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 that Teamwork says is trusted by over 20,000 companies in more than 140 countries. 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 with no US parent, Teamwork operates under EU jurisdiction and offers natural GDPR compliance. Note, however, that Teamwork hosts on Amazon Web Services in the US and the EU: for European data residency, make sure your account is hosted in the EU region, and be aware that AWS hosting means indirect CLOUD Act exposure via a US sub-processor.

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 pricing as of October 2026 (prices in USD; annual billing, monthly billing costs about 40% more):

• Teamwork Free: $0 — up to 5 users and 5 projects, basic task management and time logging
• Teamwork Basics: $9.99/user/month — minimum 3 users
• Teamwork Accelerate: $24.99/user/month — minimum 5 users
• Teamwork Optimize / Enterprise: pricing on request
• 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, an agency typically needs to add a separate time-tracking tool such as Harvest and a separate invoicing tool. With Teamwork, time tracking and client billing are built in, which often lowers the total cost for agencies.

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
• No US parent company; hosted on AWS (US and EU regions — choose the EU) → indirect CLOUD Act exposure via a US sub-processor
• 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?

Teamwork.com is an Irish company headquartered in Cork, so it is subject to GDPR and European data protection law, and it provides Data Processing Agreements. Its servers run on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and are hosted in both the US and the EU, so EU hosting is not automatic — confirm with Teamwork that your account is in the EU region. Because AWS is a US company, there is indirect CLOUD Act exposure via a US sub-processor.

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.