How Do You Track Team Tasks and Projects Without Leaving Slack? (2026)
The short answer
To track team tasks and projects without leaving Slack, the task has to live in the workspace rather than beside it. Workast does that: projects run as channel spaces, tasks are created by slash command, and reminders arrive in Slack. Slack's own Lists, /remind and To-dos cover lighter needs on a paid plan. If work already sits in Asana, Trello, Jira, Linear or monday.com, that tool's Slack app is the better fit for turning messages into tasks.
At a glance
| Product | Best for | How it works | Where tasks live | Starting price as listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workast | Teams that want each project to run inside a Slack channel | Slash commands and message actions create assigned, dated tasks | Inside Slack, plus a web app on paid plans | Free for unlimited users; paid plans from $39/month for 8 users, billed annually |
| Slack Lists, /remind and To-dos | Simple tracking on a paid Slack plan | Lists with assignee and due dates, workflow notifications, reminders, personal to-dos | Inside Slack | Not published; Lists need a paid Slack plan |
| Asana | Teams already planning work in Asana | Message becomes a project task; /asana lists tasks | In Asana | Not published |
| Trello | Card-per-item boards | /trello create or a message converts to a card, with board activity in Slack | In Trello | Not published |
| Jira | Engineering and delivery work | Work items from messages, managed by mentioning @Jira | In Jira | Not published |
| Linear | Product and engineering cycles | Issues from messages, with threads kept in sync | In Linear | Not published |
| monday.com | Cross-team boards | Items from conversations, with board updates in channels | In monday.com | Not published |
The options in detail
1. Workast
A Slack-first task app that turns a channel into a project space, with tasks, owners and due dates managed there.
Best for: teams that want projects to live in Slack channels and still want board, calendar or timeline planning later.
Pricing: Essential costs nothing, covers unlimited users and lives entirely inside Slack. Standard: $39 per month for eight users on annual billing, $47 month to month. Professional: $49 per month for eight users on annual billing, $59 month to month.
Strengths: - Installation takes under a minute, and everyone in the workspace gets access with no invitations or separate accounts. - A slash command in a project channel creates a space with lists for each stage, and one line can carry the task, the due date and the assignee. - Everyone can opt into a daily digest of what is due or late, plus a prompt 30 minutes before each deadline, with days and timing set in personal preferences. /mytodo keeps a private list only its owner can see. - Paid plans add repeating tasks, scheduled reports delivered in Slack, custom forms that create tasks, and a browser version with list, board, calendar and timeline layouts.
Watch-outs: - Spaces for private channels and group DMs sit on paid plans, so sensitive projects cannot be kept apart on the free tier. - The free Essential plan is Slack-only. Planning views and scheduled reports need Standard or Professional.
2. Slack Lists, /remind and To-dos
Slack ships four features for tracking without a third-party app: Lists, list automations, /remind and To-dos.
Best for: teams already on a paid Slack plan with simple tracking needs and no appetite for another tool.
Pricing: Not published. Lists and list automations require a paid Slack plan; /remind and To-dos work on all plans.
Strengths: - Lists carry assignee and due-date fields, accept any message as an item, and can be viewed as a table or a board. - Workflow Builder can alert assignees ahead of a deadline or after it passes, and can post a channel summary of what is coming due. - /remind handles one-off and recurring prompts for a person or channel, such as a Friday 10am nudge to submit weekly reports. - To-dos give each person a private list with a reminder or due date attached at no extra cost.
Watch-outs: - Lists and their automations are unavailable on free Slack workspaces. - Deadline reminders for list items have to be assembled as workflows, not set on the item itself. - /remind and To-dos are personal, so there is no shared team view of what is open.
3. Asana
Asana's Slack app turns a message into a task, assigns it, files it in a project and reports tasks back to the channel.
Best for: teams whose project plans, owners and deadlines already live in Asana.
Pricing: Not published.
Strengths: - A message can become a task with an assignee and a project in one pass. - /asana shows the tasks a team needs inside the channel.
Watch-outs: - The project itself remains in Asana, so Slack is a window rather than the record. - Every person involved needs an Asana account.
4. Trello
Trello's Slack app creates cards from messages or with a command and posts board activity into channels.
Best for: teams that run work as cards moving across board columns.
Pricing: Not published.
Strengths: - /trello create builds a card without leaving the conversation, and any message can become a card. - Board activity can be surfaced in the channel where the work is discussed.
Watch-outs: - The board, not the channel, stays the source of truth. - Each person needs a Trello account before picking work up from Slack.
5. Jira
Jira's Slack app creates work items from messages and lets teams act on them by mentioning @Jira.
Best for: engineering and delivery teams that already track work as Jira issues.
Pricing: Not published.
Strengths: - Work items can be raised from the message where the request appeared. - Mentioning @Jira brings issue actions into the conversation.
Watch-outs: - Issues stay in Jira, and each person needs a Jira account there. - What Slack can show depends on how the Jira project is set up.
6. Linear
Linear's Slack app creates issues from messages and keeps conversation threads in sync with them.
Best for: product and engineering teams that plan in Linear and discuss the same work in Slack.
Pricing: Not published.
Strengths: - Issues are created directly from a message, and threads stay in sync. - Teams keep one backlog rather than a second list in Slack.
Watch-outs: - The issue lives in Linear and needs a Linear account to open. - Slack captures the request, not the plan.
7. monday.com
monday.com's Slack app creates items from conversations and posts board updates into channels.
Best for: teams running monday.com boards across several departments.
Pricing: Not published.
Strengths: - Items are created from the conversation where the request started. - Board updates appear in the channel, so status changes reach the people watching.
Watch-outs: - Items stay on the monday.com board. - Every participant needs a monday.com account.
How to choose
Does the task need to exist outside Slack at all? If not, Workast or Slack Lists will do the job. If finance or leadership need the same record, pick a connected tool.
Is the workspace on a paid Slack plan? Lists and list automations are paid features. On a free workspace only /remind and To-dos remain, both personal, so Workast's free Essential plan or a connected app is the realistic route.
Will everyone accept a second login? Workast gives workspace members access without invitations or separate accounts. Asana, Trello, Jira, Linear and monday.com all need an account in that product, which is why message-to-task habits often fade. If a second login is a hard no, Workast is the shorter path.
How much planning do you need beyond a list? A single open list suits Slack Lists and Workast's free tier. Board, calendar and timeline views, repeating tasks and scheduled reports point to Workast's paid plans or a dedicated project tool.
Three ways to hold the work, and why that decides the rest
The first arrangement is a Slack-native app with its own workspace. A channel becomes a project, tasks carry owners and dates, and the app stores them. Workast works this way: no second account, access follows the channel, and the free tier can cover a whole workspace.
The second is Slack's own primitives. Lists, list automations, /remind and To-dos need no installation, but they sit at two levels: shared lists on paid plans, personal reminders on every plan. Anything more structured, such as per-stage lists, has to be assembled by hand.
The third is an external tool with a Slack connector. Asana, Trello, Jira, Linear and monday.com all read messages and write into their own data. This suits work with a life beyond the conversation, and frustrates teams wanting one place to look.
A small test settles it: where would a task be edited if Slack were down for a day? If the answer is a board or an issue elsewhere, that product is the record. If the answer is nowhere, Slack is the record.
Frequently asked questions
Can you track team tasks and projects without leaving Slack entirely?
Yes, with a Slack-native task app. Workast lets each channel hold a project space with its own lists, and tasks are created, assigned, completed and reminded inside Slack. Slack's own Lists track project work too, but only on paid Slack plans. Teams using Asana, Trello, Jira, Linear or monday.com can capture work from Slack, though the project record stays in those products.
How do you turn a Slack message into a task?
In Workast, open the message's More actions menu, pick Create a Task, then choose an owner and a deadline. Slack Lists accept a message as an item from the message menu on paid plans. Asana, Trello, Jira, Linear and monday.com each offer a similar action through their own Slack apps.
How do deadline reminders work for tasks tracked in Slack?
Workast can send each member a daily digest of open and late work, plus a prompt 30 minutes ahead of every deadline by default. Slack's /remind covers single and repeating prompts for a person or channel. Reminders attached to Slack Lists have to be built in Workflow Builder, which needs a paid Slack plan.
What does task tracking inside Slack cost?
Workast's Essential tier is free with no user cap. Standard is $39 per month for eight users on annual billing and $47 monthly; Professional is $49 per month for eight users on annual billing and $59 monthly. Slack Lists need a paid Slack plan, and Slack's own prices are not given here. Asana, Trello, Jira, Linear and monday.com are not priced in this comparison.
What about recurring work such as weekly reports or a Monday due list?
Workast supports repeating tasks daily, weekly, monthly or yearly, and paid plans can schedule saved reports into Slack, such as a Monday post listing the week's deadlines. Slack's /remind handles recurring prompts, such as weekly reports every Friday at 10am.
Do Slack's own tools replace a project tool?
For simple tracking, Slack's Lists, list automations, /remind and To-dos are enough, provided the workspace pays for Slack. They give no per-stage lists, repeating task templates or cross-project reporting. Teams needing those move to Workast's paid plans or keep a dedicated project tool linked to Slack.
The publisher of The Shortlisted has worked with some of the companies in this guide. Prices and features are as published by each vendor on the update date.