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Asana vs Microsoft Project Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.9
Asana improved productivity, organized tasks reducing meetings, led to business growth, time savings, and was valued despite cost.
Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft Project Server offers significant ROI through time savings, effective management, and enhanced visibility, though assessment varies.
However, due to its pricing, I need to be careful about adding each user and feature.
Microsoft Project provides significant return on investment through time savings, enhanced visibility, real-time reporting, and risk mitigation for projects.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.8
Users find Asana's support responsive and helpful, though some experience slower responses and community engagement limitations.
Sentiment score
6.0
Microsoft Project Server support is satisfactory but issues include slow resolution, complex documentation, and varying service quality by plan.
The technical support is of high quality.
Their support tends to decline when not supporting cloud solutions.
It's challenging to navigate, often making it necessary to search for solutions externally.
Help forums and online resources like YouTube are helpful.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Asana is scalable for small to medium businesses, but some find it costly and challenging for larger, complex projects.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Project Server is scalable for various organization sizes, but older versions and costs may hinder adoption and navigation.
The desktop version does not have scalability.
Microsoft Project Server is fully scalable and is widely used in many industries.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Asana is stable and reliable with minimal downtime, rated highly for performance, despite occasional maintenance interruptions.
Sentiment score
7.3
Microsoft Project Server is stable, but performance varies with Nintex workflows, configuration, version, and SharePoint integration issues.
Asana is quite stable; it is a tool I can trust.
I have never had to reach out to their support because the product works as expected.
 

Room For Improvement

Asana needs UI simplification, enhanced integrations, improved workflows, customizable dashboards, and better training resources for effective onboarding.
Microsoft Project Server needs improvements in integration, UI, flexibility, automation, agile support, deployment, and user training resources.
It would be easier if I could assign tasks directly from my email without needing to open Asana.
Exporting data from Microsoft Project, especially Gantt charts, is overly complex and not user-friendly.
The lack of collaboration capabilities on the desktop version, unlike the cloud version, is a limitation.
Microsoft has become increasingly expensive, and there seems to be a push towards cloud solutions which can be challenging for some.
 

Setup Cost

Asana offers accessible pricing, with some concerns about user and feature costs, considered fair with no hidden charges.
Microsoft Project Server offers flexible licensing, with varying costs based on deployment type, user count, and enterprise plans.
To add one user is expensive, which makes me cautious about upgrading or adding more users.
Microsoft Project Server is on the expensive side due to high licensing costs.
Microsoft's products are expensive for individuals.
Considering the infrastructure commitments to SharePoint and SQL, the implementation costs are low if already set up.
 

Valuable Features

Asana enhances team productivity with task management, real-time updates, customization, and user-friendly features adaptable for various skill levels.
Microsoft Project Server enhances project management with resource management, scheduling, collaboration, dashboards, and integration, simplifying navigation with familiar tools.
Asana's automation allows me to automate deadlines and send notifications to the right people about approaching deadlines.
This setup allows for comprehensive reporting and management across multiple projects and portfolios.
The Gantt chart is also a very powerful tool for a visual presentation of sequences, critical paths, and execution processes, which simplifies comprehension for users.
The dashboards are amazing for data crunching and provide a project focus with upcoming predictions, including burn-up and burn-down charts.
 

Categories and Ranking

Asana
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Project Management Software (4th)
Microsoft Project Server
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Project Portfolio Management (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

Ian Herzing - PeerSpot reviewer
Stands out with portfolios, easy setup, and real-time information, but needs big improvement when it comes to workflows, automation, and dashboards
Their workflows and automation could use a big improvement. I don't even know if they have anything in that regard right now. I would really love to see a way where you can send custom alerts based on a task's completion or status change or an approval coming through. I would love to see a way to get some low-code functionality into Asana because right now, that is a big miss. On top of that, their dashboards are incredibly lacking. The way the widgets connect to the projects, they don't pull the data in the way that I really want them to. When I build a dashboard in Asana versus Smartsheet, I can't pull in data via a custom text field in Asana, but in Smartsheet, I can. That's a huge advantage because sometimes, you just want to report on really niche tasks or a launch date in a specific project or a collection of projects, and Smartsheet's dashboard features will let you do that, but Asana won't. So, their dashboards are lacking, and the workflows are pretty below where the market is right now. I would love to see a complete revamp of how they do dashboards right now. Dashboards are really poor. They don't display information well, and they don't look good. They don't pull in data in an advanced search kind of way. They are very simplistic. If you're a traditional project manager and you're PMP certified and you understand project management, you're going to be very frustrated with Asana's dashboards because they do not speak the language of project management. That's because of the way they are set up. So, I would like to see that completely revamped. It's just not an industry standard.
Sean Achim - PeerSpot reviewer
Unlock comprehensive reporting and management with robust data extraction
The major advantage for me in using Microsoft Project Server is the SQL Server component. Using Power BI and SQL Server, I can extract a lot more data. The combination of Microsoft Project with Project Server and SharePoint provides a perfect solution for me. This setup allows for comprehensive reporting and management across multiple projects and portfolios.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Project Portfolio Management solutions are best for your needs.
847,862 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
56%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Manufacturing Company
3%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Asana?
The solution's user interface is very good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Asana?
The pricing of Asana is slightly high. To add one user is expensive, which makes me cautious about upgrading or adding more users.
What needs improvement with Asana?
The integration with email should be more seamless. When I'm writing an email and want to tag someone in Asana for a task, the process should be smoother. It would be easier if I could assign tasks...
What do you like most about Microsoft Project Server?
The ability to track a project's progress using Microsoft Project Server is the most valuable aspect. It depends, especially when managing multiple projects.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Project Server?
The pricing model is currently a challenge since it seems aligned to push users cloud-based. Considering the infrastructure commitments to SharePoint and SQL, the implementation costs are low if al...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Project Server?
I am not convinced that the pricing model is the right one. Microsoft has become increasingly expensive, and there seems to be a push towards cloud solutions which can be challenging for some. Addi...
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Project Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Uber, Vodaphone, NASA, Spotify, Lyft, Baggu, Udacity, Patreon, Flipboard, Dropbox, Intel, Samsung, Airbnb, SFMoma, Hubspot, Trivago
Magnachip, Gwinnett County Schools, CLEAResult, Medbit Oy, Intelbras S.A., ETS, CORE Construction, Keller Foundations
Find out what your peers are saying about Asana vs. Microsoft Project Server and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
847,862 professionals have used our research since 2012.