Asana vs Timely Comparison
Compare Asana vs Timely features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
Asana
6.9/10
Work management platform for teams to plan projects, assign tasks, automate workflows, and track goals and portfolios, with AI agents on paid plans.
Timely
6.4/10
AI-powered automatic time tracking and project budgeting software for agencies, consultancies and knowledge-work teams that bill or plan by the hour.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.9/10 | 6.4/10 |
| Cost | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Scalability | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $13/user/mo Starter | $11/user/mo Starter |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $135/mo Starter | $200/mo Premium |
| Features | ||
| App integrations | ||
| Dashboards | ||
| Reporting | ||
| Scheduling | ||
| Task management | ||
| Time tracking | ||
| Client collaboration | Not listed | |
| Collaboration tools | Not listed | |
| Gantt charts | Not listed | |
| Goals and OKRs | Not listed | |
| Kanban boards | Not listed | |
| Task lists | Not listed | |
| Timeline view | Not listed | |
| Workflow automation | Not listed | |
Asana vs Timely cost by team size
Asana costs less at 1 user; Timely costs less at 5 users; Asana costs less from 10 users.
| Team size | Asana | Timely |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreePersonal | $11/moStarter |
| 5 users | $67/moStarter | $55/moStarter |
| 10 users | $135/moStarter | $200/moPremium |
| 25 users | $337/moStarter | $500/moPremium |
| 50 users | $675/moStarter | $1,000/moPremium |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Asana
- Has a free plan (Timely does not)
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: $135/mo vs $200/mo
- Higher Customization score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Scalability score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (8/10 vs 6/10)
Why choose Timely
- Higher Cost score (5/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Support score (7/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for agencies (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for consultancies (9/10 vs 7/10)
Pros & Cons
Asana
Pros
- Starter includes unlimited automations, forms, and timeline views, which covers most team project needs without upgrading to Advanced.
- Unlimited free guests on paid plans let teams bring in clients and contractors without buying extra seats.
- Advanced connects to Salesforce, Tableau, and Power BI, so project data can feed existing reporting tools.
- Enterprise+ offers data residency, SIEM integration, and audit logs for regulated organisations.
- Reviews are consistently high, with Capterra showing 4.5 from more than 13,000 reviews.
Cons
- The free Personal plan now allows only 2 users, so most teams have to pay from the start.
- Portfolios, goals, and time tracking are only on Advanced, which costs more than double the Starter price.
- Seats are sold in blocks of 5, 10, 25, or 50 as teams grow, and AWS Marketplace reviewers have criticized these rigid user blocks.
- AI usage beyond the included allowances is billed per request, which makes costs harder to predict.
- A critical Gartner review from 2026 cited high enterprise pricing and limited workflow customization.
Timely
Pros
- The background Memory app records app, web, document and meeting activity, so users do not have to start and stop timers.
- AI-drafted timesheets make it fast to log billable hours from captured activity.
- The privacy-first design keeps tracking data private to each user, with no screenshots or keystroke logging.
- Budgets, billable rates and capacity planning sit alongside tracking, which suits client-billing firms.
- ISO 27001:2022 certified, with AWS hosting in the EU and AES-256 encryption at rest.
Cons
- No free plan, and Starter is capped at 5 users and 20 projects.
- Task management is a paid add-on, and there are no Gantt charts, docs or boards.
- Reviewers report the AI sometimes misidentifies tasks when drafting entries.
- Reviewers describe the mobile app as glitchy and say tracking does not work offline.
- Not SOC 2 certified, which may matter for some US enterprise buyers.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Asana scores higher on our Project Management criteria: 6.9/10 against 6.4/10 for Timely. The largest gap is in Customization: 7/10 for Asana and 5/10 for Timely.
Asana costs less for 10 users: about $135/mo on its Starter plan, against about $200/mo on its Premium plan for Timely, billed monthly.
Asana has a free plan; Timely does not list one.
Timely is the better fit for agencies: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 7/10 for Asana.
