Side by side
| Asana | CrewDesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Work management for any team | Film, video and photo productions |
| Production stages | Sections or custom fields you define | Five built-in stages from Development to Delivered |
| Tasks | Rich tasks, subtasks, dependencies and several views | Tasks with assignee, priority, status and due date |
| Cast database | Not built in | Profiles with photos, sizes and notes |
| Equipment inventory | Not built in | Items with photos, value and storage location |
| Calendar | Calendar and timeline views of tasks | A shared calendar of shoots and events |
| Team conversation | Comments and project messages | Built-in chat, by team and by production |
| Vocabulary | Generic: projects, tasks, portfolios | Production words: stages, cast, crew, gear |
| How you pay | Free tier, then per-user subscription | Buy the code, have it adapted, or have it hosted for you |
When Asana is the right choice
If video is one activity among many in a marketing department that already runs on Asana, keep it. One tool for the whole team is worth more than a perfect tool for one corner of it, and task dependencies and automation are real strengths.
Where a production company feels the gap
A production company does not only manage tasks. It manages people who are booked by the day, equipment that must come back, and clients who expect to see progress in production terms. In a general tool these become custom fields and conventions that somebody has to maintain and teach to every freelancer.
A note on fairness
This comparison was written by TECHMA, the maker of CrewDesk, from each product's public documentation. Products change: check the vendor's own site before deciding. All product names are trademarks of their owners.