If you’ve been on the hunt for a new productivity or project management app, you’ve probably heard of or read about Slack and Asana. While the two may seem like they accomplish the same thing, they actually have different purposes.
If you’ve been on the hunt for a new productivity or project management app, you’ve probably heard of or read about Slack and Asana. While the two may seem like they accomplish the same thing, they actually have different purposes.

Asana and Slack are both great tools to help small and midsize teams get work done. Asana focuses on project management while Slack acts as more of a communication/chat tool. Both apps are incredibly popular among today’s modern workforce. Read on for a full breakdown comparison of Asana vs Slack.
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Asana vs Slack at a glance
When assessing the features of Asana vs Slack, there is some overlap in their collaboration features. Both tools let teams share documents, communicate with each other, and keep track of files.
Slack is primarily a messaging tool to organize communication around certain topics. You can create different “channels” for teams to focus their conversations and work on various projects. Each channel holds a space for files relevant to the conversation. Slack also offers video and audio calls, similar to Microsoft’s Teams app.
Asana has a traditional project management focus, where you list out tasks to assign to team members by a certain date. You can set up different projects and attach files to tasks. Team members tag each other in comments so they can collaborate effectively.
Asana even offers an integration capability for Slack, because some teams find it more helpful to use both. They like the project management features of Asana combined with the communication features of Slack.
Asana vs Slack at a glance
When assessing the features of Asana vs Slack, there is some overlap in their collaboration features. Both tools let teams share documents, communicate with each other, and keep track of files.

Slack is primarily a messaging tool to organize communication around certain topics. You can create different “channels” for teams to focus their conversations and work on various projects. Each channel holds a space for files relevant to the conversation. Slack also offers video and audio calls, similar to Microsoft’s Teams app.
Asana has a traditional project management focus, where you list out tasks to assign to team members by a certain date. You can set up different projects and attach files to tasks. Team members tag each other in comments so they can collaborate effectively.
Asana even offers an integration capability for Slack, because some teams find it more helpful to use both. They like the project management features of Asana combined with the communication features of Slack.

Both apps offer a free trial (and a “free forever” option) so you can get a feel for them, and Asana even has a “free forever” option. Keep reading for a deeper comparison of the key features of Asana vs Slack.
Asana vs Slack: Task management functions
Asana and Slack both promise to improve your team’s workflow processes. Asana takes care of all those sticky note to-do’s piling up on your desk while Slack organizes communications into channels or threads.
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To start on Asana, you’d create a project, add tasks, and then assign due dates and team members to each task. On Slack, you’d create a channel, add members to the channel, and then let members collaborate with each other to share files.
Instead of assigning tasks to team members in Slack, you would tag or mention a team member to make them aware of something that needs their attention.
Asana focuses on timelines, deadlines, and project progress. It does not have the same messaging/chat focus as Slack. When you open Asana, you’ll see your dashboard of projects on the lefthand side, and then an at-a-glance view of tasks that are near due for each project. You can organize projects to whichever view you prefer, from boards to Gantt charts.
To manage workflows and task processing, Asana lets you customize how you and your team work with each other. It enables you to collaborate together by creating a plan, identifying needed steps, and eliminating threats or risks to your projects.
Asana also allows different teams (ie. sales and marketing) to work together on a product launch or upcoming campaign. Asana categorizes its workflows as “views,” so you can toggle back and forth to see your progress in different ways.
On the other hand, Slack uses its channels to let people collaborate. Slack focuses on ensuring that communications don’t get lost or buried the way they would in a traditional email system. When you open it, you’ll see a list of your conversations and channels on the left-hand side.
When you click on each one, it will open the conversation between team members. Within the conversation are the files relevant to that team’s chat, so if you need to access a file you’ll need to scroll up in the chat to it or search for it in the search bar at the top.
How your channels are organized is up to you. Some teams do a channel by department, others do it by project, and some do a mix of both. Most teams even have a non-work/just-for-fun channel where non-work conversations can happen to keep the workday fun and light.
Integration options for Asana vs Slack
As far as integration capabilities are concerned, Slack wins. It has more than 2,400 integrations so it’s highly likely you’ll be able to work all your apps into your Slack account.
Asana on the other hand offers more than 100 integrations as well as its own API, including everything from Dropbox, Adobe, and Slack to Mailchimp and Zapier. For project managers who just need “the basics,” Asana will likely be a great fit.
To start on Asana, you’d create a project, add tasks, and then assign due dates and team members to each task. On Slack, you’d create a channel, add members to the channel, and then let members collaborate with each other to share files.
Instead of assigning tasks to team members in Slack, you would tag or mention a team member to make them aware of something that needs their attention.
Asana focuses on timelines, deadlines, and project progress. It does not have the same messaging/chat focus as Slack. When you open Asana, you’ll see your dashboard of projects on the lefthand side, and then an at-a-glance view of tasks that are near due for each project. You can organize projects to whichever view you prefer, from boards to Gantt charts.

To manage workflows and task processing, Asana lets you customize how you and your team work with each other. It enables you to collaborate together by creating a plan, identifying needed steps, and eliminating threats or risks to your projects.
Asana also allows different teams (ie. sales and marketing) to work together on a product launch or upcoming campaign. Asana categorizes its workflows as “views,” so you can toggle back and forth to see your progress in different ways.
On the other hand, Slack uses its channels to let people collaborate. Slack focuses on ensuring that communications don’t get lost or buried the way they would in a traditional email system. When you open it, you’ll see a list of your conversations and channels on the left-hand side.
When you click on each one, it will open the conversation between team members. Within the conversation are the files relevant to that team’s chat, so if you need to access a file you’ll need to scroll up in the chat to it or search for it in the search bar at the top.
How your channels are organized is up to you. Some teams do a channel by department, others do it by project, and some do a mix of both. Most teams even have a non-work/just-for-fun channel where non-work conversations can happen to keep the workday fun and light.
Integration options for Asana vs Slack
As far as integration capabilities are concerned, Slack wins. It has more than 2,400 integrations so it’s highly likely you’ll be able to work all your apps into your Slack account.
Asana on the other hand offers more than 100 integrations as well as its own API, including everything from Dropbox, Adobe, and Slack to Mailchimp and Zapier. For project managers who just need “the basics,” Asana will likely be a great fit.

Pricing tiers for Asana vs Slack
Asana is a little bit more expensive per user, but both Asana and Slack have free trials that you can sign up for. They also both offer an always-free plan, but it will have limited capabilities compared to paid subscriptions. Like most other subscription models for management apps, their pricing tiers are scalable based on users per month.
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Asana’s free version works for teams of 15 people or less; Slack’s free version allows access to the latest 10,000 messages from your team.
So in a way, pricing is a bit like comparing apples to oranges, but the idea is the same. The more you pay, the more storage, features, and integrations you get.
You won’t get access to all the features, but it at least gives you the basics if you’re on a small budget or just have simple projects. Both apps offer discounts for yearly subscriptions.
Slack’s paid pricing plans start at $6.67/user/month and Asana’s start at $10.99/user/month. The paid plans for Asana include access to its new Workflow Builder, which helps you create automated processes to coordinate your teams.
Both Slack and Asana have enterprise pricing options for larger organizations that need a more custom option.
Final thoughts
For Asana vs Slack, they’re built for different purposes. Asana is going to give you everything you need for the tried-and-true, classic project management system. Slack is made to help teams communicate and keep track of written communication––kind of like a new and improved email function.
If your team already uses Outlook or Gmail, and it just needs to keep track of projects, Asana will probably be your best bet. If you are looking to overhaul your communication in addition to your project management processes, then you may want both Asana and Slack.