The 5 Best Asana Integrations for Optimizing Project Management

Asana is one of the most popular project management apps on the market, due to its robust templates, strong automations, and ease of use. But it’s not usually the only tool your teams use. Some projects need more specialized tools, while other workflows might involve dedicated platforms like customer support tools or software development systems. That’s why Asana integrations are so important to keeping your workflows moving smoothly.

Here’s why.

What are Asana integrations?

Asana integrations are built-in features or tools that close the gap between Asana projects and the work happening in the other tools you use. These integrations can automatically create Asana tasks (or work items in other tools) as well as updating fields as you work. You can usually access integrations for Asana in one of three ways:

• Built-in integrations: Asana offers a range of integrations with other popular tools, like Jira and Slack.
• Buying integrations: You can buy access to integrations just like any other kind of software, usually with a monthly fee.
• Building custom integrations: You can dedicate your own developers or engineers to building integrations that fit your workflows, whether that’s entirely from scratch or by connecting APIs (application programming interfaces).

Why integrate Asana with other tools?

Integrating Asana allows you to:

• Get better visibility on projects that might include work from other tools.
• Save budget on duplicate software licenses.
• Increase productivity in individual projects.
• Improve reporting across Asana portfolios.

Using the right integration can completely transform your workflows. For some (e.g., reporting workflows) having a simple snapshot of work items from other tools in Asana can give you enough visibility for better cross-functional work. Other workflows might benefit from integrations that copy entire projects across tools for more seamless collaboration.

What are your options for integrating Asana?

Every Asana integration transfers data between Asana work items and other tools. But there are key differences in how much data each integration can transfer (e.g., a few fields or full project information) and how easy they are to use (e.g., months-long deployment or a few minutes to set up). Additionally, not all integrations can support the tools you need to integrate.

Built-in Asana integrations

Asana offers a number of apps that allow you to connect your projects with tools like Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, and Claude. Some of these integrations only give you a snapshot into what’s happening in other tools, while others support deeper integration. What they all have in common? They’re added right to your Asana projects, with no extra subscriptions or platforms needed.

Automation tools

Automation tools use if-this-then-that logic to automate a wide range of actions, from automatically creating work items to updating single fields. They don’t “sync” data so much as pushing it between tools. A single automation typically only handles a single kind of action, with more complex workflows needing multiple automations, especially if you need data pushed back and forth between tools.

While this simple logic limits the kind of actions these integrations can automate, they do have a significant advantage: they’re more broadly applicable. Automation tools typically support hundreds, if not thousands of integrations, which is typically more than other integration solutions.

2-way sync tools

2-way sync tools build relationships between Asana tasks, projects, and portfolios and work items in other tools to move data back and forth between them. These integrations can both create new work items and update fields automatically.

Imagine, for example, that you manage most projects in Asana while software development projects are managed in Jira. A two-way sync can automatically turn Jira issues into Asana tasks, keeping them in sync as you work. Comments are transferred over, due dates are automatically updated, and work items are closed automatically. That leads to better reporting, smoother projects, and more.

2-way integrations are usually easy to set up and support more fields than other integration solutions, though they typically support fewer integrations.

The 5 best Asana integrations

If you haven’t integrated Asana with the rest of your toolstack yet, here are a few platforms you should prioritize.

Software development tools

Even if you manage software development projects with Asana, developers rarely do most of their work there. Whether they’re writing code, reviewing pull requests, or updating tasks in their sprints, they’re rarely going in and out of Asana. But because their projects tie into your organization’s broader objectives, you need visibility on that development work. Integrations can sync data from repository tools, CI/CD platforms, and other development tools to Asana.

Examples of these tools

• GitHub
• GitLab
• Bitbucket

Chat and meeting tools

While your projects are managed in Asana, all the context for the work happening in them doesn’t live in it. A quick meeting might lead to follow-up tasks, while a message in a chat app might add essential context to an Asana task. With no integration, someone has to manually add all that information in Asana, which can cause significant drag on your projects. Integrating these tools with Asana means you can go from informal chats to updated projects in moments.

Examples of these tools

• Slack
• Teams
• Zoom

Sales tools and CRMs

Your CRM is the hub for your sales pipeline, your marketing campaigns, and your customer support efforts. But these workflows typically tap into context from other teams, like broader marketing planning in an Asana project, cross-team collaboration across Asana portfolios, and reports. By integrating these tools with Asana, customer-facing teams can have all the context they need right at their fingertips.

Examples of these tools

• Salesforce
• HubSpot
• Freshservice

Other project management tools

Even if Asana is your primary project management tool, that doesn’t mean all your projects live in it. Software development projects might be managed in a tool like Jira, or you might occasionally work with consultants and partners that use different project management tools. With the right integration, you can centralize tasks from multiple project management tools in Asana, allowing you to report on progress and prevent any updates from falling through the cracks.

Examples of these tools

• Jira
• ClickUp
• Trello

Multiple Asana workspaces

While Asana has a number of built-in automations that can push information throughout Asana projects and across portfolios, it doesn’t allow for the same transfer of information across workspaces. Usually, you need to manually switch workspaces to copy and paste the data you need. With the right integration, you can push data automatically between Asana workspaces for better reporting, client work, and more.

That’s why Bryan Bennett, Founder of TheKickstart.com uses Unito. With over 35 clients, each with their own Asana workspace, Bryan had to manually switch between workspaces every week: “Before Unito, planning my week meant I had to open 35 tabs. I had to prioritize what was going on and it took many hours to plan for the week.”

Learn more about how Bryan uses Unito here.

Integrate Asana with your tool stack using Unito

Unito is a two-way sync solution for Asana and over 60 tools that keeps your tasks, projects, and portfolios up to date no matter what other tools your teams work in. With some of the deepest two-way integrations on the market, you’ll have all the data your workflows need right in Asana.

Want to see how this integration works? Here’s a look at Unito’s Asana-Smartsheet integration.

FAQ: Asana integrations

What is an Asana integration?

An Asana integration is a piece of software that bridges the gap between Asana and other tools. Integrations can create Asana tasks automatically to match work items in other tools (and vice-versa) as well as updating fields in both tools.

What’s the difference between a one-way and two-way Asana integration?

A one-way integration can only push data from Asana to other tools (or vice-versa). A two-way integration can move data back and forth between the two. Two-way integrations can enable seamless collaboration, but they’re not necessarily the right fit for every workflow.

Can Asana sync with Jira in both directions?

Asana does offer a built-in integration for Jira, but it only syncs data in both directions for certain Asana plans. That means most Asana users don’t have access to two-way sync with Jira if they only use built-in integrations.

Do Asana integrations require coding?

Most Asana integrations don’t require any coding at all. You can usually build your first Asana integration using a drag-and-drop interface.

How do Asana integrations improve team productivity?

Asana integrations allow teams to close the gap between Asana projects and other tools, eliminating the need for manual copying and pasting of data and other administrative tasks that drain productivity.

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