An Asana alternative for one person.
Asana is built for teams sharing a roadmap. Zoro is built for one person trying to finish a day. If you're a solo founder, freelancer, indie, or just a single human paying Asana per-seat to manage your own life — this page is for you.
The short version
Asana for the team. Zoro for the desk.
Asana is excellent at what it's built for: getting a group of people to agree on what's done. That same machinery — assignees, comments, approvals, custom fields, workflow rules — is dead weight when the person doing the work is you. Zoro strips it all out and keeps the part that actually moves a task: a board, three priorities, three sizes, and a quick way to cut it.
When to pick what
Use the right tool for the job.
Use Asana if…
- You have a team of 3+ that needs to see the same board.
- You need approval flows, custom fields, or workflow automation.
- You manage cross-functional projects with dependencies.
- You need 200+ integrations (Slack, GitHub, Salesforce, etc).
- Your company already pays for it.
Use Zoro if…
- You're working solo and don't need anyone else to see your board.
- You want your tasks on iPhone and Mac, native and fast.
- You want a kanban without the surrounding ceremony.
- You'd rather pay $19.99/year (or $59.99 once) than $132/year per seat.
- You want your data in your own iCloud, not somebody's SaaS.
Feature comparison
Side by side.
| Feature | Zoro | Asana |
|---|---|---|
| Built for one person | Yes | No — designed around teams |
| List + kanban views | Both | Both (+ timeline, calendar) |
| Three priorities (P1/P2/P3) | Native | Custom field |
| S/M/L effort sizing | Native | Custom field |
| Subtasks | Yes Pro | Unlimited nesting |
| iPhone + Mac native apps | Yes | iOS + web (no native Mac) |
| Sync between devices | iCloud | Asana cloud |
| Where your data lives | Your iCloud | Asana's servers |
| Works offline | Yes (local-first) | Limited |
| Team collaboration | No (by design) | Yes (the point) |
| @-mentions / comments | No | Yes |
| Workflow automation | No | Yes (Starter+) |
| Integrations (Slack, GH, etc.) | None | 200+ |
| Pricing (1 user) | $0, $19.99/yr or $59.99 once | $132–300/yr |
Pricing
What you'll actually pay.
Asana's free tier exists, but the features most solo users want (custom fields, reporting, advanced search) start at Starter. Asana bills per seat — there's no "one person" plan. Zoro is built for one person from the start, and the most expensive option is $59.99 once.
Zoro
- Unlimited tasks & projects
- List + kanban, P1/P2/P3, S/M/L
- iCloud sync (iPhone + Mac)
- Weekly review + reflection
- Weekly Review insight cards
- History & Trends — every week kept
- Stats dashboard
- Subtasks, custom statuses
Asana
- Unlimited tasks and projects
- List, board, calendar
- No custom fields or reporting
- $131.88/year for one person
- Custom fields, forms, automation
- $299.88/year for one person
- Reporting, portfolios, goals
What's actually different
The three things you'll feel right away.
No team chrome.
No assignee picker on every task. No "who can edit this" toggle. No comment thread waiting for a reply. The card has a title, a priority, a size — that's it. Less to fill in, less to ignore.
Apple-native, not Electron.
Asana's desktop app is a web wrapper. Zoro is a real iPhone and Mac app — fast launch, native keyboard, real offline, system dark mode. Designed for the OS, not ported to it.
Your data, your iCloud.
Asana stores your tasks on Asana's servers. Zoro syncs through your own iCloud Private Database — Apple's encrypted personal store. We don't have a database to lose, sell, or shut down.
Paid once, not forever.
Asana's a recurring per-seat bill that grows with your team. Zoro is $59.99 once and you're done. No renewal notice, no per-user math, no procurement.
FAQ
Asana vs Zoro, answered.
Is Asana good for one person?
It works, but it's overbuilt for solo use — assignees, comments, and approvals only matter across a team. Asana also has no single-user plan: paid tiers bill per seat with seat minimums, so you pay for capacity you can't use.
Does Asana have a free plan for individuals?
Yes — the free Personal plan covers unlimited tasks and projects with list, board, and calendar views. The limits appear when you want custom fields, reporting, or automation, which need the paid per-seat tiers.
Can I use Asana solo without paying per seat?
Only on the free plan. Every paid Asana tier is priced per user per month, so there's no way to unlock advanced features for one person without a per-seat rate. Zoro is $19.99/year or $59.99 once, no per-seat billing.
Best Asana alternative for solo founders?
Zoro for a solo kanban on iPhone + Mac at a one-time price, Things 3 for the best Apple GTD app, or Todoist/TickTick for cross-platform. See our full list of the best Asana alternatives for one person.
Cut the day into pieces.
Zoro opens in summer 2026 on iPhone and Mac. Join the waitlist for the App Store link on launch day, plus a code for half off Pro for life — $29.99 once, not $59.99.
Join the waitlist →