Opus vs Asana: Business Management vs Task Management
Asana is one of the best project and task management tools on the market. But when your business needs financial tracking, CRM, team chat, and Xero integration alongside project management, you end up paying for five different subscriptions. Opus replaces them all.
The fundamental difference
Asana and Opus approach business challenges from different angles. Understanding this difference helps you choose the right tool.
Asana
Task & Project Management
Asana is a dedicated work management platform built to help teams organise tasks, manage projects, and track progress. It excels at what it does — beautiful timeline views, powerful automations, and a massive integrations ecosystem with 200+ apps.
Strengths
Gaps for business management
Opus
Complete Business Management
Opus is an all-in-one business management platform that combines project management with financial tracking, CRM, team communication, equipment management, and AI analytics. One subscription replaces five or more separate tools.
Strengths
Trade-offs vs Asana
Feature-by-feature comparison
An honest look at how Opus and Asana compare across the capabilities that matter most to growing businesses.
| Feature Area | O Opus | A Asana |
|---|---|---|
| Project Management | Full pipeline management with visual boards, drag-and-drop stages, project numbering, cost-to-complete analysis, and profit tracking per project. | Excellent task and project management with timelines, boards, lists, Gantt charts, and workload views. |
| Financial Management | Built-in invoicing, bill management, expense tracking, budgets, loan tracking, and cash-flow forecasting — all synced live with Xero. | No financial features. Requires third-party integrations (Zapier + Xero/QuickBooks) with limited data sync. |
| CRM & Client Management | Integrated CRM with client enrichment, contact search, lead pipeline, and client portal access tied to projects and invoices. | No built-in CRM. Requires separate tools like Salesforce or HubSpot connected via integrations. |
| Team Communication | Built-in threaded messaging, project-level chat, and @mentions. No need for a separate Slack or Teams subscription. | In-task comments and status updates. Most teams still rely on Slack or Microsoft Teams alongside Asana. |
| Equipment Tracking | Dedicated equipment registry with service histories, depreciation tracking, receipt scanning, and assignment to projects. | No equipment management. Would need a separate asset management tool or custom fields workaround. |
| AI & Analytics | Claude-powered AI assistant for natural-language queries across all business data. AI expense categorisation, proposal parsing, and financial forecasting. | AI features focused on task summarisation, status updates, and writing assistance within Asana's project context. |
| Integrations | Deep native integrations: Xero (two-way sync), Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Google Ads, LinkedIn. Purpose-built connectors, not middleware. | Massive ecosystem — 200+ integrations via native connectors, Zapier, and the Asana API. Strongest integration catalogue in the market. |
| Reporting & Dashboards | Financial reports, project profitability, cumulative profit charts, salary analysis, and AI-generated business intelligence dashboards. | Project-focused dashboards, portfolio status reports, and workload charts. Strong for team productivity metrics. |
Ratings reflect capability depth in each area. A higher Asana rating in Project Management acknowledges its advanced timeline and dependency features.
The hidden cost: integration tax
Asana is competitively priced as a task management tool. But to match what Opus provides out of the box, you need to stack subscriptions.
Typical Asana-Based Stack
Per user/month for a 10-person team needing full business management
Asana Advanced
Project & task management
Zapier Professional
Automation middleware (shared cost)
HubSpot Starter
CRM & client management
Slack Pro
Team messaging
Xero Growing
Already paying, but no auto-sync
Opus Professional
Everything included — one subscription, one login, one bill
Project Management
Pipeline, boards, tasks, proposals
Financial Management
Invoicing, bills, expenses, budgets
Xero Integration
Native two-way sync, no middleware
CRM & Client Portal
Lead pipeline, contacts, enrichment
Team Chat
Project messaging, threads, @mentions
Equipment Tracking
Asset registry, depreciation, service logs
AI Business Intelligence
Available as add-on ($24.99/mo)
Pricing comparison
Side-by-side pricing for task management (Asana) vs complete business management (Opus).
Asana Plans
Task & project management only
Personal
Up to 10 users, basic features, limited views
Starter
Timeline view, dashboards, workflow builder, forms
Advanced
Portfolios, goals, custom fields, approvals, proofing
Enterprise
SAML, data export, admin controls, custom branding
Opus Plans
Complete business management platform
Free
Up to 5 users, 3 projects, basic project management
Starter
Up to 10 users, 10 projects, time tracking, client portal, reporting
Professional
Xero sync, CRM, chat, equipment, advanced analytics, API, SharePoint, Google Ads
Business
SSO/SAML, unlimited projects, audit logging, 24/7 priority support, custom workflows
Enterprise
Dedicated account manager, custom SLA, on-premise option, data residency controls
Which one is right for you?
Both are excellent platforms. The best choice depends on what your business actually needs.
Choose Asana if you…
- Primarily need advanced task and workflow management
- Have a large team (500+ users) with complex dependencies
- Already use separate, established tools for finance, CRM, and chat
- Need 200+ app integrations from the marketplace
- Want Gantt charts with critical path and dependency mapping
- Are an enterprise organisation with existing Asana investment
Choose Opus if you…
- Need project management AND financial tracking in one tool
- Use Xero and want automatic two-way data sync
- Want to eliminate separate CRM, chat, and connector subscriptions
- Track project profitability and need real-time financial dashboards
- Manage equipment, assets, or fleet alongside projects
- Want AI-powered business intelligence across all your data
- Are a SMB (5-100 people) tired of juggling multiple tools
- Value a single platform over best-of-breed point solutions
What Opus gives you that Asana can't
These aren't workarounds or integrations — they're core platform capabilities built from the ground up.
Real-Time Financial Sync
Invoices, bills, and expenses sync bidirectionally with Xero in real time. No CSV exports, no Zapier delays, no manual reconciliation. Your project financials are always current.
Project Profit Tracking
See the profitability of every project calculated from actual invoiced revenue minus allocated expenses — all pulled from Xero automatically. Asana has no concept of project finances.
Built-In CRM
Manage leads, clients, and contacts without a separate CRM subscription. Client data flows directly into projects, invoices, and reports — no integration middleware required.
Integrated Team Chat
Threaded conversations attached to projects and tasks. No more switching between Asana and Slack to discuss work — context stays where the work happens.
Equipment & Asset Tracking
Register equipment, track depreciation, log service histories, scan receipts, and assign assets to projects. An entire capability category that Asana simply doesn't address.
AI Business Intelligence
Ask questions about your business in plain English. "What's my most profitable project this quarter?" Claude analyses your financial data, project data, and team data together.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions from teams evaluating Opus as an Asana alternative.
Is Opus a direct replacement for Asana?
Not exactly — and that's the point. Asana is a dedicated project and task management tool, and it excels at that job. Opus is a broader business management platform that includes project management alongside financial management, CRM, team chat, equipment tracking, and AI analytics. If you only need task management for a large team, Asana may be a better fit. If you need to manage the full business lifecycle — from lead to invoice to profit — Opus replaces Asana plus several other tools.
Can Opus handle complex task dependencies and timelines like Asana?
Opus provides task management with sub-tasks, assignments, due dates, and visual project boards. For teams that rely heavily on Gantt chart dependencies, critical path analysis, and advanced timeline views, Asana offers more depth in that specific area. Opus trades some task-management granularity for breadth — giving you financial management, CRM, and AI analytics that Asana doesn't offer at all.
How does Opus's Xero integration compare to Asana's Xero integration?
Asana connects to Xero through third-party middleware like Zapier, which means limited data fields, potential sync delays, and an additional subscription cost. Opus has a native, two-way Xero integration built into the platform. Invoices, bills, expenses, and chart of accounts sync automatically without middleware. Project profitability is calculated in real time using live Xero data.
What does Opus offer that Asana doesn't?
Financial management (invoicing, bill tracking, expense management, budgets, cash-flow forecasting), native Xero two-way sync, built-in CRM with lead pipeline and client enrichment, team messaging and project chat, equipment and asset tracking with depreciation, AI business intelligence across all your data, and project profit analysis. These are core platform features, not add-ons.
What does Asana offer that Opus doesn't?
Asana has a larger integrations marketplace (200+ apps), more advanced timeline and Gantt views with dependency mapping, portfolio-level resource management for enterprise teams, and stronger adoption among large enterprises with thousands of users. Asana also offers dedicated workflow automation (Rules) and Forms for intake processes.
Is Opus more affordable than Asana?
When comparing per-user pricing alone, the products are in a similar range. However, the real cost difference is the "integration tax." With Asana, you typically need to add Xero connector ($20-50/month), a CRM ($25-75/user/month), Slack or Teams ($7-12/user/month), and potentially Zapier ($20-70/month) for automation. Opus includes financial management, CRM, chat, and Xero integration in every paid plan — eliminating $50-200+/month in additional subscriptions.
Can I migrate my data from Asana to Opus?
Yes. Opus supports project and client data import. While there isn't a one-click Asana importer yet, our support team can help you map Asana projects, tasks, and team members into Opus. Most teams complete the migration within a few days.
Who is Opus best suited for?
Opus is built for small-to-medium businesses (5-100 people) that need to manage the full business cycle — not just tasks. It's particularly popular with professional services firms, construction and engineering companies, consulting agencies, and any business that tracks project profitability and uses Xero for accounting. If your team currently juggles Asana + Xero + a CRM + Slack, Opus consolidates all of that.
Ready to manage your whole business — not just tasks?
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