ZenTao
ZenTao posts a 22.0 beta with no notes in the feed.
Comparison · PM
Asana vs OpenProject
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Asana and OpenProject — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Asana vs OpenProject: at a glance
What is Asana?
Asana lets Division admins run their own custom roles, on top Enterprise plans only.
Asana's fall releases split between new structure and tighter control. Tables arrived on October 29 as a new object type; since then it has added a Client portal tab in Inbox, collapsible headings in Pages and hourly credit limits for AI Studio automations. The November 12 release lets Division Admins assign roles and build custom roles from Member or Guest, with one role per person across all Divisions.
What is OpenProject?
OpenProject patches five release lines at once with undisclosed security fixes
On 9 November OpenProject shipped 17.9.7, 17.8.2, 17.7.3, 17.6.1 and 17.5.2 together. 17.9.7 carries 12 security fixes and the older lines four each; details will be published later, and the notes ask everyone to update immediately. Bug fixes ride along: a slow project overview members widget on 17.9, copied projects inheriting the original's sprints on 17.6. This follows two earlier 17.9 patches that fixed a PDF-export file read and a budget disclosure.
Asana vs OpenProject: editorial side-by-side
Asana
6.3PMCOLLAB
Asana lets Division admins run their own custom roles, on top Enterprise plans only.
◆ Current state
Asana's fall releases split between new structure and tighter control. Tables arrived on October 29 as a new object type; since then it has added a Client portal tab in Inbox, collapsible headings in Pages and hourly credit limits for AI Studio automations. The November 12 release lets Division Admins assign roles and build custom roles from Member or Guest, with one role per person across all Divisions.
◆ Where it's heading
The governance thread is getting more granular: rules that run with their owner's current permissions, credit caps per automation, and now role control pushed down to Division level. Asana is building the admin layer large companies need before they let AI Studio and new objects like Tables spread across departments.
◆ Prediction
Expect further admin and permission controls for Tables and AI Studio, likely gated to Enterprise tiers as this one is.
OpenProject patches five release lines at once with undisclosed security fixes
◆ Current state
On 9 November OpenProject shipped 17.9.7, 17.8.2, 17.7.3, 17.6.1 and 17.5.2 together. 17.9.7 carries 12 security fixes and the older lines four each; details will be published later, and the notes ask everyone to update immediately. Bug fixes ride along: a slow project overview members widget on 17.9, copied projects inheriting the original's sprints on 17.6. This follows two earlier 17.9 patches that fixed a PDF-export file read and a budget disclosure.
◆ Where it's heading
Security work is now the main output of the 17.x branch, and OpenProject is backporting it to lines as old as 17.5 rather than telling self-hosters to jump to 17.9. Feature work since the 17.9.0 release in September has not shown up in this feed.
◆ Prediction
Security advisories describing the 9 November fixes are the next likely publication, followed by a 17.10 or 18.0 feature release; until then, more 17.9 patches.
Alternatives to Asana and OpenProject
Other PM products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Asana or OpenProject.
NocoBase
NocoBase's v3 beta lets apps ship their own CLI, separate from Agents.
Productboard
Productboard's v2 documents API now keeps plain web addresses and emoji as ordinary text.
Hive
Hive turns reporting into a planning tool: shared inputs, grouped values, per-person drill-downs.
Tracecat
Tracecat 1.5 alpha patches add sub-cases and lock down agent sandboxes.
SmartSuite
SmartSuite adds tracked changes to SmartDocs, so policy edits need an approver.
See all Asana alternatives → · See all OpenProject alternatives →
Recent activity from Asana and OpenProject
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoAsanaRole-based access control now available for Divisions
- 3d agoAsana🚦 Keep AI Studio credit use in check with rate limiting
- 5d agoOpenProject17.7.3 backports four security fixes
- 5d agoOpenProject17.6.1 backports four security fixes and sprint bugs
- 5d agoOpenProject17.5.2 backports four security fixes
- 5d agoOpenProject17.9.7 fixes 12 security issues, details to follow
- 5d agoOpenProject17.8.2 backports four security fixes
- 8d agoAsana📥 Client portal activity now has its own spot in Inbox
- 9d agoAsana🗂️ Collapsible headings are now live in Pages
- 14d agoOpenProject17.9.6 fixes unsaved workflow changes
- 15d agoAsanaIntroducing: Tables ⚡
- 1mo agoAsana:puzzle_piece: Subtask types now follow their parent, across projects
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Asana and OpenProject?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Asana is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Asana better than OpenProject?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Asana is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other PM products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Asana?
Top Asana alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Asana alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/asana for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to OpenProject?
Top OpenProject alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "OpenProject alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/openproject for the full list with editorial commentary on each.