Choosing Between Microsoft Planner and Asana: Which Project Management Tool Fits Your Needs?

(Choosing Between Microsoft Planner and Asana) You can’t do without good project management software, whether coordinating a small team project or steering a multi-departmental initiative. These tools do more than keep tasks organized—they refine and optimize your workflow, ensuring everything from initial planning to final execution runs smoothly.

With so many options on the market, choosing between powerhouses like Microsoft Planner and Asana can feel daunting. Each offers a unique blend of features designed to simplify managing projects, but which one truly aligns with your team’s needs and simplifies your day as a project manager?

In this article, we’ll dissect these tools, laying out their features, strengths, and limitations to help you make an informed decision that will empower your team to work smarter, not harder.

What Is Asana?

Asana is a project management tool that makes organizing, tracking, and completing tasks easier for your team. It goes beyond simple to-do lists, using detailed descriptions, attachments, and comments to keep everyone on the same page. This makes it a preferred choice among free project management software options.

Asana is known for maximizing impact by increasing efficiency across departments and tools, driving clarity and accountability by connecting work to company-wide goals and scaling confidently by providing enterprise-grade security and control, ensuring everyone understands how their work contributes to the bigger picture.

Asana Features

1. Project Visualization Imagine seeing your project’s timeline, knowing exactly where every task fits into the bigger picture, and shuffling things around as needed—Asana makes this possible. For software development teams, the timeline view lets you see the entire project roadmap, dependencies between tasks, and potential bottlenecks, making it easier to adjust priorities and resources. Marketing teams can use the board view to manage content calendars, with columns for ideation, drafting, review, and publishing. Asana also offers project management templates that save time and help standardize practices across your organization.

2. Customizable Workflows Every team has its rhythm, and Asana gets that. You can tailor workflows to match exactly how your team works best, from simple checklists to complex project stages. Streamline repetitive tasks with Asana’s automation rules, like sending a notification email to a team member when a task is assigned or moving a task to the “review” stage once completed. Asana also allows you to tailor advanced custom fields to capture project-specific information relevant to your work.

3. Integration with Third-Party Apps Asana integrates with most of the third-party apps you use every day, such as Google Calendar, Slack, and even Microsoft Office. This means no more switching between tabs to find information—it’s all connected right where you need it.

Asana Pricing

• Personal: Free forever
• Starter: $13.49/month
• Advanced: $30.49/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing
• Enterprise+: Custom pricing

What Is Microsoft Planner?

Microsoft Planner is your go-to for managing tasks seamlessly within the Microsoft ecosystem. If your team already uses Microsoft Office or Microsoft Teams, incorporating Planner could simplify how you manage projects. It provides a simple, visual way to organize teamwork, allowing users to create plans, assign tasks, set deadlines, and collaborate with colleagues through a card-based interface.

Microsoft Planner Features

1. Task Organization If you’ve picked up multiple projects on the go, Microsoft Planner can help you break them down. Its intuitive Kanban boards facilitate the process of assigning tasks, setting due dates, and organizing them into categories.

2. Team Collaboration Its integration with Microsoft Teams makes Microsoft Planner a central spot for all project communications. Assign tasks to individuals, set deadlines, and monitor progress to keep everyone on track. Collaborate effectively by sharing files and discussing details directly within tasks.

3. Visual Task Management For teams that thrive on visual cues, Microsoft Planner offers a Kanban-style board setup where tasks can be moved from ‘Planned’ to ‘In Progress’ to ‘Completed.’ This makes it easy to see each task’s status and helps manage task dependencies and timelines effectively.

Microsoft Planner Pricing

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6/user per month
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50/user per month
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium: $22/user per month
• Microsoft 365 Apps for Business: $8.25/month

Microsoft Planner vs. Asana: Features Compared

1. Task Visualization

• Asana: Offers lists, Kanban boards, timelines, and calendars, perfect for visual thinkers who want a variety of options.
• Microsoft Planner: Provides a straightforward Kanban experience with essential features for teams that prefer simplicity.

Winner: Asana—for those who crave a variety of visual options and greater flexibility.

2. Team Collaboration

• Asana: Acts as a communication hub with features like comments, task assignments, and fun celebrations for task completions.
• Microsoft Planner: Seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Teams, keeping project communications in one place.

Winner: It’s a tie. Planner is ideal for Microsoft Teams users, while Asana offers more extensive collaboration features for diverse workflows.

3. App Integrations

• Asana: Integrates with many third-party apps, making it versatile for any technology stack.
• Microsoft Planner: Works best with other Microsoft apps, offering seamless integration within the Microsoft ecosystem.

Winner: Asana—for teams that use a mix of tools and need extensive third-party integration capabilities.

Which One Should You Choose?

Microsoft Planner is likely the more convenient and cost-effective choice for teams already embedded within the Microsoft ecosystem. It offers straightforward integration with Microsoft’s suite of tools, making it a seamless addition to the workflow for those who rely heavily on other Microsoft applications.

Asana is useful for teams that require a stand-alone project management tool with a wide array of visualizations and customization options. Its free tier makes it accessible for personal use or small teams, while its higher tiers provide extensive features suitable for larger, more complex projects.

Winner: There is no one-size-fits-all ‘winner’ here. The right choice depends on the specific circumstances and requirements of the team. Consider factors like existing subscriptions, the importance of visual project planning tools, and the need for integration with other applications when deciding.