| Functionality | 9 <p>Asana offers almost all the functionality most companies need to manage tasks and projects effectively. It has rich functionality such as customisable forms, automation, time-tracking and anlalytics. For larger teams with multiple teams and projects, it also offers excellent portfolio management functionality.</p><p>However, it's missing the advanced customizability that the largest teams require to manage complex task and project relationships e.g. assigning multiple team members to a task or sophisticated automation workflows with branches.</p> | 6 <p>Linear focuses on delivering exceptional functionality required for planning and building software products. including excellent product planning, cycling planning and issue tracking functionality. However, this means that compared to other PM tools, Linear lacks some common functionality, e.g. timeline/ Gantt view for tasks, adding custom fields, time-tracking, an automations module.</p> |
| Ease of Use | 7 <p>Asana balances functionality with a relatively intuitive interface, but it's not the simplest tool to use. There's a moderate learning curve due to the wide array of features, and compared to some of the tools we've tested and there are at times less templates available (e.g. for building automation). However, it generally does a good job guiding users throughout the platform e.g. linking projects to goals, navigating different customisation options on project views.</p> | 9 <p>Using Linear is a delight. Its keyboard-first design allows you to breeze through workflows with ease—most actions, like creating a new task, are just a single shortcut away (press “C,” and you’re good to go). With its streamlined functionality, finding key information and navigating core workflows feels intuitive. Thanks to its smooth onboarding process, most startup employees can feel comfortable with the platform in just 1-2 hours, even with minimal guidance.</p><p>That said, Linear isn’t the most beginner-friendly tool. For users less familiar with keyboard shortcuts, it can feel a bit daunting at first. Plus, it offers fewer templates and less in-app guidance compared to alternatives like Asana or Monday, which might leave some teams wishing for a little more hand-holding.</p> |
| Look and feel | 8 <p>Asana features a clean, modern design with a visually appealing interface. Pages loads are acceptable (1-3 seconds) and Asana also sprinkles moments of delight in the user experience e.g. rainbow unicorns fly across your screen when tasks/ projects are marked complete!</p> | 9 <p>If you like modern, minimalist app designs with a touch of elegance, then you will love Linear. Every Linear page is beautifully laid-out and colour-coded, every interaction & transition is silky smooth, and page loads are lightning fast.</p> |
| Customisability | 6 <p>Asana provides a good level of customizability, allowing users to create custom fields, templates, and workflows to suit their team's needs. However, there are some limitations e.g. you're unable to link related tasks (that aren't dependent on one another), add multiple team members to a task etc. Unlike more flexible all-in-one tools, Asana is strictly a project management tool - each item must be a "task", which means you're can't use it for other use cases (e.g. HR - tracking employees, sales - tracking deals).</p> | 4 <p>Linear proudly admits that it is inflexible —and for good reason. They believe overly flexible software lets everyone create their own workflows, which eventually leads to chaos. For instance, you can’t add custom fields in Linear or build your own bespoke workflows. You’re also limited to just two task (or issue) views: board and list. It’s a “less is more” philosophy, designed to keep things simple and focused.</p> |
| Ease of Setup | 8 <p>Offers a self-serve free trial and allows purchase without needing to talk to sales. Getting started and setting up a few tasks and subtasks should take 20-30 minutes, because it has a good library of templates for projects. Full setup should take less than a day.</p> | 8 <p>Linear offers a self-serve free trial and lets you purchase directly—no need to deal with sales. If you're familiar with agile methodology, then setting up Linear should be a breeze since it anticipates everything you need, including sprints, Kanban board, and a backlog. You can get started with a project and a few tasks within 10-20 minutes, with full customization taking 1-2 hours.</p> |
| Customer Support | 5 <p>For Asana users on lower tiers, you can contact support by submitting a ticket through its AI chatbot (which was unhelpful and frustrating to get through). However, Asana does have high quality help centre and community support.</p> | 9 <p>Linear’s support team is easy to reach—you can submit a question directly in the app. When tested, their response time was impressive (under an hour), and the support agent was both knowledgeable and genuinely helpful.</p><p>The Linear team has also been open and responsive to feedback.</p> |
| Integratability | 8 <p>Asana has integrations with most relevant third party apps (e.g. CRM, time-tracking, invoicing marketing, developer tools etc). It also has an API for custom integrations.</p> | 7 <p>Linear might not boast the extensive list of integrations you’ll find with other project management tools, but it likely covers everything a tech startup needs for software development. The integrations it does offer are top-notch—high-quality and thoughtfully crafted. Plus, if you need something more specific, Linear provides an API for building custom integrations.</p> |
| Ease of Migration | 8 <p>Exporting key data out of Trello is relatively straightforward. You can simply export entire projects, with all your tasks, in JSON or CSV formats. However, note that not all data - such as comments, activity logs and attachments will transfer seamlessly. However, you can export other data via its API.</p> | 9 <p>Linear makes it easy to export all your key data—workspace, team members, projects, and tasks—directly into CSV format through a self-serve option. You can also export data via its analytics module or by integrating with Google Sheets. For anything else, Linear’s API has you covered, giving you full control over exporting additional data.</p> |
