Jira vs Trello vs Asana: Best for PM in 2024

A screenshot of a project management software displaying a task for motion graphics. The interface shows task details including status, board, assignee, due date, initial estimate, and priority. The feed section includes comments and attachments. This task management layout is useful for comparing "jira vs trello vs asana."

Welcome to our Jira vs Trello vs Asana project management software comparison.

All three tools are popular options, frequently used to support business teams such as tech teams, creatives, marketing teams, and more. But which tool is best for what? And how do you pick the best option for your needs?

To answer these questions, we’ll compare their key differences and benefits in this article, using screenshots and user reviews.

We’ll also provide a fourth alternative for businesses looking for a truly distinct option: Productive, a tool for comprehensive agency management and data-driven decision-making.

Keep reading to learn more!

Jira vs Trello vs Asana: Key Takeaways

  • Jira is a popular project management tool for agile development and product project types. However, it might not be the best choice for teams in creative industries due to its complex user interface and industry-specific feature set.
  • Trello is a streamlined tool with an intuitive interface, best for smaller teams and personal task management. It’s a good option for basic task management and collaboration, but it lacks some key features for client work, such as integrated time tracking.
  • Asana is a not too simple, but not too complex project management option. It provides basic time tracking and workload management features, but lacks advanced financial oversight and reporting.
  • We’ll also introduce Productive, a fourth alternative for business leaders looking for end-to-end agency operations management. It’s an especially good pick if you want to combine financial management and advanced reporting with features for managing your project progress and team collaboration.

Businesses Choose Productive

Switch from multiple tools and spreadsheets to an all-in-one agency management solution.

Book a demo

What Is Jira?

Jira is a project management tool designed for agile software development teams, DevOps teams, and product management teams.

Core features for agile teams include Kanban and Scrum boards, customizable tasks, and agile-based reports (burn-up/burndown charts, sprint reports, velocity charts).

A screenshot of a project management software displaying a Kanban board with columns for To Do, In Progress, Code Review, and Done. Each column contains tasks with details such as assignees, labels, and due dates. This board view is useful for comparing features in "jira vs trello vs asana."


JIRA’S KANBAN BOARD

For tech teams and DevOps engineers, the most important features include integrated feature flagging tools, CI/CD (continuous delivery) integrations, and first and third-party tools, such as Bitbucket, GitHub, and Gitlab.

Jira also offers a knowledge management tool, Confluence, to streamline the creation and management of project specifications and other internal and client documentation.

There are free and paid versions of the tool, so keep in mind that it can incur additional costs if you’re looking for advanced features (AI, permissions, unlimited storage).

A screenshot of a project management software displaying an annual plan one-pager template. The page includes sections for values, mission, strategies, market focus, and 3-year goals, with a sidebar listing various organizational priorities. This planning template is useful for comparing features in "jira vs trello vs asana."


JIRA’S CONFLUENCE TEMPLATE EXAMPLE

Pricing:

  • Jira has a free forever plan with unlimited pages and spaces for up to 10 users
  • Two paid plans and an enterprise plan with custom pricing

Why Use Jira?

Jira is one of the most popular project management tools for larger teams working on agile projects and project management for web development.

JIRA’s comprehensive support for Scrum and Kanban frameworks is exceptional. The ability to effortlessly create and manage sprints, user stories, and epics ensures that our Agile processes are seamless and efficient.

Source: Capterra

Users also comment that Jira is fairly adaptable and customizable, which helps project managers and their teams set it up according to their preferences.

Jira also offers a large variety of integrations for design teams, IT teams, productivity teams, and software development teams (though this might be more expensive than investing in a management system for agencies, depending on how many additional functionalities you need).

When to Consider Alternatives

While Jira can be a great option for engineering teams, especially those working on complex projects, it can be too complicated for smaller teams.

Jira is a power tool with hundreds of options that can make your life worse in the wrong hands. Smaller teams do well with systems like Asana and Trello that have a narrower scope.

Source: Reddit

Creatives, in particular, have been known to express dislike of Jira’s user interface and way of organizing workflows. Asana and Jira are both more complex than Trello, but Asana is often considered a simpler choice.

Made for devs, the interface wasn’t designed for the design user. In other words, it plainly ignores the needs of the UX design teams workflow.

Source: G2

Although it can be used within different types of professional services (and not just software teams), marketing teams, sales teams, or consultancies won’t be able to get the most out of its bug tracking and issue tracking features.

Finally, resourcing and financial features are underdeveloped in the tool, so while it’s great for keeping project timelines on track, it’s not the best for comprehensive client work support.

What Is Trello?

Trello is a Kanban-based collaboration software suitable for smaller or temporary projects and teams inexperienced with project management solutions.

It’s best known for having a simple, user-friendly interface; according to a user from Capterra, “a newcomer can master it within a week”.

A screenshot of a project management software displaying a Trello board for a marketing team. The board is divided into columns for Backlog, In Progress, and Review, with cards for tasks such as monthly newsletters, onboarding campaigns, and blog posts. This visual task management layout is useful for comparing features in "jira vs trello vs asana."


TRELLO IS A SIMPLE TASK-LIST-BASED PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLATFORM

Some of Trello’s key features include Kanban boards and project cards (which are, in essence, tasks), that can be customized with visual covers, descriptions, and various other specifics (assignee, due date, etc.).

There are additional views, such as Calendar and Timeline, and various templates designed for a variety of workflows and business needs.

A screenshot of a project management software displaying a bar chart titled "Cards per label." The chart shows the number of cards categorized under labels such as High Priority, Blocked, Product Marketing, Copy Request, and One more step. This visualization feature is useful for comparing "jira vs trello vs asana."


AN ELEMENT ON TRELLO’S DASHBOARD VIEW

Finally, Trello provides simple data based on your project planning and daily tasks, such as assignees and due dates per card.

Pricing:

  • Free version with unlimited cards, unlimited users, and up to ten team boards per workspace
  • Three priced plans, including an enterprise plan

Why Use Trello?

Trello can be a great option for smaller to mid-sized teams that need a collaboration tool to keep their workflows in check. It’s also often used for personal task management and internal team initiatives, and its community-based and official templates can support very diverse use cases (HR onboarding, design system checklist, etc.).

Its visually appealing interface also makes it a great option for creative agency software. There’s also a range of powerups and third-party integration options that can help expand the tool’s array of features.

When to Consider Alternatives

Trello’s not the best choice for anything outside collaboration features and simple project planning. For example, it doesn’t provide integrated time tracking, which is a key feature for PSA project management. Resourcing and finances are also not included.

Trello is great for our purposes because it simplifies task management and is easy to learn. However, if your organization needs more comprehensive project tracking capabilities, including tracking completion times, resource allocation, or calendar planning, then dedicated software may be a better fit for you.

Source: Paraphrased from G2

We also have in-depth comparisons of Trello and Wrike if you want to learn more.

What Is Asana?

Asana is a project management software tool with a wide range of features for keeping various types of projects on track and streamlining team collaboration.

This includes five potential project views, including calendar, timeline, and Gantt charts. There’s also a personal dashboard for easier management of individual tasks and responsibilities, custom fields for tasks, and a template library for both projects and tasks.

A screenshot of a project management software displaying a Gantt chart for a new product launch project. The chart outlines tasks for the sales and marketing teams, showing date ranges and durations with options to highlight the critical path, auto-schedule tasks, and compare the baseline. This detailed Gantt chart view is useful for comparing "jira vs trello vs asana."


ASANA’S GANTT CHART FEATURE

Other handy features include a workload chart for basic project resourcing. It includes visualizing workloads, filtering across people and projects, and easy allocation and reallocation.

There’s also time tracking with an embedded timer and time estimation, project-based reporting features, and workflow automations with a rules builder.

A screenshot of a project management software displaying various charts and graphs for a new product launch report. The dashboard shows completed tasks by team, task by status, total tasks by completion status, and upcoming tasks by assignee. This reporting feature is useful for comparing "jira vs trello vs asana."


ASANA’S PROJECT MANAGEMENT CHART TYPES

Pricing:

  • Free forever version with unlimited tasks and projects for up to 10 teammates
  • Two priced plans and two enterprise plans with custom pricing

Why Use Asana?

Compared to Trello and Jira, Asana is a solid middle-of-the-road option. It has more task management and workflow features than Trello, but it’s also not as complicated and niche as Jira.

Between Jira and Asana, visual thinkers and non-tech teams often prefer Asana:

Great for small digital agencies. In my experience designers prefer using it over Jira, but I have yet to meet any devs that want to use it.

Source: Reddit

When to Consider Alternatives

Although it has a larger array of features compared to Trello, Asana is still a pretty streamlined software solution. While Asana can track your time and support simple resource scheduling, there’s no way to connect this to your business budgeting or project accounting processes.

A G2 review states:

You need to use a separate time-tracking engine if you are service oriented. You mostly have to use different budget-controlling apps or ERP.

For budget tracking capabilities and improved business decision-making, it’s best to consider Asana competitors with more scalability and an advanced feature set.

When I was working alone I was using Asana and it worked pretty well for a while, until the work picked up, as well as the number of employees. We found it really problematic when it came to keeping track of things and having everything in one spot for a client. As we grew, we wanted a solution that would scale better, so we decided to make the move to Productive almost three years ago—and everyone loved it.

KATYA VAKULENKO
FOUNDER AND CEO AT SOUP

Read how switching from Asana to Productive can support your agency’s growth.

Why Choose Productive as Your All-in-One Agency Management Software

Productive is best described as an all-in-one agency management tool, designed by industry professionals for businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Why is it considered agency management software and not project management software?

Because it integrates a wide range of features for supporting end-to-end operations and helping agencies plan their future, most notably financial management and forecasting.

The biggest difference between Productive and competitors on this list includes the following three features:

1. Budgeting and Invoicing

Productive’s Budgeting includes a range of features that support business financial health and management.

A screenshot of a project management software displaying a "New budgets insights" chart grouped by company, showing revenue and margin for different projects like ABC Company, Cupcake Project, and Website Redesign. This budgeting visualization is useful for comparing features in "jira vs trello vs asana."


Manage your budgeting across individual or multiple projects

You can:

  • Build your project budgets with advanced options (such as expense management) or a simplified creator (including fixed-price, hourly, retainer, or hybrid models)
  • Set cost rates for employees and bundle services into rate cards for easier budget and deal generation
  • Manage budgeting insights such as estimated time, total revenue, costs, profit margin, and more
  • Define and report recognized revenue for a more accurate overview of financial items and profits
  • Track billable hours and create invoices on the platform (or copy them into accounting software such as Xero, QuickBooks, or Exact with Productive’s Integrations)

2. Resource Management

Productive’s resource scheduling and allocation features help businesses balance workloads and get a complete overview of employee availability (including time off and national holidays).

You can use tentative bookings to get ahead of your planning and schedule for unconfirmed projects and placeholders to account for external staff or to-be-hired employees.

A screenshot of a project management software displaying a timeline view for multiple tasks and team members. The timeline includes project assignments, task durations, and vacation time. This timeline feature is useful for comparing "jira vs trello vs asana."


Build your resource allocation template with Productive

Based on resource scheduling, project managers can also visualize and forecast key business metrics across the project timeline. This includes budget burn, revenue, and profit margins.

A screenshot of a project management software displaying a progress chart for a rebranding campaign. The chart shows budget, time, and invoicing details over weeks, with visual representations of revenue and hours worked. This budgeting and progress tracking feature is useful for comparing "jira vs trello vs asana."


USE PRODUCTIVE’S FINANCIAL FORECASTING TO PREDICT YOUR BUSINESS FUTURE

Changes in your scheduling are immediately reflected in your data to facilitate informed decision-making; for example, if a client requests changes in scope, you can assign new teammates to the project, check the impact this has on your budgets and profits, and report back to the client with reliable data.

Resourcing also includes utilization insights to help you gauge how productive your teams are per projects or team members, whether you need to hire more staff, advertise for certain services, etc.

A screenshot of a project management software displaying a table of billable and worked hours by department and person. The table includes categories like Development, Project Management, Leadership, and Design, showing each person's billable, worked hours, and billable/worked percentage. This time tracking feature is useful for comparing "jira vs trello vs asana."


VISUALIZE AND FORECAST UTILIZATION ACROSS VARIOUS METRICS

3. Reporting

Productive’s Reporting feature uses data from your project activities, time tracking, budgeting, resourcing, invoicing, and more for a complete overview of business operations. Custom fields can also be used to add agency-specific metrics.

A screenshot of a project management software displaying various report templates categorized by clients, financials, forecasting, invoicing, operations, payment, people, profitability, and sales. Examples include accounts receivable aging report, AGI by client, and average rate by client. This report generation feature is useful for comparing "jira vs trello vs asana."


PRODUCTIVE’S PRESET CHARTS LIBRARY

You can use Productive’s library of more than 50+ agency-focused templates or create your own reports from scratch. There are options for filtering your data and grouping it by various metrics (employees, projects, clients, services, etc) and visualizing it through diverse chart types.

A screenshot of a project management software displaying a bar chart titled "Profitability by months." The chart shows profit, cost, and revenue for September and October 2021. Below the chart, detailed figures are listed for each month. This profitability analysis feature is useful for comparing "jira vs trello vs asana."


SWITCH FROM Column, Line, Area, Bar, Donut, or Metric REPORT VIEWS

Productive’s Pulse system is used to schedule reports to be sent automatically to the channel of your preference (Slack or email). This helps all key stakeholders stay informed and updated on project performance.

Additional features include:

  • Project management: Get an overview of your progress with various project views, such as Kanban, Gantt, and Workload view. Additional features include custom automations and a Permission Builder for managing who can see and do what.
  • Collaboration: Complex tasks are made simple with Productive’s workflow tools. Organize work with to-dos, subtasks, and milestones, assign statuses, check progress in the comments, and create custom fields for even more options. Productive also includes Docs (with Productive AI) for real-time collaboration.
  • Sales: Manage your sales team’s capacity with an integrated Sales CRM feature. Customize stages, schedule your sales capacity, manage performance insights, forecast revenue and win probability, and more.

Pricing

  • Plans start with the Essential plan at $9 per user per month, which includes essential features such as budgeting, project & task management, docs, time tracking, expense management, reporting, and time off management.
  • The Professional plan includes custom fields, recurring budgets, advanced reports, billable time approvals, and many more for $24 per user per month.
  • The Ultimate plan has everything that the Essential plan and Professional plan offer, along with the HubSpot integration, advanced forecasting, advanced custom fields, overhead calculations, and more for $32 per user per month.

You can also check out Productive’s 14-day free trial before committing to a paid plan.

Businesses Choose Productive

Switch from multiple tools and spreadsheets to an all-in-one agency management solution.

Book a demo

Asana vs Jira or Trello: Which One to Choose for Project Teams?

To summarize, each software solution has its distinct differences and is suitable for different types of agency teams.

Jira is best for engineering teams working on complex projects within the agile framework.

Trello is best for simple or temporary projects for smaller teams that want an inexpensive tool.

Asana is best for businesses who want more support than Trello, but less complexity vs Jira.

Productive is the best for truly robust support for your entire team and business processes.

From budget tracking capabilities to advanced resourcing and project management — Productive has it all, unified in a single platform. Book a demo today.

Connect With Agency Peers

Access agency-related Slack channels, exchange business insights, and join in on members-only live sessions.

Lucija Bakić

Content Specialist

Related articles