Basecamp vs Trello
Learn more about your options and pick the best tool for your team.
Unsure whether to choose Basecamp or Trello? You've come to the right place.
When it comes to business productivity software, Basecamp and Trello are both established players. They have been on the market for years and have earned their reputation as reliable, mature solutions. Many teams evaluating collaboration and project management tools find these two on their shortlist.
But which of them should you choose for your business? In this article, we will take a closer look at both Basecamp and Trello and examine their strengths and weaknesses to help you make the right decision for your company.
Basecamp and Trello compared
Both Basecamp and Trello have been around for over a decade, and in that time it has managed to earn the trust of millions of customers, including many Fortune 500 companies.
Both tools are designed to help teams collaborate and keep their projects on track, and share many of their core features. But they also have some fundamental differences that need to be kept in mind when making a decision. Let's dive deeper into what Basecamp and Trello have to offer and also have a look at other alternatives you may want to consider.
Basecamp
Pricing: $15/user/month or $299/month for unlimited users
Rating on Capterra: 4.3/5
Launched way back in 2004, Basecamp predates Trello and is one of the oldest business productivity tools on the market.
While Trello primarily focuses on project management, Basecamp aims to be an "all-in-one toolkit" for remote team collaboration. It brings together to-do lists, calendars, chat, and file management, allowing you to manage entire projects in one place, without letting your work scatter across tools and tabs.
Basecamp particularly shines as a tool for remote collaboration, both internally in a team and externally with clients. The Basecamp team was one of the pioneers of remote work (they literally wrote a book on remote work) and incorporated their own learnings into the design of Basecamp.
Another appealing aspect of Basecamp is its flat pricing option. You can access all of its premium features at a flat price of $299 per month, regardless of the number of users you add. This makes it a very cost-effective option for large and fast-growing organizations.
Why you might prefer Basecamp over Trello:
Basecamp supports more use cases than Trello, allowing you to share docs and files in addition to managing projects.
Basecamp makes it easier to collaborate with external partners and clients.
Basecamp charges a flat monthly fee, making it a scalable solution for growing teams.
What users say about Basecamp:
"Before using Basecamp I used Trello. That was kind of okay for managing a tiny team. But when my team grew, I had to find an alternative with more features. Basecamp is the perfect one for all kinds of project management. File storage and document sharing come in handy at times. Overall, this is a hundred times better than Trello and I am fully satisfied with this."
"Basecamp was an easier platform for us to engage clients and keep everyone on the same page! Trello felt a little outdated in terms of having swim lanes for each task."
Looking for more tools similar to Basecamp? Check out this list of Basecamp alternatives and competitors.
Trello
Pricing: Free, advanced features starting from $10/user/month
Rating on Capterra: 4.5/5
Trello has earned many loyal customers by staying true to what users have come to love about it when it first launched, back in 2011. It's a simple and straightforward project management tool that doesn't try to be too many things at once.
In terms of pure feature count, Trello is more limited than Basecamp, but depending on your team size and workflow, this may, in fact, be a benefit. Trello has all the essential features a small team may need to get the job done, with virtually no learning curve for new users.
Compared to Basecamp, Trello is considerably more customizable and extendable. With its wide selection of Power-Ups, it does a great job of adapting to a team's unique workflow.
Why you might prefer Trello over Basecamp:
Trello has a more limited feature set than Basecamp, but is easier to get the hang of.
Trello has a very wide selection of Power-Ups and integrations.
Trello has a generous free version and flexible per-user pricing plans, making it more affordable for smaller teams.
What users say about Trello:
"Asana and Basecamp were both just overkill for what I needed. When it's just me and one client working on projects, we really just need a shared idea board and some tracking and organization. Trello is everything I need. I use it every day to keep projects on track. I create a new board for each new client. They have color-coded assignments, as do I — then they can see what I'm working on and how their project is coming along."
"Trello is an excellent card-based organization software that fits my company very well. I run an architecture company and with so many projects to run and keep track of having a website that shows all of the projects, and their status, as well as inviting clients to use to keep track of projects, is a necessity. Trello does this with ease, and the interface is easy to navigate and fall in love with. Similar software like Basecamp may have more features, but the general ease of use of Trello we find to be much better."
Looking for more tools similar to Trello? Check out this list of Trello alternatives.
Other alternatives
It should be mentioned that your options are not limited to just Basecamp and Trello. There are many other great collaboration and project management apps that can serve you just as well — or even better.
Both Basecamp and Trello are mature solutions. Over the years, they have accumulated numerous features, becoming increasingly more powerful — but also more bloated and clunky. If you are looking for a more modern, lightweight, and fast solution, consider Nuclino.
The interface of Nuclino is clean and clutter-free, with everything you need and nothing you don't. It works right out of the box and requires almost no configuration, so your team can be productive from day one.
Like Basecamp, Nuclino is a unified collaboration tool that covers more than just project management. It's a unified workspace where you can build your internal knowledge base or team wiki, collaborate on internal documentation, take meeting minutes, onboard employees, and more. Nuclino works like a collective brain, allowing you to bring all your team's work together in one place and collaborate without the chaos of files and folders, context switching, or silos.
Nuclino stands out thanks to how it brings structured data and long-form content together. Every Nuclino item is real-time collaborative document where you can add notes, create to-do lists, set due dates and reminders, embed files, and more, managing and simultaneously documenting your projects in one place. You can use comments to exchange feedback directly in Nuclino and preserve the context of every decision.
Basecamp vs Trello: So which is better?
There is no definitive winner when you compare Basecamp and Trello. Both tools are popular for different reasons, and the best choice depends on your unique requirements and preferences. If you are looking for a "no bells and whistles" project management tool for your small team, Trello can be a great option. And Basecamp may be a great fit for growing teams who need something more powerful.
On the other hand, if you prefer a simpler and faster solution that works out of the box, consider exploring other alternatives, such as Nuclino. We hope this article has made your decision a little easier.
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