Asana
A weekend of work, and real gaps remain.
Work management for teams: tasks in projects with owners and dates, shown as lists, boards, timelines or calendars, with rules, forms and portfolio views on top.
Build me a task tracker for one team, with the two views people actually use. STACK - Astro with a Node adapter, SQLite via better-sqlite3, server-rendered - Small JavaScript islands for drag and drop only THE MODEL - Project, section, task, subtask; a task has assignee, due date, status and a description - Custom fields per project: text, number, select, date — stored typed, never as strings - Every change appended to an activity table: who, when, field, before, after VIEWS - List grouped by section, and board grouped by any select field - Filters belong to the view and are shareable as a URL DATES - Due dates are calendar dates without times; store them as text, not as timestamps, and say why in the README - A start date and a due date give a timeline bar; render the timeline as inline SVG RULES, KEPT SMALL - One trigger, one action: when status becomes X, set field Y or assign to Z - Rules run server-side after the write, and their effects are logged as activity by the rule, not the user NOTIFICATIONS - A daily digest per person of what changed on tasks they own or follow - No instant emails; the README should explain that this is deliberate WHAT IS OUT OF SCOPE - Portfolios, goals, workload, mobile apps Include a README on the activity table, the rule engine's limits, and CSV export.
What you lose
- Portfolios and goals that roll many projects into one view for people who do not read task lists
- Workload across people, with capacity rather than counts
- Rules and forms that let operations teams change process without a developer
- Notifications tuned enough that people actually read them
- Mobile apps and offline behaviour that field teams rely on
If you would rather not build
- ClickUp — paid, broader, cheaper per seat
The escape hatch
open source · no votes, no paid placement
Plane
$0Issues, cycles and roadmaps in a similar shape, self-hosted.
makeplane/planefree · open source
Vikunja
$0Task and project management with list, kanban and gantt views.
go-vikunja/vikunjafree · open source
Why this verdict
our own opinion · changed only by a person
46/100
Verdict kinda at 46: tasks, views and a small rule engine are a genuine weekend and cover what most teams touch. The reason companies keep paying is above the task list — portfolios, workload and the fact that everyone already has the app.
History
tracked since 9 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten
Questions about Asana
answered from the record above
Is Asana free?
No — the plan we track is $13.49 a month. Starter at $13.49 per user per month billed monthly, around $10.99 annually; Advanced roughly doubles it.
Can you replace Asana by building your own?
ALMOST. A weekend of work, and real gaps remain. Replacement score 46 out of 100, build time a weekend. Read what you lose before you decide.
How much does Asana cost?
$13.49 a month on Starter — $161.88 a year. Recorded 9 Aug 2026.
What do you lose by replacing Asana?
Portfolios and goals that roll many projects into one view for people who do not read task lists; Workload across people, with capacity rather than counts; Rules and forms that let operations teams change process without a developer; Notifications tuned enough that people actually read them; Mobile apps and offline behaviour that field teams rely on. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Asana?
Yes: Plane, Vikunja. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.
Related entries
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