Top 5 Basecamp-Like Project Management Tools

Basecamp is deservedly one of the top project management tools out there. It’s lightweight, easy to use, has a solid range of features, and comes in at an affordable price point. But that doesn’t mean it always fits the bill. The following project management tools are similar to Basecamp but offer something a little different that may make them more suitable to your needs.

Freedcamp

As the name suggests, Freedcamp will cost you a grand total of $0. And considering the range of features this project management tool has on offer, it’s one of our favourite Basecamp alternatives on the market.

If you’re used to Basecamp, you’ll feel right at home when using Freedcamp. The to-do lists are essentially carbon copies of what you’re used to, and the discussions area works just like ‘messages’ do in Basecamp. Freedcamp also has some additional features, such as being able to set the priority of a to-do item (e.g. low, medium, high) and setting milestones for your projects.

Perfect For: Those of you who are looking for similar features to what Basecamp has to offer but don’t quite have the budget to pay for a monthly subscription. Freedcamp can also be expanded with paid modules once you can afford it, making it a very strong alternative.

Asana

When it first launched, Asana looked promising but it didn’t have quite the feature set to make it worth switching from Basecamp. For example, the lack of messages or conversations made collaborative work relatively difficult for complex to-do items. However, Asana has since then gone from strength to strength, offering a robust solution with an impressive set of features for a free application. To-do lists with subtasks (missing from Basecamp!), discussions, email reminders, third-party app integration, and multiple projects are just some of the things you can expect from Asana.

Asana was recently given a facelift (read more about it at their company blog), which really has taken the tool to the next level. It’s much ‘prettier’ (hey, who doesn’t love a nice looking GUI?) and intuitive, while the mobile app is now much more user-friendly than before. Performance has also seen a noticeable uptick, making Asana lightning-fast to load and use.

Perfect For: Considering the upgrades and recent design changes that Asana has undergone, it’s a legitimate contender for the best project management tool out there. It’s ideal for projects both large and small, however you will need to pay if your project goes beyond 15 members.

Trello

Trello will never be the leader in sheer number of features offered. In fact, the company has purposefully chosen the path of simplicity for its tool. Trello is easy on the eye, simple to use, and just works. The premise hinges on the idea of cards on a board – each card represents a task and team members drag these across the screen as they move from start to completion.

Trello is ideal for projects that are cookie cutter in their approach. If you have a team that does the same tasks on a daily basis, this tool works incredibly well. It’s very easy to manage multiple projects and staff members, as you can quickly get an idea of what’s happening by looking at where the cards are in the project cycle. While features are limited, there are a few of ‘Power-Ups’ you can switch on, which offer things such as a voting module and calendars.

Perfect For: If you’re a visual person, Trello is perhaps just the tool for you. The drag and drop interface is easy to use and gives an instant bird’s eye view of where your project stands. Not ideal if you’re looking for a feature-rich tool, however.

Atlassian JIRA

This tool can be used both as a project management and software development tool. It has all the features you’d expect from a solid Basecamp alternative: to-do items, collaboration, bug and feature tracking, as well as a range of additional features that will come in handy when developing a new product or service.

JIRA’s strength is perhaps also its downside. It’s extremely flexible, but that also means that you’re going to have to spend some time tweaking it to get it working for your business. For those of you that just need a tool that does the basic things well, JIRA may not be worth the bother.

Perfect For: JIRA is perhaps most suited to teams working on a product with a finite end date. It’s also effective as a software bug tracker, having features familiar to the average developer.

Wrike

This company has some impressive names on its client list: PayPal, Nissan, and Stanford just to name a few. It’s one of the more feature-rich options out there, which is why many larger businesses with extensive teams and projects opt for this impressive management tool.

Wrike has successfully achieved combining an easy-to-use interface with more complex features. For example, project managers will love how they can create Gantt charts. For those of you that outsource work the time tracking tool is the perfect add-on. And that’s just two examples where Wrike has that little extra that other free options don’t offer.

Perfect For: Perhaps a little ‘too much’ if you’re running a basic project, but if you’re managing a larger team or require the use of the heavier features (such as version control, time tracking, and project timelines), Wrike is one of the top.