Trello vs Asana for Creative Agencies: Which Tool Wins in 2025?

Trello and Asana handle creative projects differently. 

Trello uses visual boards where you drag tasks like you would with sticky notes. Asana works as a complete project system to plan and track complex work. 

If you are a creative agency owner confused about the best creative agency tool to go for, I will explain the differences between Trello and Asana. I'll also introduce ManyRequests as one of the best project management tools for creative agencies.

But before we dive into the detailed comparison, here's a quick comparison matrix to evaluate each tool based on key criteria important to creative agencies: 

Choose Trello if you:

• Manage 5-10 team members
• Need a simple visual task management system
• Work on straightforward projects with clear workflows
• Have a limited budget (starting at $5/user/month)
• Are comfortable using third-party integrations for additional features. 

Choose Asana if you:

• Have a larger team (10+ members)
• Need multiple project views (list, board, timeline, calendar)
• Manage complex projects with task dependencies
• Require built-in time tracking and workload management
• Have the budget for more advanced features ($10.99+/user/month). 

Choose ManyRequests if you:

• Need a client-facing project management solution
• Want a white-label client portal with your branding
• Require built-in time tracking with client billing features, 
• Need design feedback and markup tools
• Want to automate client onboarding, task management and task delivery, 
• Prefer an all-in-one solution without any integration.  

Main Differences Between Trello and Asana

Before I explain what each project management tool does, here are some of their main differences:  

• Task Management 

Trello builds its tool around Kanban boards, with additional views requiring updates.  Asana takes a more structured approach with multiple project views. You can switch between a list view, a board view, a timeline view, and a calendar view.

• Complexity

Trello is simple to use. You can add custom fields and manage basic tasks easily with Trello's Kanban board style. Asana is complex, but it has more advanced features.

• Team Communication 

Trello uses card comments and @mentions to communicate within the platform. Asana provides more communication options, including project conversations and direct messages.

What is Trello?

‍Trello is a Kanban-based visual work management software for smaller teams and temporary projects. It's used to manage projects, workflows, and tasks, and is quite easy to use.

  At its core, Trello functions through three main components: 

• Boards represent your projects
• Lists organize your project tasks into stages
• Cards contain individual tasks and their details

Trello also offers other views like the Calendar view, Dashboard, and Timeline view, but they are mostly available in the Premium plans. 

Let's look at some of its features:

Task Management

Trello's Kanban boards let you manage tasks visually. You can drag cards between columns to show different work stages like "To Do" and "Done." 

Each card holds task details: custom fields, attachments, due dates, labels, and descriptions.

Trello's Premium Plan provides extra views (like the timeline, table, calendar, and map in the image above), but they don't help creative agencies much. The timeline view, for instance, shows tasks in a calendar, but cannot track dependencies.

This means that you can't track which task is contingent on another. Trello's Kanban boards are its greatest feature for creative agencies.

Collaboration Feature

Trello focuses on task-level communication. Your team members can: 

• Leave comments within task cards
• Add attachments to cards
• Tag team members using @mentions
• Set deadline reminders
• React to comments with emojis
• Receive notifications about changes

There's no real-time collaboration feature, but you can integrate with platforms like Slack to communicate with your team.

Automation and Integrations

Trello allows integration with many tools on any plan you choose.These tools can improve your experience on the platform. For example, you can connect Trello to Gmail to create cards from emails, and add automation to move cards between lists when you complete tasks. Trello calls these integrations Power-Ups.

Each Power-Up has a specific purpose. When you add Google Calendar Power-Up, you can set due dates that sync with your calendar. The Slack Power-Up lets you create Trello cards directly from Slack messages.Trello has 

• Over 200 integrations. 
• Thousands of third-party Integration with essential tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Gantt Charts, and design software
• Open-source integrations through their GitHub community

There's also an automation feature, called Butler, that can help your team: 

• Create automated rules for recurring tasks
• Set up card and board buttons for quick actions
• Schedule automated tasks
• Generate automatic reports
• Send automated notifications to team members

Reporting Tools

Trello's reporting capabilities are basic. The platform offers:

• Simple dashboards with widgets
•  Basic project information displays
• Tasks by status or person views

For detailed analytics, you'll need to export the data as CSV or JSON files and analyze it in external software. Trello also lacks native time-tracking tools, which means that you can't track how your team manages their time within the app— you need third-party integrations to access this feature.

Trello Pros

• Exceptional kanban board implementation
• Incredibly easy to use.
• Unlimited integrations on all plans
• Easy to learn.  

Trello Cons

• Limited reporting and analytics
• No native time-tracking

• Relies heavily on integrations for advanced features
• Not ideal for complex projects

Trello Pricing

• Free Plan: Unlimited cards and up to ten team boards per workspace
• Standard Plan: $5/user/month
• Premium Plan: $10/user/month
• Enterprise Plan: $17.50 estimated costs for a team of 50 members.

Trello Reviews

Cagri M, a content marketing manager, says that Trello is their “Go-To Tool for content Management and Team Collaboration”. He also mentions that “Trello can feel limited when managing more complex projects.”

This neutral Redditor says, “It is less complex and expensive than most tools”. 

Check Trello's G2 page to find more reviews.

What is Asana?

‍Asana is project management software that helps teams organize, track, and manage work. You can create tasks, assign them, set deadlines, and monitor progress. Unlike Trello's singular focus on Kanban boards, Asana provides multiple ways to organize and track creative projects.

Project Organization in Asana

You can organize your project with Asana in five view formats: 

• List View: Organizes tasks in a traditional to-do list format.
• Board View: useful for visualizing workflow stages, similar to Trello's Kanban style.
• Calendar View: Displays deadlines and time-sensitive deliverables.
• Timeline View: Functions like a Gantt chart for tracking project dependencies.
• Portfolio View: Offers a high-level overview of multiple projects (available in paid plans).

Now, let's look at some of Asana's features:

Workload Management

Asana's portfolio view lets you manage multiple projects in one platform. You can also see a complete view of the team's work. In the Workload tab, you can see who has been assigned to which tasks.

Asana also uses effort tracking to measure work. You can set workload capacity, and when someone's workload exceeds their capacity, Asana shows a red line to alert you so you can take action. 

Asana's drag-and-drop feature also lets you move tasks between team members or reschedule them for when the team member is now available. 

The bummer is that the Workload feature only comes with Asana's Advanced and Enterprise plans, and you can't access it if you're subscribed to lower plans.

Time Tracking

Asana's time tracking helps you monitor time spent on tasks. 

You can enable time tracking in any project or My Tasks through the customize menu. This adds two fields: estimated time and actual time.You can track your team's time with the built-in timer that runs until you pause it, or enter tracked time manually.

Team Collaboration Features

Asana has more communication features for creative workflows. You can assign tasks to team members, and track the task from start to completion. You can also leave comments directly on tasks with @mentions. You @mention teammates to get their attention and they receive instant notifications. Here’s an example from Asana forum:

If the @mentions get too much, Asana lets you mute busy task discussions with the bell icon until you're ready to accept them again.

Task Dependencies

‍Task dependencies are task chains. Each task connects to another that must happen before or after it. When you set a dependency in Asana, you tell the system that Task A must finish before Task B can start.

Asana handles the communication automatically.  When your team member finishes their task, the next person gets notified that they can start their work. No meetings or check-ins needed. For example, Asana tells the developer they can start coding after a designer finishes website mock-ups— and is approved. When coding is done, it signals to the marketing team to add the feature as part of their campaign.

Asana Pros

• Advanced project organization with multiple views.
• Built-in time tracking and workload management.
• Has an extensive integration pocket.
• Has 36 native integration options and hundreds of third-party integrations. 

Asana Cons

• Asana's time tracking tool has limitations and is not available on all plans. 
• More expensive compared to Trello.
• May not be suitable for smaller teams that are just starting out. 
• Has quite the learning curve. 

Asana Pricing

Asana offers the following pricing plans:

• Personal Plan: Free for up to 10 users, suitable for individuals and small teams.
• Starter Plan: $10.99 per user per month (billed annually), ideal for growing teams with advanced features.
• Advanced Plan: $24.99 per user per month (billed annually), designed for companies managing portfolios and goals across departments.
• Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing, tailored for larger organizations with specific needs.

Asana Reviews on G2

Meredith S., a senior manager, says “Asana's made team communication easier for her team this year”, but admits that “the system is intimidating with all of its functionality.”

Another reviewer, Neha G, says “Asana is good for delegating tasks and tracking task completion.”

 Asana Vs Trello: Which Should You Try?

Asana and Trello are project management tools with valuable features to help your team manage projects better.

However, their efficiency depends heavily on your team, the kind of projects you handle, and whether you need a simple workflow management or a complex one.

Consider Trello if you have a small team of 5-10 members, and you only manage straightforward projects.  If you have a large team that needs advanced task management, you should opt for Asana instead. Even Trello suggests using Jira if you have a large team:  

However, if you want the best of both worlds (the Kanban view with advanced project and client management features), we recommend ManyRequests.

‍ManyRequests is a client-facing project management tool designed for creative agencies.

ManyRequests caters to creative agencies’ project and client management.

Let's explore some of its features:

Why ManyRequests Stands Out for Creative Agencies

Unlike Trello's Kanban-focused approach or Asana's broad project management features, ManyRequests manages client relationships alongside project workflows. 

Here's how it does it:

White Label Client Portal

ManyRequests provides a branded client portal where clients can submit requests directly into your workflow system. You can customize your platform to look and feel like an extension of your agency rather than ManyRequests'.

Some of the features you can customize with ManyRequests’ white-label client portal include: 

• Your domain name.
• Your agency's logo and brand colors throughout the interface.
• Custom welcome messages and onboarding guides.
• Branded email notifications.
• Personalized service catalogs.

Here's an example of a customized portal from Prontto: 

Your clients can log into your branded portal, which looks and feels like your agency's portal, purchase your services through ManyRequest’s service catalog, 

and submit their requests through a customized form.

You can customize your service request form to ask all the necessary questions you need to ask clients on the new requests.

Project Management

While Trello or Asana requires that you create project structures manually, ManyRequests automates the process.When a client submits a request, the platform automatically turns it into a task in your system.

You can then immediately assign the task to team members.

Assignees will get an automated notification of tasks assigned to them, and they can change the status to signify that they've started or completed the task. 

ManyRequests has more nuanced status options than the usual “To Do, In Progress, Complete.” Your tasks can move through stages like: 

• To Do
• In Progress
• Pending response
• Revisions Needed
• Completed
• Scheduled
• Closed
• Queued

Depending on what stage the task is at, project managers can monitor their team members to know their workload, task status and when to assign pending requests to them.

Built-in Time Tracking Feature

ManyRequests tracks time in real-time. You can track how much time your team spends on client projects directly as they work on them. 

You can also share these reports with clients when billing them— ManyRequests also lets you share time with clients as you track it. It shows transparency in how much time your team spends on their work, especially if you're charging per hour, or you want to know how to convert the value of time to money when billing.

You can track time with ManyRequests in two ways: 

• The Actual time tracking feature. Your team clicks a play button to start timing their work. The timer stays visible at the top of the page until they're done with work and stop it. 

They don't have to be online to track time— the system syncs when there's an internet connection. After they stop the time tracker, ManyRequests brings a detailed pop-up form so team members can add descriptions of their work. 

• Manual Timesheet entry. Here, your team enters their hours directly into the timesheets. They can edit these timesheets to fix mistakes or round time up or down. 

ManyRequests also integrates with Stripe to bill your clients, so you can generate invoices automatically based on tracked time. You can also set up hourly or fixed-rate billing, send invoices to clients, and receive payment without leaving the platform.

Real-Time Collaboration and Feedback

Every task on ManyRequests has a discussion space. Your team can handle meetings, share updates, and discuss with clients on the platform, if you want them to. 

You can create tasks and assign them to team members. Each task has its thread where your team can; 

• Tag colleagues using @mentions for quick input.
• Write private internal notes that clients can't see but are still connected to the project.
• Track the status of tasks from to-dos to when they are completed. 

ManyRequests also has a design annotation tool to help clients and team members leave feedback on design documents.

If your designer shares design documents with clients or colleagues, they can click directly on the design to leave feedback. Each click creates a numbered pin, with comments, on the exact spot that needs iterations. For example, in the image below, the client needs the design to pop more than it does. 

The designer understands what needs to be done because the comments are on the exact spots. Every individual pin has its comment threads to keep feedback organized.

ManyRequests Pros

• Has a white-label client portal.
• Provides direct connection between client requests and internal tasks assigned. 
• Has customizable forms that collect project requirements upfront. 
• Has a markup feature. 
• Provides a built-in service productivization to help agencies scale easily. 

ManyRequests Cons

• ManyRequests all-in-one approach creates limited provision for third-party integration.
• The platform can be a bit complex for new users to learn. 

ManyRequests Pricing

• Starter pack: $99/ monthly for  2-team agencies. 
• Core: $149/ monthly for 5-team agencies.
• Pro: $399/ monthly for 10-team agencies.
• Enterprise plan with custom pricing for a large team with over 25 members. Reach out to Robin to discuss a customized plan for your large team. 

ConclusionYour choice of project management tool should depend on your agency's needs. From the above, it's clear that: 

• Trello is great for small teams who need visual task management. Its Kanban boards make project tracking simple, but you'll need additional tools for client management and billing.

• Asana is for larger teams who handle complex projects. It provides detailed tracking, multiple project views, and built-in time management. But it lacks an all-in-one solution for client portal and billing.

ManyRequests combines the best of all worlds with its project management and client portal. You get one platform to manage all active tasks, chat with clients, track time, and bill clients without administrative issues. Your clients can also make requests for specific deliverables via custom forms and provide feedback directly on task boxes. Sign up for a 7-days free trial (no credit card needed) to see how it works.