Trello suits small teams that think in cards on a board, and its free plan covers up to 10 collaborators per Workspace. Asana suits people who plan in lists, owners and deadlines, but its free Personal plan is built for one or two people. If three or more of you need it on day one, that difference decides it.
Trello and Asana both get work out of your head and onto a screen your team can see. They start from different places, though. Trello starts with a board of cards you drag from one column to the next. Asana starts with tasks that have an owner, a due date and a home inside a project. I went through each company's own plan page for this, so every line below is what Trello and Asana say about themselves.
What the free plans include
| Trello | Asana | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, Free | Yes, Personal is free forever |
| Who it's aimed at | Individuals or small teams keeping work organised | One or two people managing personal projects |
| People on the free plan | Up to 10 collaborators per Workspace | 2 users |
| How much work fits | Unlimited cards, up to 10 boards per Workspace | Unlimited tasks and projects |
| Ways to see work on free | Boards (Calendar, Timeline and Table views start on Premium) | List, board and calendar views |
| File uploads | Unlimited storage, 10MB per file | Unlimited storage, 100MB per file |
| Automation on free | 250 Workspace command runs a month | Unlimited automations start on Starter |
| Timeline or Gantt | Timeline view on Premium | Timeline and Gantt views on Starter |
| Built-in AI | Starts on Standard | Asana AI included from Starter |
| Connecting other tools | Unlimited Power-Ups per board, plus an MCP server for AI tools | 100+ free integrations, including Slack, Google Drive and Zoom |
How Trello shapes your day
Trello is a board with lists and cards. A card is a job, a list is a stage, and you move cards across as work moves on. It's the fastest way I know to show a team where everything is without a meeting. The free plan is generous for a small business:
- Up to 10 collaborators and 10 boards per Workspace, with unlimited cards.
- An Inbox that captures to-dos from email, Slack and Microsoft Teams so they don't get lost.
- Assignees and due dates on cards, plus iOS and Android apps.
- 250 Workspace command runs a month for simple automation.
The upgrades are where the extra views arrive. Standard adds AI, unlimited boards, custom fields and card mirroring. Premium adds Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard and Map views.
How Asana shapes your day
Asana thinks in tasks and projects first and boards second. Every task can have an owner, a due date and a place in a bigger goal, and you can flip between a list for detail, a board for flow and a calendar for deadlines without losing your place. Its Personal plan includes unlimited tasks and projects, status updates, time tracking through integrations and file uploads up to 100MB each.
Starter is where Asana opens up for teams: no seat limits, Timeline and Gantt views, reporting dashboards, unlimited automations, forms and unlimited free guests, so clients and freelancers can join a project without taking a seat. Asana AI, including AI Teammates and Asana Dash, is included from Starter.
The headcount detail most comparisons skip
Asana's own plans page describes its free plan as being "for one or two people managing personal projects", and it lists 2 users. Trello's free plan allows up to 10 collaborators per Workspace. So a three-person team can run on Trello's free plan today and can't on Asana's. That one line matters more than any feature list for a small business trying things out.
The flip side is file size. Asana allows 100MB per file on its free plan, Trello allows 10MB. If you attach videos, design files or long PDFs to tasks, Trello's free limit will get in your way quickly.
Which team fits which tool
Pick Trello if your team works visually, moves jobs through clear stages and wants something people understand in five minutes. It suits content calendars, client onboarding and simple sales pipelines. If boards are new to you, my guide to kanban tools for seeing task progress shows why the format works.
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Pick Asana if your work has dates, dependencies and owners that need to line up, such as product launches or campaigns with several people feeding in. It's worth seeing how Asana markets itself too, because its positioning tells you who it's really built for.
My advice for a team of two to ten
Count heads first. If it's just you or one other person, try both free plans for a week and keep the one you open without thinking. If there are three to ten of you and nobody wants to upgrade yet, Trello's free plan is the one that fits. If you already know you'll need timelines, dashboards and guests, judge Asana on its Starter plan, because that's the version a team will live in.
Do you make project management or task software? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place in comparisons like this one.
Frequently asked questions
Is Trello free?
Yes. Trello's Free plan covers up to 10 collaborators per Workspace, with unlimited cards, up to 10 boards per Workspace and iOS and Android apps.
Is Asana free?
Yes. Asana's Personal plan is free forever for one or two people, with unlimited tasks and projects and list, board and calendar views.
Can Asana do Kanban boards like Trello?
Yes. Board view is included on Asana's free Personal plan alongside list and calendar views.
Which one has Gantt charts?
Asana adds Timeline and Gantt views on its Starter plan. Trello adds a Timeline view on its Premium plan.
