Comparison

ByDesign

Asana

ByDesign vs Asana

Asana runs an organisation’s work. ByDesign runs your life, and your team can join.

Asana is work management: projects with list, board, calendar, Timeline and Gantt views, portfolios, Goals, reporting dashboards, Pages, Inbox and Messages, and AI Teammates on paid plans. ByDesign is a planner for one person first: goals the AI turns into a scheduled plan you approve, a calendar that syncs both ways, habits with streaks, personal goal pages, Hub courses, a Pomodoro timer and a year-to-day canvas, with sharing, chat and per-seat team plans when you need them.

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What you get with ByDesign that Asana doesn’t offer

A plan from your goal, scheduled for you
Say a goal and ByDesign writes the tasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines and places them on your calendar with a preview you approve. Asana’s AI Teammates and AI Studio run workflows and agents on paid plans, and Rules can put events on your calendar; a personal goal doesn’t become a plan with courses and deadlines on your calendar.
A calendar that syncs both ways
Edit an event in ByDesign or in Google and Apple Calendar and both stay right, with Outlook and ICS subscriptions too, plus auto-scheduling around your hours. Asana’s Google Calendar page says its calendar sync is “a one-way sync from Asana to your calendar”.
Habits, courses and focus for one person
A habit tracker with streaks, personal goal pages, Hub courses you can schedule, a Pomodoro timer and time tracking on every task. Asana has recurring tasks, company Goals on Advanced plans, templates and time tracking on Advanced.
Your whole year on one canvas
Year, quarter, month, week and day on one zoomable surface, with sticky notes, images and pinned pages. Asana shows calendar, Timeline and Gantt views and a goal strategy map; the long view is a project timeline, not a life canvas.

ByDesign vs Asana, feature by feature

Only the differences. What both apps do the same is listed underneath.

Included
Limited
Not available

Feature	ByDesign	Asana
AI planning
AI goal plans	Included: Built and scheduledTasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines land on your calendar; AI and AI Plus plans	Limited: AI Teammates and DashTurn a brief into a project plan with tasks and owners on paid plans; nothing is placed on your calendar for you to approve
AI scheduling with a preview you approve	Included: Preview, then acceptConflicts shown; nothing saves until you say so; AI and AI Plus plans	Not available: Due dates and RulesRules can create calendar events; no AI schedule of your tasks into time slots to review
Auto-schedule around your hours	Included: Rules you setWork hours, breaks, buffers, max hours a day, split long tasks	Not available: Through integrationsReclaim and SkedPal connect to Asana; nothing built in
Planning assistant chat	Included: In the app, full contextSees your calendar, goals, habits and notes; moves and reschedules items; AI and AI Plus plans	Limited: Asana Dash and Asana apps in Claude and ChatGPTAn “AI Chief of Staff” on paid plans, sharing a monthly request allowance with AI Teammates; chat through the connectors
Voice control	Included: Mic and hands-freeOptional wake phrase; AI and AI Plus plans	Not available: Not among the features Asana lists
Calendar and views
Two-way calendar sync	Included: Google and AppleEdit events in either place; Outlook and ICS subscriptions too	Limited: One-way to your calendar“A one-way sync from Asana to your calendar”, per its Google Calendar page; an Outlook Calendar app for meetings
Year-to-day planning canvas	Included: Year to dayYear, quarter, month, week and day on one zoomable surface; AI and AI Plus plans	Limited: Calendar, Timeline and GanttTimeline and Gantt on Starter and up; a goal strategy map on Advanced; no year-to-day canvas
Sticky notes, images and pinned pages on the calendar	Included: Yes	Not available: No
Customisable dashboard	Included: Drag-and-drop widgetsScore board, tasks, habits, inbox, pinned pages, Kanban	Limited: Reporting dashboardsStarter and up
Habits, goals and focus
Habit tracker	Included: Check-ins and streaksSkip a day, stats, habits with friends	Not available: Recurring tasks instead
Goals with progress	Included: Goal pagesTasks, resources, percent complete, shareable	Limited: Goals on Advanced and upConnect projects and tasks to company objectives with automatic progress; not a personal goal page
Courses and roadmaps from the Hub	Included: The HubCourses, roadmaps and a habit library; schedule a roadmap straight onto your calendar	Not available: Templates and Asana Academy
Pomodoro timer	Included: Built in25/5/15 cycles with a floating timer	Not available: Through integrationsPomoDone, for example
Time tracking on tasks	Included: Start and pause on any taskTotals per task; “most tracked” filter	Limited: Advanced and upCompare estimated and actual time; the Personal plan tracks time through integrations
Platforms
Apps	Included: Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, iPad and Android	Included: Web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android

AI planning

AI goal plans
ByDesign
Included: Built and scheduledTasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines land on your calendar; AI and AI Plus plans
Asana
Limited: AI Teammates and DashTurn a brief into a project plan with tasks and owners on paid plans; nothing is placed on your calendar for you to approve
AI scheduling with a preview you approve
ByDesign
Included: Preview, then acceptConflicts shown; nothing saves until you say so; AI and AI Plus plans
Asana
Not available: Due dates and RulesRules can create calendar events; no AI schedule of your tasks into time slots to review
Auto-schedule around your hours
ByDesign
Included: Rules you setWork hours, breaks, buffers, max hours a day, split long tasks
Asana
Not available: Through integrationsReclaim and SkedPal connect to Asana; nothing built in
Planning assistant chat
ByDesign
Included: In the app, full contextSees your calendar, goals, habits and notes; moves and reschedules items; AI and AI Plus plans
Asana
Limited: Asana Dash and Asana apps in Claude and ChatGPTAn “AI Chief of Staff” on paid plans, sharing a monthly request allowance with AI Teammates; chat through the connectors
Voice control
ByDesign
Included: Mic and hands-freeOptional wake phrase; AI and AI Plus plans
Asana
Not available: Not among the features Asana lists

Calendar and views

Two-way calendar sync
ByDesign
Included: Google and AppleEdit events in either place; Outlook and ICS subscriptions too
Asana
Limited: One-way to your calendar“A one-way sync from Asana to your calendar”, per its Google Calendar page; an Outlook Calendar app for meetings
Year-to-day planning canvas
ByDesign
Included: Year to dayYear, quarter, month, week and day on one zoomable surface; AI and AI Plus plans
Asana
Limited: Calendar, Timeline and GanttTimeline and Gantt on Starter and up; a goal strategy map on Advanced; no year-to-day canvas
Sticky notes, images and pinned pages on the calendar
ByDesign
Included: Yes
Asana
Not available: No
Customisable dashboard
ByDesign
Included: Drag-and-drop widgetsScore board, tasks, habits, inbox, pinned pages, Kanban
Asana
Limited: Reporting dashboardsStarter and up

Habits, goals and focus

Habit tracker
ByDesign
Included: Check-ins and streaksSkip a day, stats, habits with friends
Asana
Not available: Recurring tasks instead
Goals with progress
ByDesign
Included: Goal pagesTasks, resources, percent complete, shareable
Asana
Limited: Goals on Advanced and upConnect projects and tasks to company objectives with automatic progress; not a personal goal page
Courses and roadmaps from the Hub
ByDesign
Included: The HubCourses, roadmaps and a habit library; schedule a roadmap straight onto your calendar
Asana
Not available: Templates and Asana Academy
Pomodoro timer
ByDesign
Included: Built in25/5/15 cycles with a floating timer
Asana
Not available: Through integrationsPomoDone, for example
Time tracking on tasks
ByDesign
Included: Start and pause on any taskTotals per task; “most tracked” filter
Asana
Limited: Advanced and upCompare estimated and actual time; the Personal plan tracks time through integrations

Platforms

Apps
ByDesign
Included: Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, iPad and Android
Asana
Included: Web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android

Asana column based on pricing and features, product, AI Teammates, AI Studio, Google Calendar, apps, MCP server and what’s new on October 26, 2026. If something has changed, email info@bydesign.io.

Both apps cover the basics

Tasks with subtasks, sections, start and due dates and recurring schedules
Kanban boards
Pages and notes
Comments and Messages
Assignees and shared projects
Per-seat team plans
MCP server for AI assistants
Web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android apps
Multiple interface languages

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Why people switch from Asana to ByDesign

Say the goal. Get a scheduled plan.

Tell ByDesign what you want to achieve. It asks a few questions, then builds the tasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines and schedules them around the life you already have. Replan in one message.

Asana: In Asana you create a project, add tasks with assignees and due dates, and track them in list, board, calendar or Timeline. AI Teammates can turn a brief into a project plan with tasks and owners on paid plans, but nothing lays that plan out on your calendar for you to approve.

ByDesign AI goal plan with tasks, tags and durations

A schedule you approve, not one you drag

Set your hours, breaks and buffers once. ByDesign places tasks into the gaps, splits long ones, shows the proposed week and waits for your OK. Replan after a busy day in one message.

Asana: Asana schedules by due date. Its calendar view shows deadlines, Rules can create calendar events, and the URL-based calendar sync runs one way from Asana. No AI schedule of your tasks into free time, with a week to review, is described.

ByDesign week view with the planning assistant previewing changes

Habits, goals and focus, built in

Track habits with streaks and stats, keep goal pages with progress, run a Pomodoro and track time on any task. Open ByDesign in the morning and it already works.

Asana: Asana has recurring tasks that regenerate on completion, Goals with automatic progress on Advanced plans, and time tracking on Advanced. There is no habit tracker or personal goal page, and Pomodoro comes through integrations such as PomoDone.

ByDesign reminders, habits and deadlines on iOS

Your whole year on one surface

The planning canvas zooms from the full year down to a single day. Pin goals, notes and milestones where they belong, drag anything, and the plan keeps up.

Asana: Asana’s views are list, board, calendar, Timeline and Gantt, with a goal strategy map on Advanced. There is no year-to-day canvas and no sticky notes on the plan.

ByDesign planning canvas showing a full year of plans

Don’t take our word for it.

From Petey M.
I used to keep a calendar, a to-do list, and a project app. ByDesign replaced all of them. It’s clean, it works, and I haven’t needed anything else.
From Callio
Can I just say I love you. Finally, a good-looking app that isn’t complex as hell. There are tears in my eyes. I’ll happily pay for this!💯
From N
First off, let me say: ByDesign’s clean, minimal UI is one of the loveliest I’ve used. The overall visual clarity helps me stay focused, and honestly? I find myself oddly fond of it. Also, this might sound funny, but one of the reasons I felt drawn to ByDesign is something you once wrote: that you’re a “productivity app addict.” As someone who’s tried nearly every productivity app under the sun... I felt so seen. That’s when I knew: Okay, this one’s made by someone like me. With love (and a very biased eye) from your fan, Narae 😊💜

See All The Love →

Make the switch in three steps

No workspace to design. Start free, connect the calendar you already use, and give ByDesign your first goal.

Start your free trial. No credit card.
Connect your Google, Apple or Outlook calendar.
Say your first goal and watch the plan land on your calendar.

Ready for a planner that fits your life?

Start free. No credit card. Tell ByDesign a goal and watch the plan land on your calendar.