by Moira Alexander

Asana vs. Mavenlink vs. Wrike: Project management platforms compared

Feature
Feb 22, 20197 mins
Enterprise ApplicationsEnterprise Buyer’s GuidesProject Management

Asana, Mavenlink, and Wrike offer world-class work management, but how do you know which one is best suited for your company? Here are the highlights, pros, and cons of each platform.

swiss army knife tool multi task project management survival
Credit: Thinkstock

When it comes to work management tools, organizations have a wealth of solid options to choose from — and Asana, Mavenlink, and Wrike top the list. Each offers features and usability suitable for almost any project management need. But the devil is in the details, and here we compare what each of these three platforms has to offer in an effort to help you find the best fit for your company.

Platform comparison overview

Asana’s work management and collaboration platform is an impressive tool that enables teams to significantly reduce the time they spend dealing with processes and task management. Companywide visibility and accountability are of great importance to stakeholders seeking successful project outcomes and Asana helps makes this possible by offering a strong feature set that helps teams remain in lock-step, meet deadlines and achieve goals.

From its high-level views to the smallest unit of task detail, Mavenlink offers a well thought out platform that is complete with business intelligence reporting — a definite plus for service-based businesses. Mavenlink is an online project management platform that offers a range of features aimed at project management and accounting, team collaboration, and business intelligence within a single solution.

Wrike stands out as an intuitive project management platform complete with resource management, automated request capturing, proofing and approval, and more.
Managing projects successfully comes down to skill, tacit knowledge, and having the right tools to collaborate with stakeholders and share information. Wrike, an online project management and collaboration tool, makes light work of these essential tasks.

 AsanaMavenlinkWrike
Company information• Founded in 2008
• 500+ employees
• 50,000+ customers
• Founded in 2008
• 500+ employees
• 50,000+ customers
• Founded in 2006
• 700+ employees
• 18,000+ customers
Websitewww.asana.comwww.mavenlink.comwww.wrike.com
Target company size2 – 1,000+10 – 1,000+10 – 1,000+
User interface (UI) focus• Clarity
• Visibility

Asana’s UI works off a simple hierarchy and content structure: company, teams, project, tasks, sub-tasks. Users can see who is doing what and when it is due.

• Clarity
• Intuitiveness

Mavenlink’s user dashboard is broken into key areas to give a clear view of a project’s participants and activity feeds, as well as the individual user’s tasks and progress. Users can see what matters most, without clutter.

• Clarity
• Intuitiveness

Wrike’s workspace is broken down into four main sections: folder structure, project tasks, main navigation menu, and task workspace. Users can easily navigate between and through the various elements.

Platforms• Web-based
• iOS
• Android
• Web-based
• iOS
• Android
• Web-based
• iOS
• Android
Pricing• Monthly $9.99+
• Annually $11.99+
• Monthly $19.99+ • Monthly $9.80+ (billed annually)
Training / support• In person
• Live
• Online
• Webinars
• Documentation
• In person
• Live
• Online
• Webinars
• Documentation
• Live
• Online
• Webinars
• Documentation

Feature comparison

All three work management solutions are fairly comparable in terms of common features, yet there are also features that set them apart. Here is a side-by-side feature comparison of what each platform has to offer.

 AsanaMavenlinkWrike
Access controls / permissions
Agile methodology
Asset management
Business process automation 
Calendar management  
Collaboration
Customizable dashboard
Document management
Forms management  
Mobile access 
Project planning
Performance reporting
Resource management
Task management
Third-party integrations 
Workflow configuration

Integrations comparison

Integrations make a difference when selecting a work management software. Your company may choose a solution that works with your other existing applications or choose to take the opportunity to migrate to other preferred applications that integrate well with either Asana, Mavenlink, or Wrike. However, doing so will increase the scope of a software implementation. Here are some of the applications with which each solution integrates.

 AsanaMavenlinkWrike
Communication• CloudApp
• Doorbell.io
• Dossier
• Front
• Glip
• Gmail
• HipChat
• Kore
• Mailbird
• MailButler
• Microsoft Teams
• Office 365
• Sendana
• Skarpline
• Slack
• Three-dot
• Twist
• Uniteable
• HubSpot
• Salesforce
• Slack
• Google
• Hangouts
• Chat
• HipChat
• HubSpot
• Microsoft Teams
• Salesforce
• Slack
Connectors and development• Automate.io
• BigBucket
• Blockspring
• BugMuncher
• Fivetran
• IBM App Connect
• Instabug
• Intergromat
• Jira
• LambdaTest
• Marker.io
• Phabricator
• Pivotal Tracker
• Project Buddy
• Screenful
• Scripts
• Sentry
• TrackDuck
• Tray.io
• Unito
• Usernap
• Zapier
• Jira • Add-in
• iCal Sync
• MS Excel
• MS Office 365
• MS Project
Importers• CVS
• Importer
• Jira
• Trello
• Jira • GitHub
• Jira
File sharing• Box
• CloudApp
• Dropbox
• Gmail
• Google Drive
• OneDrive
 • Box
• Dropbox
• Evernote
• Gmail
• Google Drive
• OneDrive
• Outlook
Google• Chrome
• Extension
• Google Calendar
• Google Drive
• Google Forms
• Google Sheets
• GSuite SAML
• SCIM
• GSuite 
Expense and time tracking and reporting• Bridge24
• DigiSpoke
• Everhour
• Google Sheets
• Grow
• HourStack
• Hubstaff
• InstaGantt
• Outplanr
• Power BI
• ProfiTable
• Screenful
• TimeCamp
• Timeneye
• TMetric
• Toggl
• Velocity
• Weekdone
• WorkingOn
• Concure
• Expensify
• Microsoft Dynamics 365
• NetSuite
• Quickbooks
• Sage Intacct
• Xero
• Harvest
• QuickBooks
Forms• Aha
• BugMuncher
• Google Forms
• JotForm
• Wufoo
• Google Sheets
• Wufoo

Platform pros and cons

Depending on your goals, each work management solution has its pros and cons. You should have a clear understanding of these goals and carefully weigh features; the user interface and navigation; user access, reporting, and collaboration features; scalability; pricing; and any other factors that your organization deems essential. Below are just some of the pros and cons that should be considered.

 AsanaMavenlinkWrike
Pros• Clean interface with detailed drill-down capabilities
• Email integration enables embedding email messages directly into the description field of a task
• All content lives in the same system, yet it can easily be dissected and arranged in different ways
• Automatic intelligent rescheduling capabilities
• A crisp interface with detailed drill-down capabilities
• Robust end-to-end full-cycle resource management
• Project Pulse feature offers project and bi-directional chatter feed
• New ‘Insights’ reporting feature is highly impressive, providing the performance-based visibility
• Intuitive interface
• Many templates
• Customizable customer “request forms”
• Three available project calendar views
• Resource utilization and allocation
• Automatic task notifications make keeping on schedule a breeze
Cons• Other solutions may offer more integration categories, but this may not be a deal-breaker given the high-value benefits Asana provides • Focused primarily on service-based businesses, potentially missing the needs of product-based businesses • Someone outside of project management may find it a bit overwhelming at first

Recommendations

All three solutions offer a clean, intuitive, and easy to navigate interface, but if you are looking for a solution that focuses on service-based businesses, Mavenlink might be a best bet. If your company is small and scalability is essential, Asana may be the solution since it is able to accommodate smaller companies with room to grow. If having a feature-rich solution for a larger, complex organization is what you are looking for, Wrike might be your best option. Take the time to demo each of these solutions and try before you buy. This will ensure you select the right work management software right out of the gate.

As software updates and new developments are continuous with top-tier solutions like Asana, Mavenlink, and Wrike, it is always a good idea to visit each of these work management software providers to get an up-to-date listing of features and integrations.

[ For more, see our in-depth reviews of each project management platform: Asana | Mavenlink | Wrike ]