12 of the Best Basecamp Alternatives for Project Management

Basecamp is basically the Al Pacino of project management software.

Award-winning. Been around for decades. Headliner. Best-in-class. But, admittedly, not the perfect fit for every Hollywood role.

The same goes for Basecamp — it’s not for everyone. So, let’s chat about some basecamp alternatives.

Introduction to Basecamp

Basecamp has a streamlined, no-nonsense UI that enables remote team messaging and shared project management. Their founder wrote the book on remote work. Basecamp has some truly innovative features like Hill Charts and daily automatic check-ins to capture what everyone’s been doing. We use Basecamp at AppSumo, along with a whole host of other tools including MeisterTask and Slack—and many more.

Source: Basecamp

Basecamp is ready out of the box, with the tradeoff that there are fewer customization features across the board.  The real downside of Basecamp is the limited visualization, analytics, and reporting functions relative to other leading project management software today.

In this way, Basecamp can be viewed more as a task tracking and communication software for large teams versus an in-depth project management software that goes granular on time tracking, financials, or budget tracking. Also, Basecamp 3 is $99 per month flat—meaning it’s best suited for medium-to-large teams.

If Basecamp isn’t the right casting choice for your next blockbuster, check out these promising Basecamp alternatives:

1. Agiled
2. Nifty
3. Asana
4. Trello
5. ClickUp
6. Notion
7. Stackby
8. Freedcamp
9. Airtable
10. Teamwork
11. Monday.com
12. Slack
13. Bonus: Teamdeck + Bloo

Top Basecamp alternatives in 2020

1. Agiled

List of features:

• Kanban
• Gantt Charts
• File Management
• Invoicing
• Time & Expense Tracking
• Project Discussions

Why Agiled is an excellent alternative to Basecamp: If you need to manage projects easily, collaborate with your team and clients, track time and expenses, and invoice for the projects, Agiled might be a good Basecamp alternative for you. Agiled also has in-app messaging like Basecamp.

Free version: No

Starting pricing: Agiled usually starts at $15 per month. Or you can get Agiled one-year deal on AppSumo at $249.

2. Nifty 

Source: Nifty

List of features:

• In-app messaging
• Document management
• Kanban
• Time & expense tracking
• Knowledge hub
• Gantt chart

Why Nifty is a good alternative to Basecamp: With Nifty, you can create Google Docs (or native Nifty Docs) right in the UI, track time, and assign more than one person on tasks. Nifty is a good Basecamp alternative for PMs who manage agencies, small teams, and teams of engineers requiring more in-depth reporting.

Free version: No

Starting price: Nifty usually starts at $39 per month.

3. Asana

Source: Asana

List of features:

• Timelines
• Kanban
• Client portal
• Time & expense tracking
• Automation
• Pre-made templates
• Gantt charts

Why Asana is a good Basecamp alternative: If you need more robust project management control features like reporting, managing workloads, and visualizing your project data—a real bird’s eye view—Asana might be a good Basecamp alternative for you. But note that Asana doesn’t have an in-app chat feature like Basecamp.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $10.99 per month per user

4. Trello

Source: Trello

List of features:

• Gantt charts
• Kanban
• Time & expense tracking
• Workflow automation
• Budget management

Why Trello is a good alternative to Basecamp: In general, Trello is simpler than Basecamp. Many people use Basecamp as a comprehensive tool to manage teams and projects across their business. Get Trello if you need a more straightforward, linear kanban project management tool.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $12.50 per month per user

5. ClickUp

Source: ClickUp

List of features:

• Client portal
• Inbox
• Gantt charts
• Kanban
• Time & expense tracking
• Budget management

Why ClickUp is a good Basecamp alternative: With easy setup, frequent updates, a Loom-like Chrome extension for adding marked-up screenshots to tasks, and one of the more robust sets of features on this list, ClickUp packs some deep project management tools while sparing your wallet. That said, with more features comes the tradeoff of complexity to get it running exactly like you want it. This is also a relatively new player in the market.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $5 per month per user

6. Notion

Source: Notion

List of features:

• Notes and docs
• Multiple database views
• Budget management
• Highly customizable templates
• Kanban

Why Notion is a good alternative to Basecamp: If you’re tired of Basecamp’s limited flexibility, Notion shares a similar UI feel with near-limitless customization. Though Notion is not a pure project management software, it is a strong choice for building company wikis and managing projects on flexible kanban boards. The tradeoff is the learning curve of building a new mental model for modular docs-based project management.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $5 per month per user

7. Stackby

Source: Stackby

List of features:

• Kanban
• Multiple database views
• Connect third-party APIs to pull info
• Pre-built templates

Why Stackby is a good alternative to Basecamp: Stackby is better for teams who want to push and pull third-party data, configure their databases, and keep track IRL. With fully customizable column types, this tool also appears on our list of Excel alternatives. While different from Basecamp, if you manage and run highly data-driven projects, this tool might be the right fit to keep your projects on track.

Free version: No

Starting price: Stackby usually starts at $5 per user per month. For a limited time, get annual access for $199.

8. Freedcamp 

Source: Freedcamp

List of features:

• Kanban
• Gantt chart
• Wiki
• Time tracking & invoices
• Custom-email tasks to yourself
• Issue tracker
• CRM

Why Freedcamp is a good Basecamp alternative: In general, Freedcamp is a lot more than just a project management software—it’s also a CRM, invoicing, and issue tracker. One benefit is that you can fully customize each project on the platform, choosing the tools your team actually uses. Plus Freedcamp is a former AppSumo partner!

Free version: Yes (with an impressive array of features)

Starting price: $1.49 per user per month

9. Airtable

Source: Airtable

List of features:

• Customizable templates
• Client portal
• Gantt charts
• Kanban
• Time & expense tracking
• Budget management

Why Airtable is a good alternative to Basecamp: Flexibility is the key differentiator from Basecamp here. Airtable is a linked-database tool. You can see things in a grid, calendar, gallery, kanban, or Gantt chart (in the Pro plan). This tool is useful for project analysis and allows the use of complex formulas within the database you’d use as your project tracker.

This tool also appeared in our roundup of Excel alternatives if that gives you an idea of the true nature of its functionality.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $12 per month per user

10. Teamwork

Source: Teamwork

List of features:

• Client portal
• Customizable templates
• Idea management
• Milestone tracking

Why Teamwork is a good alternative to Basecamp: Teamwork is an in-depth project management software ideal for agencies who need time logging, a client portal, and in-depth reporting features like percentages on task completion. Teamwork is also much more affordable for smaller teams but may be overly complex for some users.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $9 per month per user

11. Monday.com

Source: Monday.com

List of features:

• Client portal
• Gantt charts
• Kanban
• Time & expense tracking
• Budget management

Why Monday.com is a good alternative to Basecamp: With a user-friendly and fun design, Monday.com will give you the features like Gantt chart, time tracking, and timelines that you may be missing with Basecamp.

Free version: No

Starting price: $39 per month for 5 users

12. Slack

Source: Slack

List of features:

• Client portal
• Customizable templates
• Idea management
• Milestone tracking

Why Slack is a good Basecamp alternative: Slack is a go-to internal communication app for businesses of all sizes, and Basecamp serves a similar function. Booth tools are positioned as an alternative to email for remote teams. Slack is not a project management tool, but you can integrate with certain other project management tools or use various channels and checkboxes for task management.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $6.67 per month per user

Honorable Mentions:

Teamdeck

If you’re looking more for resource management: more advanced team scheduling, time tracking, leave management, and reporting features in your workflow, check out AppSumo partner Teamdeck.

For a limited time, get lifetime access to Teamdeck for $49.

Bloo

 

Another incredible lifetime deal on a project management tool that combines boards, calendars, files, and more to handle even the most complex initiatives. Beat the disorganization blues once and for all with Bloo (available for a limited time for $49 lifetime.)

Thanks, Sumo-lings! Stay safe and take it easy, y’all. 🌮