project management tool · head to head
Asana vs Linear
Comparison Summary
Asana scored 6.7 and Linear scored 6.5 on our project management tool test script.
Asana and Linear sit at opposite ends of our project-management test. Asana's CSV import was excellent, recognising all seven of our columns in about 10 seconds, and its rules, Gantt charts and AI are polished, but most of that needs the Starter plan once the 14-day trial ends. Linear starts free with no trial and includes its AI agent, and it is far faster, but it has no calendar view, no rule builder and no plain CSV import.
On speed and weight Linear wins easily: about 5 seconds to start and 0.55 GB of memory, against about 14 seconds and 1.4 to 1.8 GB for Asana. Both AIs answered accurately and both created subtasks without asking. Both exports kept dependencies.
Choose Asana for cross-functional projects that need timelines, rules and easy imports, and a budget for Starter. Choose Linear for a software team that wants a fast, free issue tracker.
Key differences
Asana
Linear - Plan used in our test
- Asana:14-day Advanced trial (automatic)
- Linear:Free
- Our 8 scripted tasks
- Asana:5 passed, 3 partial
- Linear:3 passed, 4 partial, 1 failed
- Views on the free plan
- Asana:List, board and calendar
- Linear:List and board
- CSV import
- Asana:7 of 7 columns recognised; about 10 s
- Linear:Plain CSV not accepted; Jira format required
- Cold start and memory
- Asana:About 14 s; 1.4–1.8 GB
- Linear:About 5 s; about 0.55 GB
- AI on the free plan
- Asana:Paid (Starter and up)
- Linear:Included
- Paid plans from
- Asana:$10.99 per user a month, billed yearly
- Linear:$10 per user a month, billed yearly
- Left after uninstalling
- Asana:About 245 MB
- Linear:About 280 MB
Editor's Verdict
Choose Asana if…
Best for: Teams ready to pay for Starter or Advanced who want a polished, fast-to-learn project tool with strong import and export.
- The CSV import recognised all seven of our columns with no manual mapping; 200 rows took about 10 seconds
- Pasting a multi-line list creates one task per line, and dates can be typed
- Rules can be built by describing them in a chat; ours fired within about 20 seconds
Choose Linear if…
Best for: Software and product teams who live on the keyboard and want a fast issue tracker with a capable free AI agent.
- Very fast: usable about 5 seconds after launch with roughly 0.55 GB of memory, the lightest app in the category
- Linear Agent is included on the free plan; its summary and overdue answer were accurate and it made real sub-issues
- Keyboard shortcuts for every field, natural-language due dates
Head to Head
Task by task
The same prompts, pasted word for word into each app on a clean Windows 11 PC. On the 8 tasks both apps were graded on, Asana completed 5 and Linear completed 3.
| Task | Asana | Linear |
|---|---|---|
| P1 · Build a project | Partial≈ 9 min | Pass≈ 18 min |
| P2 · Views | Pass≈ 2 min | Partial≈ 3 min |
| P3 · Rules | Pass≈ 6 min | Partial≈ 5 min |
| P4 · 200-row import | Partial≈ 4 min | Fail≈ 10 min |
| P5 · Scale | Pass≈ 1.5 min import | Pass≈ 45 s import |
| P6 · Permissions | Pass≈ 10 min | Partial≈ 3 min |
| P7 · AI | Pass≈ 20–30 s each | Pass≈ 20–55 s each |
| P8 · Leave | Partial≈ 6 min | Partial≈ 5 min |
Asana ran on its 14-day Advanced trial, which every new account starts on; Linear ran on its free plan. Linear only accepted our CSV after we rewrote it in Jira's format.
Measured on the same PC
| Measurement | Asana | Linear |
|---|---|---|
| Installer size | 177 MB | 234 MB |
| Install time | ≈ 20–25 s | ≈ 15 s |
| On disk | 1.1 GB | 369 MB |
| Admin rights | Not needed | Not needed |
| Starts with Windows | No | No |
| 40-task project | ≈ 9 min | ≈ 18 min |
| Views on the free plan | 3 / 4 | 2 / 4 |
| 200-row CSV import | ≈ 10 s | ≈ 20 s |
| 500-row CSV import | ≈ 1.5 min | ≈ 45 s |
| Cold start | ≈ 14 s | ≈ 5 s |
| Memory | 1.4 – 1.8 GB | 0.55 GB |
| CSV export | 47 / 47 | 747 / 747 |
| Left after uninstall | ≈ 245 MB | ≈ 280 MB |
Pros and cons
Asana
+ What works
- The CSV import recognised all seven of our columns with no manual mapping; 200 rows took about 10 seconds
- Pasting a multi-line list creates one task per line, and dates can be typed
- Rules can be built by describing them in a chat; ours fired within about 20 seconds
- Recurring tasks and rules did not get in each other's way
- Dash, the AI chat, got our project summary and the overdue question right
- The project CSV export includes subtasks and dependencies
- Removing a member took effect on their next page load and offers a handover of their tasks
- No admin rights, no startup entry and no services
− What falls short
- New accounts start a 14-day trial, so you see paid features first; there is no button to end it early
- The free plan is for 2 users, with list, board and calendar only; Gantt, Timeline, rules, custom fields and AI need Starter
- No priority field on the free plan: priorities are a custom field, which is a paid feature
- The import keeps “Done” as a label, does not mark those tasks complete and does not split “qa;legal” tags
- Heavy: about 14 seconds to a usable window and 1.4–1.8 GB of private memory, with a working set up to 3.2 GB
- Dash created subtasks without asking first, and an AI field suggestion kept coming back after we dismissed it
- Closing the window leaves Asana running; the uninstall leaves about 245 MB
- Marketing emails are pre-ticked at sign-up
Linear
+ What works
- Very fast: usable about 5 seconds after launch with roughly 0.55 GB of memory, the lightest app in the category
- Linear Agent is included on the free plan; its summary and overdue answer were accurate and it made real sub-issues
- Keyboard shortcuts for every field, natural-language due dates
- Dependencies and weekly recurring issues work on the free plan
- The full CSV export arrived by email in under a minute, with dependencies, milestones and sub-issues
- No marketing emails by default, a choice of EU or US data region, no startup entry
− What falls short
- No plain CSV import: our file was rejected until we rewrote it in Jira's export format, and priorities and due dates were then lost
- Only list and board views for issues; no calendar, and the timeline covers projects rather than issues
- No custom automation rules, only presets such as auto-close; stale issues are auto-cancelled after six months by default
- No bulk paste: each of our 40 issues was entered one by one
- Invites have no role choice, and every member on the free plan is an admin
- The free plan lists a 250-issue limit (it did not stop our imports on day one)
- The AI created sub-issues without asking first
- The uninstall leaves about 280 MB and a linear:// link handler
Privacy and security
What we saw on our own test PC. Each review also lists what the vendor states about data handling, training and certifications.
Asana
No startup entry
The installer added no startup entry, services, scheduled tasks or listening ports. The app does keep running after you close its window.
Marketing emails pre-ticked
Sign-up ticks “Get feature updates and tips via email” by default, and the industry question notes that Asana may contact you about its products.
Organization-wide by default
New projects are open to everyone in the organization as Editors until you make them private.
Left after uninstalling
A 236 MB profile folder with the signed-in session and a 10 MB updater.
Linear
Quiet defaults
Marketing and onboarding emails are off by default, and you choose an EU or US data region when you create a workspace.
Everyone is an admin on Free
Invites have no role choice, and the invited user was listed as an admin.
Stale issues auto-close
Issues not updated for six months are cancelled automatically unless you switch this off.
Left after uninstalling
A 223 MB updater cache, a 58 MB profile and the linear:// link handler.
Features & Pricing
| Asana | Linear | |
|---|---|---|
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | — | — |
| iOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paid from | $10.99/mo | $10/mo |
Asana plans
- Personal$0
- Starter$10.99/user/mo
- Advanced$24.99/user/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
From Asana's pricing page, checked Oct 29, 2026.
Linear plans
- Free$0
- Basic$10/user/mo
- Business$16/user/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
From Linear's pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026.
Who makes them
- Company
- Asana:Asana, Inc.
- Linear:Linear Orbit, Inc.
- Headquarters
- Asana:San Francisco, California, USA
- Linear:San Francisco, California, USA
- Founded
- Asana:2008
- Linear:2019
- Funding
- Asana:Public company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ASAN) through a direct listing in September 2020.
- Linear:Series C of $82 million in 2025 at a reported $1.25 billion valuation.
Timelines, official links and sources are in each review: Asana · Linear.
FAQ
Which is better, Asana or Linear?
Asana scored slightly higher overall in our tests (6.7 against 6.5): it is the better general project manager, with excellent imports and planning features, though much of it is paid. Linear is far faster and its free plan includes AI.
Which is better for software teams?
Linear. It is built around issues, cycles and Git integration, and it was the fastest app we tested.
Which imports a spreadsheet better?
Asana, by far: it recognised all seven columns of our file. Linear does not accept a plain CSV.
Read the full reviews
This page compares the two side by side. Each full review has the complete test log, every screenshot, the scoring notes, pricing, security and company details.
Asana reviewSituational 6.7 Asana is the smoother tool to work in: pasting builds tasks, the CSV import understood all our columns and finished 200 rows in about 10 seconds, its AI was accurate, and the export keeps dependencies. But a new account runs on a 14-day trial, and much of what impressed us, from Gantt charts and rules to custom fields and the AI, is paid. The free plan is for two people and has list, board and calendar views. Read the full review → Linear reviewSituational 6.5 Linear is the fastest and lightest app we have tested in this category, and its AI agent is free and got everything right. But it is a tool for software teams, and it shows: there is no calendar view or task-level timeline, no rule builder, no plain CSV import, and the free plan makes every invited person an admin. Read the full review → Project Management Alternatives
ClickUp Recommended Small teams that want lists, boards, Gantt charts, automations and AI in one free workspace and do not mind a busy, heavy app 7.4 Read reviewReview 
Notion Situational Individuals and small teams who want tasks living next to their docs and wiki, and who are happy to build their own setup 6.9 Read reviewReview 
Airtable Situational Teams who want a flexible database behind their projects, with automations and reliable CSV in and out 6.8 Read reviewReview 
