Short answer: For large companies running complex multi-layer project portfolios and OKRs, Asana + Asana Intelligence is strong; but if you want agentic AI that takes action across real customer + project + contract + invoice + Meet flows, Managelify and Mana AI are clearly better. Detailed 2026 breakdown below.
Mana AI takes action across projects + tasks + CRM + 360° customer card + contract + invoice + built-in Meet + Workspace. It ships in the package — no extra seats or credits. Say 'extract 12 task cards from this brief', 'fill the contract and send for e-signature', 'send the invoice and open a follow-up' and it actually does it — it manages the customer relationship, not just the project.
Asana Intelligence (Asana AI) ships Smart Fields, Smart Status, Smart Summaries, Smart Goals, Smart Editor and AI Studio on top of Asana tasks, projects and goals. It is mature at the project management layer. But there is no built-in 360° CRM, contract + e-signature, invoicing, scheduling page or built-in video meetings — completed via Salesforce/HubSpot, DocuSign, QuickBooks, Calendly, Zoom. Most AI features land on Advanced ($24.99) and above plans / AI Studio credits, and actions usually stay inside Asana.
The table below puts both products' core modules and AI capabilities side by side. Asana Intelligence is strong at Smart Status, Smart Summary, Smart Goals and Smart Editor inside the project; Managelify offers the same project layer and adds CRM + Meet + contract + invoice + agentic Mana AI in one package.
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Asana Intelligence is one of the industry's mature solutions for Smart Status, Smart Summary and Smart Goals inside a project; but it stays at the project layer. For customers, contracts, invoices, scheduling and built-in Meet you add Salesforce/HubSpot + DocuSign + QuickBooks + Calendly + Zoom and stitch them together — Asana AI takes no action across those systems. Managelify offers the same project layer in-package and runs the entire WRM flow with agentic Mana AI in one panel and one command.
Asana AI writes Smart Status, generates Smart Summary and suggests Smart Fields inside the project; the action mostly stays inside Asana. Mana AI moves across every Managelify module: opens projects, creates tasks, fills contracts, issues invoices, drops appointments on the calendar. Asana AI lives at the project layer; Mana also operates at the CRM + contract + invoice + Meet layer.
Asana AI is 'Asana + AI' — you still add Salesforce for CRM, DocuSign for contracts, QuickBooks for invoicing, Calendly for scheduling and Zoom for video; Asana AI takes no action in those systems. Managelify ships them all in one package and Mana AI runs across every module. A single command moves brief → tasks → contract → invoice end to end.
Asana has no native meeting; even when Zoom/Loom summarize, the result does not bind to a CRM card, contract or invoice (because none of those are native to Asana). Managelify Meet is built in: Mana extracts actions from the transcript, links cards to the right customer card, and posts billable hours into invoice items.
Asana Advanced $24.99 + Salesforce Starter $25 + DocuSign $25 + QuickBooks $30 + Calendly $12 + Zoom $14 — for a 5-person agency this climbs above $130 per seat and into thousands per year, before AI Studio credits. Managelify ships all modules including Mana AI in a single package and a single bill — no FX, no add-on stack.
In Asana the contract lives in PandaDoc/DocuSign, the invoice in QuickBooks, the follow-up task back in Asana — Asana AI takes no action across those systems, it only summarizes content. In Managelify the contract template fills from customer data with one click, goes to e-signature, the invoice flows out of the contract, the payment follow-up drops on the calendar — all from a single Mana command.
Setting up Portfolios, Projects, Sections, Custom Fields, Rules and Forms in Asana takes hours-days for teams; AI Studio workflows add another configuration layer. In Managelify modules ship ready, the Apple-like minimal UI with multi-language + local support + GDPR/KVKK goes live the same day.
For a fair comparison we are equally clear about where Asana AI is strong. For large operations teams running complex multi-layer project portfolios and OKRs, Asana + Asana Intelligence is one of the industry's most mature solutions at the project layer.
Asana is one of the most mature project management products in the world; List, Board, Timeline, Gantt, Portfolio and Goals scale at the enterprise level. Asana Intelligence sits on top with Smart Status, Smart Summaries, Smart Fields, Smart Goals and Smart Editor. For 100+ person companies running complex project portfolios and OKRs it is still a very strong choice.
Asana Goals, Portfolios, Workload and Reporting are an enterprise-grade project management standard; Smart Goals and Smart Status work directly on those layers. For large operations teams that want OKRs managed inside the product, the ecosystem is rich.
Asana's 270+ integrations and deep ties to Salesforce/Slack/GitHub/Jira are powerful; AI Studio enables no-code AI workflows. For 'Asana-first' enterprises, staying in Asana is the path of least resistance; Managelify can also integrate with Asana so tasks aren't tracked in two places.
Asana Starter is fine on its own, but accessing Smart Status/Summary/Goals requires Advanced ($24.99/seat/mo). Add Salesforce/HubSpot + DocuSign + QuickBooks + Calendly + Zoom for real work and you reach 130+ USD per seat — even more with AI Studio credits. Managelify includes Mana AI and every module in a single package with a single bill.
Pricing is taken from Asana's official site and may change. Check the provider's pricing page for the latest figures.
FREELANCER
PICK: MANAGELIFYAsana + AI alone falls short on customer management — contracts live in PandaDoc, invoices in QuickBooks, scheduling in Calendly. Asana AI takes no action across those systems, it only summarizes inside Asana. Adding the Advanced plan + AI Studio credits is disproportionately expensive for one person. In Managelify the customer card, tasks, scheduling, Meet, contract, invoice and agentic Mana AI ship in one package and go live in 10 minutes.
AGENCY (5–20 PEOPLE)
PICK: MANAGELIFYAsana Advanced $24.99 × 5 + Salesforce/HubSpot + DocuSign + QuickBooks + Calendly + Zoom climbs above $130 per seat and into thousands per year, before AI Studio credits and integration upkeep. Managelify solves all of it in a single package with Mana AI taking over routine customer work.
TEAM WITH A LARGE / COMPLEX PROJECT PORTFOLIO
PICK: ASANA + MANAGELIFYFor 100+ person engineering / operations teams, Asana's multi-layer PM capability (Portfolio, Workload, Goals, Smart Status) is still strong. Those teams can keep Asana as the operational project + OKR layer and add Managelify on top as the CRM + contract + invoice + Meet WRM layer; the two products are complementary, not rivals.
SMALL TEAM / STARTUP
PICK: MANAGELIFYFor an early-stage startup, learning Asana, paying Advanced + AI Studio and maintaining a 5–7 tool stack costs time; Asana AI writes Smart Status but takes no action on sales, billing or customer follow-up. Managelify ships all of it in one panel and goes live the same day, with Mana AI taking over routine work.
No data loss, no team disruption. Map Asana Portfolio/Project/Section to Managelify projects and customer cards; bind brief + contract + invoice records to the matching customer card; move Goals and Rule flows to Managelify; automate brief → tasks → contract → invoice with Mana AI.
Extract the Portfolio/Project/Section structure from Asana. In Managelify open a 360° card per customer and a project per engagement; export Asana projects as CSV and map to Managelify project + task fields. Custom fields bind to the matching Managelify fields.
Upload Asana brief docs and PDF attachments to the matching Managelify customer card. Pull PandaDoc/DocuSign contracts in as templates so the next customer is one click. Bind QuickBooks/Xero invoice records to the customer card.
Bind Asana Goals to project goals; Workload moves to the team workload view, Rule automations migrate to Managelify automations. Asana Docs / comments can move to Workspace (block + live widget) or stay in Asana with the link embedded.
Tell Mana 'extract 12 task cards from this brief, fill the contract from customer data and send for e-signature, prepare the invoice from the contract, open a payment follow-up'. Asana AI generates the same prompt as 'task + Smart Status + Smart Summary' inside Asana; Mana turns the same command into real action across CRM + contract + invoice + calendar.
Asana Intelligence delivers Smart Status, Smart Summary, Smart Goals and Smart Editor inside the project — very mature at the project layer, but it takes no action in external systems and a large portion lands on Advanced+ plans / AI Studio credits. Mana AI is included in the Managelify package with no extra credits and behaves agentically: when you say "extract 12 task cards from this brief, fill the contract with customer data and send for e-signature, prepare the invoice from the contract, open a payment follow-up", it actually does it — the contract fills, the invoice goes out, the task is planned, the calendar updates.
How Mana AI worksEXAMPLE COMMAND
"Extract task cards from this brief page, fill the contract with customer data, send for e-signature, prepare the invoice, open a payment follow-up."
Asana AI summarizes. Mana AI acts across project + contract + invoice.
Native, clean List/Kanban/Timeline instead of Asana's complexity.
360° customer card + sales pipeline + contract + invoice in one place.
Recording + transcript + Mana AI summary post automatically into the customer card.
Notion/Asana Docs–style blocks + live widgets + page-project-customer binding.
Contract template → e-signature → invoice → payment in one flow — one Mana command.
For 100+ person companies running complex multi-layer project portfolios and OKRs, Asana + Asana Intelligence is still very strong — Smart Status, Smart Summary and Smart Goals are mature at the project layer. But if you want real work management — CRM + project + contract + invoice + Meet + agentic AI in one panel — Managelify is clearly better. Asana AI summarizes inside the project; Mana AI produces action across the system. For agencies, freelancers and customer-facing teams Managelify wins; for heavy operational project + OKR portfolios Asana is the right fit. The two can also be complementary, not rivals.
For pure in-project AI summary/status, Asana Intelligence has no exact one-to-one alternative — but if you want work management + agentic AI, Managelify is a strong alternative to Asana AI. It ships a multi-language UI, single billing, GDPR/KVKK compliance and local support. On top, it adds the CRM, contract, invoice, scheduling page, built-in Meet and agentic Mana AI that Asana doesn't have, in a single package.
No. Export the Asana Portfolio/Project/Section structure as CSV and map it to Managelify customer / project / task cards. Upload briefs + attachments to the relevant customer card. Bind Goals to project goals, Rule automations to Managelify flows; docs/comments can move to Workspace or stay in Asana with the link embedded. A typical freelancer or small team completes migration in 1–2 days.
Compared only to Asana Starter it is similar, but Smart Status/Summary/Goals require Advanced ($24.99/seat/mo). For real work you add Salesforce/HubSpot + DocuSign + QuickBooks + Calendly + Zoom and reach 130+ USD per seat — thousands per year for a 5-person agency, plus AI Studio credits. Managelify includes Mana AI and every module in a single package with a single bill — total cost and operational overhead are much lower.
Asana Intelligence is a smart-assistant AI: it delivers Smart Status, Smart Summary, Smart Fields, Smart Goals and Smart Editor on the Asana task/project/goal layer — very mature at the project layer. Mana AI is agentic: it produces real action across Managelify's project, task, CRM, contract, invoice, Meet and calendar modules. When you say 'extract task cards from this brief, fill a contract, issue an invoice', Asana AI generates 'task + Smart Status + Smart Summary' inside Asana; Mana fills the contract from customer data, sends it for e-signature, issues the invoice and opens the follow-up. Asana AI works at the project layer, Mana works system-wide.
No. You can build a basic CRM template in Asana with Custom Fields + Rules, but real 360° customer cards, sales pipeline, contract templates, e-signature, invoicing and payment tracking still need Salesforce/HubSpot + DocuSign/PandaDoc + QuickBooks/Xero separately. Asana AI takes no action across those systems. In Managelify all of it is built in and Mana AI runs the brief → contract → invoice flow with one command.
No — you don't have to. Large companies running complex operational project portfolios and OKRs can keep Asana as the operations + Goals layer. Managelify can integrate with Asana; Asana task links embed into Managelify project or customer cards so a task isn't tracked in two places. Asana runs operations, Managelify manages the working relationship, Mana AI produces action across the two layers.
AUTHOR
Managelify founder · 10+ years in work management & CRM · MEF TEKMER & KOSGEB backed.
LinkedIn profileMANAGELIFY
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