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Technology · head to head

Asana vs Thought Machine

Asana logo

Asana

Technology

Manage your team's work, projects, & tasks online

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Thought Machine logo

Thought Machine

Technology

Cloud native core banking where products are written as smart contracts

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Asana has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Asana the free Personal tier is capped at 2 users, so it does not cover a small team; Thought Machine a core replacement is a two to four year programme at an established bank, and the licence is a minority of total cost against system integrator fees, parallel running and data migration.
  • They diverge on capability: Asana covers Multiple project views, Thought Machine covers Smart contract product engine.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Asana and Thought Machine actually diverge.

Attributes where Asana and Thought Machine differ
AttributeAsanaThought Machine
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, API, Cloud
Founded2008Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Technology).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Asana

  • Multiple project views
  • Task dependencies
  • Milestones
  • Portfolios
  • Goals & OKRs
  • Workflow automation
  • Resource management
  • Reporting dashboards

Only in Thought Machine

  • Smart contract product engine
  • Cloud native architecture
  • Real time ledger
  • Vault Payments
  • API first design
  • Multi entity and multi currency
  • Product versioning and testing
  • Configurable posting rules

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Asana

  • Project planning & trackingnot Thought Machine
  • Campaign managementnot Thought Machine
  • Product launchesnot Thought Machine
  • Event planningnot Thought Machine
  • Agile & Scrum managementnot Thought Machine

Thought Machine

  • A large bank launching a separate digital brand on a clean core rather than migrating the back booknot Asana
  • A bank whose product launches are blocked by vendor change requests on a legacy corenot Asana
  • An institution needing real time balances and postings for instant payment obligationsnot Asana
  • A group consolidating multiple country cores onto one multi entity platformnot Asana

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Asana

  • The free Personal tier is capped at 2 users, so it does not cover a small team
  • Timeline and Gantt views, reporting dashboards and time tracking all require Starter at $10.99 per user per month
  • Portfolios, goals, workload management and approvals need Advanced at $24.99 per user per month
  • Salesforce, Tableau and Power BI integrations are Advanced or above
  • Monthly billing costs more, at $13.49 and $30.49 against the annual rates

Thought Machine

  • A core replacement is a two to four year programme at an established bank, and the licence is a minority of total cost against system integrator fees, parallel running and data migration.
  • The smart contract model presumes a bank can write and maintain Python financial products, and institutions without that engineering capability end up outsourcing the very flexibility they bought.
  • Cloud infrastructure cost sits with the bank and is not trivial at scale, so total cost of ownership comparisons against a hosted legacy core often miss a large recurring line.
  • Thought Machine has made two rounds of job cuts pursuing profitability, which is a legitimate supplier stability concern for a system a bank expects to run for fifteen years.
  • The functional footprint is core ledger and product engine, so origination, collections, regulatory reporting and channels all come from other vendors, and the integration estate around Vault is the bank's problem to design and own.

Pricing, plan by plan

Asana

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Asana review.

Thought Machine

On request
  • Vault Core$undefined/year
    • Quoted per institution, typically on account volumes or annual contract value
    • Implementation and system integrator costs commonly exceed the licence fee
    • Cloud infrastructure costs are the bank's and are not included

Which should you pick?

Choose Asana if

  • You need multiple project views.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want task dependencies.
Asana review

Choose Thought Machine if

  • You need smart contract product engine.
  • You work on Web, API, Cloud.
  • You also want cloud native architecture.
Thought Machine review

Questions people ask

Is Asana or Thought Machine better?
Neither clearly leads. Asana starts at Free and Thought Machine at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Asana or Thought Machine?
Asana has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Asana and On request for Thought Machine.
Does Asana or Thought Machine run on more platforms?
Asana runs on Web, iOS, Android. Thought Machine runs on Web, API, Cloud.
Can I use Asana for free?
Yes. Asana has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Thought Machine starts at On request.
What is Asana best used for?
Asana is most often used for project planning & tracking, campaign management, product launches, event planning. Of those, project planning & tracking and campaign management are not what Thought Machine is typically brought in for.
What can Asana do that Thought Machine cannot?
Asana covers Multiple project views, Task dependencies, Milestones, Portfolios. Thought Machine covers Smart contract product engine, Cloud native architecture, Real time ledger, Vault Payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Asana: Does Asana have a free tier?

Yes. Asana offers a free Personal plan for up to 2 users, plus free trial access to paid plans.

Source
Thought Machine: Is Vault Core genuinely cloud native?

Yes. It is containerised, runs on Kubernetes on public cloud, and posts in real time rather than in overnight batch.

Asana: What is the starting price for Asana paid plans?

Asana Starter plan begins at $10.99 per user per month when billed annually, or $13.49 per user when billed monthly.

Source
Thought Machine: How long does a migration take?

Eighteen months at the absolute fastest for a narrow greenfield launch; two to four years for a phased migration at an established bank.

Asana: Does Asana integrate with other work tools?

Yes. Asana offers 200+ integrations including Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Jira, and Zoom.

Source
Thought Machine: Does the licence fee represent the total cost?

No. Implementation, system integration, parallel running and cloud infrastructure typically cost more than the licence over the programme.

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