How to Quickly Sync Trello Cards to Asana Tasks with 2-Way Updates

Published in Apps on 10/09/2023, last updated 17/12/2023.

Setting up a 2-way sync between Trello and Asana is a straightforward task automation use case that can come in handy for a variety of teams and departments.

Both Asana and Trello are superb project management tools used by marketers, sales teams, product managers, freelancers, agencies, you name it.

This walkthrough will show you how to build a Unito flow that syncs Trello Cards with Asana Tasks in a few short steps. A flow represents the connection between Trello and Asana created by you. It includes rules that tell Unito when to create new tasks or cards automatically, as well as a list of paired fields between Trello and Asana. So you can sync titles to titles, descriptions to descriptions, checklists to subtasks and so on.

This Asana Trello integration has two goals:

Create and sync new Trello cards or Asana tasks automatically based on manually created tasks or cards.
Enable changes in either Trello or Asana to update automatically based on manual activity in each tool.

Skip ahead to the guide

Here’s what a synced Trello card looks like beside a synced Asana task:

Left: Trello card
Right: Asana task

Why sync Trello cards with Asana tasks?

Each team will have its own use cases and reasons to build this Trello-Asana integration with Unito, but there will always be a common goal: saving time.

Automate creation of cards and tasks with real-time updates

Automating the creation of cards or tasks from Trello to Asana or vice versa saves you from having to manually update your projects or copy-paste relentlessly. You can accomplish Asana tasks from Trello, or archive Trello cards from Asana.

Keep external teams in the loop without looping them in on everything

Then, there’s the data privacy side of the equation: if you work remotely with external teams, consultants, you don’t necessarily want to provide them with full access to your accounts.

You could sync tasks from specific Asana projects to an external Trello board so your external consultants only see what you want them to see. These are just some of the ways integrating Trello-Asana can help your business work more efficiently.

Watch this 2-way Trello Asana integration in action

Before we sync cards and tasks with Unito

First, make sure you have an account in both Trello and Asana with the right permissions to access and modify tasks / cards in each tool.

There are two ways to create Unito flows between Asana and Trello

You can either access Unito from the Trello Board Sync Power-Up or directly from our standalone sync platform for greater flexibility and additional options for customization. Both are included with any Unito plan for Trello users and both options allow you to create flows (integrations).

Step 1. Connect Trello and Asana to Unito

Navigate to the Unito App or open the Board Sync Power-Up in Trello and select +Create Flow.
On the next screen, select Start Here to connect Trello and Asana.
Choose the accounts you want connected to Unito.

In this walkthrough, we’ll select Trello on the left-hand side, and then Asana on the right. You’ll need to specify which account for each tool you wish to connect through Unito, as well as the Trello board and Asana project.

Unito flow Trello Asana 2-way sync tool connection

When you’re ready, click Confirm.

Step 2. Set a flow direction between Trello and Asana

Flow direction tells Unito where to automatically create new cards or tasks based on your manual activity in another tool.

How does flow direction work? If you choose a one-way flow, you’ll have a source tool and a destination. So manually created work items (cards or tasks) in your source tool will automatically appear in your destination via Unito.

Your data can sync either from only one app to the other or bidirectionally. Since our goal is to sync project information, we’ll choose a bidirectional, or two-way flow. See below for an example.

Unito flow direction Trello Asana 2-way sync

Click Confirm when you’ve chosen a flow direction.

Step 3. Set up rules to filter data between Trello and Asana

Now we can set up rules to determine which trigger events will send data between our tools. Select Add a new trigger to establish your rules for each directional flow.

NOTE: These triggers are intended to help you keep only the most relevant information in sync to avoid oversharing unnecessary details. You can apply custom labels to your tasks or cards to be even more precise about what kind of data is shared.

For our Trello to Asana sync, we’ve told the system to create a matching task in Asana for every card in our Trello board with a blue label that was created after our chosen date. See below for an example:

Unito flow Trello Asana 2-way sync rules and filters

For our Asana to Trello flow, we’ll set rules to create a new, matching card in Trello for every task in our selected Asana project that was created on or after the selected date. See below for an example:

Find out more about setting rules.

Step 4. Set up field mappings to sync cards and tasks

When you first open this screen, you’ll be presented with two options. If you select Auto-map, Unito will prepopulate a list of suggested field mappings which you can then adjust. If you know exactly how you want your fields mapped, Start from scratch.

Learn more about field mappings between Trello and Asana.

Your fields will be automatically mapped for two-way updates, but you can adjust them as needed. With a one-way sync between fields, only the destination field will update automatically when you make changes in the source field.

Click + Add mapping to add additional fields to be synced. To do so, click Select a field for each tool, and find the appropriate field to map. After you’ve chosen a field in one tool, Unito will suggest compatible matches in the second tool when you click on the other drop-down menu. See below for an example:

Unito flow Trello Asana 2-way sync field mappings

Selecting the gear icon beside a field will allow you to customize the values or statuses within those fields to further customize your flow. In our demo, we have told the system to match priority levels between Trello cards and Asana tasks. See below for an example: