TLDR (Summary)
Asana handles task management and project tracking but has zero invoicing, proposals, contracts, payments, or client portal features at any price tier. Paid plans require a 2-seat minimum, costing solo freelancers $22-50/month for one person. Freelancers stack 2-4 extra tools on top, pushing the total monthly cost to $60-120+. Plutio covers projects, invoicing, proposals, contracts, and client portals starting at $19/month with no seat minimums.
Project management without the business side
Asana covers project management but none of the business functions freelancers need to get hired, get paid, and keep clients informed, regardless of which plan they choose.
Freelancers need two types of tools: one to manage the work (tasks, timelines, dependencies) and one to manage the business (proposals, contracts, invoicing, payments, client portals). Asana covers the first half. The second half doesn't exist in the platform at any price tier.
The gap shows up in the daily workflow. A project wraps up in Asana, and then the admin work starts: switching to FreshBooks to create the invoice, opening PandaDoc to send the next proposal, emailing the client because there's no shared portal. The project and the payment live in separate apps with no connection between them.
Asana's Trustpilot rating of 1.6 out of 5 stars reflects the frustration. Billing complaints dominate: unexpected charges, refund denials, and pricing practices that reviewers call unfair. The 2-seat minimum on all paid plans means solo freelancers pay for an empty seat on every invoice.
Plutio's project management starts with Kanban boards and adds what Asana is missing on the business side: proposals with e-signatures, contracts, invoicing with payment processing, and branded client portals. Time tracked on a task feeds into an invoice line item, a completed milestone triggers a client notification, and project status updates in the client portal without sending a single email.
Asana manages tasks. Everything else a freelancer needs, from sending the first proposal to collecting the final payment, requires separate tools that don't connect to the project board.
Invoicing that connects to the work, not a separate app
Asana has zero invoicing functionality at any price tier. Freelancers can't generate invoices from tracked time, send payment requests, or collect payments through the platform.
Every invoice requires a separate tool. The invoice data never connects to project milestones or task completion. A project finishes in Asana, and then the freelancer opens FreshBooks or QuickBooks to manually recreate the billing details from memory or notes.
In Plutio, invoices populate from a date range with every tracked hour, task name, and rate already filled in, so there's no copying from a separate tracker or reconciling from memory at the end of the month.
Recurring invoices auto-send on schedule with late payment reminders built in. Payment processing through Stripe, PayPal, or bank transfer happens inside the same platform. Multi-currency support lets international freelancers bill clients in local currencies without workarounds.
The gap matters most for hourly freelancers. Without connected invoicing, the end of every billing cycle becomes a manual process of pulling hours from one app, building the invoice in another, and hoping nothing gets missed.
Plutio's invoicing turns tracked hours into paid invoices without copying numbers between apps.
Proposals and contracts that create projects automatically
Asana has no proposal builder, no contract templates, and no e-signature functionality. Contract workflows can be tracked as tasks, but drafting, signing, and storage require separate tools like PandaDoc or DocuSign.
The signed proposal doesn't create a project. The finished project doesn't generate an invoice. Every handoff between stages happens manually across different platforms.
Plutio's proposal builder includes drag-and-drop sections, pricing tables, and built-in e-signatures. Clients review and sign from any device. When the signature goes through, Plutio creates the project with pre-configured tasks and deadlines based on the proposal scope.
Contracts attach to proposals and projects, so the signed scope stays connected to the actual work. The client portal activates with branded access, and the first invoice can generate directly from the approved pricing in the proposal.
The entire pre-project workflow happens in one sequence. In an Asana workflow, the proposal goes through PandaDoc, the project gets built manually in Asana, files go into Google Drive, and time tracking runs through Toggl. Four tools, zero data shared between them.
In Plutio, a signed proposal becomes a live project with contracts, tasks, and client portal access, all from one signed document.
Time tracking built into every project
Asana removed native time tracking from lower tiers. Built-in time tracking only exists on the Advanced plan ($30.49/user/month) and above, and even there it's manual-only with no timesheets, no billable hour configurations, and no connection to invoicing.
Starter and free plans need external tools like Toggl or Harvest on top. The tracked time in those tools never connects back to Asana tasks or feeds into invoices, so the data lives in three separate places.
Plutio's time tracking runs inside every project. A built-in timer starts from any task with one click, or hours get logged manually with notes and rates attached. Billable and non-billable hours stay separated so only client-facing work hits the invoice.
At invoice time, tracked hours convert to line items with the task name, duration, and hourly rate already filled in, so there's no guesswork when the invoice goes out.
Time reports break down hours by project, client, or date range. The data shows exactly where billable hours went and which projects ran over budget, all from the same place where the projects and invoices live.
Every hour tracked in Plutio turns into an invoice line item without manual entry or app switching.
Client portals that show project progress
Asana has no dedicated client portal. Clients can only be added as guests with comment-only access to specific projects, and internal notes and team discussions remain visible to anyone with board access.
There's no branded space where clients submit requests, check progress, approve deliverables, or download organized files. Client communication defaults to email, which means status update requests, file sharing, and approval workflows all happen outside the project.
Plutio's client portals are branded with a custom logo, colors, and domain. Clients log in and see project progress alongside milestones, shared files, outstanding invoices, and messages.
Files upload directly to the project instead of arriving as email attachments. Messages attach to specific tasks so conversations stay in context. Clients approve deliverables and pay invoices from the portal without downloading separate apps or juggling multiple logins.
The portal replaces the email chains, the "just checking in" messages, and the status update requests that pile up between meetings. Clients see what's happening without asking, and freelancers don't need to write separate update emails.
Plutio's client portals replace status update emails with a branded space where clients track progress, share files, and pay invoices.
With Plutio we don't jump between apps anymore! Everything from projects to invoicing is finally connected in one fully-branded app.
How to switch from Asana to Plutio
Most freelancers complete the transition in 1-2 weeks by exporting Asana data and starting new projects on Plutio.
- Start a free trial: Plutio offers 14 days of full access with no credit card required. Every feature, including projects, invoicing, proposals, time tracking, and client portals, works from day one.
- Export project data: Asana supports CSV export for projects, including task names, assignees, due dates, sections, and custom fields. File attachments need to be downloaded separately from each task. Automations and workflow rules don't export.
- Import client contacts: Export contacts and import them into Plutio. Client names, emails, and details carry over in minutes.
- Set up a project template: Create one project template with the standard task list, milestones, and deliverable structure. Every new project starts from the template instead of manual setup.
- Start new clients on Plutio: Send the next proposal from Plutio. When the client signs, the project creates automatically with the template structure, portal access, and contract attached.
- Cancel Asana before auto-renewal: Asana auto-renews without prominent notification, and refund requests are regularly denied according to Trustpilot reviews. Set a calendar reminder before the renewal date.
The hardest part of switching from Asana isn't exporting tasks. The hardest part is finding one platform that replaces both Asana and the 2-3 business tools running alongside Asana. Starting with a platform that covers projects, proposals, invoicing, and client portals eliminates the need to rebuild another multi-tool workflow.
The switch happens between projects, not mid-project. New clients start on Plutio while Asana projects finish naturally.
