Asana vs Jira: 5 Critical Differences

Asana is a popular Project Management software tool for teams across an organization. It works on a Cloud-based technology and provides a fast and reliable solution for businesses that wish to simplify their Project and Task Management. Moreover, you can extend its capabilities by integrating it with other applications and platforms like Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, etc.

Jira is a Project Management software and was designed for Software Teams. It contains efficient features that play a key role in the Agile Software Development model. Moreover, it supports continuous releases of products and offers intuitive customer interaction. Jira’s hardcore focus on Agile Development makes it a great choice for small teams looking for an advanced Project Management tool for their Software Development work.

Businesses often can’t decide which one of these tools will suit their needs better. This article will provide you with a detailed discussion on this Asana vs Jira dilemma. It will introduce you to Asana and Jira along with their key features. Then it will take you through 5 major parameters using which you can conclude the Asana vs Jira discussion. Furthermore, the article will explain the use cases of Jira and Asana and will offer alternatives for these 2 tools. Read along to understand these popular Project Management tools better and choose what’s best for you!

Table of Contents

• Introduction to Asana
• Introduction to Jira
• Use Cases for Asana
• Use Cases for Jira
• Comparing Asana vs Jira
  • Asana vs Jira: Pricing
  • Asana vs Jira: Features
  • Asana vs Jira: Security & Privacy
  • Asana vs Jira: Integration
  • Asana vs Jira: Support
• Alternatives of Asana and Jira
• Conclusion

Introduction to Asana

Asana is a well-known online Project Management SaaS( Software-as-a-Service) application. It is a flexible software tool that allows businesses to track important projects and activities undertaken by different teams. Asana was built with the objective of helping teams of all sizes collaborate on various important projects and plans. 

It is fast, supports an innovative user interface, and provides a comfortable work experience. Furthermore, Asana’s user interface and categorized features make it easy to navigate and prioritize apps accordingly.

 All of these robust characteristics make it easy to understand why Asana attracts so many businesses. Asana offers both free and paid versions and is easily accessible directly from a Web Browser or Smartphone app. It is important to keep in mind that the main reason for Asana’s usefulness derives from its simplicity. Therefore, once you can overcome its learning curve, you will realize that Asana is intuitive and fun to use! 

Key Features of Asana

 The following features have made Asana so popular in today’s business world: 

• Customizable Dashboards: Asana offers Dashboards that you can tailor according to your need to track the progress of each project separately. Moreover, it can display the status of each project and support group chats. 
• Unique Views: In terms of Views, Asana is one of the best tools out there. It offers you a priority list along with automatic notifications and enables you to use strong filters while browsing. Also, you can utilize the famous Asana Calendar to prioritize Tasks that are more valuable or unsolved.
• Secure Storage: Asana understands that Projects and Meetings are confidential and so, it adheres to high-security protocols to protect them. Moreover, it seamlessly integrates with your software and allows connection with a wide variety of services and applications

To learn more about Asana, visit here.

Introduction to Jira

Jira is a Cloud-based, software tool, that is popular for its issue tracking and Team Management properties especially in the Agile Methodology model of Software Development. It is a subscription-based service that supports teams to achieve a common goal. Moreover, from the backlog and planning to product delivery, this tool enables you to track and improve the overall progress of your project. It simplifies the collaboration with various other tools and makes it easier to monitor and launch new software products.  

Jira’s version management capabilities allow projects to be tracked between versions and generate thorough progress and performance reports. Furthermore, it has a comprehensive bug-tracking suite throughout the software development lifecycle. Jira also provides predefined templates for all features and allows you to customize them according to the needs of your team and business.

Key Features of Jira

Jira offers the following features to its users:

• Security: Jira’s Bug Tracking software security settings allow access to certain Bugs only to teams that have permission to work on the Bug. Moreover, there is a security feature such as the Default Authorization Scheme. It is a security measure that is important while projects are teams. 
• Reports: Jira provides relevant information in an engaging format called Reports. Many Reports are available in Jira allowing you to gain insights into the project’s progress. These reports derive project statistics from the initial phase to the product delivery and maintenance.
• Project Control: You can keep track of the current project at any stage using the Jira Tracking Software. Jira uses JQL (a customized version of SQL) to filter and browse through issues using, multiple criteria. Furthermore, Jira’s drag and drop feature serves a hassle-free experience of creating sprints in the backlog.

To learn more about Jira, visit here.

Use Cases for Asana

Asana Project Management software is best suited for:

• Teams working on small product design projects that aim to enhance their collaboration and accountability.
• Users who are looking for excellent ease of use and navigation. Asana’s user interface and experience are virtually unparalleled.
• Non-IT squads which require no development work like, Marketing, Sales, etc.

Use Cases for Jira

Jira is a perfect fit for the following use cases:

• Businesses that work on Application development using the Agile Model. Since Jira was built with agile software teams in mind, so it’s working on Scrum methodologies, 
• Non-It Teams can also use Jira if Contracting and Freelancing work is not involved. Jira is slowly transforming into a general project management system that offers everything a Collaborating Team requires.
• This product is perfect for Software developers with teams of less than 10 people. This way you can use Jira at the lowest prices. 

Comparing Asana vs Jira

Asana and Jira both offer various features and have their unique benefits. This has given rise to huge confusion among business owners, as to which tool will fulfill their requirements better. The following 5 parameters are sufficient to help you solve the Asana vs Jira discussion:

• Asana vs Jira: Pricing
• Asana vs Jira: Features
• Asana vs Jira: Security & Privacy
• Asana vs Jira: Integration
• Asana vs Jira: Support

1) Asana vs Jira: Pricing

Asana’s services are available under 4 plans, Free, Premium, Business, and Enterprise ranging from $ 10.99 to $24.99 per month. You can customize the Enterprise subscription and its price depends on the services that you wish to use. The details of these plans are shown in the below image.

                                              Image Source: Self

Jira also offers the same 4 plans as Asana however at a lower price range. You can use Jira’s services for a fee in the range of $7-$14 per month. One advantage for small teams is that Jira allows fewer than 10 users to use most of its key features for free indefinitely. The details of Jira’s pricing plan is shown below:

                             Image Source: Self

Verdict: Int the Asana vs Jira discussion price plays the most important role. On paper, Jira does sound like the better option, however, the amount of services that Asana has to offer, justifies its price completely. Thus if you managing an early-stage Startup, go for Jira. It will save you cost and will be adequate for your tasks. Jira should be your choice if you want to scale your business or are already a huge firm.

2) Asana vs Jira: Features

Asana offers features that will suit general Project Management work. The platform provides a ton of features including various Project Templates, Tools to Create Schedules, and Production Status. Moreover, it can easily handle Traditional Tasks and CRMs. It is well suited for Traditional Software Development models as it offers limited Agile-based functionality.

Jira is a software tool that favors developers. However, Jira has an easy-to-use and intuitive interface thus making it suitable for non-tech savvy teams also. Its key features include Bug Tracking functionalities, Roadmaps, and Agile Tools like Scrum Boards, Agile Reports, etc. Moreover, it offers various Views such as List, Board, Issue Detail View, etc. To utilize Jira to its full potential you require slight modifications to its configuration. This comes naturally to developers which is the reason why Jira is considered developer-friendly.

Verdict: Asana and Jira both offer a rich feature-set with Asana having a slight edge due to the higher number of utilities that it provides. You can choose one of these tools based on your team’s work. For example, Asana will be a good choice for projects related to Marketing Campaigns, setting up interior designs, etc. Jira on the other hand would be a good fit in the IT and Development Teams.

3) Asana vs Jira: Security & Privacy

Asana contains strong security certificates and provides encryptions to all user data. Users can seamlessly export personal information, change passwords all under Asana’s two-factor authentication.

Jira also possesses all the certificates for exporting and importing data and also provides a mobile phone verification service. Similar to Asana, two-factor authentication (2FA) adds an extra level of security to this application.

Data stored with both Asana and Jira is protected by the following measures

• In-transit Data: TLS (Transport Layer Security)  protected
• At-rest Data: AES256 encryption protected 

Verdict: Both these tools use AWS (Amazon Web Services) as their data host. Thus your data in Asana and Jira is completely secure. The Privacy of your data is not guaranteed as Asana and Jira both collect and distribute your data to third-party applications. 

4) Asana vs Jira: Integrations

Asana supports 160+ integrations with tools like Slack, Adobe, Salesforce, etc. You can find almost all the necessary integrations in Asana and if you are still not satisfied, you always have the option of building your own custom scripts to link Asana with other tools.

Jira is more flexible when it comes to integrations. With 250+ add ons and integrations Jira is in a league of its own and has an upper hand in the Asana vs Atlassian (Jira) discussion.

Verdict: Jira wins in this comparison as the sheer number of add-ons surpasses Asana easily. However, Asana integrates with most of the common and well-known applications. So unless you are looking for something very specific, both of these tools can serve your requirements.

5) Asana vs Jira: Customer Service

Asana has an easy to understand documentation and it offers ticket-based customer support for small errors. Moreover, customer support is available in all plans including the free version. There is no telephonic service but Email contact is available. 

Jira also provides strong customer support in the form of a ticket-based structure. However, unlike Asana this facility is open to only customers with paid plans. Jira offers its own documentation but it can be difficult for you if you are not familiar with Agile terminology. Similar to Asana, Jira also does not offer telephonic communication.

Verdict: In terms of Customer Support, both Asana and Jira are almost at the same level. Still, in the Atlassian vs Asana discussion, you can consider Asana a better option due to its simple documentation.

That’s it! Now you have a better understanding of these 2 tools and you can answer the Asana vs Jira question depending on your requirements and the above discussion.

Alternatives for Asana and Jira

The Asana vs Jira discussion sometimes overshadows the limitations of these 2 tools. Asana and Jira both offer a ton of features and utilities related to Project Management. However, this creates a steep and confusing learning curve for you. Moreover, both of these tools are expensive and have member restrictions in their cheaper subscriptions. To overcome these drawbacks you can turn to the following alternatives:

• WorkZone
• Trello
• Basecamp
• Rally

Conclusion

This article introduced you to Asana and Jira Project Management tools and also explained their important features. It further compared Asana vs Jira using 5 parameters namely, Price, Features, Security, Integrations, and Customer Support. Furthermore, the article suggested the use cases of Asana and Jira. It also listed a few alternative Project Management tools that you can use instead of Asana and Jira. Now, since you have understood the Asana vs Jira comparison, you are ready for the next step. As organizations strive to innovate and manage their projects better, Data Analysis plays a crucial role. However, you need to create complex ETL scripts that will transfer your data from Asana and Jira to a suitable Data Warehouse

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Hevo Data, on the other hand, offers a No-code Data Pipeline that can automate your data transfer process, hence allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business like Analytics, Customer Management, etc. This platform allows you to transfer data from 100+ sources like Asana & Jira to Cloud-based Data Warehouses like Snowflake, Google BigQuery, Amazon Redshift, etc. It will provide you with a hassle-free experience and make your work life much easier.

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Share your views on the Asana vs Jira discussion in the comments section!