In September 2026, Asana announced their shift to AWM – Agentic Work Management. It’s, understandably, left some folks confused about the difference between basic Automations and Asana AI Studio as well as the future of their work in the platform.
Asana AI Studio vs. Automations
It makes sense that the distinction is confusing. After all, Automations literally live under AI Studio within the customization panel and under Agents in the navigation. But you do not need always AI credits to build automations.
PRO TIP: Stay in the loop on non-AI help guides and hacks in #asana-minus-ai channel on the Asana BFF Community.
Automations without AI
To make sure you are building a rule free of AI, always click Start from scratch. You may find that you have to insert AI later on, but this is the safest way to maintain that control.
Starting from scratch is the best way to learn how to build your own automations
There are endless ways to build complex automations without using a single AI credit. Here are a couple of popular examples:
Generate Subtasks and approvals when a task is added
This is a pretty complex automation that multi-homes tasks, converts them to a custom task type, generates subtasks, and automates their timelines all without a single AI credit.
This automation routes assignees and creates subtasks depending on the Audience of each request
Reassign Tasks Based on Status & Logic
Another example allows you to create custom routing logic for requests based on custom fields and approvals. You can reference your task creator or even custom people fields that you’ve added to your project.
This automation sends tasks to the correct Assignee based on the type of work being done
AI Studio Automations
Asana makes it easy, maybe too easy to activate AI Studio for even the most simple automations.
Red lightening bolt means AI Studio is present
This is why it is incredibly important to understand whether or not your automation truly needs credits. To double check if your automation uses AI, look for the red lightening bolt in your Customize panel or Automations section under Agents.
Use Asana AI to comb for duplicate requests
In this example, AI Studio is being prompted to search an entire portfolio for instances of task duplication, complete a conditional check, and post a comment on the new task referring to the duplicate. It’s a lot!
Why AI: Complex conditional check requires AI Studio or AI Teammate to search the workspace.
Estimated Credits: 1,962 per task
Save your AI Credits for the real heavy lifting
Calculating Asana AI Studio Credits
Each paid Asana tier comes with a preset volume of credits, but you can also upgrade your usage to AI Studio Plus or AI Studio Pro to increase the volume of monthly credits without upgrading to a new tier. Need help adding more credits? Shoot me an email and I’ll give you a hand.
Tier | AI Studio Credits |
|---|---|
Starter | 50k/month |
Advanced | 75k/month |
Enterprise/Enterprise + | 200k/month |
Once you have identified your Asana AI Studio Workflow, run a test and check its consumption. Then, you can use my Asana AI Credit Forecasting Tool to see if you may need to request additional credits.
I also have a number of resources to help you with Asana AI Best practices, including how to reduce your credit consumption when it goes over your limit.
Looking for more ways to learn?
Join my free monthly Asana Office Hours and bring your questions and troublesome workflows! We’ll work through your issues in real time.
Have you built out a cool automation you want to brag about? Share it with the Asana BFF Community in our #resource-drop channel!