Top 10 Asana vs. Monday alternatives for 2024

What is Asana?

Asana serves as an all-in-one project management tool for small to medium-sized businesses across the globe. The cloud-based software has everything from Kanban Board and Gantt charts to more advanced features for portfolio management. Asana users especially love the integrated communication tools for effortless team collaboration. Best of all, the three-tier pricing means there’s something for every budget.

What is Monday?

Monday is a versatile tool that lets users create their own work management software that includes a project management suite. The software has a variety of specialized project management features for different departments. The tools let you assign tasks, monitor progress, schedule projects, and more. Most importantly, you can integrate other collaboration tools for seamless team communication.

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Asana vs. Monday vs. Bonsai

As a freelancer, you have unique project management needs that typical systems might not meet. Bonsai allows you to manage collaboration with each client and each project’s invoices, tasks, timesheets, and more.

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How to Set Up Asana vs. Monday

Both project management systems are relatively simple to set up. You don’t have to download anything to your desktop because they are web-based tools. Instead, you just have to create an account and get going! If you utilize the free trial to compare either of the project management software options, you don’t even have to enter a credit card. All you have to do is verify your work email. You can then take a tour to familiarize yourself with either user interface. After the trial expires, you can add your billing details to continue using the software.

Comparing Project Management Tools

Each software’s project management features depend on whether you got the free version or the paid plans. However, we can give you a better idea of what you can expect from Asana vs. Monday. Asana features three main view boards, including Kanban. You also get Gantt charts, a calendar, portfolio management tools, and collaborative features. Monday gives you lists, Kanban boards, timelines, and workflow management tools based on each project’s location. 

Asana and Monday Pricing Plans

Both project management software options have pricing tiers. The difference is that Asana has three plans, and Monday has four. Asana’s Basic plan is completely free. You can upgrade to their Premium version for $10.99 per month per person or the Business plan for $24.99 per month. Monday also offers a free account for individuals. The Basic plan has more features for $8 per month per seat. Their Standard and Pro plans are $10 and $16 per month per seat, respectively. If you are interested in their Enterprise plan, you will get a custom quote based on your business needs. 

Support Monday and Asana Offers to Customers 

Although both tools provide a dedicated customer success manager, Monday and Asana handle support a little differently. Monday offers 24/7 customer service support to all project plans through phone, chat functions, and email. If you have their Enterprise plan, you get priority support, which means you’ll get an answer within 10 minutes. Asana doesn’t offer email or phone support right out the gate. All requests have to be initiated through their support chat. However, they are still very responsive, so you don’t have to stress about not getting in touch with someone. 

Comparing Asana vs. Monday Ease of Use

When you compare the user interface of each project management software, you won’t notice a huge difference. Asana is very convenient and easy to use. It does offer a lot of functionalities, so some new users might struggle with the learning curve in the beginning. The Monday user interface is fun and colorful, but it's also practical. In fact, its single view option allows you to see everything in one place. New users might also struggle with more advanced features, but they are certainly easy to use after you learn more about them.

The Alternative to Asana and Monday

We’ll further dig into the differences between Asana vs. Monday so that we can provide you with an honest comparison. First, we want to introduce you to Bonsai. More than 500,000 freelancers and self-employed business owners have chosen Bonsai for its project management tools and its ability to serve their other business needs.

If you are tired of importing and exporting data from one application to another, you’ll love that Bonsai is an alternative to other project management software. Instead of just focusing on project management tools, Bonsai also helps you with other processes from taxes to contracts.

When you use Bonsai, you can keep all of your records and business processes in one sleek and easy-to-use software. Not only do we make it easy to manage each project, but you can also take care of each job from end to end. Discover more Monday alternatives here.

We start by providing you with proposal templates to land clients. You can then move forward in the project workflow by signing contracts and assigning tasks to other contractors. We also give you the option to send out invoices based on milestones.

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How is Bonsai Different?

Bonsai is more than a powerful project management tool. It is an all-in-one business solution for freelancers and self-employed individuals. Unlike Asana and Monday, Bonsai allows you to take care of everything under one affordable and convenient software. In fact, Bonsai offers many other features beyond their task management features. With our software, you can also enjoy:

Easy-to-Customize Contracts

If you’re a freelancer, you probably wear a lot of hats, but lawyer shouldn’t be one of them. Instead of stressing over creating a contract that benefits you and your clients, you can use our templates. We offer more than 80 contracts vetted by legal professionals. Each template has:

• E-Signatures for Faster Approvals
• Automatic Reminders
• Better Protection for Your Business

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Client-Winning Proposal Templates

How do you send out more proposals without compromising quality? At Bonsai, you can choose from more than 130 unique templates related to your specific industry. You can easily customize them for each client and send out more winning proposals with:

• Custom Branding Elements
• Service Package Options for Clients
• Instant Approval Notifications

Automated Tax Calculations

Calculating your self-employed taxes is one of those mundane tasks we all dislike. However, you don’t have to stress over miscalculations or be blindsided by the amounts when using Bonsai Tax. Our software allows you to automate it all. The following are just a few of the benefits of our tax features:

• Maximized Tax Deductions
• Estimated Quarterly Tax Payments
• Automatic Expense Reporting

That’s not all! Bonsai also offers several other workflow management tools, including:

• Time Tracking
• Client Management (CRM)
• Expense Reporting
• Form Builder
• Task Tracking
• Mobile App
• And More!

Bonsai was created with one goal in mind: to provide freelancers with all of the tools they need in one convenient software. That means you can forget about paying for multiple subscriptions, and you don’t have to worry about making an error when you transfer data between systems.

We know it all sounds too good to be true, but you don't have to take our word for it.

Who doesn’t love to save money? Freelance expenses add up fast enough without paying for multiple workflow management tools. When you use Bonsai, you can ditch all the subscriptions taking away from your bottom line. The basic plan costs just $19 per month. However, you can enjoy additional savings when you pay annually.
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See what our customers have to say

We could talk for hours about the differences between Quicken, Quickbooks and Bonsai, but we’d rather let the users speak for themselves.

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The Final Showdown: Asana vs Monday.com

By now, you’ve probably noticed that Asana and Monday have many similarities. Even though Monday isn’t strictly for managing projects, it has several features that you will also find in Asana.

If you want to get down to the critical details that set them apart, we can focus on those features and compare them more closely.

Asana Project Management Features

Asana offers a variety of valuable tools that project managers love for their small and medium-sized businesses. While task management is a key feature, you can also expect the software to provide:

• Workflow Builder to Automate Processes
• Gant Charts to Build a Useful Timeline View
• Kanban Boards to See and Track Tasks
• Private Boards
• Google Drive Integrations
• Shared Team Calendar
• Portfolio Management
• Unlimited Projects
• Unlimited Boards
• Custom Forms with Drop Down Menu
• User Provisioning & Deprovisioning
• Reports to Help with Managing Teams
• Two Factor Authentication
• And More!

Though these features create a powerful project management tool, they might be overkill for the average freelancer or self-employed individual who primarily works alone. Unless you have many employees working on multiple projects, you probably won’t need all that Asana offers. The free version with fewer features could be better suited for your needs.

Monday and Its Features

Project management is just part of what Monday offers to small and medium businesses. You can also add inventory tracking and remote work tools. Many project managers love that this software provides specialized applications based on the department or industry. For example, you can add team management tools for your IT department and HR.

Regardless of which you choose for your business, you can expect the software to come with many popular task management tools, such as:

• Docs for Live Collaborations
• Project Dashboards
• Portfolio Management Tools
• Time Tracking
• Financial Management for Projects
• Team Page for Each Project
• Easy Task Management to Add and Drop Tasks
• Timeline View for Better Planning
• Optional Workload Function
• Due Dates and Deadline Mode
• Two Factor Authentication for Security
• Integrated Management Tools for Your Sales Team
  

Again, you might find that Monday has more tools than you would ever use in your freelance business. If you don’t have an IT department, HR, or a sales team, then there are many features you would pay for and never use. On the other hand, their free plan might not have enough tools for managing your different projects and clients.

Using Bonsai with Asana or Monday

Project management software doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can also pair systems if you think doing so best fits your business model. In fact, Bonsai works well when paired with either Asana or Monday so that you can get the best of both worlds.

Asana and Bonsai

Where Asana lacks in contracts and proposals, Bonsai provides everything you need. It also allows you to manage and track expenses, estimate taxes, and send out invoices to your clients. Asana also fills in some of the gaps in project management for Bonsai, so when combined, you get everything you need for your workflow.

Monday and Bonsai

If you are an agency with small departments, Monday can provide you with all the specialized features you need for software development, IT, sales, and more. However, Bonsai once again fills in the areas where Monday lacks in contract and proposal management. The customizable, white-label templates make it easy for your agency to bid for more jobs.

Finding the Right Project Management System for Freelancing

We understand that choosing the right project management system is a huge undertaking. With all of the different options, it can be challenging to determine which fits your needs the best. We encourage you to sign up for free trials so that you can see the difference between Asana and Monday for yourself.

You should also sign up for Bonsai’s 14-day free trial to see how our software is specially designed to handle your freelance workflow. You can try either of our paid plans to get an idea of our popular project management tools. With no money down, it’s easy and risk-free to find the perfect project management tool for your business.

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