A comparison · checked October 30, 2026
Looking for a Basecamp alternative? Here is an honest comparison
The best Basecamp alternative depends on what you are missing. Basecamp is priced flat, not per seat: Pro is $79 a month for up to 10 users and 8 active projects, and Pro Unlimited is $199 a month billed annually for unlimited users [1]. Every person counts toward those caps, clients and guests included [1]. Basecamp's pages describe a timeline of projects but not Gantt charts or dependencies, and its integrations page lists third-party Gantt tools [2][7]. This page compares Kavanah, Basecamp, Asana and ClickUp on what their own pages said today, says honestly how work moves out of Basecamp, and names the cases where you should stay on Basecamp.
#Why it is different
Why teams look for a Basecamp alternative
Basecamp's pricing is a set of flat tiers, each with a cap. Free is one project, 1 GB and up to 3 users; Freelancer is $29 a month for 3 active projects and 5 users; Pro is $79 a month for 8 active projects and 10 users; Pro Plus is $99 a month for 12 active projects and 15 users [1]. Above that is Pro Unlimited, with unlimited projects and users and 1 TB of storage, at $199 a month billed annually or $329 billed monthly [1]. Basecamp's FAQ says every person you add is counted, clients, contractors and guests included, unless you are on Pro Unlimited [1]. So a 12-person agency with four clients in its projects is already past Pro Plus, the last capped tier.
The other reason is planning depth. Basecamp's tools are built for calm communication: Message Boards that replace email, Campfire chat, to-do lists, Card Tables, its take on kanban, and Hill Charts that show where work really stands [2]. The Lineup plots every project on a timeline by start and end date [2]. What its feature pages do not describe is a Gantt chart or task dependencies; its integrations page lists third-party tools that add Gantt charts to Basecamp [7]. Basecamp's AI is outside AI: it supports ChatGPT, Claude and other agents through MCP and a command line [1][6], rather than AI that works inside your projects on its own.
Be fair to Basecamp, though, because the reasons to stay are real. It is deliberately simple, and teams that live in it tend to like it. A flat price is predictable, and at Pro Unlimited it does not grow with headcount at all [1]. Client mode lets you choose what clients see, project by project [2]. Account owners can export a full HTML copy of an account or of individual projects at any time [4]. Leaving is a good decision when you need dependencies, hours and planning across projects. It is a bad one when calm communication is the whole job. The checklist below is how to tell which.
#What to require
What to check in any Basecamp alternative before you move
Use this list on every tool you shortlist, including ours. The first one is where most Basecamp migrations go wrong, because it is only discovered after you decide to leave.
01
How your work gets out, and in
Basecamp exports a full HTML copy, and only account owners can run it [4]. An HTML archive is easy to read and hard to import. Ask any vendor whether it imports Basecamp directly; ClickUp, for example, says it imports Basecamp to-dos [9]. If not, plan to move active work by hand or by spreadsheet, and keep the export as your archive.
02
Flat price or per seat, at your real size
Basecamp's tiers cap users at 3, 5, 10 and 15 before Pro Unlimited [1]. A per-seat tool is cheaper for a small team and dearer for a large one. Work out your break-even with clients counted, because Basecamp counts them [1].
03
Dependencies and a schedule view, built in
If projects have dates that depend on each other, check that the tool links tasks and shows the chain on a schedule, a Gantt chart if your team plans that way, without an add-on. Asana lists Timeline and Gantt views from Starter [10]; ClickUp lists Gantt charts from Core [8].
04
Time tracking on the plan you will buy
Asana's native time tracking is on Advanced [10]; ClickUp's is on Core and up [8]. If you plan or bill by the hour, check that hours are logged against tasks and used for planning.
05
A place for clients that does not cost a seat
Client work is a big part of why teams choose Basecamp. Check how each tool lets clients in, what they can see, and whether they count toward your bill.
06
Communication you will not lose
Message boards, chat and check-ins are the heart of Basecamp. Make sure the new tool has a place for discussion next to the work, or plan which chat tool takes that job.
07
AI that works inside the projects, with an approval step
Basecamp connects to AI agents you run yourself [6]. If you want AI that triages, plans and follows up inside your projects, ask what it may touch, which actions wait for a person, and how you reverse one.
#How Kavanah does it
How Kavanah covers what you use Basecamp for
Kavanah is an agentic project management platform: projects, tasks and planning, with discussion next to the work and AI employees that do coordination work inside limits a person sets. Each item below describes the product as it ships today, including where it falls short of Basecamp.
Honest about migration: there is no Basecamp importer
Kavanah cannot import Basecamp's HTML export, and there is no Basecamp connector or sync. Active work moves one of three ways: paste a to-do list into the AI agent's chat and ask it to create the tasks in a project; build a CSV with a task name, assignee, due date and status and import up to 1,000 rows at a time; or recreate a small project by hand. Keep the Basecamp export as your archive.
Boards, timeline and dependencies
Every project has a board with its own columns, plus list and calendar views, a Timeline view (tasks as bars on a calendar, by person), task dependencies (blocked by / blocks) and a critical-path chart in Planning, on every plan. There is no dedicated Gantt view. Tasks carry checklists, first-class sub-tasks and several assignees. Kavanah has no Hill Charts.
Discussion next to the work
Each project has its own discussion threads with replies, and team chat covers the day-to-day. Knowledge pages hold documents that nest and link to each other.
A client portal that does not cost a seat
Clients you invite through the client portal can follow, collaborate on and approve their projects without being charged as a seat, on every plan.
Time tracking and planning
Native time tracking on every plan. Sprints, a planner that compares each person's estimates with the hours they actually logged and says what fits at the median and at the 90th percentile, and a portfolio view with budgets and team capacity.
AI employees with controls, plus your own agents
AI employees with a role, scoped tools and access only to the projects you choose; once you turn it on, a task assigned to one is worked by it. Safe mode removes risky actions, action policies make chosen categories wait for approval, every action lands in a ledger, and actions can be undone. Anything that runs on its own or spends AI credits is off until you turn it on. Agents you run yourself can use the kvn command line, the REST API or the MCP server.
Learn moreIdentity and security, stated plainly
SAML 2.0 and OIDC single sign-on and SCIM on the Enterprise plan, TOTP and passkey sign-in, per-project and per-task access control, and an audit log. The SOC 2 Type II observation period is underway; there is no report yet.
Learn morePer seat, or flat when the AI does the work
Basic is $3 a seat a month ($2 billed yearly) and Pro is $6 ($4 yearly), with unlimited seats and projects. For a company of more than about 66 people, Basic billed monthly costs more than Basecamp Pro Unlimited billed annually. Pay as you go has no seat fee at all, and Scale is $1,500 a month flat with unlimited seats and 200,000 AI credits. The free Starter plan covers up to 5 members and 10 projects.
Learn more#In practice
Moving from Basecamp to Kavanah, step by step
Basecamp account owner
1. Export and archive first
- Export the account, or the projects you are moving, as a full HTML copy [4]. Only the account owner can.
- Let the download finish before you change or cancel anything [4], and store the archive where the team can read it.
- List the projects that are still active. Finished projects can stay in the archive.
Workspace admin
2. Set up the workspace
- Invite your team to Kavanah, and create one project per active Basecamp project.
- Invite clients to the client portal for the projects they belong to; they are not charged as seats.
- Recreate each project's board columns to match how its Card Table or to-do lists were organised.
Project owner
3. Move the active to-dos
- Copy a to-do list from Basecamp, paste it into the AI agent's chat, and ask it to create the tasks in the project with their assignees and due dates.
- For a long list, build a CSV with Task Name, Assignee, Due Date and Status columns and import it, up to 1,000 rows at a time.
- Add dependencies (blocked by / blocks) on the tasks that have to happen in order.
Team lead
4. Move the conversation
- Start each project's discussion threads in Kavanah, and link back to the Basecamp archive for history.
- Move recurring check-ins and routines to recurring tasks or automations.
- Run two weeks in Kavanah before you change your Basecamp plan.
#Compared
Kavanah, Basecamp, Asana and ClickUp compared
Each competitor cell describes only what that vendor's own public page said when we checked on October 30, 2026: Basecamp's pricing, features, Basecamp 5, agents and integrations pages, its export help article and 37signals' security overview [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], ClickUp's pricing and import pages [8][9], and Asana's pricing page [10]. ClickUp's "Regular price" figure is not labelled as a monthly rate, so only its yearly figure is given. "Not described" means the page did not say, not that the product lacks it. Kavanah cells describe the product as it ships.
| Criterion | Kavanah | Basecamp | Asana | ClickUp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How it is priced | Per seat: Basic $3 a month, $2 billed yearly; or no seat fee on Pay as you go; or Scale $1,500 a month flat | Flat tiers: Freelancer $29, Pro $79, Pro Plus $99 a month; Pro Unlimited $199 a month billed annually, $329 monthly [1] | Per user: Starter $10.99 a month billed annually, $13.49 monthly [10] | Per user: Core $9 a month billed yearly [8] |
| User and project limits | Unlimited seats and projects on paid plans; Starter up to 5 members and 10 projects | 3, 5, 10 and 15 users and 1 to 12 active projects below Pro Unlimited; clients and guests count [1] | No user seat limits on Starter [10] | Unlimited free members on Free Forever [8] |
| Free option | Starter: up to 5 members and 10 projects, 2 GB | Free: one project, 1 GB, up to 3 users [1] | Personal: 2 users, unlimited tasks and projects [10] | Free Forever: unlimited free members, 60 MB storage [8] |
| Bringing work over from Basecamp | No importer; agent creates tasks from a pasted to-do list, or CSV import up to 1,000 rows | Full HTML export by the account owner [4] | Not described | Imports Basecamp to-dos [9] |
| Boards and timeline | Board, list, calendar and timeline on every plan; no Gantt view | Card Tables (kanban); the Lineup timeline of projects [2] | Timeline and Gantt views from Starter [10] | Gantt charts on Core and up; trial on Free [8] |
| Gantt and dependencies | Dependencies (blocked by / blocks) and a critical-path chart; no Gantt view | Third-party Gantt tools listed among integrations [7] | Not described | Not described |
| Native time tracking | Every plan | Time tracking listed on the pricing page [1] | Advanced; through integrations on Personal [10] | Core and up; trial on Free [8] |
| Communication | Project discussion threads and team chat | Message Boards and Campfire chat [2] | Not described | Not described |
| Clients | Client portal; clients are not charged as seats | Client mode per project; clients count toward the user cap below Pro Unlimited [1][2] | Unlimited free guests on Starter [10] | Guest permissions on Core [8] |
| AI | AI employees with scoped tools; safe mode, approval policies, action ledger and undo; credits metered | Support for ChatGPT, Claude and AI agents via MCP and a CLI, on every plan [1][6] | 5 AI requests per user a month, up to 50 per account; AI Studio [10] | Pooled credits, 1K per user a month on Core; Super Agents [8] |
| Security attestations named | SOC 2 Type II observation period underway; no report yet | PCI DSS certificate; SOC 2 Type II report is its data-centre provider's [5] | SOC 2 Type II [10] | SOC 2 and ISO 27001 [8] |
#Questions
Questions buyers ask
- What is the best Basecamp alternative?
- It depends on what you are missing. Asana suits teams that want timelines, goals and portfolios. ClickUp suits teams that want docs, goals and time tracking in one tool, and it imports Basecamp to-dos. Kavanah fits teams that want task dependencies, time tracking and a client portal on every plan, discussion next to the work, and AI employees doing coordination work under real controls. If calm communication is the whole job, staying on Basecamp is often the better call.
- Is Kavanah cheaper than Basecamp?
- For a small or mid-sized team, usually yes. Kavanah Basic is $3 a seat a month, so a 15-person team pays $45 a month, against $99 for Basecamp Pro Plus. For a large team, no: above about 66 people, Kavanah Basic billed monthly costs more than Basecamp Pro Unlimited at $199 a month billed annually. Kavanah's client-portal clients are not charged as seats, while Basecamp counts clients toward its user caps below Pro Unlimited.
- Is there a free Basecamp alternative?
- Yes. Kavanah's free Starter plan covers up to 5 members and 10 projects with 2 GB of storage, and includes task dependencies and time tracking. ClickUp's Free Forever plan allows unlimited members with 60 MB of storage, and Asana's Personal plan is free for 2 users. Basecamp's own Free plan is one project with up to 3 users.
- Can I import my Basecamp projects into Kavanah?
- Not directly. Basecamp exports a full HTML copy, which Kavanah cannot import, and there is no Basecamp connector. You can paste a Basecamp to-do list into Kavanah's AI agent and ask it to create the tasks, or build a CSV with task names, assignees, due dates and statuses and import up to 1,000 rows at a time. Keep the HTML export as your archive of messages and files.
- Does Kavanah have Gantt charts?
- No dedicated Gantt view. Kavanah has a Timeline view (tasks as bars on a calendar, by person), task dependencies (blocked by / blocks) and a critical-path chart in Planning, on every plan including the free one. A team that lives in Gantt charts may be better served by Asana or ClickUp. Basecamp's feature pages describe the Lineup, a timeline of projects by start and end date, and its integrations page lists third-party tools that add Gantt charts.
- Can clients use Kavanah for free?
- Yes. Clients you invite through Kavanah's client portal can follow, collaborate on and approve their projects without being charged as a seat. In Basecamp, clients and guests count toward the user cap on every plan except Pro Unlimited, which has unlimited users.
- When should a team stay on Basecamp?
- When communication is the job: message boards instead of email, Campfire chat, Hill Charts and a calm, simple tool everyone already knows. Basecamp's flat price is also hard to beat for a large company on Pro Unlimited. If your projects rarely have dates that depend on each other and you do not track hours, the cost of moving is likely to exceed what you gain.
#Go deeper
One question at a time
- Basecamp Alternatives: An Honest Comparison of Kavanah, Asana and ClickUpTeams leave Basecamp over user caps, planning depth or hours. Here is how Kavanah, Asana and ClickUp answer each, what they cost against Basecamp's flat price, and when to stay.
- How to Move From Basecamp to Kavanah: There Is No Importer, So Here Is What WorksBasecamp exports a full HTML copy, and Kavanah cannot import it. Here is the honest way to move active work: archive first, then paste to-dos to the agent or import a CSV.
- Basecamp Pricing Explained (2026): Flat Tiers, User Caps, and When Per Seat Is CheaperBasecamp charges a flat monthly fee per tier, but each tier caps users and projects, and clients count. Here is every plan from Basecamp's own page and the break-even against per-seat tools.
- Running Client Projects Without Paying for Client Seats: Portals, Approvals and Billable TimeAgencies pick Basecamp for client work, then find clients count toward the user cap. Here is how Kavanah's client portal, approvals and billable time handle the same job.
Related reading
- Asana alternative: an honest comparisonSeat steps, AI requests, and what an Asana import carries.
- Trello alternative: an honest comparisonA direct Trello board importer, and what it keeps.
- AI employeesAn AI CFO, COO and chief of staff, with guardrails.
- PricingPer-seat plans, Pay as you go, and how AI credits work.
Sources
- [1] Basecamp pricing — Basecamp (37signals), 2026, updated
- [2] Basecamp features — Basecamp (37signals), 2026, updated
- [3] Basecamp 5 is all new for 2026 — Basecamp (37signals), 2026
- [4] Export your Basecamp data — Basecamp 5 Help, 2026, updated
- [5] Security Overview — 37signals, 2026, updated
- [6] Basecamp CLI and Agent Skill — Basecamp (37signals), 2026, updated
- [7] Basecamp Integrations — Basecamp (37signals), 2026, updated
- [8] ClickUp Pricing and Plans — ClickUp, 2026, updated
- [9] Import anything into ClickUp — ClickUp, 2026, updated
- [10] Asana pricing: Personal, Starter, Advanced, Enterprise — Asana, 2026, updated
Sources and the comparison were checked on October 30, 2026. Product details change; check each vendor's own pages before you decide.
Run it on your own work.
Free to start, priced per seat from $3 a month with AI usage metered in credits.