Project Management Software
Basecamp review
Flat-price project tool from 37signals that bundles message boards, to-dos, chat, scheduling and file storage instead of charging per seat.
Basecamp at a glance
- Category
- Project Management Software
- Starting price
- Free (3 users, 1 project); Freelancer $29 per month
- Pricing model
- flat
- Public pricing
- Yes
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- Yes
- Contract
- No long-term contracts; cancel anytime self-serve
- G2 rating
- 4.1 (5,400 reviews)
- Funding or owner
- Bootstrapped (per vendor about page link label)
Who Basecamp is for
Choose Basecamp if
- Small teams or agencies that prefer flat pricing over per-seat.
- Teams wanting calm async communication with to-dos and message boards.
- Cost-sensitive nonprofits (10% discount) and schools (free for class work)
Look elsewhere if
- Teams needing detailed Gantt charts or advanced reporting (G2 reviewers note this)
- Buyers needing documented SSO, SOC 2 or EU data hosting.
- Teams above 15 users unless on Pro Unlimited.
Basecamp pricing
| Plan | Price | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | flat | 1 project, 3 users max, 1 GB storage |
| Freelancer | $29 | per month flat | 3 active projects, 5 users max, 10 GB, 30-day trial |
| Pro | $79 | per month flat | 8 active projects, 10 users max, 25 GB |
| Pro Plus | $99 | per month flat | 12 active projects, 15 users max, 100 GB |
| Pro Unlimited | $199 per month billed annually, or $329 per month billed monthly | flat | Unlimited projects and users, 1 TB storage (extra 1 TB $50 per month), priority 24/7 support, personal onboarding |
Annual cancellations are prorated back to the card. Cannot downgrade to Free; downgrade to a paid plan only if usage fits.
What Basecamp really costs
- Per seat per month
- Flat price, no per-seat fee; 20 users need Pro Unlimited ($199 per month annual, about $9.95 per user)
- Billing
- Monthly and annual.
- Annual discount
- About 40% ($199 vs $329 per month on Pro Unlimited)
- 20 users per year
- Pro Unlimited annual: $199 x 12 = $2,388 per year; billed monthly: $329 x 12 = $3,948 per year.
- Add-ons
- Extra 1 TB storage on Pro Unlimited: $50 per month.
- Renewal terms
- No long-term contracts; cancel anytime; annual cancellations prorated to card.
Cheaper per seat than Basecamp
Zoho Projects$4 on Premium (annual, third-party sourced); Enterprise $9 for SSO.
Jira$8.48 on Standard (monthly list price); volume tiers lower the average at higher seat counts.
Teamwork$9.99 on Basics or $24.99 on Accelerate (annual billing)
Notion$10 on Plus (annual); $20 on Business, which is the first plan with SAML SSO.
Basecamp features by buying criteria
| Criterion | What we found |
|---|---|
| Task views and planning | To-dos, Card Tables (Kanban style), scheduling; Gantt-style timeline not listed. |
| Workflow automation | Automatic check-ins only; no rule-based automation listed. |
| Time tracking and budgets | Listed in plan features; availability on Freelancer and Pro is unclear on the vendor's pricing page. |
| Reporting and dashboards | Reports and automatic check-ins on all plans. |
| Pricing model and real cost | Flat monthly fee per plan, user count capped by plan (3/5/10/15/unlimited) |
| Target company size | Small teams; 20+ users require Pro Unlimited. |
What reviewers say about Basecamp
Praised for
- Calm, straightforward interface.
- Easy setup and admin (G2 sub-scores 8.6 to 8.7)
- Flat pricing is predictable.
Common complaints
- Lacks advanced features such as detailed Gantt charts.
- Support scores trail some competitors (8.4 on G2)
Themes paraphrased from public reviews on G2 and similar sites, not quotes.
What most Basecamp reviews leave out
- Plans cap users (Free 3, Freelancer 5, Pro 10, Pro Plus 15); only Pro Unlimited at $199 per month annual has no cap.
- Monthly billing on Pro Unlimited costs $329 per month versus $199 annual, about 40% more.
- Security page lists a PCI DSS self-assessment, CAIQ v4.1 and HECVAT questionnaires; no SOC 2 for 37signals itself, and application databases are generally not encrypted at rest.
- Data is primarily housed in the US with a DPA and SCCs available; no EU hosting option documented.
- SSO is not mentioned in policy or pricing pages.
Basecamp alternatives
- TeamworkAgencies and professional services teams billing client work.Free (up to 5 users); Basics $9.99 per user per month billed annually
AsanaCross-functional teams that want timelines and unlimited automations from the Starter tier.$10.99 per user/month billed annually (Starter)
monday.comSmall and mid-size teams that want customizable boards and many automations.$9 per seat/month billed annually (Basic), min. 3 seats- NotionStartups and small teams combining wiki and project tracking.Free; Plus $10 per member per month billed annually
- Zoho ProjectsSmall teams already using Zoho apps.Free (3 projects, up to 5 users); Premium $4 per user per month billed annually (third-party)
- JiraSoftware and IT teams running agile sprints and backlogs.Free up to 10 users; Standard about $8.48 per user per month (monthly, list)
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from Basecamp's own pricing, product or documentation pages, G2 and company records, checked on October 24, 2026. Unknown values are left out instead of estimated.