Asana is a fantastic project management tool. Genuinely. Their task management, timeline views, and workflow automations are polished and reliable. But if you are a small business using Asana, answer this honestly: how many times a week does someone on your team copy information from Asana into your CRM, or from your CRM into Asana? How often does a project finish but the invoice does not go out for days because billing and project management are separate systems? How many Slack messages start with "Hey, what is the status of..." because the person asking does not have access to your PM tool? This is not an Asana problem specifically. It is the fundamental problem with using a standalone project management tool in a small business that also needs CRM, invoicing, time tracking, and team communication. Your project management tool knows what your team is working on. Your CRM knows who they are working for. Your invoicing tool knows what to bill. But none of them talk to each other without middleware, manual data entry, or expensive integrations.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Deelo | Asana |
|---|---|---|
| Task management | Tasks, subtasks, due dates, assignments, priorities | Tasks, subtasks, dependencies, custom fields, rules |
| Views | Kanban, list, calendar | List, board, timeline, calendar, Gantt |
| Workflow automation | Cross-app automations (project task triggers invoice, CRM update, email) | Rules engine within Asana (move tasks, assign, set fields) |
| Time tracking | Built-in time tracker linked to tasks and invoicing | Not included -- need Harvest ($12/seat/mo) or Toggl |
| CRM | Full CRM with pipeline, deals, customer profiles | Not included -- need HubSpot or Salesforce |
| Invoicing | Generate invoices from tracked time or project milestones | Not included -- need QuickBooks or FreshBooks |
| Team messaging | Built-in Messenger with channels, DMs, file sharing | Task comments only -- need Slack ($7.25/user/mo) |
| Video meetings | Built-in Meetings app | Not included -- need Zoom ($13.33/user/mo) |
| Reporting | Cross-app dashboards (project progress + revenue + team utilization) | Portfolios and dashboards (project metrics only) |
| Starting price (per user/mo) | $19 | $10.99 (Starter) -- plus add-ons |
The Hidden Cost of Asana
Asana's pricing looks competitive at $10.99/user/month for Starter. But small businesses do not just need project management. Here is what a typical 5-person team actually pays when Asana is the PM tool:
| Tool Stack | Deelo | Asana + Add-ons |
|---|---|---|
| Project management | Included | Asana: $10.99/user/mo |
| CRM | Included | HubSpot Starter: $20/seat/mo |
| Invoicing | Included | FreshBooks: $19/mo + $10/user |
| Time tracking | Included | Harvest: $12/seat/mo |
| Team chat | Included | Slack: $7.25/user/mo |
| Video meetings | Included | Zoom: $13.33/user/mo |
| Monthly total (5 users) | $95 | $380-450+ |
| Annual total (5 users) | $1,140 | $4,560-5,400+ |
A 5-person team pays 4x more for a fragmented experience where data lives in six different platforms. And that does not account for the time your team spends context-switching between tools, copying data between systems, and troubleshooting broken Zapier integrations.
Where Asana Wins
- Project management depth: Asana is a dedicated PM tool, and it shows. Their timeline view, dependencies, portfolios, and workload management are more mature than any all-in-one platform's project module. For complex projects with dozens of interdependent tasks, Asana's PM features are genuinely superior.
- Rules engine: Asana's workflow automation within project management is well-designed. Automatically move tasks between sections, assign based on form submissions, or trigger actions based on field changes -- all without code.
- Portfolio management: If you manage multiple projects simultaneously and need a bird's-eye view of progress, deadlines, and resource allocation across all of them, Asana's portfolio feature is purpose-built for this.
- Asana Intelligence: Their AI features for task summarization, status updates, and smart goals are solid and improving rapidly.
- Integration ecosystem: Asana integrates with 200+ tools. If you are committed to best-of-breed for every function, Asana plays well with others.
Where Deelo Wins
- End-to-end workflow: In Deelo, a client closes in the CRM, a project is created, tasks are assigned, time is tracked, and an invoice is generated when the work is done -- all in one platform. In Asana's world, each of those steps involves a different tool.
- Total cost: $19/seat for everything vs $70-90/seat when you add the tools Asana does not include. For a 10-person team, that is $700/month in savings.
- Time tracking to invoicing: Track time against tasks and generate invoices directly from logged hours. No exporting from Harvest, no manual line items, no reconciliation between systems.
- Client context on every task: When a team member opens a task in Deelo, they see the full client profile -- CRM history, past invoices, support tickets, communication log. In Asana, they see a task description and comments.
- Communication built in: Messenger, video meetings, and task comments in one platform. No switching between Asana, Slack, and Zoom to collaborate on the same project.
Your projects deserve business context
Start a free Deelo account and experience project management that is connected to your CRM, invoicing, and team communication. No credit card required.
Start Free — No Credit CardThe Bottom Line
If project management is genuinely the only thing you need -- you do not send invoices, you do not track sales, you do not need a helpdesk -- Asana is excellent at what it does. But most small businesses discover that PM in isolation creates as many problems as it solves. When your project management, CRM, invoicing, and communication live in one platform, the entire team operates with full context. Projects close faster, invoices go out sooner, and nobody wastes 30 minutes a day copying information between tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Deelo's project management as powerful as Asana?
- For core PM features -- tasks, subtasks, kanban boards, assignments, due dates, and priorities -- Deelo covers what most small teams need. Where Asana has an edge is in advanced features like task dependencies, timeline/Gantt views, and portfolio management across dozens of simultaneous projects. If you manage complex, multi-phase projects with 50+ interdependent tasks, Asana's PM depth may be worth the premium. For most teams managing 5-15 active projects, Deelo provides more value because of the business context it adds.
- Can I use Asana for free and avoid the cost issue?
- Asana's free plan supports up to 10 users with basic task management. But you still need to pay for CRM, invoicing, time tracking, and communication separately. The cost issue is not Asana's price -- it is the total cost of the 5-6 tools you need alongside it.
- What about Monday.com or ClickUp as alternatives?
- Monday.com ($12/seat/mo) and ClickUp ($7/member/mo) are strong Asana alternatives for project management. But they have the same limitation: they are PM tools that require separate subscriptions for CRM, invoicing, and other business functions. The total cost equation is similar. If you want a dedicated PM tool, compare all three. If you want an integrated business platform, Deelo is a different category entirely.
- Can I migrate my Asana projects to Deelo?
- Yes. Export your Asana projects as CSV files, then import them into Deelo's Projects app. Tasks, descriptions, assignees, and due dates carry over. Custom fields may need manual mapping. Most teams complete migration in under a day.
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