

Clotilde Sarah - Frontend Developer

Upbase is the only project management software that has the functionality I need and a user interface I like. It’s hard to find a simple, yet powerful app like this. Everything is just so beautiful and well-designed.

Zülfikar Ludovic - Sales Manager