An Asana alternative for teams who think in boards rather than task lists, and who need an auditable trail.
Asana is built around tasks, projects and portfolios, and it is strong for organisations tracking many projects at once. OrbitZR is board-first: the kanban board is the primary surface rather than one of several views. If your team works out of a board every day and you need access control and a provable daily record, OrbitZR fits more directly.
No credit card required. Free plan available.
Choose OrbitZR if
Best for board-driven teams that need access control, daily records and reporting without a long rollout.
Choose Asana if
Best for larger organisations managing many projects, portfolios and cross-team dependencies.
Capability by capability, as of October 2026. Check Asana's current plans on their own site before deciding, since their tiers change.
Scroll the table sideways to see both columns
| Capability | OrbitZR | Asana |
|---|---|---|
| Primary working surface | Kanban board | Task lists, with board as one view |
| Setup effort before a team is productive | Minutes | Typically a structured rollout |
| Timeline, calendar, table, dashboard views | Included on paid plans | Included, varies by tier |
| Scheduled board access by weekday and hour | Built in (Timed Access) | Not available natively |
| Tamper-proof daily work log | Built in (Daily Task) | Not available natively |
| Rules and triggered automation | Built in (Pilot) | Built in, varies by tier |
| AI project health, risks and blockers | Built in | Available on higher tiers |
| Board report export to PDF, CSV, Excel, Word | Built in (Tasklist) | Export available, varies by tier |
| Live two-way Google Sheets sync | Built in | Via integrations |
| Portfolio and cross-project roll-up | Not a focus | Core strength |
Timed Access
Restrict a board to a weekly schedule. Outside allowed hours, non-admin members are automatically removed or switched to read-only, then restored when the window reopens. Built for contractors, offshore teams and client boards where access should not be permanent.
Daily Task
One list holding a single card per day, split into Today and Past. Record the day as you work. When the day ends the card closes permanently and cannot be edited by anyone, including admins, so the log is a record rather than a draft.
Yes, deliberately. OrbitZR is board-first and most teams are productive on day one. Asana carries more structure, which is valuable at scale and heavy for a small team.
No. If you need to roll many projects up into portfolios with goals and resource management, Asana is the better product and we would say so.
For most agencies running client work on boards, yes, and the access control and daily log features are usually the reason to switch.
Yes. The AI Project Manager produces a project health score with risks, blockers and suggested next steps, and the AI Chatbot answers questions about the board.
Set up a board in a few minutes, switch on Timed Access and Daily Task, and see whether it fits how your team actually works.
OrbitZR is designed, built and supported by KawachTech, a software engineering company building web platforms, mobile applications and custom business software. OrbitZR is our own product rather than an outsourced project, which means the people who wrote the scheduling engine and the audit trail are the same people who answer when you report a problem.
If you need something OrbitZR does not do, or you want a platform of your own built on the same foundations, the KawachTech software development team takes on custom engagements directly.
Product engineering
SaaS platforms built end to end, from multi-tenant architecture and billing through to the front end.
Mobile applications
Cross-platform iOS and Android apps, including the OrbitZR mobile app that ships alongside the web product.
AI integration
Practical AI inside real products, like the project health analysis and board assistant built into OrbitZR.
Custom business software
Internal tools, workflow systems and integrations for teams whose process does not fit off-the-shelf software.
Learn more about the team, our work and how we build at kawachtech.com.