project management tool · head to head
Asana vs Todoist
Comparison Summary
Asana scored 6.7 and Todoist scored 5.5 on our project management tool test script.
Asana: 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.
Todoist: Todoist is the quickest way we found to type a project in: one paste turned 40 lines into dated, prioritised tasks, repeating tasks are effortless, and the Windows app is light and starts in under two seconds. But it is a task list, not a project tool. The free plan stops at 5 projects and 300 tasks per project, our ordinary CSV was rejected, there is no automation, Gantt or dependencies, the calendar layout and AI are paid, and every free-team invitee becomes an admin.
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 Todoist if…
Best for: Individuals and very small teams who want a fast, tidy task list with dates and repeats.
- One paste turned 40 lines into tasks with the right dates and priorities
- Natural-language dates and repeats, such as “every monday”
- Light, fast desktop app: window in 1.6 s, under 1 GB of memory
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 Todoist completed 1.
| Task | Asana | Todoist |
|---|---|---|
| P1 · Build a project | Partial≈ 9 min | Pass≈ 8 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≈ 5 min |
| P5 · Scale | Pass≈ 1.5 min import | Fail≈ 3 min |
| P6 · Permissions | Pass≈ 10 min | Partial≈ 6 min |
| P7 · AI | Pass≈ 20–30 s each | Fail– |
| P8 · Leave | Partial≈ 6 min | Partial≈ 5 min |
Measured on the same PC
| Measurement | Asana | Todoist |
|---|---|---|
| On disk | 1.1 GB | 636 MB |
| Admin rights | Not needed | No |
| Starts with Windows | No | No |
| 40-task project | ≈ 9 min | ≈ 8 min |
| Views on the free plan | 3 / 4 | 2 / 4 |
| Cold start | ≈ 14 s | 1.6 s |
| Memory | 1.4 – 1.8 GB | 0.8 – 0.9 GB |
| CSV export | 47 / 47 | 200 / 200 |
| Left after uninstall | ≈ 245 MB | ≈ 214 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
Todoist
+ What works
- One paste turned 40 lines into tasks with the right dates and priorities
- Natural-language dates and repeats, such as “every monday”
- Light, fast desktop app: window in 1.6 s, under 1 GB of memory
- Did not add itself to startup or the firewall
- Pro is cheap at $5 a month billed yearly
− What falls short
- The CSV import only accepts Todoist's own template; our spreadsheet was rejected
- Free plan: 5 projects and 300 tasks per project; a 500-row import brought in nothing
- No automation rules, no dependencies and no Gantt or timeline view
- Calendar layout, AI (Task Assist) and backups are paid
- On a free team every invitee becomes an admin; the Member role is paid
- CSV exports use relative dates by default
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.
Todoist
Signed installer
Signed by Doist Inc. with a DigiCert certificate.
No startup entry or firewall rules
“Launch at startup” is off by default, and no firewall prompt appeared.
Admins by default
On a free team every invitee is an admin, and a team join link is on by default.
Extension permissions
Task Assist asked for access to read and update all tasks, projects, labels and filters.
Features & Pricing
| Asana | Todoist | |
|---|---|---|
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | — | ✓ |
| iOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paid from | $10.99/mo | $5/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.
Todoist plans
- Beginner$0
- Pro$5/mo
- Business$8/user/mo
From Todoist's pricing page, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Who makes them
- Company
- Asana:Asana, Inc.
- Todoist:Doist Inc. (Todoist)
- Headquarters
- Asana:San Francisco, California, USA
- Todoist:Remote-first company, incorporated in Delaware, USA
- Founded
- Asana:2008
- Todoist:2007
- Funding
- Asana:Public company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ASAN) through a direct listing in September 2020.
- Todoist:Developed without formal venture funding.
Timelines, official links and sources are in each review: Asana · Todoist.
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 → Todoist reviewSituational 5.5 Todoist is the quickest way we found to type a project in: one paste turned 40 lines into dated, prioritised tasks, repeating tasks are effortless, and the Windows app is light and starts in under two seconds. But it is a task list, not a project tool. The free plan stops at 5 projects and 300 tasks per project, our ordinary CSV was rejected, there is no automation, Gantt or dependencies, the calendar layout and AI are paid, and every free-team invitee becomes 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 
