Asana alternatives for small teams: five tools compared
YouGile, Kaiten, Weeek, Bitrix24 and Tydy instead of Asana: free plans, pricing models, Asana import and how each works with Telegram. Which alternative fits which team, with facts from official sites.
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Why teams look for Asana alternatives
Asana is a strong, mature tool: list, board and calendar views, timeline and Gantt, automations, goals and portfolios. Teams rarely leave because it works badly. They leave because the terms stop fitting.
According to Asana's pricing page on Oct 27, 2026, the free Personal plan covers 2 users. Starter costs $10.99 per user per month billed annually, or $13.49 billed monthly. Advanced is $24.99 and $30.49. Those are the US dollar prices served by asana.com; from Europe the same page shows euros: Personal €0, Starter €10.99 and Advanced €24.99 per user per month billed yearly, with Enterprise priced through sales. For a team of six, that is already a visible line in the budget.
The third reason is quieter but common. Asana works best when tasks are created inside Asana. If clients and teammates agree on work in Telegram, someone has to copy those agreements into cards. The more chats you have, the more copying there is.
What to carry over from Asana into your requirements
Before comparing tools, write down what your team actually used in Asana. Five questions are usually enough.
- Views. Do you only need a list and a board, or do projects depend on a timeline and Gantt?
- Team size and guests. How many people work in the tool every day, and how many only look? On Asana Starter, guests are free and unlimited.
- Pricing model. Per user, per organization or per workspace — this changes the total more than the headline number.
- Migration. Do you need an automatic import from Asana, or is it easier to start fresh and move only open tasks?
- Where tasks come from. A form, an email, a meeting — or a messenger conversation.
The last question often decides the choice. Below are five alternatives and how each one answers these questions.
Five Asana alternatives for small teams
YouGile: free for the first 10 users
YouGile is a cloud project management tool with a built-in team messenger. Its English pricing page lists a Free plan for up to 10 users with all features. From the 11th user, the cloud plan is 594 rubles per user per month, and a self-hosted version is 995 rubles.
YouGile connects to Telegram through an extension that the company admin turns on. You create your own bot via BotFather, send it a task name and choose the project, board and column. A separate extension lets a group chat create tasks with /task.
Kaiten: modules and import from Asana
Kaiten is a Russian-language tool with no English site, built from modules such as Kanban, Scrum, automations, time tracking and service desk. The Free plan (0 rubles) covers up to 5 users, 3 spaces, 5 boards and 5 guests, with email and Telegram integrations included. Standard starts at 430 rubles per user per month with 36 months prepaid; the base price is 580 rubles per license, with 2 modules included. Business starts at 580 rubles per user per month, and Corporation pricing is on request.
For a move from Asana, Kaiten's Asana comparison page lists import of data and boards from Asana. In Telegram, @KaitenBot sends personal and group notifications and creates a card from a message you send to the bot.
Weeek: tasks, knowledge base and CRM
Weeek combines tasks, a knowledge base and a CRM; its site is in Russian. The Start plan is free for teams of up to 5 people, with up to 7 projects and 5 boards in each. Plus starts at 199 rubles per person per month for up to 10 people, Pro at 399 rubles with no member limit, and Business at 450 rubles. Annual billing saves 20%.
Weeek's pricing page lists import from Trello, Jira, Asana, ClickUp and Notion. Its Telegram, VK and Slack integrations deliver Weeek notifications to the messenger.
Bitrix24: tasks next to CRM
Bitrix24 is more than a task tracker: chat, CRM, drive, boards, a contact center and sites come in one plan, at a flat rate per organization. Pricing depends on the region. On Oct 27, 2026, the page we were served (bitrix24.eu) listed Free as 100% free for 1–2 users, Basic for 5 users at 49 € per month billed annually (69 € monthly), Standard for 50 users at 99 € (144 €) Professional for 100 users at 199 € (289 €) and Enterprise for 250 users at 399 € (579 €). The Russian site lists a free plan with no user limit and prices in rubles.
Telegram connects to Bitrix24 as a contact center channel: the company creates its own bot, clients write to it, and the conversation lands in the Bitrix24 chat and the client's record. A task from a message is then created inside Bitrix24, from the message menu.
Tydy: tasks from Telegram conversations
Tydy answers a different question — not "where do we store tasks" but "where do they come from". It connects to the Telegram groups, topics and chats you choose and proposes a task when work appears in the conversation. Several messages from one person are read as one request, open and similar tasks are checked first, and a follow-up a few hours later updates the same task instead of creating a second one.
Inside, you get what you expect from a tracker: projects, a Kanban board with your own columns, labels, priorities, assignees and due dates, Owner to Guest roles and private projects. Screenshots and transcribed voice notes stay in the task next to the original conversation. When the AI is not sure, the change waits in the Inbox, where you accept, edit or ignore it.
Pricing: Free is RUB 0 for up to 2 members and 3 projects, with 50 AI actions per month. Pro is RUB 990 per month for up to 5 members, Team is RUB 2,990 per month for up to 15. Each workspace has its own subscription, members do not pay separately, and payment is in rubles via YooKassa.
A good Asana alternative is not a copy of its interface. It is a tool where the task appears where the work was actually agreed.
Asana alternatives compared
Data from official pricing pages and help centers as of Oct 27, 2026. "Not stated" means the pages we checked do not mention it, not that the feature does not exist.
| Asana | YouGile | Kaiten | Weeek | Bitrix24 | Tydy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Personal: 2 users | Up to 10 users | Up to 5 users and 5 guests | Start: up to 5 people | bitrix24.eu: 1–2 users; Russian site: no user limit | Free: up to 2 members, 3 projects |
| Entry paid plan | Starter $10.99 (€10.99 in Europe) per user per month, billed annually | 594 rubles per user per month from the 11th user | Standard from 430 rubles per user (base 580) | Plus from 199 rubles per person per month | Basic 49 € per month for 5 users, billed annually (EU) | Pro RUB 990 per month, up to 5 members |
| Pricing model | Per user, USD or EUR | Per user | Per license, plus modules | Per person | Flat rate per organization | Per workspace |
| Import from Asana | — | Not stated | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Not described |
| Telegram | Not stated on the pricing page | Extension with your own BotFather bot | @KaitenBot: notifications and cards | Notifications | Contact center channel for client chats | Connected groups and topics; personal chats via Telegram Business in early access |
| How a chat becomes a task | Not stated | Task name to the bot, or /task in a group | Text to the bot, then pick board and column | Not stated | Manually, from a message in the Bitrix24 chat | AI builds it from ordinary messages; a person reviews uncertain changes |
| Also inside | Timeline, Gantt, goals, portfolios | Team messenger | Scrum, time tracking, service desk | Knowledge base, CRM | CRM, drive, sites, contact center | Kanban, AI Inbox, MCP for AI agents |
Moving from Asana to Tydy when your team lives in Telegram
Tydy's pages do not describe an automatic import from Asana. You can still start the move where work appears today, not with the archive.
Create an account. No card is required, and on the Free plan you can connect Telegram right away.
Open the bot in a private chat from the link in Tydy and press Start. This links the workspace to your Telegram.
Add the bot to your work group as an admin and send
/connectwith a one-time code. One code is one chat; a forum group needs a single/connect. It usually takes about two minutes.Move only the open tasks of current projects from Asana by hand. Closed work can stay in Asana as an archive.
Keep writing in the chat as usual. Tydy turns new requests and follow-ups into tasks and puts uncertain changes in the AI Inbox for review.
Which Asana alternative to choose
A classic tracker instead of Asana
- Tasks are created inside the tool: at planning meetings, from briefs and plans.
- You need Scrum, time tracking or a knowledge base — look at Kaiten and Weeek.
- Your team has up to 10 people and you want it free — YouGile.
- Tasks are tied to deals and a client base — Bitrix24.
- You need to bring your Asana history — Kaiten and Weeek list an import.
When Tydy is worth a look
- Clients and teammates agree on work in Telegram, not in a tracker.
- One request arrives as several messages, a screenshot and a voice note.
- Follow-ups come later and must land in the same task.
- Someone on the team copies the chat onto the board every evening.
- You do not want clients to sign up for yet another tool.
Agencies and freelancers whose tasks come from client chats may find the pages for agencies and for freelancers useful. If you are also weighing Trello, Notion or Jira, see Tydy vs Trello, Notion and Jira.
FAQ
What is the best Asana alternative for a small team?
It depends on where tasks come from. If they are created inside a tracker, look at YouGile (free for up to 10 users), Kaiten or Weeek (free for up to 5). If tasks come from Telegram conversations, look at Tydy, which builds tasks from connected chats.
Is there a free Asana alternative?
Yes. As of Oct 27, 2026, YouGile is free for up to 10 users, Kaiten and Weeek have free plans for up to 5, Bitrix24 has a free plan (1–2 users on bitrix24.eu), and Tydy has a Free plan for up to 2 members and 3 projects.
Can I import my tasks from Asana?
Kaiten and Weeek list import from Asana on their official pages. Tydy does not describe an automatic import, so the simplest path is to move open tasks by hand and let new ones come from Telegram.
How much does Asana cost?
According to Asana's pricing page on Oct 27, 2026: Personal is free for 2 users, Starter is $10.99 per user per month billed annually ($13.49 monthly), and Advanced is $24.99 ($30.49 monthly). From Europe the page shows euros: Starter €10.99 and Advanced €24.99 billed yearly; Enterprise via sales.
How is Tydy different from Asana?
In Asana, a person creates the task inside the tool. Tydy connects to your Telegram work chats and proposes the task from the conversation: several messages, a screenshot and a voice note become one task, and a follow-up updates it. Uncertain changes wait for review in the AI Inbox.
Do clients need to sign up for Tydy?
No. Clients keep writing in the same Telegram chat. The bot is in the group, because otherwise Telegram does not deliver messages, and the team sees tasks, the board and history in Tydy.
