Asana alternatives for your own work, not just the team's
Three Asana alternatives for solo work, lighter boards or one flexible workspace, with honest trade-offs, official prices and a careful way to leave Asana.
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The short answer
Asana is built for teams that run shared projects, with timelines, dashboards and status updates. People look elsewhere when they mostly work alone, when a simple board would do, or when they want their personal day planned next to the team's work. Here are three options and how to move out carefully.
1. Thendoo
Free during early access; paid plans come later
Best for: People whose team work lives in another tool but who want their own calm day plan with tasks, meetings, habits and money.
Strengths
- Today lays out Google Calendar meetings, time blocks, a Top 3 card and habits, so you can see what really fits.
- Spaces, folders and Lists with List, Table, Board and Timeline views, for personal projects that still need structure.
- Capture with ⌘K or Ctrl+K reads dates,
- A focus timer that opens on one tiny first step.
Trade-offs
- Thendoo does not connect to Asana today. A live connection is only a possibility for later, and an Asana importer is planned for the second import wave.
- Single-user only, with no assignees, sharing or team dashboards.
- No native phone app yet; it runs in the browser and can be added to a phone's home screen.
Best for: People and small groups who want a simple board with cards they can drag, without project-management overhead.
Strengths
- Unlimited cards and up to 10 boards per Workspace on the free plan.
- Free for up to 10 collaborators per Workspace.
- Unlimited Power-Ups per board to add features.
Trade-offs
- Board-first. Timeline and Calendar views need Premium.
- CSV export needs Premium; JSON export works on every plan.
3. ClickUp
From $7 to $9 per user/month billed yearly on paid plans (ClickUp is testing new plans in October 2026); Free Forever plansource
Best for: Teams that want docs, tasks and many views in one workspace and are happy to set it up.
Strengths
- Spaces, Folders and Lists with many views, custom fields and automations.
- Docs and tasks live in the same workspace.
Trade-offs
- Many options to configure, which can feel like more tool than a small team needs.
- On Free Forever, storage is capped at 60 MB.
Asana shines when many people share projects. Timelines, dashboards and status updates keep a team pointed the same way. The free Personal plan works for one or two people, and Starter adds timelines and no seat limits. For teams that need that, it is a solid choice.
Common reasons people look around
- You mostly work alone. Projects, sections, portfolios and status updates can be more ceremony than a solo week needs.
- A board would do. Some small groups only need cards they can drag from “To do” to “Done”.
- Your own day gets lost. In a team tool, your tasks sit next to everyone else’s, and nothing tells you which three to do between meetings.
- Price per seat. Paid plans are priced per user, which adds up as a group grows.
None of these mean Asana is wrong for your team. If it works, keep it.
Leave, or add?
Decide this first. If your team is staying in Asana, the simplest path may be to keep your work there and use a separate tool only for your own day. Thendoo is built for that pattern: the work tool owns the task, and Thendoo owns the time. Today it connects to ClickUp, not Asana, so Asana tasks would be copied by hand.
If you are leaving
- A simple shared board: Trello, with a generous free plan.
- A full team workspace with docs: ClickUp, if you are happy to configure it.
- Just you, wanting a calm daily plan with calendar, habits and money: Thendoo, with open tasks added by hand until the Asana importer ships.
Export first, move only open work, and give the new tool one ordinary week before you cancel anything. Completed projects can stay archived in Asana or in your export. You do not need to bring your whole history to make a fresh start work.
Moving from Asana to Thendoo
- 1Decide first whether you are leaving Asana or only adding a personal planner. If your team stays in Asana, moving your own tasks out creates two places to check.
- 2Export the projects you need from Asana as CSV and keep the files.
- 3In Thendoo, create a Space for each area and a List for each Asana project you still use. Sections can become statuses on a Board.
- 4Bring in open tasks. Thendoo's general CSV importer (Settings → Import) reads the CSV with a column-matching step, as flat tasks without sections or subtasks; or re-add them through Capture (⌘K or Ctrl+K). A dedicated Asana importer is planned for Thendoo's second import wave.
- 5Give the new setup one real week, then archive the projects you moved.
Questions
Can Thendoo import from Asana?
Not with its own importer yet; one is planned for the second wave of importers. Today, the general CSV importer can read Asana's CSV export as flat tasks, with a preview and an undo, or you can re-add open tasks with Capture.
Can I keep Asana for the team and plan my day in Thendoo?
Not with a connection today. Thendoo connects to Google Calendar and ClickUp now. You can still copy the few Asana tasks you will touch this week into Thendoo and plan them on Today.
Which option is closest to Asana for teams?
ClickUp, which also handles shared projects with many views. Trello suits lighter team boards. Thendoo is single-user, so it fits your own plan rather than the team's.