Best Asana Templates in 2026: The Few Worth Using (and How to Make Your Own)
Asana’s template gallery has hundreds of options, but most teams only need five: a project plan, a product or campaign launch, a content calendar, a work request intake, and an employee onboarding checklist. Everything else is a variation.
The bigger decision is whether to use a gallery template or build your own. Custom templates (saving your own project as a reusable template) are available on paid plans; Asana lists them on Starter in its pricing table, checked October 14, 2026. Starter is $10.99 and Advanced $24.99 per user per month billed annually.
I implement work-management tools for client teams (SSPM is a Smartsheet partner; we also build Asana workspaces). These are the templates I actually leave behind after a rollout.
The five templates worth using
| Template | Best for | Must-have setup | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project plan | Any team with a deadline | Sections by phase, milestones, owners | Personal (free) and up |
| Product / campaign launch | Marketing and product | Timeline view, dependencies, approval tasks | Starter+ for Timeline |
| Content calendar | Content and social teams | Calendar view, custom field for channel | Free and up |
| Work requests (intake) | Ops, creative, IT | Form, custom fields, rules to route | Starter+ for forms; Advanced for branching |
| Employee onboarding | HR and managers | Relative due dates, section per week | Free and up |
1. Project plan
Use sections for phases (Plan, Build, Review, Launch), add milestones for each gate, and assign every task before the kickoff ends. Turn on Timeline only if you will maintain dates. A project plan with stale dates is worse than none.
2. Launch
Launch templates earn their keep with dependencies and approvals. Mark approvals as approval tasks so reviewers get Approve / Request changes buttons. Add a rule: when the final approval is done, move the launch task to “Ready.” See our Asana automation rules guide.
3. Content calendar
Calendar view plus two custom fields: Channel (single select) and Stage (Draft, Edit, Scheduled, Published). Color-code by channel. Keep one project per brand, not one per month.
4. Work requests
The most valuable template for ops and creative teams. Build a form with required fields (requester, due date, type), map answers to custom fields, and add rules to assign by type. Advanced adds form branching, so the form asks different questions by request type.
5. Onboarding
Use relative due dates (Day 1, Week 1, Week 2) so the template works for any start date. Give the new hire their own tasks and the manager theirs, in separate sections.
When to build your own
Build a custom template when you have run the same kind of project three times. Save the best one as a template, then:
- Replace names with roles where possible so it survives staff changes.
- Keep descriptions short; link to a doc for detail.
- Include rules and custom fields in the template so they come along.
- Review it every quarter. Templates rot.
Templates I skip
Most gallery templates for niche industries add sections you will delete. “OKR” templates are better handled with Asana Goals. “Meeting agenda” templates are better as a recurring task with a checklist.
If you are comparing tools before committing, our Airtable vs Asana and monday.com review cover where each fits.
How to set up the intake template properly
The work request template is where most teams get the biggest win, and where most get it wrong. Here is the setup I leave behind:
- Form fields: Requester name, Team, Request type (single select), Due date, Description, Attachments. Make Request type and Due date required.
- Custom fields on the project: Request type, Priority (Low, Medium, High), Estimated effort (Small, Medium, Large).
- Sections: New, Accepted, In progress, Waiting on requester, Done.
- Rules:
- When a task is added from the form, assign it by Request type (for example, “Design” goes to the design lead).
- When Priority is set to High, add the team lead as a collaborator.
- When moved to “Waiting on requester”, comment to ask for the missing info.
- When moved to Done, mark complete.
- A due date check: add a rule that flags tasks due in under 3 days, so rush jobs are visible.
A form with 15 questions gets half-filled answers. Keep it to 6 to 8 questions. Use branching on Advanced (the form changes its next question based on an answer) to ask detail questions only when they apply.
Mistakes I fix in other people’s templates
Templates with names baked in. A launch template assigns tasks to “Maria”. Maria left in March. Use placeholder roles in task names (“[PM] Approve brief”) and assign on project creation.
Fixed dates. A template with real calendar dates is useless next month. Use relative dates (Day 1, Day 5, Day 10) set from the project start.
Too many sections. Twelve sections with three tasks each is a checklist, not a project. Group into 4 to 6 phases.
No owner for the template. Pick one person who updates it after each project. Otherwise every project copies last year’s mistakes.
Template vs project copy vs bundle
| Option | What it does | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| Custom template | Saved structure you start new projects from | You repeat the same kind of project |
| Duplicate project | Copies one existing project | One-off reuse |
| Workflow bundle (top tiers) | Shared rules, fields and sections applied to many projects at once | Many teams must follow one process |
Asana lists workflow bundles among its top-tier features, so check your plan. If you run 30 similar projects and want to change a rule once for all of them, they are worth it. For most teams, a well-kept template is enough.
When NOT to use a template
- The project is truly new and nobody knows the steps yet. Run it once, then save it as a template.
- The work is ongoing, like support or content. Use one long-running project, not a new project every month.
- The template forces fields people will not fill. Empty fields make reports look wrong. Delete them.
What it costs
Gallery templates are free to use. Saving your own custom templates needs a paid plan: Starter at $10.99 per user per month on yearly billing, or $13.49 monthly. Timeline and form branching need higher tiers (Starter and Advanced). For a 10-person team on Starter, that is about $110 a month yearly. If you only need lists and a calendar, the free Personal plan can work for a very small team.
Common questions
Are Asana templates free?
Gallery templates can be used on any plan, though some rely on paid features like Timeline or forms branching. Custom templates you create are a paid-plan feature.
What is the best Asana template for project management?
The project plan template with sections by phase, milestones, and owners. Add Timeline if you will keep dates current.
Can I share an Asana template with my team?
Yes. Custom templates are available to your team or organization depending on where you save them.
Do rules and custom fields come with a template?
When you save a project as a template, its custom fields and rules are included, so new projects start with the same setup.
How do I create a template in Asana?
Build a project the way you want it, then use the project menu to save it as a template. Replace names with roles and use relative dates first.
How many questions should an Asana intake form have?
Six to eight is a good range. Make the key fields required and use branching on Advanced for details.
Plan details checked on asana.com/pricing and asana.com/templates on October 14, 2026.
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