Last checked October 15, 2026
Best Free Alternatives to Asana (2026)
Asana is how a lot of non-engineering teams track work: projects, assignees, due dates, and a timeline once you pay. The replacements here are project trackers you can run yourself. They do not include Asana's goals, workload, or AI add-ons, and a CSV export will not keep automations.
What Asana costs
Asana's pricing page lists Personal, Starter, Advanced, and Enterprise plans. A per-seat dollar figure was not visible in the page text during this check, so none is stated.
The page describes Personal for one or two people, with list, board, and calendar views. Starter adds timeline and Gantt, forms, custom fields, and automations. Advanced adds portfolios, goals, resource management, and approvals. AI request packs are listed separately at $0.50 prepaid or $0.60 on demand.
Ranked by Drop-in score
How we rank#1 is the highest-scoring alternative that is not sponsored. A featured listing, when one is sold, is labeled and sits after #1.
- #1 · Best drop-inOpen source
OpenProject
A GPL project suite with issues, Gantt, and time tracking.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · GPL-3.0 (Community)
WebSelf-host - #2Open source
Vikunja
An AGPL task manager with kanban, list, and Gantt views.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · AGPL-3.0
WebSelf-host - #3Open source
Plane
A modern AGPL issue tracker with cycles and modules.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · AGPL-3.0
WebSelf-host - #4Open source
Taiga
A self-hosted scrum and kanban tool.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · AGPL-3.0
WebSelf-host
Feature by feature
Full is the whole job. Partial is a real version with a gap. Missing means it does not do this. Not checked counts as zero in the score.
Scroll sideways to compare every alternative.
| Feature | OpenProject#1 · 86 | Vikunja#2 · 80 | Plane#3 · 72 | Taiga#4 · 64 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tasks in projectsWeight 10 | FullWork packages are the task. | Full | Full | FullUser stories and issues. |
| List and board viewsWeight 8 | FullList and board views are part of Community. | FullList and kanban are both in the product. | FullList and board. Cycles cover the time box, not a calendar of every task. | FullKanban and a backlog. |
| Timeline or GanttWeight 8 | FullGantt is a core view. | FullA Gantt view is part of the project. | PartialCycles and modules. Not an Asana timeline or a Gantt chart. | MissingSprints are not a Gantt chart. |
| Assignees and due datesWeight 6 | Full | Full | Full | Full |
| Custom fieldsWeight 6 | PartialCustom fields exist. They are not Asana's field library. | MissingCustom fields in the Asana sense were not confirmed here. | MissingCustom fields were not confirmed in Community Edition for this check. | Missing |
| Request formsWeight 4 | Missing | Missing | Missing | Missing |
| Self-hostingWeight 8 | Full | Full | Full | Full |
Real cost
OpenProject
- Free tier
- Community edition is free to self-host. OpenProject also sells a cloud.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Hard. Docker or packaged install. It is a large Rails app and wants memory, backups, and a person who will upgrade it. Approximate server cost: $20–40/mo. Unverified estimate.
Vikunja
- Free tier
- Self-hosting is free. A hosted offering exists for people who do not want to run it.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Easy. A single Go binary or Docker image, with SQLite or Postgres. One of the smaller installs in this directory. Approximate server cost: $4–10/mo. Unverified estimate.
Plane
- Free tier
- Community Edition is free to self-host with no user limit. Cloud has a free tier.
- Hosted plan
- Commercial cloud starts at $6 per seat/month.
- Self-hosting
- Moderate. Docker Compose or Kubernetes. More containers than a single binary, documented for a team install. Approximate server cost: $15–30/mo. Unverified estimate.
Taiga
- Free tier
- Self-hosting is free. Taiga's hosted service has been free for public projects; private hosted projects are paid. Confirm the current hosted terms. Unverified.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Hard. Several services (backend, frontend, events). Docker Compose is documented and not lightweight.
Did you switch?
If you left Asana, tell us whether it worked and how long it took. Notes stay private until we approve them, and nothing is shown until at least five are approved.
Top pair
Migrate from Asana to OpenProject
Export the tasks as CSV and map them onto work packages. Rules, goals, and the timeline drawing do not survive.
Read the migration guide