I want to discuss Asana vs. Basecamp vs. Trello vs. Podio for content managers.

Asana vs. Basecamp vs. Trello vs. Podio feature image. Two stags fighting

Content managing is essentially taking care of the social media/marketing/blog content schedule, dealing with content creators, and organising everything to get it all onto your channels. It’s something I do for a lot of my clients, but the downside is – everyone tends to prefer different platforms.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with Asana, Basecamp, Trello, and Podio (among others) so I’m going to share what I’ve found so that if you’re a content manager looking for a platform to use, you can make an informed choice.

The Issue With Content Management

Keeping a content calendar and managing all your content becomes increasingly complex with every new member that joins your team. The more people and (sub)tasks there are on there, the harder it is to keep track or organised.

Because of this, business or agency owners start to struggle because it’s more time consuming, and on top of that, work quality suffers, and deadlines are missed.

So the right solution is key.

For me, project management software helps streamline everything and gives you a complete overview. So, whether you’re an agency owner taking on clients, managing someone else’s’ content, or just dealing with your own, here’s a comparison of the four most popular options: Asana, Trello, Basecamp, and Podio, with all the features and pricing plans.

Comparison: Asana vs. Basecamp vs. Trello vs. Podio

AsanaBasecampTrelloPodio

What It’s About

A project management platform that covers task creation, assignment, due dates, communication, and various tools.
Simple collaboration and task management platform with awesome visuals. Kanban-style project management, popular for its at-a-glance overview capabilities.Project management designed to make work more enjoyable. Great file sharing and recognition of key players options. Focuses on developing team spirit.
Ease of Use4/55/55/54/5
Project OverviewYesNoYesYes
Free VersionFor up to 15 members, with access to basic features only. Students and teachers can get free accounts, while non-profits get discounts.Yes, but with limited features and upload size.For up to 5 people, with limited features (includes only task management, apps, and workspaces)
Pricing (/month/user when paid annually) Basic: Free
Premium: $9.99
Business: $19.99

$99 flat fee per month for unlimited access to all features

Free
Business Class: $9.99
Enterprise: $20.83
Free
Basic: $9
Plus: $14
Premium: $24
Number of MembersUp to 15 for free, unlimited in paid options UnlimitedUnlimited for all plansFree for up to 5
Task AllocationsSimple to create and allocate and switch aroundSimple to allocate tasks and see who’s working on whatYes, simple assignment options and great overview Yes – simple assignment and allocation
Due Date FeatureYesYesYesYes
AutomationYes, through integration appsYes, through apps
Yes, through Power-Ups like Butler or Automate.io
Yes, you can Automate your workflows
Priority AssignmentYesYesYesYes

Notifications
In client, email, phoneEmail, browser popups, phoneEmail, phoneReal-time, email, phone
Real-TimeYesYesYesYes
Support and DocumentationFAQ,
Knowledge Base,
Submission Forms
FAQ,
Guides,
Tutorials,
Submission Forms
Knowledge Base,
Submission Forms
Online, 24/7 Live Rep, Documentation, Live Online Training, Webinars
Multiple Project TrackingYesYesYesYes
Document SharingYesYesYesYes
Integrations/Extensions31+,
Dropbox,
Slack,
Notism,
Duo Security,
Unito

A large library full of third-party tools: from mobile and desktop apps, time tracking, invoicing, accounting, reporting, planning, customer service, and support

Yes, called Power-Ups, one free available for each board with the free version; unlimited for paid versions.

You can use existing or build your own through Power-Ups.
Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Calendar, GoToMeeting, Excel, Email
Extensions are built by the developer community.
Device CompatibilityiOS, AndroidiOS, Android,
Windows
Windows, Android, iOS, Kindle iOS, Android

Asana

Pros

Asana is one of the most popular project management options currently available. It helps all team members stay focused on the tasks and is particularly good at letting you see an overview of what you need to do to a certain deadline.

It has task tracking options and depending on how you like to view your projects you can look at them as a list or in boards.  It’s especially helpful when tracking multiple content projects, with options like task assignments, reporting options, custom views, and automatic notifications.

Cons

It is not as intuitive as Trello and has a bit of a steeper learning curve.

Trello

Pros

Trello is a lightweight project management solution that’s easy to use and set up. The concept Trello utilises is using boards, lists, and cards – so basically, a Kanban type of solution. The boards are used for projects, while the lists for each board can be used as categories, parts of the content creation stages, or whatever else you need at the moment. You can add cards to each list – basically, a task that will help you remember what needs to be done.

Trello is easy to navigate because it’s a drag and drop situation. Plus, you can add plenty of detail and depth on each card by clicking on it.

Cons

There’s a lot of scrolling if you have many projects open at once. It’s also easy to forget about the subtasks when you’re looking at the overview because it’s neatly stacked away!

Basecamp

Pros

Basecamp is a mix of a communication platform and project management. It features everything a content team needs to get things done in one place: from message boards and group chat to file sharing and storage.

It primarily focuses on real-time collaboration instead of long-term planning, so it’s best used when the whole team is working on a content piece. When it comes to project management capabilities, it offers schedules and to-do lists.

Cons

The pricing scheme is a bit different from others so it can be costly – you will play a flat fee of $99 per month and get unlimited users, projects, features, as well as 500GB of storage, which is decent sized for all your content needs so it depends on your budget.

Podio

Pros

Podio is primarily a collaboration tool but has decent capabilities for content management. It has an extensive apps library that defines its main functionality, so you can tailor it to your business needs.

This way, you can set it up to work as a content management platform and order content and delegate tasks such as writing articles and editing them, as well as provide input on details for each order.

Cons

I found it to have quite a steep learning curve and some users I’ve worked with really struggle to get going with it.

My Choice

My personal preference, and what I use for Silhouette Creatives’ task management is Asana.

It’s very simple and doesn’t have all the ‘bells and whistles’ but that’s all I need! It’s free to use for the team I work with, and the ability to set deadlines and order tasks according to them sets it apart for me.

My written content has a fast turnaround – it’s one of the things that sets us apart from other London content writers. So I need to know at the drop of a hat, what is due out today and what isn’t etc.

Top Tip for Setting Up Asana for Content Managers

The way I do it is:

I have a client ‘task’ and create subtasks which are allocated to staff to complete. Each subtask has its own deadline and I can see everything needed.

I will often create a week ‘task’ of things due ‘this week’ or in some cases ‘today’ and once it is complete, it’s marked as ‘done’ and removed from the list.

If you need help with content management, drop me a message and we can help make that happen!