Plane vs Asana (2026)
A side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, licensing, and self-hosting.
Bottom line: choose Asana for the most polished, ready-made SaaS project management experience; choose Plane if you want a Linear-style UI you can self-host for free with no per-seat billing.
Asana's list, board, timeline, and calendar views are backed by mature reporting (Portfolios, Goals) and a huge integration marketplace, but the Advanced tier that unlocks that reporting runs $24.99/user/month with a two-seat minimum, and there's no self-hosting option at all — every task lives on Asana's cloud.
Plane mirrors Linear's fast, keyboard-first interface, organizing work into issues, cycles (sprints), and modules, and its Community edition is free to self-host via a single Docker Compose command with no user cap. The AGPL-3.0 license requires publishing modifications if you run a modified, network-served fork, and a handful of enterprise features like SAML SSO are reserved for the paid cloud/enterprise tiers.
For teams that want a turnkey SaaS product with deep reporting and don't mind per-seat cost, Asana remains the safer default. For teams that want Linear-grade speed without a recurring per-seat bill, Plane is the strongest self-hosted alternative available today.
Plane
Open-source project management platform in the style of Linear, Jira, and Asana.
Pros
- Fast, modern UI that mirrors Linear's keyboard-driven workflow
- Free self-hosted Community edition with no user cap
- Active development with 50k+ GitHub stars and frequent releases
Cons
- AGPL-3.0 core means any modified, network-served fork must publish its source
- Some enterprise features (SAML SSO, advanced admin) are cloud/paid-only
Asana
Cloud project management for tracking tasks, projects, and cross-team work.
Pros
- Polished, fast UI with a genuinely short learning curve
- Strong cross-project reporting via Portfolios and Goals
- Huge integration marketplace and mature mobile apps
Cons
- Per-seat pricing with a 2-seat minimum on paid tiers
- Advanced reporting and portfolios are gated behind the $24.99/mo Advanced tier
Plane vs Asana: spec comparison
| Spec | Plane | Asana |
|---|---|---|
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Starting price | Free / self-host | from $11/mo |
| Pricing model | open-core | freemium |
| Language | TypeScript | — |
| Platforms | web, self-hosted, docker | web, ios, android, desktop |
| Founded | 2022 | 2008 |
| GitHub stars | 53,600 | — |
FAQ
Plane vs Asana: which is better?
Neither is universally better. Plane (Free / self-host) suits Teams that want Linear's speed and UX but need to self-host or avoid per-seat pricing.; Asana (from $11/mo) suits Teams that want a polished, low-friction PM tool and don't mind per-seat SaaS billing.. The spec table above breaks down the differences.
Is Plane or Asana cheaper?
Plane starts lower at Free / self-host vs from $11/mo.