Asana vs Linear

Asana suits cross-functional teams that want approachable project coordination, with shared tasks, request forms, and portfolio visibility. Linear suits focused product-development teams that value fast interaction and a cohesive model for issues, projects, initiatives, and cycles.

Compare features See the tradeoffs

Asana

Best for cross-functional teams coordinating projects, requests, and goals

Advantage: Can create live search views across several projects using shared custom fields and other search criteria.
Advantage: Can compare workloads across project groups on Advanced. Broader workload and availability planning requires Enterprise.
Advantage: Can turn form responses into tasks in an Asana project.
Limitation: Can customise task types, statuses, and rules, but cannot require fields for each status change. Enterprise adds shared setup across teams.
Limitation: Can make tasks private, but cannot hide a task from members of a project it is shared with.

Linear

Best for focused product-development teams that value speed and a consistent work model

Advantage: Keyboard shortcuts and the command menu support navigation, selection, and common issue actions.
Advantage: Most issue views can switch between board and list layouts while keeping the same work in view.
Advantage: Native GitHub and GitLab connections link product work with branches, commits, pull requests, reviews, and releases.
Limitation: Linear uses a defined issue property model plus labels and label groups rather than arbitrary organisation-defined issue fields.
Limitation: Teams configure workflow statuses and their order within Linear's standard status categories.

Feature comparison

✓ Supported · — Partially supported · × Not available.

Feature	Asana	Linear
Pricing
Starting paid price Compare the entry paid plan, billing unit, and payment commitment.	From $10.99/user/month, billed annually (Starter).	Linear Basic starts at $10 per user/month billed yearly. Monthly pricing and applicable taxes may differ.
Free plan Compare what teams can use before moving to a paid plan.	Personal is free for up to two users, with unlimited tasks and projects.	The Free plan includes unlimited members, two teams, and up to 250 issues. File uploads are limited to 10 MB and several administration and reporting features require paid plans.
Work structure and knowledge
Projects, tasks, and subtasks Organise work from individual tasks through projects and larger initiatives.	Supported	Supported
Custom fields Track information that is specific to the team’s work.	Supported	Limited Linear uses a defined issue property model plus labels and label groups rather than arbitrary organisation-defined issue fields. This keeps the model consistent but limits bespoke data structures.
Custom work types Model different kinds of work with their own structure and fields.	Supported	Limited Can classify issues with labels, label groups, and templates; these use Linear’s defined issue model rather than arbitrary work-type schemes.
Documents and knowledge Keep project documentation and long-form knowledge connected to tasks.	Limited Can write formatted project briefs and attach or embed supporting documents; project context is lighter than a full wiki.	Supported
Whiteboards Connect visual brainstorming to project work.	Limited Can embed Miro and other visual collaboration resources in project briefs; the whiteboard is hosted in the connected tool.	Limited Can import, create, and edit issues through Miro boards; requires the connected Miro Business or Enterprise product.
Views and everyday work
Board and list layouts Switch between a board and a list of the same work.	Supported	Supported
Grouping by field Organise views by status, owner, or another work-item field.	Supported	Supported
Cross-project views View work from several projects or teams together.	Supported	Supported
Advanced filters Build precise views from several conditions.	Supported	Supported
Saved and shared views Save board or list settings and share them with other people.	Supported	Supported
Keyboard navigation and commands Navigate and act without reaching for the mouse.	Supported	Supported
Bulk editing Update several selected work items together.	Supported	Supported
Planning and reporting
Planning across teams Connect current delivery work with broader projects, initiatives, and plans.	Supported	Supported
Progress reporting Understand delivery progress and performance through reports.	Supported	Limited Project and initiative updates provide progress context, while Linear Insights adds filtered reporting on Business and Enterprise. Insights is not included on Free or Basic.
Task dependencies Track blocking relationships between tasks and projects.	Supported	Supported
Workload and capacity Compare assigned work with team availability and capacity.	Supported	Limited Can inspect assigned work through cycles, estimates, and views; availability-aware resource planning needs additional reporting or integrations.
Goals and objectives Connect tasks and project progress to organisational goals.	Supported	Limited Can connect projects to larger outcomes through initiatives; the model is organised around product initiatives rather than a separate objective framework.
Time tracking Record time spent on work and review it in reports.	Supported	Limited Can connect issue work to third-party time tracking such as Timely; the timer is supplied by the connected service.
Sprint planning Plan repeating delivery periods with a backlog and sprint scope.	Limited Can track sprints using projects, fields, and templates, but needs setup. Inherited from jira-vs-asana, Workflow and automation: Sprint planning and reports. Sources were attributed at page level in the original comparison; claim-specific attribution needs review.	Supported
Sprint reporting Review burndown, velocity, and delivery trends with dedicated reports.	Limited Can track sprints using projects, fields, and templates, but needs setup. Inherited from jira-vs-asana, Workflow and automation: Sprint planning and reports. Sources were attributed at page level in the original comparison; claim-specific attribution needs review.	Limited Can track cycle scope and completion and use Insights for analysis; reporting follows Linear cycles rather than a full Scrum report suite.
Timeline and Gantt views Plan work against dates and see schedules and dependencies in a timeline or Gantt view.	Supported	Supported
Backlog management Maintain an ordered backlog and select work for upcoming delivery periods.	Limited Can order upcoming tasks in projects and use templates and fields for a delivery backlog; it is built on the general task model.	Supported
Workflow and intake
Automatic actions React to changes and automate multi-step processes.	Supported	Limited Built-in rules automate common cycle, status, triage, and integration updates. The product offers fewer arbitrary multi-step workflow rules than Jira.
Rules for changing status Enforce allowed status transitions and require information before work can move to another stage.	Limited Can customise task types, statuses, and rules, but cannot require fields for each status change. Enterprise adds shared setup across teams. Inherited from jira-vs-asana, Workflow and automation: Process steps and rules. Sources were attributed at page level in the original comparison; claim-specific attribution needs review.	Limited Teams configure workflow statuses and their order within Linear's standard status categories. Linear does not document Jira-style transition validators, conditions, and post-functions.
Request forms Collect structured requests that create work items.	Supported	Supported
Custom statuses Define the stages that match each team’s process.	Supported	Supported
Approval steps Require approval from designated people before work can proceed.	Limited Can request and record sign-off with approval tasks; approval tasks alone do not establish enforced status-transition gates.	Limited Can follow required GitHub or GitLab reviews and checks before a pull request is ready to merge; this does not establish approval gates for arbitrary issue stages.
Access and administration
Project roles and permissions Control who can view, edit, and administer project work.	Supported	Limited Workspace roles, team ownership, private teams, guests, and Enterprise controls govern access. Private teams and guests start on Business; SAML, SCIM, and granular controls are Enterprise.
Individual work-item access Restrict an individual work item within an otherwise shared project.	Limited Can make tasks private, but cannot hide a task from members of a project it is shared with. Inherited from jira-vs-asana, Access controls: Private tasks in shared projects. Sources were attributed at page level in the original comparison; claim-specific attribution needs review.	Supported
Shared configuration Reuse managed fields and process settings across teams.	Supported	Limited Can reuse workspace and team issue templates; workflow statuses and team-specific setup are still managed in their owning teams.
Integrations
Development integrations Connect planning with branches, pull requests, builds, and deployments.	Limited Can link GitHub pull requests and sync their status to tasks; coverage focuses on pull requests rather than a complete build and release record.	Supported
Jira integration Connect work and updates with Jira projects.	Supported	Supported
API and webhooks Read and update work programmatically and receive events when it changes.	Supported	Supported

Asana

Best for cross-functional teams coordinating projects, requests, and goals

Shared tasks across projects

Can show the same task in several projects, with changes shared everywhere.

Portfolio and workload visibility

Can track progress, milestones, and reports across projects on Advanced and Enterprise.

Structured request intake

Can turn form responses into tasks in an Asana project.

Goal-linked project work

Can link goals directly to tasks, projects, and groups of projects.

Linear

Best for focused product-development teams that value speed and a consistent work model

Keyboard-driven execution

Keyboard shortcuts and the command menu support navigation, selection, and common issue actions.

Unified board and list views

Most issue views can switch between board and list layouts while keeping the same work in view.

Projects, initiatives, and cycles

Projects, initiatives, cycles, roadmaps, and timelines connect near-term execution with broader product plans.

Native code integrations

Native GitHub and GitLab connections link product work with branches, commits, pull requests, reviews, and releases.

Key differences

Asana

Linear

Work structure and customisation

Compare how each product models projects, tasks, work types, and team-specific information.

Can filter, sort, and group tasks by custom task type and status. Can search across projects with multiple criteria and library custom fields on Starter and above.

Boards can group and sub-group by status, project, priority, cycle, label, team, assignee, and other supported properties. Nested filters combine issue properties with and/or logic, and filtered views can be saved and shared.

Workflow configuration

Consider whether the team needs a consistent status model or rules that govern how work moves between stages.

Can customise task types, statuses, and rules, but cannot require fields for each status change. Enterprise adds shared setup across teams. Can request and record sign-off with approval tasks; approval tasks alone do not establish enforced status-transition gates.

Teams configure workflow statuses and their order within Linear’s standard status categories. Linear does not document Jira-style transition validators, conditions, and post-functions.

Can follow required GitHub or GitLab reviews and checks before a pull request is ready to merge; this does not establish approval gates for arbitrary issue stages. Built-in rules automate common cycle, status, triage, and integration updates.

Access and extensibility

Review the permission model and the options for connecting or extending each product programmatically.

Can make tasks private, but cannot hide a task from members of a project it is shared with. Can control access to teams, projects, project groups, and tasks, including guest access.

Issues follow the access of their owning team, including private-team boundaries. Cross-team projects can expose project context while preserving private issue access. Workspace roles, team ownership, private teams, guests, and Enterprise controls govern access.

Planning and portfolio scope

Consider how near-term execution connects to timelines, initiatives, dependencies, and broader organisational plans.

Can compare workloads across project groups on Advanced. Broader workload and availability planning requires Enterprise. Can track progress, milestones, and reports across projects on Advanced and Enterprise.

Can inspect assigned work through cycles, estimates, and views; availability-aware resource planning needs additional reporting or integrations. Projects, initiatives, cycles, roadmaps, and timelines connect near-term execution with broader product plans.

Sources and verification

Documentation reviewed 2026-09-11 / 2026-09-16. Based on product documentation and pricing sources.