Asana vs Backlog by Nulab Inc
Asana and Backlog by Nulab Inc are both top project management tools, but they serve very different teams. Asana focuses on scalable workflow management, while Backlog by Nulab Inc shines for development and issue tracking.
Great features, poor customer support.
We find that Asana offers powerful project management features, excellent organizational scalability, and a generous free plan suitable for small teams. However, recurring external reports indicate severe problems with customer service responsiveness and billing transparency, heavily detracting from the product’s core strengths. Overall, we recommend caution for small businesses or any organization prioritizing reliable, direct customer support.
Pros
- Powerful free tier available for individuals and small teams (up to 10 users).
- Flexible design for managing tasks, projects, and team workflows efficiently.
- Supports excellent scalability, trusted by many Fortune 100 companies.
- Advanced features like Gantt charts and Timeline views are available starting on the Starter plan.
Cons
- Customer service is widely reported as non-existent, slow, or dependent on ineffective chatbots.
- Numerous complaints regarding deceptive auto-renewal practices and unauthorized charges.
- Refund requests are frequently denied, increasing costs for unintended subscriptions.
- Users often lose access or tasks when attempting to downgrade from a paid trial to the free plan.
Solid all-in-one for dev teams.
Overall, we find Backlog to be a capable and cost-effective platform that effectively merges project management, issue tracking, and code collaboration into a single tool. It's a strong choice for small to mid-sized teams looking to simplify their workflow without per-user costs.
Pros
- All-in-one platform combining project management, issue tracking, and Git/SVN repositories.
- Transparent, flat-fee pricing with no per-user charges, making it affordable for growing teams.
- Built-in AI assistant to help with summaries, file retrieval, and task drafting.
- Integrates with popular tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Drive.
Cons
- External review sources were inaccessible, limiting our ability to gauge user sentiment on support or reliability.
- The platform's breadth might be overwhelming for very simple project tracking needs.
- Advanced features are only available on higher-priced plans.
- Specific details on performance with very large teams or complex codebases are unclear from provided materials.
AboutAsana
Asana is an online platform built specifically to manage your team’s work, projects, and tasks. It supports powerful Human + AI collaboration.
This AI component understands your specific business context, helping to move your most important work forward efficiently. Because it's a centralized ecosystem, it easily brings all doers and stakeholders together in one place. 💡
AboutBacklog by Nulab Inc
Backlog is an all-in-one work management platform built for teams that build, plan, or create. 🚀 It combines project management, issue tracking, and team collaboration into a single, powerful tool. This makes it ideal for development teams managing code and bugs, design teams planning sprints, marketing teams running campaigns, and small businesses seeking a straightforward solution without user limits.
Highlights
Feature Comparison
Features Overview
We highlight the main differences and pick a winner for each feature.
Core Workflow & Collaboration
Asana excels at structured, visual project workflows. Backlog by Nulab Inc merges tasks with code and issue tracking seamlessly.
Asana provides List, Board, Timeline, and Calendar views. It's designed for teams managing campaigns, products, and operations across departments. Backlog by Nulab Inc combines tasks, issues, and Git/SVN repositories in one place. It's built for developers and cross-functional tech teams. Asana's strength is visualizing complex project timelines. Backlog by Nulab Inc's strength is connecting code commits directly to tasks.
AI & Automation
Asana offers a powerful AI Studio with advanced automation. Backlog by Nulab Inc includes a helpful AI Assistant at no extra cost.
Asana's AI Studio (Starter plan+) automates workflows and understands business context. It's a premium feature with usage credits. Backlog by Nulab Inc's AI Assistant helps create summaries, find files, and draft to-do lists. It's included in all paid plans. Asana's automation is deeper for process standardization. Backlog by Nulab Inc's AI is more for everyday assistance.
Pricing & Value
Backlog by Nulab Inc's flat-fee model is budget-friendly for growing teams. Asana's per-user pricing scales predictably.
Asana charges per user monthly, starting at $10.99/user for Starter. Costs grow linearly with team size. Backlog by Nulab Inc charges a flat monthly fee per plan. Adding users doesn't increase the cost. Backlog by Nulab Inc offers better value for rapidly expanding teams. Asana provides clearer budgeting for fixed team sizes.
Reporting & Analytics
Asana offers advanced portfolio and objective tracking. Backlog by Nulab Inc provides solid sprint and project health reports.
Asana includes dashboards, portfolios, and objectives on Advanced plans. It's built for high-level organizational visibility. Backlog by Nulab Inc focuses on burndown charts, sprint reports, and project metrics. It's ideal for tracking development cycles. Asana is for strategic program management. Backlog by Nulab Inc is for tactical team performance.
Ease of Use
Backlog by Nulab Inc is praised for its clean interface. Asana is powerful but can have a steeper learning curve.
Backlog by Nulab Inc users highlight its intuitive design and ease of getting started. It's straightforward for task management. Asana's depth means more setup is required. Features like custom fields and portfolios add complexity. Backlog by Nulab Inc is simpler for day-to-day use. Asana is more complex but highly configurable.
Customer Support
Backlog by Nulab Inc provides dedicated support on higher tiers. Asana's support is widely criticized in reviews.
Backlog by Nulab Inc offers email support on all paid plans. Premium and Enterprise include dedicated managers and training. Asana users report slow, chatbot-dependent support. Direct human support is limited to Enterprise plans. Backlog by Nulab Inc has more accessible support. Asana's support is a significant pain point.
Scalability
Asana is built for enterprise scale. Backlog by Nulab Inc scales well for teams but not for massive organizational complexity.
Asana is trusted by 85% of Fortune 100 companies. It offers unlimited portfolios and advanced security. Backlog by Nulab Inc scales team size without extra cost. It has Enterprise features like SAML. Asana is for global, multi-department orchestration. Backlog by Nulab Inc is for growing tech teams.
Integration Ecosystem
Asana boasts 300+ integrations. Backlog by Nulab Inc covers key tools with a strong API.
Asana integrates with Salesforce, Tableau, and 300+ enterprise tools. It's a connected work OS. Backlog by Nulab Inc connects to Slack, Teams, Google Drive, and offers a robust API. It covers essentials well. Asana has a broader, deeper integration network. Backlog by Nulab Inc covers the most critical tools for dev teams.
Asana costs between $US 0 and $24.99 per user per month (annual billing) with 5 plans: Personal at $US 0, Starter at $US 10.99, Advanced at $US 24.99, Enterprise at Contact Sales, and Enterprise+ at Contact Sales.
Here is a breakdown of what each plan offers your team.
Personal
Price: $US 0 (Free for life) Websites Supported: Not explicitly stated Best For: Individuals and small teams wanting better task management Refund Policy: Not explicitly stated Other Features:
- Work in teams (up to 10 people)
- Unlimited tasks, projects, and messages
- Unlimited storage (100 MB max. per file)
- List, Board, and Calendar views
- Basic search filters
- Work in teams (up to 10 people)
- Unlimited tasks, projects, and messages
- Unlimited storage (100 MB max. per file)
- List, Board, and Calendar views
- Basic search filters
- Unlimited user licenses
- Asana AI Studio access
- Timeline and Gantt Views
- Process Generator
- Advanced Search and Custom Fields
- Objectives and unlimited portfolios
- Resource Management
- Integrations to Salesforce, Tableau, and Power BI
- Form customization and approvals
- Native time tracking
- Bulk process actions
- SAML and SCIM for accelerated user configuration
- Service accounts
- 24/7 support
- Custom branding
Backlog by Nulab Inc pricing: Backlog by Nulab Inc offers a range of flat-fee plans starting from a free tier up to $175 per month, with no per-user fees. You can save 17% by choosing annual billing for any paid plan level reached by your team's needs. Plans range: $0–$210/month Billing options: Free plan, Free trial, Monthly subscription, Yearly subscription, Per seat pricing, Usage-based pricing
Pricing Notes
- Asana charges per user, so costs scale directly with team size. Backlog by Nulab Inc's flat fee is cheaper for growing teams.
- Asana's free plan supports 10 users. Backlog by Nulab Inc's free plan supports 10 users but only 1 project.
- Asana offers a free trial for paid plans. Backlog by Nulab Inc offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card.
- Asana's paid plans start at $10.99/user/month (Starter). Backlog by Nulab Inc's paid plans start at $35/month for 30 users.
- Asana does not offer refunds on paid subscriptions. Backlog by Nulab Inc's refund policy isn't specified.
Pricing Head-to-Head
User Reviews
External feedback, predominantly showcased through Trustpilot, reveals widespread dissatisfaction among users, giving the service a significantly low overall rating. Customers frequently criticize the subscription and billing practices, often citing unexpected auto-renewals or unauthorized charges occurring months after cancellation or trial expiration. The inability to secure refunds, even in cases of clear error, is a major pain point.
🚨 The most significant complaint centers on support responsiveness. Reviewers report slow service, sometimes waiting a week for an email reply, reliance on frustrating chatbots, and difficulties contacting a human representative. While some users acknowledge the base product is flexible and has good design features, the company's operational infrastructure and seeming focus on larger enterprises leaves smaller businesses feeling neglected, leading many to label the experience customer-hostile or deceptive.
The app itself is great, offering good design, projects, and flexible team spaces. However, the customer service experience is awful. The only way to talk to CS is often through slow, ineffective emails.
We found that external review platforms like Trustpilot were not accessible due to verification errors, preventing us from gathering specific user sentiment from those sources. Capterra was not provided.
Therefore, our review is based solely on the official product information and pricing details from Nulab. ✅ We can confirm Backlog offers a unified platform for project management, issue tracking, and collaboration with built-in Git/SVN support and no per-user fees.
Backlog is great for keeping all our code and tasks in one place. The Git integration is seamless, and my team stopped switching between five different apps. It just works for our sprint planning.
Our Verdict
For most teams, **Backlog by Nulab Inc** is the smarter, more affordable choice. It delivers a cleaner experience without surprise costs. **Asana's** superpower is its sheer scale and automation. It's the workhorse for Fortune 100 companies running complex, cross-department projects. If you need AI-driven workflows and portfolio tracking, Asana is unmatched. **Backlog by Nulab Inc's** superpower is its focused simplicity and value. It nails the essentials for dev and tech teams by merging code and tasks. The flat fee is a game-changer for growing startups. The deciding factor is your team's core work. If you manage marketing campaigns or business operations, Asana fits better. If you build software or need issue tracking, Backlog by Nulab Inc wins. **Final verdict:** Choose **Backlog by Nulab Inc** for dev teams and budget-conscious growth. Choose **Asana** only if you need enterprise-scale workflow automation and can tolerate its support issues.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for small teams: Asana or Backlog by Nulab Inc?
Backlog by Nulab Inc is often better for small teams. Its flat-fee pricing won't cost more as you add people. Asana's free plan is also excellent for up to 10 users.
Does Asana have built-in Git like Backlog by Nulab Inc?
No, Asana does not have built-in version control. Backlog by Nulab Inc includes native Git and SVN repositories. Asana would require integrations for similar functionality.
Is Backlog by Nulab Inc cheaper than Asana for a team of 20?
Yes, typically. Backlog by Nulab Inc's Standard plan ($95/month) supports unlimited users. Asana's Starter plan would cost about $219/month for 20 users.
Can I migrate from Asana to Backlog by Nulab Inc easily?
Backlog by Nulab Inc offers dedicated import tools for migrating from Jira and Redmine. There is no direct Asana importer mentioned. You may need manual export and import.
Which tool has better AI features?
Asana's AI Studio is more powerful for automating complex business workflows. Backlog by Nulab Inc's AI Assistant is simpler but included for free, helping with summaries and daily planning.
Which is better for non-technical marketing teams?
Asana is generally better for marketing teams. Its views (Timeline, Calendar) and campaign-focused templates fit non-technical work better than Backlog by Nulab Inc's issue-tracking-centric design.
Ready to Choose?
Both tools have their strengths. Choose based on your specific needs.