Trello vs Asana (2026): Plans, Prices and Which to Choose

Trello and Asana both help teams track work, but they’re built around different ideas. Trello starts with a board of cards that you drag between columns. Asana starts with tasks and projects, and lets you view the same work as a list, a board, a calendar or a timeline.

This comparison covers what you get on each plan and what a small team will actually pay. It’s based on each company’s official pricing page, checked on 27 October 2026. Earlier this month, as part of our AI agent test, we had an AI agent price project management tools for a 5-person team on a $50 budget. Its figures for both tools match the current pages. We haven’t run a team on either tool for this article, so we don’t make claims about day-to-day use.

Trello vs Asana at a glance

Prices in US dollars from trello.com/pricing and asana.com/pricing, checked 27 October 2026. Taxes, regional pricing and promotions may change what you pay.

What a 5-person team pays

Pricing pages quote per-user prices, so here is the monthly total for five users:

Seat counts matter too. Asana’s help centre says its smallest paid plan has 2 seats and then offers 3, 4 and 5 seats, so a 5-person team can buy exactly five. Larger teams buy in steps (5 at a time up to 30 users), so the next size up may mean paying for a few empty seats. Check the seat options at checkout.

Free plans: Trello is far more generous for teams

This is the biggest practical difference for a small team.

Trello Free covers up to 10 collaborators per Workspace, with unlimited cards, up to 10 boards, unlimited Power-Ups and 250 automation command runs a month. A team of five can use it properly before paying anything, as long as 10 boards is enough.

Asana’s free Personal plan is described as “for one or two people managing personal projects”, and allows 2 users. It includes list, board and calendar views and unlimited tasks, but a team of three or more has to pay.

Views and planning

Trello is boards first. The Standard plan adds things like custom fields, advanced checklists and card mirroring. The other views (Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard and Map) come with Premium, which at $10 per user is still slightly cheaper than Asana Starter.

Asana includes list, board and calendar views even on the free plan. Starter adds timeline and Gantt views with task dependencies, reporting dashboards, forms, custom templates and custom fields. If you need to see that one task can’t start until another finishes, Asana gives you that on its first paid plan.

Automation and AI

Trello counts automation in “command runs”: 250 a month on Free, 1,000 on Standard and unlimited on Premium. Its pricing page lists AI features from Standard up.

Asana includes unlimited automations from Starter, plus its AI features: “AI Teammates”, “Asana Dash” and “AI Studio” for building AI automations. Its pricing page also lists AI request allowances and paid add-ons for heavier use, so look at the AI section of the page if you expect to rely on it.

We haven’t tested either company’s AI features, so we can’t say how useful they are.

Working with clients and freelancers

Asana Starter includes “unlimited free guests” who can collaborate on projects without counting as paid users. Trello Standard adds single-board guests. Trello’s FAQ says a guest on more than one board in a Workspace is billed at the same rate as a full member. If you regularly bring in outside people across several projects, that difference can affect your bill.

Which should you choose?

• Choose Trello if your team works well with a simple board, you want to start free, or cost matters most. Five people can use the free plan, and Standard costs less than half as much as Asana Starter.
• Choose Asana if you plan work around deadlines and dependencies, want timelines and dashboards without paying for a top tier, or regularly work with outside guests.
• Try before you pay. Trello’s free plan works for a real team of five. Asana’s free plan is limited to two users, so it mainly shows you the interface.

Comparing more options? Our AI agent test priced ClickUp and monday.com for the same 5-person team. Or read our full ClickUp vs monday.com comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources (checked 27 October 2026): Trello pricing, Asana pricing, Asana Help: subscriptions and pricing.