Basecamp is an online project management tool for individuals, teams, and companies. It enables users to organize projects, tasks, activities, and schedules in a centralized, collaborative platform. It is easy to use, highly accessible, and has intuitive tools and features that users can customize for each team and project.
Table of Contents
- Basecamp Review: Features and Strengths
- Basecamp Pricing
- Who Uses Basecamp?
- Basecamp Supported Language
- Case Studies
- Why Choose Basecamp?
- Company Info
- Featured Partners: Project Management Software
Basecamp Review: Features and Strengths
Organization and Tracking
The new Basecamp is basically Basecamp 3 with updates. Instead of becoming a separate product, Basecamp 4 is the evolved version of Basecamp 3. It now provides a redesigned, simplified, and customizable home screen that serves as a one-page dashboard for projects, assignments, and schedules. Users can reorder items so that the most important projects appear on top. Every user can set their home page however they like. A list view is also available.
The To-dos list allows users to add as many lists as possible and notifies them when their tasks are late or complete. It can include sub-lists, notes, file attachments, and comments, as well as manage recurring to-dos. A built-in calendar enables users to set up events, recurring events, deadlines, milestones, dates, date ranges, and times. It works with other calendar apps and notifies users when things change.
Work Views and Reports
Basecamp includes several new work views. The Card Table tool is a Kanban board view that creates minimum distraction. The Lineup is a timeline view that provides an overview of all projects from start to end. A center line marks the present date so users can see how much time remains relative to the present. Users can drill down to a specific project by tapping a date. They can also see people assigned, projects recently completed, and upcoming projects.
Hill Charts are tools that provide a unique perspective of what is still uphill and when it is all downhill in a project lifecycle. Users can see progress over time with historical snapshots. They can annotate the updates on the chart and respond with comments. The project management software also has a My Stuff view that gives each user access to their schedule, assignments, and other user-specific items. Other features are a latest activity feed and comprehensive reports that show overdue tasks, coming deadlines, allocated work, daily work completed, and upcoming events.
Announcements, Chat, Files and Docs, and More
Basecamp allocates space for organization-wide or team announcements with Messages so everyone is on the same page. It will only notify users who need to know so notifications are kept at a minimum. It also has Campfire for real-time group chat. Teams can create as many rooms as needed, use @mentions, and attach files and other multimedia. Ping is for one-to-one or small group private messaging.
Other tools available in the PM tool are Docs & Files for centralized file management, support for external cloud file storage services, automatic check-in for regularly scheduled updates, a new ‘All Access’ view, and adding multiple instances of a tool to any project. The latest version also has Doors for integrating other software with Basecamp, an option to allow users to just follow a project with minimum notifications, out-of-office status, a ‘Don’t Forget’ list, and a centralized people management page. The software works on the web, on Mac and Windows desktops, and on iOS and Android devices.
Basecamp Pricing
Basecamp pricing is available in 2 plans. Both plans include all features and is available for a 30-day free trial.
The regular Basecamp plan is at $15 /user /month and includes 500 GB storage for files and documents. Clients, contractors, and guests have free access.
Basecamp Pro Unlimited is at $299 /month paid annually or $349 paid monthly. It includes unlimited users, 5 TB storage, 24/7/365 priority support, 1:1 onboarding tour, and option to pay annually by check.
Who Uses Basecamp?
Basecamp is for businesses of all sizes in need of a project management and online collaboration software. Most customers are startups, freelancers, small businesses and midsize companies. These include Coffey LLC, Prism Cam, Leap Creative Services, On Track Business Management, Health Economic Advisors, Bretford, Wellfire Interactive, World Elite Kids, and Long Wei Co.
Basecamp Supported Language
Basecamp 4 is only available in English. However, all places where users can enter text are able to accept most languages.
Case Studies
Wanda Whipkey is the owner of fitness clinics in Ohio that offer gymnastics classes for kids. Before using Basecamp, Wanda describes her work challenges as something like sitting in a wind tunnel with projects, emails, and questions flying everywhere. Her team did not have any idea what may be coming up next. Every team member was working alone and this became very obvious during their catch-up meetings.
When she and her team started using Basecamp, everything fell into its proper place. Her team likes the archive feature particularly because the company run seasonal events. They can pull projects back up a year later with all details already in place but without having to keep it on the dashboard. Campfire is also very useful for the company because it is easy for everyone to quickly find the trail of messages instead of trying to search for it in email.
Sivan Law-Yone Gilad is the managing director of a sourcing company in Hong Kong. Before Basecamp, he had 42 employees and a lot of confusion, wasted time, and problems. He felt stressed and frustrated. After a year of using Basecamp, he was able to reduce his team by half and still produce 4 times more work.
Today, Sivan has a core team of 8 people running a 7-figure business with Basecamp as their central tool. He is able to go on long vacations and still know what is going on in the business with short glimpses on the app. The online collaboration tool keeps him updated and involved to make timely decisions for clients and employees.
Why Choose Basecamp?
Basecamp is among the pioneer cloud-based project management software that has taken a careful and consistent path towards simplifying a project management tool and reducing its complexity for users. It continues to refine its tools so that users get effective features for today’s challenging work environment but remains easy to use. Basecamp ensures that the fundamentals of project management like communication, online collaboration, accountability, and organization have counterpart tools in a software that is accessible and reliable.
Company Info
Basecamp is a product of 37signals LLC, a privately held software company with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, although most people work remotely. The company was founded in 1999 and started as a web design firm. As the company grew and took more projects, the quality of its products and services suffered. To manage projects better, it built its own project management system called Basecamp. The company now focuses on developing the software further to help customers find a better tool for their work.
Featured Partners: Project Management Software
If you’re interested in learning more about top-rated project management software, project-management.com actively recommends the following:
