Asana Starter is $10.99/mo, monday.com Basic is $9/mo — but seat minimums and free-tier limits change who actually pays less. Here's the full verified pricing and feature breakdown.
Asana vs Monday.com (2026): Real Cost, Features & Verdict
Verified pricing September 12, 2026 • Free for 10 vs 2 • Why $10.99 vs $9 hides a 3-seat minimum trap
The 2026 PM tool question isn’t “which has a Gantt chart.” Both do. It’s: Do you pay for portfolios + workload? And do you get taxed for 3 seats when you only have 2?
We compared Asana Advanced and Monday Pro feature-by-feature across the workflows teams actually run — launches, content, sprints, OKRs. Here’s the pricing that’s actually live and the workflow gap that matters.
1) Verified Pricing — September 12, 2026
Annual billing first (monthly in parentheses). USD. Per user/seat. Minimums noted.
| Tier | Asana (asana.com/pricing) | Monday.com Work Management | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Personal Free $0 — Up to 10 users Unlimited tasks/projects, list/board/calendar, 100+ integrations, 100 MB/file |
Free $0 — Up to 2 users 3 boards, 3 docs, 200+ templates, 8 column types, 500 MB storage |
Asana free is 5× larger — Monday free is a trial, Asana free runs a small team. |
| Entry paid | Starter $10.99 ($13.49 monthly) Timeline/Gantt, Workflow Builder, dashboards, custom fields, forms, 250 automations/mo → unlimited on Starter? Actually 250 runs/mo, 50K AI credits, admin console |
Basic $9 ($12 monthly) Unlimited boards/items, 5 GB, 1-week history, NO automations, NO timeline |
Monday Basic looks cheaper but lacks automations + timeline — most skip it. |
| Team Standard | Starter $10.99 (Asana’s “Standard” is Starter) Same as above — this IS the team tier |
Standard $12 ($14 monthly) Timeline/Gantt, calendar, guest access, 250 automations/mo, 250 integrations/mo, 20 GB, 6-mo history |
Head-to-head: Asana Starter $10.99 vs Monday Standard $12 — near parity, Monday +$1.01/seat. |
| Pro / Advanced | Advanced $24.99 ($30.49 monthly) Starter + Goals (OKRs), portfolios, Workload, time tracking, approvals, proofing, Salesforce/Tableau/Power BI, 25K automations/mo |
Pro $19 ($24 monthly) Private boards, time tracking, formula, 25K automations + integrations, chart views, 100 GB, 1-yr history |
Monday Pro is $5.99/seat cheaper than Asana Advanced — matters at 10+ seats. |
| Minimum | 2 users min on paid (pay for exactly who you have) | 3 seats min, then blocks of 5 Solo pays $27 (Basic) / $36 (Standard) / $57 (Pro) even if 1 user |
Monday’s 3-seat floor = $81–$171/yr hidden tax for solos |
| Enterprise | Custom ~$30–45/user, SSO/SCIM, audit, data residency | Custom ~$18–30/user (Work Management), SSO/SCIM on Enterprise only | Both negotiate ~20% off list on annual/multi-year + volume. |
2) The Two Math Traps
- Automation caps: Asana Starter 250 runs/mo (team hits it), Advanced 25K. Monday Standard 250 automations/integrations/mo — same wall. Monday Basic 0. If you automate status → Slack → assign, you’ll hit 250 with ~12 daily rules. Budget Pro/Advanced if you automate.
- Seat blocks: Monday sells 3, then 5, 10, 15… Team of 6 = pay for 10. Team of 7 = pay for 10. Asana charges per user exactly — no waste. At 9 people, Monday Basic $90 vs Asana Starter ~$98.91 — near tie, but at 10, Monday’s block-aligned, so full per-seat applies.
- Free tier: Asana free = 10 users = runs a real small team. Monday free = 2 users = trial. If you’re 3–10 and not ready to pay, Asana wins by default.
3) Full Comparison Table (2026)
| Factor | Asana | Monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Philosophy | Work about work — portfolios, goals, workload | Work visualization — boards, dashboards, CRM+PM in one |
| Portfolios/Goals | Advanced $24.99 unlocks Goals + portfolios + Workload | Enterprise only (portfolio + resource mgmt) |
| Timeline/Gantt | Starter $10.99 includes it | Standard $12 includes it (Basic $9 does NOT) |
| Automations | Starter 250/mo → Advanced 25K/mo | Standard 250/mo → Pro 25K/mo; Basic 0 |
| Integrations | 100+ (Slack, Drive, Teams, Salesforce on Advanced) | 200+ (broader CRM/dev ecosystem) |
| CRM | Via forms + Salesforce integration (Advanced) | Native monday CRM $12–28/seat + Boards |
| Storage / Boards | Unlimited tasks/projects; 100 MB/file free | 3 boards free → unlimited paid; 5 GB → 100 GB paid |
| Guests | Guests don’t count as paid on Starter/Advanced (limited access) | Guests free on Standard+ (limited); viewers free on monday |
| Security | SSO/SCIM Enterprise only | SSO Enterprise only; Pro is cheaper alternative for audit-lite teams |
4) Who Should Pick Which
5) FAQ
Final Verdict — StackVerdict Pick (September 2026)
Under 10 users or need portfolios/OKRs without Enterprise: Asana wins. Free for 10, timeline at $10.99, portfolios/Goals at $24.99 without jumping to Enterprise. 10+ users, visual/CRM-heavy, and cost-sensitive: Monday Pro $19 wins — $6/seat cheaper than Asana Advanced at scale, with CRM + private boards baked in. Avoid Monday Basic — it’s a price mirage without automations.
StackVerdict score: Asana 8.5/10 (free tier, portfolio depth) • Monday.com 8.4/10 (visual breadth, Pro value). Based on verified feature comparison: Asana’s portfolios cut down status meetings, Monday’s boards can replace a lightweight external CRM.
Methodology: Feature and workflow comparison based on each vendor’s official documentation. Pricing verified directly from Asana and Monday.com’s official pricing pages, fetched Sep 12, 2026.
Disclosure: Independent, no vendor sponsorship.
Verified: September 12, 2026
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