Can WP Project Manager Replace Trello or Asana? Here’s What to Know

Managing projects can be challenging, especially when your team is small or spread across different locations. Many teams rely on popular tools like Trello or Asana to organize tasks, track progress, and collaborate efficiently. These tools are widely known for their ease of use and flexibility.

But they are not the only options available for project management. WP Project Manager is another great project management tool, popular among users seeking a self-hosted solution. It offers almost all the features available in Trello and Asana, and in some cases, it even goes beyond them.

Now the question is whether WP Project Manager can truly replace tools like Trello or Asana for professional project management! We will present a detailed discussion on this topic in this blog post, comparing their key features head-to-head and addressing many other issues.

Let's begin!

Overview of Trello

Trello is a popular project management tool known for its visual approach to organizing tasks. It uses Kanban boards, where projects are divided into lists and cards. Each card can represent a task, which you can move across lists to track progress. It also allows you to add due dates, labels, checklists, attachments, and comments to cards.

Its simplicity and visual layout make it a favorite for both small teams and individual users. Despite its strengths, Trello has some limitations. It offers limited native integrations, and many advanced features require paid addons. As a result, although Trello looks cost-saving at the initial stage, it becomes costly when you start adding new features over time.

Overview of Asana

Asana is a well-known project management tool designed to help teams plan, track, and manage work efficiently. It organizes work using tasks, timelines, and workflows, allowing users to visualize project progress and deadlines. Asana also supports subtasks, attachments, comments, and notifications, which help teams stay aligned.

Its structured approach makes it especially useful for larger teams or projects that require detailed planning and coordination. But it comes with subscription costs, which can be extremely expensive over time for larger teams. Besides, it has a steeper learning curve compared to many other project management tools, like Trello.

Introducing WP Project Manager

WP Project Manager is a WordPress-based project management plugin that allows you to manage projects directly from your WordPress website. It is a self-hosted solution, which means all your project data stays on your own server. With this tool, you can create projects, assign tasks, set deadlines, and collaborate with your team without relying on external platforms.

It comes with many powerful features like Kanban boards, Gantt charts, project milestones, and time tracking. It also supports integrations with tools like Slack and email notifications, helping teams stay connected and updated. It doesn't require complex learning curves like most plugins.

Feature Comparison: WP Project Manager vs Trello and Asana

So, by now, you have an overview of WP Project Manager, Trello, and Asana above. But these overviews aren't enough to evaluate if WP Project Manager can really replace the other tools as mentioned. So, in this section, we'll cover a head-to-head feature analysis between WP Project Manager and the other two plugins. Keep reading!

1. Kanban Board

WP Project Manager offers a fully integrated Kanban board that allows you to create projects, tasks, and subtasks in a visual layout. You can drag and drop tasks between columns, mark their status, assign team members, and set deadlines. Additionally, you can create multiple Kanban boards for different projects so they don't clash with each other.

Trello is built around the Kanban system. It is simple and intuitive. You can create boards, lists, and cards to track tasks. The drag-and-drop interface is highly visual, which makes it easy to see progress at a glance. It also allows labels, checklists, attachments, and comments for collaboration.

Asana provides a flexible Kanban board view along with its list and timeline views. Tasks can be moved between columns to represent different project stages. You can add subtasks, comments, and attachments. While Asana’s boards are powerful, they can feel overwhelming for beginners due to the extra features and detailed setup.

Explore the best Kanban Boards for WordPress project management.

2. Gantt Chart

WP Project Manager includes a built-in Gantt chart. Using this, you can easily visualize the starting dates, ending dates, dependencies, and progress of each task under a project. The Gantt Chart maintains a link with the Kanban Board. So, whenever you add a task, it will be reflected on the Gantt Chart.

Trello does not have a native Gantt chart.

Asana includes a timeline feature, which is similar to a Gantt chart. You can visualize tasks along a timeline, create dependencies, and track project progress. The timeline is very effective for planning and managing complex projects.

Check this guide on how a Gantt Chart can simplify a complex project.

3. Mobile and Desktop Apps

WP Project Manager is accessible through the WordPress dashboard, which works on mobile and desktop browsers. It doesn't have a desktop or mobile app.

Trello has dedicated mobile and desktop apps that offer smooth performance and offline access. Users can create and move cards, add comments, and track tasks easily from phones or tablets.

Asana also provides mobile and desktop apps, with a clean interface and notifications for tasks. The apps are robust and cover most features of the web version.

4. Time Tracker

WP Project Manager offers a built-in time tracking tool to monitor how long team members spend on tasks. You can start and stop timers for tasks, log work hours manually, and generate reports for billing or productivity analysis. This feature makes it simple for teams that need to track time without using external software.

Neither Trello nor Asana has a native time tracker. Therefore, they have to rely on third-party tools for time logging. These integrations may work well, but as they are separate from the main interface, this may disrupt the workflow.

Explore effective time management strategies and techniques to boost your productivity.

5. Detailed Reporting

WP Project Manager provides comprehensive reporting features. You can view task progress, project completion rates, logged hours, and team performance. Reports can be exported for analysis or shared with clients, all from the WordPress dashboard.

Trello’s reporting is limited. Advanced reports require integrating paid addons.

Asana offers detailed reporting, including task completion trends, workload charts, and project progress dashboards. While these reports are powerful, they are mostly available in premium plans.

6. User Role Management

WP Project Manager provides detailed role management. You can assign user roles, control access to projects and tasks, and manage permissions directly in WordPress. This ensures sensitive project data is secure and only visible to the right team members.

Trello has basic permission settings at the board level. But advanced role control is limited unless you upgrade the tool to premium features.

Asana supports role management at the project and team level. Admins can assign permissions, control task editing, and manage visibility.

7. Team Collaboration

WP Project Manager allows real-time collaboration. Team members can comment on tasks, mention each other, and receive email notifications. It also supports assigning tasks, sharing updates, and tracking progress in one platform, keeping all communication centralized.

Trello supports only basic-level collaboration through comments, attachments, and mentions on cards.

Asana excels in collaboration. It offers task comments, mentions, team dashboards, and project updates. You can do almost all collaborative tasks using the tool, as you can with the WP Project Manager plugin.

Learn how to improve your team productivity.

8. Files and Document Sharing

WP Project Manager lets you upload and attach files directly to tasks and projects. Documents, images, and spreadsheets can be stored securely on your WordPress server. Teams can access files without relying on external cloud services, making file management simple and self-contained.

Trello allows file attachments on cards. You can attach various files to the comment section of each kanban board card. Besides, you can even upload desired files to places like Google Drive or Dropbox. Then, share the link in the comment section of the respective kanban board card.

Asana also supports file attachments but integrates heavily with third-party cloud storage. Storage space and access management depend on your plan, and it is not stored locally, unlike WP Project Manager.

9. Integrations

WP Project Manager supports integrations with Slack, email notifications, and other WordPress plugins. This makes it easy to connect project management with existing WordPress workflows without leaving your site.

To integrate Trello with other tools, you have to add the power-ups tool. This will enable integrations for Trello with Slack, Google Drive, Zapier, and various other tools.

Asana also integrates with Slack, Google Workspace, Zoom, and many other tools. Integration is smooth but external, and some advanced features are limited to premium users.

A Snapshot: Feature Comparison – WP Project Manager vs Trello and Asana

Hope you enjoyed the discussion. However, some of you may be short on time to read such a lengthy discussion. So, for them, we've summarized the differences of WP Project Manager with Trello and Asana below in a table so you can have a quick idea at a glance.

Pricing Plans: WP Project Manager vs Trello and Asana

Pricing is one of the most important factors when buying any tool or product. Even if someone likes all the features, a high price can stop them from making a purchase. That’s why this section will now discuss the pricing plans of these three tools so you can evaluate which one is the most affordable and if it can replace the other two.

WP Project Manager – Pricing Plans

WP Project Manager has a free plan on WordPress.org. Additionally, it offers two pricing schemes, each with three plans. Take a look at them below.

Note: You'll get up to 30% off on lifetime plans around the year. On special occasions like National Holidays, Black Friday & Cyber Monday, and Summer Vacations, you'll get more discount offers.

The number of domains means how many websites you can use the tool on with a single license. The number of users is not the main point.

For example, the annual business license costs $249, and you can use this license on up to 10 websites. If you manage 100 members on each site, that means you are managing a total of 1,000 users. You can even manage more users if you want.

So, with just $249, you can manage thousands of users, which makes WP Project Manager a remarkably budget-friendly project management tool.

Trello – Pricing Plans

Trello also has a free plan available. Its premium plans are below.

• Standard – $60/annually (per user)
• Premium – $120/annually (per user)
• Enterprise – $210/annually (per user)

But as already said above, to enhance Trello's functionalities, you have to depend on third-party tools. This will eventually increase the cost of the tool.

Asana – Pricing Plans

Like the other two project management tools, Asana has a free plan forever. The three premium plans the tool has are:

• Starter – $131.88/annually (per user)
• Advanced – $299.88/annually (per user)
• Enterprise – ask for a quotation

Evaluation – Can WP Project Manager Replace Trello or Asana?

By now, you should already have reached a conclusion about whether WP Project Manager can replace the other two. Still, we will discuss this. Below is a list of users who can confidently replace Trello and Asana with WP Project Manager. Keep reading!

a. Budget-Focused Teams and Startups

Teams that need powerful project management but have a tight budget can replace Trello and Asana with WP Project Manager. Because instead of paying per user every month, they can buy one affordable license and manage unlimited users on multiple websites. This one-time or low annual cost is far cheaper than the ongoing subscription fees of Trello and Asana.

b. Businesses Already Running WordPress Websites

Companies that already use WordPress for their website can easily switch from Trello or Asana to WP Project Manager. Because it fits right into their existing setup. They do not need a separate login or platform. Project tasks, files, and communication stay inside the WordPress dashboard, which simplifies workflows and keeps all important data in one place.

c. Agencies or Freelancers Managing Multiple Client Sites

Agencies and freelancers often manage projects for many different clients. As WP Project Manager allows you to create unlimited projects, you can manage multiple clients separately without overlapping any tasks. You can even assign tasks and projects to different teams to simplify the project management process with the user role management feature.

d. Organizations That Require Strict Data Control or Privacy

Some organizations, such as those in healthcare, education, or government, need to keep all project data on their own servers. As WP Project Manager is a self-hosted solution, your data will be safe. But in the case of Trello and Asana, your data will be stored in the cloud, which may create data security concerns in your mind.

e. Teams With Large or Growing User Bases

Groups that plan to scale and add hundreds or thousands of members can replace Trello and Asana with WP Project Manager because it allows unlimited users without extra cost. A single license can cover many websites, and each site can have as many users as needed. This is a big advantage over per-user pricing models, where adding more people quickly increases expenses.

Final Takeaways!

We have compared WP Project Manager with two of the most popular tools in this blog post. But you can use the same outline to compare WP Project Manager with other project management platforms, as well as those available in the market. And most likely, you will reach a similar conclusion.

WordPress is now the world’s most popular content management system. Many people still think it is only for building websites, but that is a mistake. Beyond website creation, you can do many other tasks with WordPress, such as project management, which this article has shown in detail.

If you are still unsure about the user-friendliness or practical value of WP Project Manager, there is no need to worry. You can request a refund within 14 days for any plan. So there is nothing to lose. If you have more questions, feel free to share them with us in the comment box below.