Asana vs Motion Comparison 2026
Asana tracks who owes what by when across list, board, timeline and calendar views, free forever for up to two collaborators. Motion takes a task list and writes it straight into calendar slots, replanning the day whenever something slips, for $19 a seat a month billed annually with no free plan at all. Annualized, Asana's Starter tier at $131.88 a year per user undercuts Motion's $228. The real fork is what each one does with a task: Asana tracks it, Motion schedules it.
At a glance
- Asana starts cheaper, at $10.99.
- Only Asana has a free tier.
Side by side
Asana | Motion | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $10.99 | From $29 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Free trial, then paid |
| Free tier (they differ) | Yes | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes |
Asana
Task and project tracking for small teams
Asana is a work tracker built around who owes what by when, with list, board, timeline and calendar views of the same tasks. For a creator with an editor, a designer and a publishing schedule, it replaces the group chat where deadlines go to die. The free plan caps collaborators at two, which is the line most small teams cross first.
Our note
The free plan stops at two collaborators, which is the number to check before anything else. ClickUp and Airtable both give a small team more room for nothing, so Asana starts earning its price at the third seat rather than the first.
Motion
Builds the day's schedule from the task list
Motion takes a list of tasks with deadlines and durations and writes them into the calendar itself, then rewrites the plan every time a meeting lands or something slips. The pitch is that deciding what to do next is the work you keep redoing, so a tool should do it. It suits somebody juggling a shoot schedule, client deliverables and a publishing calendar in one head. It is priced per seat and there is no free plan, only a trial.
Only on this side
Why people weigh these two
- Motion instead of Asana
- Motion at $29 builds the day's schedule from the task list itself, so the plan updates when the work slips rather than waiting to be redrawn.
- Asana instead of Motion
- Asana tracks deadlines and dependencies for a team, from $10.99 with a free tier, without writing the day's calendar for you automatically.
Which one should you pick
Pick Asana if you run a small team with a repeating publishing process: an editor, a designer, a schedule. The free plan tracks unlimited tasks for up to two collaborators at no cost, and Starter at $10.99 a user a month billed annually stays cheaper than Motion at every seat count. A solo creator with a to-do list does not need this much process yet.
Pick Motion if deciding what to do next, not tracking that it is due, is what eats your day. It writes tasks into real calendar slots and replans the week when a meeting lands, which Asana does not do. There is no free plan, only an unstated trial, and Pro runs $19 a seat a month billed annually or $29 month to month, doubling for every person added since everything is priced per seat.
Common questions
- Is Asana cheaper than Motion?
- Yes, at every tier that matters. Asana's free plan covers two collaborators for nothing, and Starter is $10.99 a user a month billed annually, about $131.88 a year. Motion has no free plan and starts at $19 a seat a month billed annually, about $228 a year, or $29 month to month.
- Does Motion have a free plan like Asana does?
- No. Motion offers only a trial of unstated length, then charges per seat with no free tier. Asana's Personal plan is free forever for up to two collaborators with unlimited tasks, which is the bigger practical difference for a two-person team deciding between them.
- What does Motion do that Asana does not?
- Motion writes tasks with a deadline and duration directly into calendar slots, then rewrites the plan when a meeting lands or something slips. Asana shows the same tasks across list, board, timeline and calendar views but leaves the scheduling decision to a person.
- Does adding a second person cost more on one than the other?
- On Motion, yes, sharply: every seat is billed separately, so a second person doubles the bill before any feature changes. Asana's free plan already covers two collaborators at no cost, and Starter is priced per user at $10.99 a month, a smaller jump.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.