Teamwork vs Asana

Why Switch from Asana to Teamwork?

Asana is a polished task management tool, but it was built as a general-purpose productivity platform. It lacks built-in time tracking, has no native client billing, and offers no project profitability analysis. For agencies, consultancies, and professional services firms, these gaps mean bolting on expensive third-party tools — Harvest for time tracking, separate invoicing software, and manual spreadsheets for profitability analysis.

Teamwork, headquartered in Cork, Ireland, was purpose-built for teams that deliver client work. Founded in 2007, Teamwork.com has grown into a comprehensive project management platform used by over 6,000 teams worldwide. It combines task management, time tracking, resource planning, and client billing into a single platform — eliminating the tool fragmentation that plagues agencies using Asana.

As an Irish company operating under EU jurisdiction, Teamwork offers natural GDPR compliance and European data sovereignty. Your project data, client information, and billing records stay under European legal protection rather than being subject to US surveillance laws.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Teamwork	Asana
Task management	✅ Tasks, subtasks, dependencies	✅ Tasks, subtasks, dependencies
Time tracking	✅ Built-in, per-task	❌ Requires integration
Client billing	✅ Billable hours and invoicing	❌ Not available
Gantt charts	✅ Interactive timeline	⚠️ Timeline (paid only)
Resource management	✅ Workload and capacity planning	⚠️ Workload view (paid)
Project profitability	✅ Revenue vs cost tracking	❌ Not available
Board view	✅ Kanban boards	✅ Board view
Client permissions	✅ Client-level access controls	⚠️ Guest access (limited)
Templates	✅ Project templates	✅ Project templates
Portfolios	⚠️ Project health dashboard	✅ Portfolios (paid)
Integrations	⚠️ 80+ integrations	✅ 200+ integrations
Data location	EU (Ireland) 🇪🇺	United States 🇺🇸

Pricing

Teamwork offers competitive pricing with built-in features that Asana charges extra for or lacks entirely:

• Teamwork Free: Up to 5 users — basic task management, limited time tracking
• Teamwork Deliver: €10.99/user/month — full project management, time tracking, Gantt charts, workload management
• Teamwork Grow: €19.99/user/month — resource management, profitability reports, advanced budgeting, custom fields
• Teamwork Scale: Custom pricing — enterprise features, advanced permissions, priority support
• Asana Basic: Free — limited to 10 users, basic features
• Asana Premium: $10.99/user/month — timeline, workflow builder, forms
• Asana Business: $24.99/user/month — portfolios, goals, advanced reporting
• Asana Enterprise: Custom pricing

While headline prices look similar, consider the total cost of ownership. With Asana, a 30-person agency needs to add Harvest ($12/user/month) for time tracking and a separate invoicing tool. With Teamwork, all of this is included. For that 30-person agency, Teamwork Deliver saves approximately $4,320/year compared to Asana Premium plus Harvest.

Privacy & Data Sovereignty

Teamwork’s Irish headquarters provide strong data sovereignty advantages for European organizations:

• Headquartered in Cork, Ireland — a full EU member state
• Subject to GDPR and Irish Data Protection Act as primary legal frameworks
• Not subject to the US CLOUD Act — US authorities cannot compel access to your data
• Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) available for all customers
• SOC 2 Type II certified
• Regular third-party security audits
• Encrypted data in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest
• Role-based access controls with granular permission settings

For agencies and consultancies that handle sensitive client data — project plans, budgets, strategic initiatives, personnel information — storing this under EU jurisdiction is both a competitive advantage when pitching EU clients and a legal necessity under GDPR.

Migration Guide

Migrating from Asana to Teamwork is straightforward thanks to Teamwork’s built-in import tools.

1. Use Teamwork’s Asana importer — Teamwork provides a direct import tool that connects to your Asana account and migrates projects, tasks, subtasks, assignees, due dates, and attachments automatically. This handles the bulk of the migration in minutes. (30 minutes - 2 hours)
2. Configure time tracking and billing — Set up billable rates, project budgets, and time tracking preferences. Define which projects are billable vs internal, and configure hourly rates for team members and roles. This is new functionality you did not have in Asana. (2-4 hours)
3. Set up resource management — Configure team capacity, working hours, and availability. Import any existing resource planning data from spreadsheets or third-party tools. (1-2 hours)
4. Migrate integrations — Connect Teamwork to your existing tools: Slack, HubSpot, QuickBooks, or other business applications. Review which Asana integrations you actively use and find Teamwork equivalents. (1-2 hours)
5. Train your team — Teamwork provides onboarding resources, video tutorials, and live training sessions. Focus training on the new capabilities: time tracking workflows, client permissions, and billing features. (2-3 days)
6. Run in parallel — Operate both tools for one to two weeks to let your team adjust. Use this period to refine workflows and ensure all critical data has been migrated. (1-2 weeks)

Estimated total time: 1-2 weeks for a mid-sized team. Difficulty: Low to moderate — Teamwork’s import tool handles the heavy lifting.

Who Should Switch?

Teamwork is ideal for:

• Agencies and consultancies that need project management with built-in time tracking and client billing
• Professional services firms that track project profitability and billable hours
• EU-based organizations that need GDPR-compliant project management under European jurisdiction
• Teams frustrated with Asana’s add-on costs for time tracking and resource management
• Client-facing teams that need granular permission controls for external stakeholders

The Bottom Line

Teamwork is the project management platform that agencies and professional services firms actually need. While Asana is a capable general-purpose task manager, it fundamentally lacks the time tracking, client billing, and profitability features that client-facing teams depend on daily. Bolting on third-party tools to fill these gaps costs more, creates data silos, and adds operational friction.

As an Irish EU company, Teamwork delivers these capabilities with natural GDPR compliance and European data sovereignty. For any European agency or consultancy currently piecing together Asana plus Harvest plus spreadsheets, Teamwork consolidates everything into one platform — at a lower total cost, with better visibility, and under European legal protection. For teams that do not need time tracking or client billing, Asana’s more polished interface and broader integration ecosystem may still be the better fit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Teamwork handle both internal projects and client-facing work?

Yes. Teamwork was designed specifically for agencies and professional services firms that juggle internal operations alongside client projects. It includes client-level permissions, billable vs non-billable time tracking, project profitability reports, and client-facing project views — features that Asana lacks natively.

How does Teamwork's time tracking compare to using Asana with a separate time tracking tool?

Teamwork's built-in time tracking is fully integrated with tasks, projects, and billing. You can log time directly on tasks, set estimated hours, compare actual vs estimated time, and generate billing reports without leaving the platform. This eliminates the cost and friction of maintaining a separate tool like Harvest or Toggl alongside Asana.

Is Teamwork suitable for software development teams?

While Teamwork excels for agencies and professional services, it also works well for software teams that need project planning, task management, and time tracking. It offers board views, Gantt charts, and dependencies. However, teams needing deep Scrum or sprint planning may find dedicated tools like Jira more specialized.

Does Teamwork store data in the EU?

Yes. Teamwork.com is an Irish company headquartered in Cork, Ireland. As an EU-based company, it is fully subject to GDPR and European data protection law. Customer data is processed under EU jurisdiction, and Teamwork provides Data Processing Agreements to all customers.

How difficult is it to migrate from Asana to Teamwork?

Teamwork provides a direct Asana import tool that migrates projects, tasks, subtasks, assignees, and due dates automatically. For most teams, the core migration takes less than a day. Adjusting workflows and training the team on Teamwork's additional features like time tracking and billing typically takes one to two weeks.