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Should I self-host Asana?
OpenProject is the heavyweight that genuinely covers Asana-and-beyond (Gantt, agile boards, time). Its all-in-one container seeds a full Postgres on first boot — this is a real ops commitment for a team tool your whole team depends on. Worth it for seat counts where the invoice stings.
The math (nothing hidden, including your time)
| Asana (Starter, per seat) | $13.49/mo |
| VPS share + storage | −$2.00/mo |
| Your maintenance: 60 min/mo at $20/h | −$20.00/mo |
| Net saving | $-8.51/mo |
| Setup: 47 min measured (one-time) | $15.67 |
| Break-even | never |
| Markup Index (price ÷ real self-host cost) | 0.6× |
Price: source, checked 2026-08-06. Inputs are stored in git; every number above is derived, never hand-written.
What you lose
- Asana's lightness — OpenProject is powerful, not nimble
- Native mobile apps and the integrations directory
What you're paying Asana for
- task & project tracking
- boards & timelines
- assignees & due dates
- status reporting
Ranked alternatives
Classic project management with work packages, Gantt charts and time tracking, on a server you own and with no per-seat bill.
Hardware
Runs comfortably on a real VPS (2 GB+).
The tested compose file (our evidence, CI-booted)
# OpenProject — heavyweight PM; all-in-one image (slow first boot, seeds its DB)
services:
openproject:
image: openproject/openproject:16
container_name: openproject
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
OPENPROJECT_HOST__NAME: localhost:8110
OPENPROJECT_HTTPS: "false"
OPENPROJECT_SECRET_KEY_BASE: 0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef
ports:
- "8110:80"
volumes:
- openproject-data:/var/openproject/assets
- openproject-db:/var/openproject/pgdata
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -sf http://localhost:80/health_check >/dev/null || exit 1"]
interval: 15s
timeout: 15s
retries: 60
start_period: 180s
volumes:
openproject-data:
openproject-db:
Want a guided install instead? caniselfhostit.com/asana has AI-agent prompts that assume a bare machine — that's their half of the stool, and it's good.
Verification
Protocol v1 · verified by zernonia on 2026-08-10 · setup measured at 47 min · AI assistant: claude-code (allowed & stated)
What broke
- Boot to healthy measured at 116s on the 2GB reference env
Full timed log
# Asana — verdict log - **Date:** 2026-08-10 - **Verdict:** KINDA — worth it if… - **Protocol:** v1 (2GB reference env, Docker preinstalled, AI assistant: claude-code) ## Setup evidence - Compose: `compose/asana-openproject.yml` - Boot to healthy: **116s** measured this session - Setup time recorded: 47 min (boot + configuration to first working workflow) ## What broke / notes - Boot to healthy measured at 116s on the 2GB reference env ## The call OpenProject is the heavyweight that genuinely covers Asana-and-beyond (Gantt, agile boards, time). Its all-in-one container seeds a full Postgres on first boot — this is a real ops commitment for a team tool your whole team depends on. Worth it for seat counts where the invoice stings.
Verdict history
- 2026-08-10: unscored → KINDA — Initial verdict: OpenProject is the heavyweight that genuinely covers Asana-and-beyond (Gantt, agile boards, time).