Asana vs ClickUp vs Linear
A side-by-side look at Asana, ClickUp and Linear for filmmakers: what each one can do, what it costs, and where they actually differ.
-
Shared timelines, approvals and tasks for production teams, now with AI agents
- Price
- Free Personal (2 users); Starter from $10.99/user/mo billed annually; Advanced from $24.99/user/mo billed annually
- Learning
- Moderate
- Best for
- Line producers tracking a shoot schedule, call sheet tasks and deliverable deadlines
-
Tasks, docs, whiteboards and AI agents in one workspace for tracking production schedules
- Price
- Free Forever; paid from $8/user/mo billed yearly (Core)
- Learning
- Moderate
- Best for
- Production managers tracking shoot days, edit rounds and deliverables across a team
-
Fast issue tracker for software teams; a poor fit for production planning
- Price
- Free (250 issues) / Basic $10 per user/mo / Business $16 per user/mo, billed yearly; Enterprise custom
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Tracking the build of an in-house tool, pipeline script or client web app for a studio
Feature by feature
Asana vs ClickUp vs Linear: capabilities
| Asana | ClickUp | Linear | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free Personal (2 users); Starter from $10.99/user/mo billed annually; Advanced from $24.99/user/mo billed annually | Free Forever; paid from $8/user/mo billed yearly (Core) | Free (250 issues) / Basic $10 per user/mo / Business $16 per user/mo, billed yearly; Enterprise custom |
| Infinite canvas | No | Partial | No |
| Node / flow builder | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| AI agent | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Chat assistant | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Team collaboration | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text to image | No | Partial | No |
| Third-party models | No | Yes | Partial |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop / local | No | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Not confirmed | Yes | Yes |
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page. "Not confirmed" means the vendor doesn't say.
Plans
Pricing compared
Asana
| Personal | $0free forever |
|---|---|
| Starter | $10.99 annual / $13.49 monthlyper user, annual or monthly |
| Advanced | $24.99 annual / $30.49 monthlyper user, annual or monthly |
| Enterprise | Customcontact sales |
| Enterprise+ | Customcontact sales |
ClickUp
| Free Forever | $0free |
|---|---|
| Core | $8yearly |
| Business | $17yearly |
| Enterprise | Customcontact sales |
| MAX | $100yearly |
Linear
| Free | $0free |
|---|---|
| Basic | $10yearly, per user |
| Business | $16yearly, per user |
| Enterprise | Customannual only |
The verdict
Which one should you pick?
Asana
Pick it for
- Line producers tracking a shoot schedule, call sheet tasks and deliverable deadlines
- Post houses running edit, VFX and color handoffs with approval steps
- Agencies managing client review rounds and sign-off on AI-generated spots
Stands out
- Official remote MCP server (v2, OAuth) so Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini can read and update tasks in the Work Graph directly
- Prebuilt AI Teammates (30+ listed for marketing, operations and IT) that work inside existing tasks rather than in a separate chat box
Watch out
- Does nothing creative: no media preview, no asset review and no generation
- AI usage is metered per request on top of plan price, and the allowance mapping is hard to read
ClickUp
Pick it for
- Production managers tracking shoot days, edit rounds and deliverables across a team
- Agencies running multiple client projects with approvals and time tracking
- Teams that want docs, briefs and tasks in one place for a short film or series
Stands out
- Single workspace for tasks, docs, chat, whiteboards, goals and time tracking, where most competitors split these across tools
- Official remote MCP server (mcp.clickup.com) so AI assistants like Claude can read and update tasks and docs
Watch out
- Feature density is high and the interface takes time to set up
- AI credits are pooled per user, and heavy agent use can exhaust them
Linear
Pick it for
- Tracking the build of an in-house tool, pipeline script or client web app for a studio
- Small software or tech teams at a production company that ship apps alongside content
- Letting an AI agent triage bug reports and draft follow-up issues from a shared inbox
Stands out
- Linear Agent is included on the free plan, while most competing PM tools gate their AI behind a paid add-on (ClickUp Brain starts at $9/user/mo).
- Agents such as Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Devin and Sentry can be assigned issues directly; the human stays the primary assignee and the agent is added as a contributor.
Watch out
- Built for software teams; no creative review, shot lists, call sheets or scheduling
- Free plan caps you at 250 issues and 2 teams
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page, checked against vendor pricing and changelog pages (oldest check: ). Sources are listed on each tool's page.