An Asana alternative for agencies
An agency does not fail because nobody knew the status. It fails because three accounts all needed the same person on Thursday and nobody found out until Thursday.
Why agencies use Asana
Asana is the default for agencies over about twenty people, because account leads want portfolios and somebody upstairs wants a report.
Where it stops
It will tell you every project is on track and still let you promise the same designer to three clients, because due dates are not hours and there is nowhere to see a person’s week.
The week agencies actually have
Five clients, each convinced they are the only one. Work arrives as a brief, a Slack message and a call, in that order, usually on the same afternoon. Somebody has to decide which of them gets the senior designer this week, and that decision is currently being made in somebody’s head. The board says everything is in progress, which is true and useless.
You take the brief before you know if you can do it
The board shows what is in progress, never how many hours are already spoken for. So the yes happens in the meeting and the problem shows up at the end of the week, when it is a client conversation instead of a scheduling one.
In UnaTask: Team availability shows the hours already committed across every account before you answer, so the yes is informed rather than hopeful.
The same person is promised to three accounts
Each account manager plans their own client properly. Nobody plans the person. The collision is invisible until the day it lands.
In UnaTask: One calendar across every project, with the whole team on it, so a double booking is something you see on Monday rather than discover on Thursday.
The call decided things and the call is gone
Client calls generate work, and that work gets remembered by whoever was paying attention. A week later you are arguing about whether they asked for it.
In UnaTask: A notetaker joins the call and turns what was agreed into assigned tasks, so the record and the work are the same object.
Onboarding a client is done from memory every time
The first two weeks of an account are the same fifteen steps every time, and every time somebody rebuilds them by hand and forgets one.
In UnaTask: Project templates turn that into one click, including who each step is assigned to.
On the things agencies asked about
| What it does | Asana | UnaTask |
|---|---|---|
| Time blocking on a calendar | No | Core |
| See who has room | Yes | Core |
| Meetings become tasks | Partly | Yes |
| Useful before you configure it | Partly | Core |
| A free plan | Yes | Yes |
What it costs
For a team of 5, billed yearly, Asana is about $659.40 a year and UnaTask is €480 plus VAT. The two are quoted in different currencies, so we have not subtracted one from the other.
Asana: Free up to 2 users. $10.99 Starter and $24.99 Advanced per user per month billed annually.
Common questions
Why do agencies use Asana?
Asana is the default for agencies over about twenty people, because account leads want portfolios and somebody upstairs wants a report.
Where does Asana stop working for agencies?
It will tell you every project is on track and still let you promise the same designer to three clients, because due dates are not hours and there is nowhere to see a person’s week.
Should we leave Asana?
Not necessarily, and we would rather say so. Keep Asana if your company runs many teams and somebody above them needs the view from above. Move if the missing piece is the week itself: hours on a calendar, for everyone, before the work is promised.
Can I keep each client separate?
Yes. Each account is a project, with its own tasks, docs and templates, and you can group projects into areas when there are enough of them to need it. The calendar is the place they all come back together, which is the point.
Can clients see anything?
Only what you share. Booking links let a client pick a slot without seeing your calendar, and nothing else is public by default.
Asana details checked 2 August 2026.