The open-source Asana alternative for software teams
Asana is a cloud work management service: proprietary, and billed per user. It's a Plan is an open-source issue tracker for software teams that you host yourself, with issues, cycles, pull requests and AI agents, under AGPL-3.0. The open edition is free at any headcount, and Pro is $240 a year for one domain, with any number of people.
- Licence
- AGPL-3.0, open source. Asana is proprietary.
- Hosting
- Your own server. Asana runs only in its cloud.
- Pricing
- Free, or $240 a year for Pro. Asana bills per user.
- AI agents
- Assign issues to them, on your own model key.
Why software teams look for an Asana alternative
Asana is made for work in every department. Software teams that outgrow it give these four reasons.
The bill grows with the team
Asana charges per user: $10.99 on Starter and $24.99 on Advanced, billed yearly. Fifty people on Advanced is $14,994 a year. The free Personal plan stops at 2 users.
There is no self-hosted Asana
Asana runs only in its own cloud, on Amazon Web Services, and states that it does not plan to offer an on-premises version. Data residency is in Enterprise+.
Software work is a template
Sprint planning and bug tracking in Asana are templates built on projects, sections and custom fields. Pull requests come in through a GitHub app, added to each project.
AI is metered per request
AI Teammates include 5 requests per user per month, up to 50 per account on Starter and Advanced. Each request after that costs $0.50 prepaid or $0.60 pay as you go.
It's a Plan vs Asana
| It's a Plan | Asana | |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | Yes. AGPL-3.0. The full source is public. | No. Proprietary. Asana does not publish the source. |
| Hosting | Yes. Self-hosted with Docker Compose, Railway, Coolify or a Helm chart, on your server and your PostgreSQL. | No. Asana's cloud only, on Amazon Web Services. Asana states that it does not plan to offer an on-premises version. |
| Where the data sits | Yes. In your database. Agents send issue text only to the model you picked. An anonymous usage report goes out once a day, unless you turn it off. | No. In Asana's cloud. Data residency is in Enterprise+. |
| Pricing | Yes. Free. No licence fee, no per-seat cost. Pro is $240 a year for one domain. | No. Per user per month: Starter $10.99 and Advanced $24.99, billed yearly. Enterprise and Enterprise+ are priced on request. |
| Free plan | Yes. Every feature of the open edition, with no limit on people or projects. | In part. Personal: 2 users, with list, board and calendar views. Timeline, forms, automations and dashboards start on Starter. |
| Made for | Software teams: issues, cycles, pull requests and estimates. | Work in every department: marketing, operations, portfolios and goals. |
| Views | Yes. Board, table, timeline and calendar, with saved filters. | Yes. List, board and calendar on every plan. Timeline and Gantt from Starter. |
| Sprints | Yes. Cycles, with a start and an end date. Unfinished issues can move to the next cycle. | In part. A sprint planning template, built on projects, sections and custom fields. |
| Pull requests | Yes. Pull requests from five Git forges, linked to their issues. | In part. A GitHub app, added per project, links pull requests to tasks. GitHub Enterprise Server is not supported. |
| AI agents | Yes. Agents are project members. Assign an issue to one, mention it in a comment, or give it a schedule. You bring the model and the key. | Yes. AI Teammates and AI Studio from Starter. 5 AI requests per user per month, up to 50 per account. Extra requests cost $0.50 to $0.60 each. |
| API and MCP | Yes. REST API and webhooks. The MCP server is part of the API, on your own instance at /mcp. | Yes. REST API and webhooks. A hosted MCP server at mcp.asana.com, with OAuth sign-in. |
| Sign-in | Yes. Password, magic link, passkey, Google, or single sign-on with any OIDC provider. SCIM 2.0 provisioning included. SAML in Pro. | In part. SAML single sign-on and SCIM on Enterprise, priced on request. |
| Audit log | Yes. In Pro: what people, agents and SCIM do, with the values before and after each change. | In part. In Enterprise+, or with the Compliance management add-on on Enterprise. |
| Import and export | In part. Import from Linear and Plane. An agent imports a CSV or XLSX file, such as an Asana export. Export a project to JSON. | Yes. Export a project to CSV or JSON. Import from a CSV file. |
Checked against Asana's own pages on 26 October 2026. Sources: Asana pricing, Asana MCP server, Project import and export, GitHub integration.
Is Asana open source? Can you self-host it?
No to both. Asana is proprietary and runs only in its own cloud, on Amazon Web Services. There is no on-premises or self-hosted edition, and Asana states that it does not plan to offer one. A team that has to keep its work on its own servers needs a different product. It's a Plan is open source under AGPL-3.0 and runs on your server with Docker Compose or Kubernetes.
Is Asana free?
For one or two people. The Personal plan is free for 2 users, with unlimited tasks and projects and list, board and calendar views. Timeline, forms, automations and dashboards start on Starter, at $10.99 per user per month billed yearly, so 10 people pay $1,319 a year. It's a Plan is free for any number of people: you pay only for the server.
Does Asana have AI agents and an MCP server?
Yes. AI Teammates and AI Studio are in every paid plan, with 5 AI requests per user per month, up to 50 per account on Starter and Advanced. Extra requests cost $0.50 prepaid or $0.60 pay as you go. Asana hosts its MCP server at mcp.asana.com, so Claude and other clients reach Asana's cloud. In It's a Plan an agent is a project member you assign issues to. It runs on your instance with your own model key, or on your machine through Claude Code or Codex, and the MCP server is part of your own instance.
Is Asana good for software development?
It can be set up for it. Asana has templates for sprint planning and bug tracking, built on projects, sections, custom fields and rules, and a GitHub app that links pull requests to tasks. Each team keeps its own setup. It's a Plan is built around software work: issues with types and estimates, cycles, pull requests from five Git forges, and throughput and burnup on dashboards.
Built for software teams
One open edition, at any headcount. Each part has its own page.
Cycles for sprint planning
Plan work in time boxes with a start and an end date. Unfinished issues can move to the next cycle.
Pull requests
Link pull requests from five Git forges to the issues they close.
Board, table, timeline, calendar
Four views over the same issues, with saved filters.
Issue types and custom fields
Bugs, features and tasks as your own issue types, with custom fields, labels and estimates.
Dashboards
Throughput, burnup with a projected end date, and breakdowns by state, priority, type and assignee, from live data.
Initiatives
Group issues under one goal, with progress and a target date. Asana uses portfolios and goals for this.
AI agents
Agents are project members with their own @username. Assign an issue, mention one in a comment, or give it a schedule.
REST API and MCP
Over 200 API routes are also MCP tools, with the permissions of the API key.
Pro, at one price
Any number of workspaces, each with its own SSO and SCIM, an audit log, workspace dashboards and AI budgets. $240 a year.
Deploy in minutes
Railway runs the published images and generates every secret. On your own server, one compose command starts PostgreSQL, the object store and the four services.
Moving from Asana
There is no Asana importer. Asana exports each project to CSV, and an agent imports that file. Linear and Plane projects import from the project settings.
01
Export from Asana
Export each project to CSV or JSON from the project menu, or read it with the Asana REST API.
02
Set up the project
Create the project. Add a column for each Asana section you work in, then issue types, labels and custom fields.
03
Load the issues
Attach the CSV in a chat with an agent that has the file import tool. It maps the columns to title, description, priority, due date, labels and assignee, and creates the issues after you confirm the preview. Comments and subtasks move through the REST API.
04
Bring the team
Invite people by email, or let your identity provider sign them in over OIDC and create their accounts over SCIM.
What Asana costs compared to a flat price
Asana bills per user, yearly, before extra AI requests. A self-hosted install bills nothing per user, at any headcount.
| Team | Asana Starter | Asana Advanced | It's a Plan | It's a Plan Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 people | $1,319 | $2,999 | $0 | $240 |
| 25 people | $3,297 | $7,497 | $0 | $240 |
| 50 people | $6,594 | $14,994 | $0 | $240 |
| 100 people | $13,188 | $29,988 | $0 | $240 |
Asana prices as asana.com lists them for yearly billing on 26 October 2026. Monthly billing is $13.49 on Starter and $30.49 on Advanced, per user. The free Personal plan stops at 2 users, and SAML and SCIM need Enterprise. The open edition of It's a Plan has no licence fee: you pay only for your own server, and agent runs bill to your own provider key. Pro is $240 a year or $24 a month for one domain, with any number of people.
When to stay on Asana, and when to switch
When Asana is the better choice
- Your work spans marketing, operations and other departments, not only software.
- You take requests through intake forms, and sign off work with approvals and proofing.
- You manage many projects with portfolios, goals and workload across the company.
- You want Asana to run the service, patch it and make the backups, and per-user cost is fine.
- You need a built-in Asana import. We import only from Linear and Plane.
Move to It's a Plan
- Your team builds software, plans in cycles and links pull requests to issues.
- The data has to stay on your own servers, by policy or by contract.
- Headcount should not change what the tracker costs.
- You want single sign-on and SCIM without an Enterprise contract.
- You want agents that work on issues like teammates, on a model and key you pick.
- You want to read and change the code behind your tracker.
Asana alternative FAQ
Is there an on-premise version of Asana?
No. Asana runs only as a cloud service on Amazon Web Services, and states that it does not plan to offer an internally hosted version. Data residency is in Enterprise+. To keep the tracker on your own servers, use a self-hosted product such as It's a Plan.
What is the best free alternative to Asana?
For software teams, It's a Plan: free and open source under AGPL-3.0, with no limit on people or projects, on your own server. For classic project management with Gantt charts and time tracking, OpenProject. For a light task list with a board and a Gantt view, Vikunja. Asana's own free plan, Personal, is for 2 users.
How much does Asana cost for 10 users?
$1,319 a year on Starter and $2,999 a year on Advanced, billed yearly, as asana.com lists them on 26 October 2026. Monthly billing is $13.49 and $30.49 per user. SAML and SCIM need Enterprise, priced on request. It's a Plan costs nothing for 10 people, or $240 a year with Pro.
Does It's a Plan work for non-engineering teams?
It can, but it is built for software teams. Any team can plan on the board, table, timeline and calendar, with custom fields, notes and dashboards. Asana has more for marketing and operations work: intake forms, approvals and proofing, portfolios and workload across the company. If most of your people work outside engineering, Asana is likely the better fit.
Can I import my Asana projects?
Not with a built-in importer. Export each Asana project to CSV and attach the file in a chat with an agent. The agent maps the columns to issue fields, and the issues are created after you confirm the preview. Comments and subtasks move through the It's a Plan REST API with a short script. Linear and Plane projects have a built-in import.
Does Asana work with Claude?
Yes. Asana's hosted MCP server at mcp.asana.com lets Claude read and change tasks after an OAuth sign-in. In It's a Plan, Claude Code can also work as an agent on the project: a runner on your machine gives it the issues assigned to it, and the repository stays on that machine. The MCP server is part of your own instance.
Start planning on your own terms
Self-host it today and have your team tracking work by tonight.
Or deploy to Railway in one clickAGPL-3.0 · No per-seat fees · Use your own AI key or subscription