16 Best Basecamp Alternatives (Free and Paid)

Basecamp is a popular project management tool for good reason. It’s a great starting point for a lot of teams. However, it’s not the right fit for everyone. If you’re looking for good Basecamp alternatives, you’re not alone. 

The Basecamp team strongly emphasizes minimalism, so they offer limited integrations and an intentionally short list of built-in features.

While this is great for teams with the same philosophy, it’s tough for companies needing more flexibility. Managers struggle to understand how their teams work since Basecamp offers limited analytics and reporting.

That’s why we put together this list of tools like Basecamp that offer different features for growing teams.

The 16 best Basecamp alternatives

Basecamp lacks all of these critical task management features:

• Automated workflows
• Tags and labels
• Time and expense tracking
• Integrations with your current monitoring software
• Built-in reporting and analytics

Fortunately, there are plenty of great alternatives to Basecamp. Check out this list of the 16 best options to find one that works perfectly for your team.

1. Hubstaff Tasks

Hubstaff with the Tasks add-on is an excellent alternative to Basecamp. It focuses on making Agile project management as streamlined as possible with automated daily Stand-ups, automated workflows, and intuitive features.

The Kanban-style workflows are familiar to Agile teams. It’s easy to see your team’s status at a glance. You can automate different workflows for different boards to assign each task to the right person at the right time.

With the sprint view, everyone on your team knows what to work on next, even if they’re juggling complex projects on different boards.

Individual tasks are managed with cards. In Hubstaff Tasks, each task card can include:

• The task description
• Assignees and followers
• An optional checklist
• File attachments
• Comments with reactions
• Labels
• Due dates
• Time estimates
• A running total of time worked
• Detailed work logs

Hubstaff Tasks add-on integrates seamlessly with Hubstaff, a top tool for time and productivity tracking. This means that you can track how much time team members spend on tasks and projects and make better project completion date estimates.

It also comes with more than 40 different project templates to start a project quickly and easily.

These include templates for things like:

• Product development
• Employee onboarding
• IT support
• Expense tracking
• Blog management
• Facebook advertising

Each template can also be customized to fit your team’s specific needs. It’s a perfect balance between convenience and flexibility.

Key features

• Kanban-style workflows
• Sprints
• Automated Stand-ups
• Project templates
• Time tracking
• Project timeline
• Roadmap

Pricing

• Free plan
• Starter: $7 per user/month
• Grow: $9 per user/month
• Team: $12 per user/month
• Enterprise: $25 per user/month (annual pricing only)

Need more advanced features? Hubstaff also offers extra add-ons that boost its primary team management features:

• Tasks ($3 per user/month)
• Insights ($2 per user/month)
• More screenshots ($3 per user/month)
• Corporate add-on ($3 per user/month)

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2. Asana

Asana is a popular project management system businesses use in various industries.

It allows users to break down projects into tasks and subtasks that can be assigned to team members. You can also add a due date for each task and use the comments feature to communicate with your team.

The Calendar feature is handy for teams that need to manage shifts or juggle multiple deadlines.

You can also check the status of your highest-priority projects at a glance with the Portfolio feature. It shows you the project priority and percent complete, and you can easily see whether you’re on track or falling behind.

Asana supports multiple project views and real-time, task-based chat. It comes with plenty of project templates to help you get started quickly.

Some teams find that Asana takes a little extra time to learn. If you choose to use Asana for your team, make sure that you offer training to help your employees use it effectively.

Key features

• Project boards
• Project timelines
• Workflow automation
• Forms
• Team calendar
• Project templates
• File sharing

Pricing

• Personal plan: Free
• Starter: $10.99
• Advanced: $24.99
• Enterprise: Contact Asana for pricing

3. monday.com

monday.com is a cloud-based project management solution that is great for advanced task management and team collaboration. This platform strikes a good balance between flexibility and ease of use. While project management programs like Asana become more complex as you try to use more features, monday.com allows you to use their built-in apps to choose the right functions and features for your team.

Project managers like monday.com because it comes with plenty of templates to simplify project creation. If you don’t see one that works for you, it’s easy to tweak an existing workflow or set up your own.

View your projects on a timeline, calendar, map, or chart view. It’s highly customizable, which means that you can set it up so that it fits your workflow perfectly.

This is a good tool for various teams, especially if you have people who are a little more tech-savvy.

Key features

• Project timelines
• Workflow automation
• Forms
• File sharing
• Time tracking
• Reports

Pricing

monday.com offers four plans:

• Free plan
• Basic: $12 per user/month
• Standard: $14 per user/month
• Pro: $24 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact Monday.com for pricing

There’s also a free 14-day trial you can use to test out the software and see if it’s the right fit for your needs.

4. Trello

Trello is one of the most popular Kanban-based project management tools. The free version is widely used by businesses, volunteers, and freelancers.

It’s a simple solution that works well if you don’t need all the bells and whistles. For a lot of teams, Trello is an excellent starter software. It isn’t great for managing projects that are complex, but it has basic features that fit project management requirements. 

Trello is a great option for small teams who need a quick and simple way to manage projects. It supports drag-and-drop task management with task tags, labels, categories, and checklists.

Users organize projects and tasks on boards. Each board consists of cards that represent tasks and contain all the important information needed to perform each task.

Cards can include checklists, subtasks, and file attachments.

Trello power-ups give your board additional functionality. You can use them to connect a calendar to your Trello board, set up custom fields, or add time tracking.

Key features

• Kanban boards
• File sharing
• Checklists
• Workflow automation

Pricing

• Free plan
• Standard: $5 per user/month
• Premium: $10 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact Trello’s sales team for pricing

5. Wrike

Wrike is one of the more flexible Basecamp alternatives. They also offer Wrike for Marketers because project management software is often difficult to use for creative teams.

The dashboard is one of this software’s biggest strengths. You can customize your view to reduce the need for meetings, emails, and check-ins. It’s a source of truth for you to see where your team stands. It’s also a great way to set priorities for each team member.

Wrike is packed with features that were designed with creative teams in mind.

The document editing tool allows you to collaborate in real time. You can set up boards in multiple views to find what works best for your team. Wrike even integrates with Adobe Creative Cloud to make your creative work easier to organize.

If your team has struggled with developer-focused tools in the past, Wrike might be a good choice.

Key features

• Customizable dashboards
• Team calendars
• Multiple project views
• Approval management
• Detailed reports
• Workflow automation

Pricing

Wrike offers a free plan that’s limited to five users. Paid plans come with more features and support additional users:

• Free plan
• Team: $9.80 per user/month
• Business: $24.80 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact Wrike for enterprise pricing

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6. Jira

Jira is a good tool for Agile software teams.

It supports Scrum and Kanban workflows and allows teams to create custom workflows using the drag-and-drop builder. You can also import ready-made workflows from the Atlassian Marketplace.

Jira is a good choice if you need to track bug tickets. The software started as a bug tracker and has since expanded into a more complete project management tool.

As a project management tool, it works best for teams already familiar with Agile. This is not the right tool for teams needing software to guide them through project management. However, it’s a powerful tool for software teams that need help staying organized.

You can also enhance Jira’s functionality by integrating various apps from the Atlassian Marketplace.

Key features

• Scrum & kanban boards
• Project roadmaps
• Drag-and-drop workflow builder
• Workflow automation

Pricing

• Free plan, custom pricing available for teams.

7. ProjectManager.com

ProjectManager.com is a cloud-based tool that supports every step of project management, from project planning to completing timesheets.

It supports multiple project views so that you can visualize work in whatever way works best for you. Use tools like team calendars and real-time dashboards to keep track of projects as they progress.

You can easily manage your team’s workload with detailed reports and other built-in resource management tools.

ProjectManager.com aims to provide a complete project management solution for teams that manage multiple projects.

Rather than using multiple tools for different jobs, you can use their built-in features to manage schedules, develop products, and keep track of all your projects in one place. It works whether you prefer waterfall, Agile, or a hybrid approach.

Like most Basecamp alternatives in this list, ProjectManager.com allows you to integrate other apps through their API. You can also add functionality with their custom apps.

Key features

• Customizable project dashboards
• Task management
• Gantt charts
• Kanban boards
• Timesheets
• Reports

Pricing

ProjectManager.com offers three plans:

• Team: $13 per user/month
• Business $24 per user/month

8. ProofHub

ProofHub offers everything you expect from your project management software, plus a suite of communication tools to help your team stay connected.

Chat with coworkers within the app in real-time. You can even use the Chat feature to communicate with clients.

The proofing feature is useful if you need project review and approval. Built-in markup tools keep your feedback on designs and documents in one place.

Each project has its private workspace, which contains all the associated files, tasks, and conversations.

The interface is available in multiple languages, an advantage for global teams.

You can use ProofHub to set up recurring tasks and reminders, track time spent on tasks, and manage task dependencies. There’s also a valuable reporting feature so that you can analyze the way your team works.

Key features

• Task management
• Kanban boards
• Gantt charts
• Project notes
• Team calendar
• File sharing
• Custom user roles
• Group chat
• Timesheets
• Reports

Pricing

ProofHub offers the following plans:

• Essential: $50/month
• Ultimate Control: $99/month

9. Teamwork

Teamwork is a simple platform that’s designed to scale as your company grows. Start with basic project management and add features as you need tools to manage resources, communicate more effectively, and keep your team accountable.

This is an excellent tool for agencies that do client work. Your clients have unlimited access so that you can keep them in the loop. Teamwork helps you track time and manage invoices, too.

On top of essential project management, you can add more functionality to expand how you use this platform. Teamwork can help you with content collaboration. Use it as a CRM or a helpdesk.

When you’re ready for a more enterprise-level solution, Teamwork can grow with you.

Key features

• Task management
• Project templates
• Project milestones
• Chat
• Time tracking
• Gantt charts
• Calendar
• File sharing
• Reports

Pricing

• Starter: $8.99 per user/month
• Deliver: $13.99 per user/month
• Grow: $25.99 per user/month

10. Podio

Podio is packed with useful features and places emphasis on security and stability. It’s a good choice for teams that deal with sensitive information.

You can configure public and private workspaces, and your admin controls can be as granular as you need them. It’s easy to keep all the right people in the loop.

File management is simple, too. You can manage your files within Podio or use one of their many integrations to organize documents however it makes sense for your team.

Though Podio offers lots of built-in integrations, they understand that your team probably uses tools that they haven’t thought of yet. That’s why their API is exposed. It’s easy for your development team to connect Podio to the rest of your ecosystem.

The Podio App is available for both Apple and Android devices. This is useful for field teams and people who work from multiple locations.

Key features

• Task management
• Reports
• File sharing

Pricing

• Free: Free for five users
• Plus: $14 per user/month
• Premium: $24 per user/month

11. Workzone

Workzone shows you where all of your projects stand so that you can prioritize your time and effort. This software aims to provide enough features to meet all of your changing needs without adding too much complexity.

The project dashboard gives you a lot of information at a glance. You can immediately see which projects are on track, which need your attention, and what you need to do to move forward.

Get more information from the reporting feature. From high-level data to granular analysis, you have access to details about projects, clients, campaigns, or departments.

Workzone has some great collaboration tools, especially when it comes to file management. The file markup tools and version control help keep your team organized and on track.

The support team at Workzone treats you more like a partner than a customer. They help you onboard effectively so you’re more likely to succeed in your new project management endeavor. If you felt a little lost with Basecamp, this should be a nice change.

Key features

• Project dashboard
• To-do lists
• Gantt charts
• Project templates
• Status alerts
• Email alerts
• Time tracking
• Group calendar
• File sharing
• Version control

Pricing

Workzone offers three plans:

• Team: $24 per user/month
• Professional: $34 per user/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing available on request

12. Nutcache

Nutcache helps you manage projects, prevent budget overruns, and track time.

Product owners and scrum masters will find that Nutcache built features with those roles in mind. Creative teams can choose from workflow templates and budgeting tools designed especially for creative work.

Nutcache even offers features like recurring invoices and time estimates to help freelancers grow.

No matter what kind of team you lead, you’ll appreciate the robust budgeting features that Nutcache offers. Get alerts when a project starts to overrun the budget so that you can make adjustments early. You can also track expenses and bill clients more intelligently.

The reporting tools in Nutcache were created to show different types of teams what they need to see. On top of your standard analytics, you’ll find burndown charts, flow diagrams, and velocity charts to suit your style of project management.

Key features

• Task management
• Project budgeting
• Time tracking
• Timesheets
• Invoicing

Pricing

• Pro: $13.95 per user/month
• Enterprise: $23.95 per user/month

13. Nifty

Nifty focuses on remote teams, but it works well for co-located companies, too. After all — the key to managing a remote team is having great communication, and that’s good for everyone.

If you’re already using Basecamp, Nifty offers a free import to easily move your projects over.

For client work, the automated progress report feature is a huge timesaver. You control what your clients can and can’t see, and if you forget to reach out, Nifty keeps them in the loop.

Nifty is just as powerful for teams that don’t do client work. Task management is as intuitive as you’d expect with a few extra features.

Custom fields allow you to change the information you display on task cards. If you’ve ever felt like you can’t quite make generic task-tracking software work for you, this is especially nice.

Instead of checklists, Nifty uses subtasks. This allows you to break work into smaller chunks for more granular management.

This is a flexible Basecamp alternative that’s still easy to share with your team.

Key features

• Task management
• Time tracking
• Project milestones
• File sharing
• Reports

Pricing

Nifty offers the following plans:

• Free for unlimited members
• Personal: $9 per member/month
• Pro: $16 per member/month
• Business: $25 per member/month
• Enterprise: Contact Nifty sales team for pricing

14. Smartsheet

Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-based tool, which makes it a great option for all the Excel nerds out there.

Just because you’re a spreadsheet enthusiast, that doesn’t mean everyone on your team thinks in cells. That’s why Smartsheet also displays project information in card views, Gantt charts, and multiple dashboard configurations.

This might be a good choice for teams that want a more complete ecosystem. However, it is more complex than a lot of the task management tools listed here.

Smartsheet is more appropriate for larger businesses where complexity is just part of life. Make sure you have the resources to train your team and onboard correctly so that you can get the full value from this feature-packed platform.

Key features

• Project management
• Task reminders
• Custom dashboards
• Team calendar
• Gantt charts
• Messaging
• File sharing

Pricing

• Free: Free for single users
• Pro: $32 per user/​month
• Business: $32 per user/​month
• Enterprise: Contact the Smartsheet sales team for pricing

15. Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects is one of the apps in the Zoho cloud software suite. The full collection handles everything from email to HR.

If you already use any of the Zoho apps, adding Projects might be a wise choice. There are always advantages when you stay within a familiar ecosystem.

People who process information visually will appreciate the drag-and-drop workflow builder. You can even set up task automations and easily visualize how those automations fit within your process.

Zoho Projects is far more flexible than Basecamp. You can customize statuses, fields, layouts, workflows, and even the landing page your team sees when they open the app.

Obviously, you can easily integrate with other Zoho apps. If you’re not in the ecosystem, though, that’s not a handicap. There are plenty of existing integrations with popular software so that your task management plays nicely with other business tools.

Key features

• Task management
• Kanban boards
• Task dependencies
• Project forums
• Task chat
• Gantt charts
• Timesheets
• Invoicing
• Reports

Pricing

• Free: Free for up to 3 users
• Premium: $5 per user/month 
• Enterprise: $10 per user/month 

16. Hive

Hive calls itself a Productivity Platform. It focuses on efficiency and ease of use. You get an intuitive project management platform with excellent analytics so that you can make informed business decisions.

Your team can choose how they view their projects.

Some people prefer a calendar view, while others have an easier time understanding Kanban boards or Gantt charts. There are six different ways to see your projects at a glance.

The proofing and approvals feature is excellent. You can share proofs, assign people for approvals, and leave feedback without needing an additional tool. It even works on mobile.

Hive’s direct messaging feature allows team members to communicate within the app more easily. There’s a built-in inbox and a chat feature to keep messages organized and easy to find.

Key features

• Multiple project views
• Project templates
• Proofing and approvals
• Workflow automation
• Team chat and direct messaging

Pricing

• Free plan for up to 10 workspace members
• Starter: $7 per user/month
• Teams: $18 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact Hive’s sales team for custom pricing

What to look for while choosing a Basecamp alternative?

When choosing a Basecamp alternative, consider the following factors to ensure it meets your team’s needs:

• Features: Look for alternatives that offer similar features to Basecamp, such as task management, file sharing, messaging, and project tracking. Make a list of must-have features and compare them across different alternatives.
• Ease of use: Opt for a platform with an intuitive interface and user-friendly design. The alternative should be easy to navigate and require minimal training for team members to get started.
• Customization: Choose a solution that allows for customization to adapt to your team’s workflow and preferences. This could include customizable project templates, task lists, and reporting features.

• Integrations: Ensure the alternative integrates seamlessly with other tools and software your team uses, such as email clients, calendars, document management systems, and communication platforms.
• Scalability: Consider the scalability of the alternative to accommodate your team’s growth and evolving needs over time. Look for solutions offering flexible pricing plans and scalable features to support small teams and larger enterprises.

Considering these factors, you can choose a Basecamp alternative that aligns with your team’s needs, enhances productivity, and effectively supports collaboration.

Which of these Basecamp alternatives is the right fit for you?

Most of these tools offer free trials. Narrow it down and try something out, then leave a comment here to help someone else make the right choice.

Have you tried any of the solutions on our list? Do you have any recommendations for other tools we should include?

Let us know in the comments.