Asana vs Linear: Which Is Better in 2026?
Asana is a work-management tool built around tasks, projects and the people responsible for them. Linear is an issue tracker for software product teams, known mostly for being fast. Asana’s strength is keeping cross-functional work visible: who owns what, by when, and how projects add up to goals; Linear’s is giving engineers and product managers a quick, uncluttered place to plan and ship.
01Pricing
Asana: the Starter plan costs $10.99/user/mo, about $110 a month for a team of ten. Linear: the Basic plan costs $10/user/mo, about $100 a month for a team of ten. At ten people Linear is cheaper by about $10 a month, or $119 a year. Asana has a free plan (up to 2 users). Linear has a free plan (unlimited members, capped at 250 issues).
| Team size | Asana | Linear |
|---|---|---|
| 5 users | $55 | $50 |
| 10 users | $110 | $100 |
| 25 users | $275 | $250 |
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Limits | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Up to 2 users; Unlimited tasks and projects; 100MB max per file | |
| Starter | $10.99/user | $13.49/user | Timeline and Gantt views; Reporting dashboards; Unlimited automations; Forms with custom fields | |
| Advanced | $24.99/user | $30.49/user | Unlimited portfolios; Goals and resource management; Approvals and proofing; Forms branching and customization | |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | SAML authentication; User provisioning (SCIM); Capacity planning; Service accounts | |
| Enterprise+ | Custom | Custom | SIEM integration; Data residency; Audit logs |
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Limits | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 250 issues; 2 teams; Unlimited members; 10MB file uploads | |
| Basic | $10/user | n/a | 5 teams | Unlimited issues; 5 teams; Unlimited file uploads; Admin roles |
| Business | $16/user | n/a | Unlimited teams; Private teams and guests; Triage Intelligence; Code Intelligence | |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Annual billing only | SAML and SCIM; Invoice/PO billing; Enterprise-grade security; Priority support |
Prices are per month on annual billing. † marks prices taken from the vendor’s documentation or page data instead of its visible pricing page. Asana pricing and Linear pricing have the full detail.
02The Two Tools
Asana
Asana is a work-management tool built around tasks, projects and the people responsible for them. The same project can be viewed as a list, a board, a timeline or a calendar, and portfolios and goals roll individual projects up for managers. It is polished and structured, which is why marketing and operations teams tend to adopt it without much argument.
- Best at
- Keeping cross-functional work visible: who owns what, by when, and how projects add up to goals.
- Falls short
- It charges per seat for nearly everything that makes it good, and it has never been a comfortable home for software teams that want sprints and issue tracking.
Linear
Linear is an issue tracker for software product teams, known mostly for being fast. Keyboard shortcuts drive everything, cycles replace sprints, and projects and roadmaps sit on top of the issue list. It has firm opinions about how product development should run and offers little room to argue.
- Best at
- Giving engineers and product managers a quick, uncluttered place to plan and ship.
- Falls short
- It is built for software teams, so marketing, operations and client work fit it badly, and its reporting is lighter than Jira’s.
03Which Fits Your Situation
| If you are | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small Business | Asana | Gives a growing company structure without needing an administrator, at a per-seat price that adds up. |
| Enterprise | Asana | Portfolios and goals connect team projects to company objectives, and adoption outside engineering is strong. |
| Freelancers | Asana | Workable on the free plan for the smallest teams; the paid tiers are priced for companies. |
| Startups | Linear | The default for software startups that want to plan and ship without ceremony. |
| Remote Teams | Asana | Clear ownership and due dates on every task reduce the need to ask who is doing what. |
04Verdict
Choose Asana if you want structure that non-technical teams will actually keep up to date. Choose Linear if you are a software team that values speed and focus over configurability.
05FAQ
Is Asana or Linear cheaper?
For a team of ten, Asana comes to about $110 a month and Linear to about $100. Prices are per month on annual billing.
Do Asana and Linear have free plans?
Asana has a free plan (up to 2 users). Linear has a free plan (unlimited members, capped at 250 issues).
Which is easier to learn, Asana or Linear?
There is little between them: both are moderately involved to set up.
Which is better for freelancers, Asana or Linear?
Asana. Workable on the free plan for the smallest teams; the paid tiers are priced for companies.