Coda vs Asana: Integrating your other tools

Integrations are essential for effective project tracking. See how Coda and Asana stack up.

Joe Bauer

Product Marketing Manager at Coda

Coda vs Asana: Integrating your other tools

By Joe Bauer

Share this article

Share on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Facebook
Tool consolidation · 8 min read
Have you ever wanted to try out a new product, only to realize it doesn’t integrate with the other tools you use? It’s a frustrating experience. These days, even teams with the most consolidated tech stacks still use multiple apps for their daily work. That means that for most, a lack of integrations is now a deal breaker. Integrations are particularly critical when it comes to project management because project work often spans across many different teams and tools. For example, your engineering team might be using Jira to keep track of issues, your sales team are probably using a CRM like Salesforce or HubSpot to manage opportunities and accounts, and your whole organization probably uses a mix of email, Slack, and calendars to stay connected. Those tools all contain critical information related to your projects, so integrating them with whatever project management system you’re using is vital for getting the whole picture—and removing time spent chasing down and copy-pasting information between them. To avoid a frustrating surprise, it’s a good idea to dive into a tool’s integration capabilities before you get too far into the purchase process. In this post we’ll take a look at two of the most popular tools for project management—Coda and Asana—and compare their integration offerings, so you can evaluate which is a better fit for your team. Let’s get to it.

What tools do Asana and Coda integrate with?

Both Coda and Asana connect with a wide range of tools to sync data, automate tasks, and push actions from one tool to another. Coda has a wider range of available integrations with over 500, compared to Asana’s 200+. However, both integrate with many of the most common tools, including with each other. Coda calls their integrations “Packs”, while Asana calls theirs “Apps.” Let’s take a look at some of the most popular integrations that both Asana and Coda have, and how they work:
  • Slack: Coda’s Slack integration can sync your messages into Coda for added context and AI-generated summaries, and send Slack messages directly from your docs. Asana’s integration converts Slack messages into tasks, and sends updates and AI-generated task summaries to your Slack channels. If you’re a Microsoft Team’s user, both Asana and Coda integrate with Teams, too.
  • Gmail: Both Coda’s and Asana’s Gmail integrations enable you to sync emails from your inbox into your docs or projects. Coda’s integration also lets you send emails directly from your docs (like reminders or meeting summaries), whereas Asana’s integration lets you create, update, or search for tasks from within Gmail.
  • Google Calendar: Coda’s Google Calendar integration allows you to display and schedule events directly from Coda. Asana’s integration is centered around managing project timelines, meaning you can automate meeting scheduling based on project progress, sync project tasks to your calendar, and add event widgets to tasks for context. Both tools also integrate with Outlook Calendar.
  • Jira: Coda’s and Asana’s Jira integrations function similarly; both have two-way sync so you can create and update Jira issues from your Coda docs or Asana projects, and vice versa.
  • GitHub: With Coda’s GitHub integration, you can sync the status of issues, pull requests and repositories into your docs, and approve and comment on pull requests directly from Coda. Asana’s integration similarly lets you sync GitHub status updates to Asana, and also connect pull request attachments to task descriptions.
  • Salesforce: Coda’s Salesforce integration allows you to sync an account, opportunity, case, and any custom objects and fields from Salesforce into your Coda docs. Asana’s integration enables the creation of Asana tasks and projects from Salesforce, and also lets you link deal progress to Asana Goals.
  • HubSpot: Coda’s HubSpot integration can sync account, prospect, and support data from HubSpot into Coda, and send updates to HubSpot from your docs with two-way sync. Asana’s integration allows you to view HubSpot campaign status and metrics in Asana, and automatically create Asana tasks from HubSpot using rules.
Other popular integrations for both Asana and Coda include Figma, Intercom, and Twilio. Coda also has some enterprise integrations that Asana does not, like Snowflake, Qualtrics, and Gong.

Can you build custom integrations for Asana and Coda?

Both Coda and Asana offer an API that you can use to build your own integrations, either just for your own team or to publish for other teams to use. Coda’s embeds feature also means you can integrate content from most tools into your docs, even without a native integration. Plus, Coda’s flexibility and powerful building blocks make it possible for anyone to build a doc as powerful as an app, without needing to code—like this task tracker or this calculator for the perfect brew. Check out the gallery for more examples and templates you can copy and use.

How much do Asana’s and Coda’s integrations cost?

Both Coda and Asana include some popular integrations in their free plans, such as Google Drive and Zoom. Others are bundled into specific pricing plans and/or available for a monthly fee. Let’s take a look at some of the common integrations we’ve already mentioned and how those are priced:
Coda
  • Coda offers many Packs at no additional cost on all pricing plans, including on the free plan.
  • Others can be purchased for a monthly fee and/or are bundled with specific pricing plans:
    • Slack, Gmail, and Google Calendar are bundled free with all paid plans.
    • Jira and GitHub are bundled free with the Team and Enterprise plans.
    • Salesforce and HubSpot are bundled free with the Enterprise plan.
  • If you’d like to build your own integrations, Coda’s API is available free for all customers.
Asana
  • Asana has 100+ apps that are free on all plans (including their “Personal” plan), such as Slack, Gmail, and Google Calendar.
  • Other integrations are bundled free with specific pricing plans:
    • Jira, GitHub, and HubSpot are available on the Starter plan and above.
    • Salesforce is available on the Enterprise plan and above.
  • Asana’s API is also available free for all customers, with some limitations for those on a free plan.

How do you set up integrations in Asana and Coda?

In the midst of setting up a project or a new tool, you don’t have time to waste on following complicated integration processes. Some integrations are naturally going to be more complex than others but you’ll want whichever project management tool you’re using to make it as simple and quick as possible. That includes an intuitive install process, as well as helpful documentation and resources that make it easy to get started. Let’s take a look at the process for Coda and Asana.
Coda
  • To find and set up Coda Packs, you can browse Coda’s Gallery or simply type / and the name of the app (e.g., “/Salesforce”) from within any of your Coda docs. You can also install some common apps, like Slack, from your account page.
  • Each Pack listing in Coda’s Gallery has links to useful setup guides, doc templates, and/or examples of other docs using the Pack for inspiration. You’ll also find security information and a log of release notes so you can see when (and how) the Pack was last updated.
  • When you add a Pack to your doc, Coda makes it really easy to get started by displaying a list of handy drag-and-drop tables, buttons, formulas, and other elements that you can pull into your doc and start using right away.
Asana
  • You can browse and install apps from Asana’s App Directory. Some apps are installed from within Asana while others need to be set up from the third-party tool, or configured within both.
  • Each app listing has step-by-step instructions on how to set up the integration, as well as links to more detailed guides and videos in the Asana Help Center.

In Coda, it's easy to install Packs and drag-and-drop the integration into your doc.

How secure are Asana’s and Coda’s integrations?

When you’re connecting up your tools—and therefore sharing your data—you’ll naturally want to ensure that there are processes in place to keep that data secure. Both Coda and Asana take security seriously, with integration-specific security processes and admin tools to help IT teams manage your workspace’s integration setup.
Coda
  • Coda has a comprehensive guide on Pack Security, in addition to help docs with video answers common security questions. The key thing to know is that instead of relying on each Pack maker to meet specific requirements for each of their Packs, Coda designed the Packs platform to abide by a strict global protocol that ensures organizations with even the most strict security requirements can use Packs.
  • In the Gallery listing for each Pack, you’ll see who built the Pack and a security tab that details everything you need to know about an individual Pack’s security.
  • Packs that have a blue check mark next to their name in the Gallery are Coda certified, meaning they have passed Coda’s quality review check and have a support agreement in place with Coda.
  • When you install a Pack, you choose who can interact with the data it pulls into your Coda docs: you, anyone the doc is shared with, or nobody (for view only data).
  • Org admins for customers on Coda’s Enterprise plan can enable specific Pack controls so that new Pack installs will need their approval. They can also create custom Pack configurations to implement more granular controls on Pack usage in their organization.
Asana
  • In order for an app to be published in Asana’s App Directory, it goes though a security review and QA process to ensure it meets their security requirements.
  • Asana’s App Directory lists whether an app is built by Asana, a partner (and which “tier” of partner), or a developer, though it does not disclose what qualifies a partner to be in a specific tier.
  • Asana allows “super admins” for customers on the Enterprise+ tier to monitor and control the apps active in their workspace. That includes blocking specific apps, requirement for the approval of apps to be installed, and rules on allowing or disallowing web requests from external services.
  • Super admins can also view all connected apps, their last activity, and active members.

Make sure your project management tools check all the boxes.

When it comes to project management tools, ensuring you can integrate the other apps you use—but also do so easily and get the functionality you need—is essential. It can be helpful to create a checklist of the integrations you need and exactly what you need each of them to do, so you know what to look for when evaluating a new (or existing) tool. Coda and Asana both integrate with some of the most common tools but their integration approach is slightly different. Given Asana’s focus on project management, its integrations are naturally focused on project management tasks, whereas Coda’s integrations tend to have a wider range of functionality due to Coda’s flexibility and wider range of use cases. Coda also makes it easy to get started with each integration, with plenty of resources, security information, and drag-and-drop templates to use. Which is right for you will ultimately depend on which other tools you use and what you need your integrations to do. You can browse Coda’s Gallery and Asana’s App Directory to explore if they have all the integrations you need. Curious how Coda and Asana compare in other areas? See 6 reasons why teams choose Coda. If Coda checks all your boxes, you can get started for free here. Or, you can browse the Gallery to see templates and examples of how other teams are using Coda for project management.
Browse the Gallery

Related posts

Explore more stories about the tools you use.
Coda vs Asana: Project tracking and task management

A deep dive into using Asana and Coda for project management.

Coda vs Wrike: Creating a project plan

What to consider when choosing the best tool for your team.

Coda vs Excel: Gantt charts

Gantt charts are invaluable for visualizing project plans. See how Coda and Excel stack up.