# Asana reporting dashboards vs a Google Sheets report

Asana reporting dashboards refresh on view and hold 20 charts, with no documented table export. When they win, and when a Google Sheets report does better.

## Key takeaways

- Asana dashboards start on Starter at $10.99 per user per month billed annually, and the free Personal plan has none.
- One Asana dashboard holds up to 20 charts and refreshes on each visit to the tab or page reload.
- Asana documents no way to export a dashboard chart as a table, and PowerPoint export is Enterprise and Enterprise+ only.
- Dashboards keep no history, so last month's count only exists if you paste weekly values into a Sheets tab.
- Use the dashboard for a live view inside Asana, and a Sheets report when the number goes to a client or needs history.

It's Thursday, and the client call is at 4. The Asana dashboard shows 38 open tasks in a bar chart. The client wants that number split by workstream, next to last month, on a slide. The chart can't give you last month, and there's no button that turns it into a table.

Asana reporting dashboards are good at one job. They show the team where work stands right now, inside Asana. A report in Google Sheets™ does a different job. It holds numbers you can compare, regroup and send to someone who never logs into Asana.

This post sets them side by side. The plan gates and limits come from Asana's own help center and pricing page, as of 21 October 2026.

## The short answer

Use Asana's dashboards for a live picture, read by people who already work in Asana. Use a Sheets report when the number has to leave Asana, carry history, or combine projects in a way a chart won't. Most teams that report to clients end up running both, and they rarely fight over the same reader.

![Screenshot of a Google Sheet of synced Asana tasks with the Asana to Sheets sidebar open beside it, listing a Website Relaunch project sync scheduled for 07:54 AM](/blog/images/asana-sheet-with-sidebar.png)

## The strengths of Asana reporting dashboards

Project dashboards and universal reporting both start on Asana Starter, at $10.99 per user per month billed annually. Charts on portfolios and goals need Advanced, at $24.99. The free Personal plan has no dashboards at all.

A dashboard holds up to 20 charts. Asana's help center says it updates on each visit to the tab and on each page reload. There's no refresh button to forget, and nothing goes stale between visits.

Click a segment of a chart and Asana lists the tasks behind it. That drill-down is the best thing about it. A manager sees 12 overdue, clicks once, and lands on the 12 tasks with their assignees.

Permissions come along too. Collaborators only see the underlying data they already have access to. Click through a shared chart and you won't see a private project's tasks unless you're already in it.

It also sits inside Asana, next to the work. Your team opens no other tool and learns no formula.

## The limits of Asana dashboards

The limits show up the moment the number has to go somewhere else.

**There's no documented way to pull a dashboard out as a table.** Asana's dashboard help pages mention no CSV export. The pricing page lists CSV and PDF export of "project data and reports" on every plan. It doesn't say a dashboard chart becomes a spreadsheet. Try it on your own workspace before you plan around it.

**PowerPoint export is Enterprise only.** Asana can put dashboards and portfolios into a PowerPoint deck on Enterprise and Enterprise+. Neither plan has a list price. On Starter and Advanced, the slide version of a dashboard is a screenshot.

**There's no documented history.** A dashboard shows work as it stands when you open it. Asana's dashboard help pages describe no saved copy of last month's count.

**Some groupings are plan-gated.** Grouping by "time to complete" is Enterprise and Enterprise+ only. Admins can also turn universal reporting off for the whole domain, so check before you promise a client a chart.

## A Google Sheets report does the other job

A Sheets report starts from the tasks, one row per task, and you build the numbers on top. Put the rows on one tab. Put the report on a second tab that reads the first.

That second tab is where the gaps above close.

- `=COUNTIFS(Tasks!D:D, "In progress", Tasks!F:F, "Acme")` counts open work for one client. A chart filter does that too, until you need 14 clients in one table.
- A pivot table of assignee against section shows who holds what. You can paste it into an email as plain text.
- `=QUERY(Tasks!A:H, "select C, count(A) group by C")` counts tasks per section across every project you synced, in one table.
- Paste the values into a History tab every Friday. After a month you have 4 weeks to compare, which no dashboard keeps.

The cost is setup. Someone writes the formulas the first time, and someone owns the file after that.

One rule matters more than any formula. Don't delete or reorder columns in the synced tab. Resizing and hiding are safe. Keep each report on its own tab, where the next sync can't reach it.

## Dashboards and a Sheets report, side by side

| | Asana dashboards | Google Sheets report |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Asana plan needed | Starter and up. Portfolio and goal charts need Advanced | Any plan, depending on how the rows arrive |
| Refresh | On each visit to the dashboard | By hand, on a schedule, or live, depending on the method |
| Charts per page | Up to 20 | No set limit |
| See the tasks behind a number | Click the chart segment | Filter the synced tab |
| History over time | No | Yes, if you keep weekly snapshots |
| Data out as a table | Not documented for dashboards | It's already a table |
| Slide export | PowerPoint on Enterprise and Enterprise+ | Copy the range, or chart it in Looker Studio™ |
| Who can read it | Asana users with access to the work | Anyone you share the file with |

## Getting the rows into the sheet

There are 3 common routes, and each has a catch.

**CSV export.** Open the project's dropdown menu, then Export. It works on every plan, and it's a snapshot. The report is right on export day and wrong a week later. Asana doesn't document the column list, so open your own file and check before you build on it. [The Asana CSV export post](/blog/asana-csv-export) covers what to watch for.

**Asana's own Sync to Google Sheets.** It needs Advanced or higher. It stops at 500 rows and keeps the data on a locked tab. It updates on its own every few hours, and Asana's help page states both hourly and every 6 hours. [Asana's native Google Sheets sync](/blog/asana-native-google-sheets-sync) has the detail.

**A sync add-on.** Asana to Sheets is our [Asana to Google Sheets](/) add-on. Choose a workspace, a team and a project in the sidebar, and the tasks land as rows with section, assignee, custom fields and subtasks. Manual sync starts at $9 a month for up to 3 syncs. Scheduled sync every 3 hours comes with Pro, at $19 a month.

On a free Asana workspace, the first big sync of any tool runs slower. Asana makes connected tools wait when they ask too often, and free workspaces get a tenth of the paid allowance.

## Choosing between them

Pick the Asana dashboard when:

- the audience already works in Asana every day
- the question is where things stand this morning
- you want to click from a number straight to the tasks
- nobody wants to own a spreadsheet

Pick a Sheets report when:

- the number goes to a client, a finance lead or a board
- you need last month next to this month
- the math is more than a count, like hours against budget or points per person
- the readers don't have Asana seats
- you're on Personal, which has no dashboards

Plenty of teams split it that way. The dashboard runs the Monday stand-up, and the sheet goes to the client at month end. If you're weighing a client login instead, our post on [Asana guest vs member access](/blog/share-asana-data-with-clients) covers what a guest sees and what it costs.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can you export an Asana dashboard to Google Sheets?

Not as a documented feature. Asana's dashboard help pages describe no CSV export, and PowerPoint export is Enterprise and Enterprise+ only. The workable route is to put the underlying tasks in a sheet and rebuild the chart there.

### Which Asana plan includes reporting dashboards?

Project dashboards and universal reporting start on Starter, at $10.99 per user per month billed annually. Charts on portfolios and goals need Advanced or higher. The free Personal plan has no dashboards.

### How often do Asana dashboards refresh?

On each visit to the dashboard tab and each page reload, according to Asana's help center. There's no schedule to set, and the help pages describe no way to keep an earlier version.

### How many charts can one Asana dashboard hold?

Up to 20 charts on a single dashboard. Past that, split the charts across project dashboards, or move the extra views into a spreadsheet tab.

### Do readers need an Asana seat to see a Sheets report?

No. You can share a Google Sheets file with anyone you choose. If the rows come from Asana to Sheets, people who only view the sheet don't need a seat with us either.

## Your next step

Pick the one number your dashboard can't give you. It's usually last month against this month. Get the project into a tab, build that one number on a second tab, and see whether anyone still asks for the chart. [How to sync Asana to Google Sheets](/blog/how-to-sync-asana-to-google-sheets) compares every way to get the rows in.

_Asana is a trademark of Asana, Inc. Google Sheets and Google Workspace are trademarks of Google LLC. Asana to Sheets has no affiliation with either, and neither endorses it._