Basecamp vs. Paymo

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Basecamp
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Basecamp is a web-based project-management tool. Basecamp offers features standard to project management platforms, as well as mobile accessibility, unlimited users, and 3rd party integrations. Basecamp is priced by space requirements and concurrent projects.
$15
per month per user
Paymo
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Paymo is a collaborative work management platform that helps track team progress, collaborate in context, and make smarter decisions. It acts as a single source of truth, where project planning, resource scheduling, file proofing, time tracking, and billing feed into each other to co-exist under the same roof.
$0
Up to 10 users
Pricing
BasecampPaymo
Editions & Modules
Basecamp Business
$99
Per Month [Unlimited Users]
Basecamp Personal
Free
Limited Capabilities
Free
$0
Up to 10 users
Small Office
$11.95
per user/per month
Business
$18.95
per user/per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BasecampPaymo
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsFree version available for freelancers.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BasecampPaymo
Considered Both Products
Basecamp
Chose Basecamp
Basecamp is probably my least favorite. As a project manager, I'm always auditing our workflow and processes, so I try to run at least trials of project management software to get a feel for if they would help us do things more efficiently. I struggled the most with Basecamp.
Chose Basecamp
Basecamp built from its foundation as a project management tool. It has all the tools needed to make sure your projects are created, shared, and completed in the most streamlined process. It definitely knows what teams need to have effortless project sharing, and delivers …
Paymo
Chose Paymo
We still use Trello and Slack, but Basecamp and HubSpot are too much for our operation to manage or integrate. Paymo is missing some of the tracking features of HubSpot and isn't as universally used as Basecamp but we've been with them for 8 years and they seem to know what …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
BasecampPaymo
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Basecamp
3.9
118 Ratings
63% below category average
Paymo
5.9
9 Ratings
24% below category average
Task Management5.0117 Ratings3.59 Ratings
Resource Management3.898 Ratings5.36 Ratings
Gantt Charts2.840 Ratings4.43 Ratings
Scheduling3.893 Ratings7.06 Ratings
Workflow Automation2.968 Ratings00 Ratings
Team Collaboration4.3117 Ratings4.16 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology3.749 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology3.245 Ratings7.82 Ratings
Document Management3.8109 Ratings5.06 Ratings
Email integration3.996 Ratings5.04 Ratings
Mobile Access4.195 Ratings5.37 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking3.144 Ratings9.09 Ratings
Change request and Case Management3.355 Ratings00 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management7.139 Ratings8.88 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
Basecamp
7.8
40 Ratings
5% above category average
Paymo
9.2
3 Ratings
22% above category average
Quotes/estimates8.329 Ratings8.93 Ratings
Invoicing6.925 Ratings9.93 Ratings
Project & financial reporting8.034 Ratings8.93 Ratings
Integration with accounting software7.927 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BasecampPaymo
Small Businesses
FunctionFox
FunctionFox
Score 8.3 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SAP Ruum
SAP Ruum
Score 9.0 out of 10
SAP Ruum
SAP Ruum
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BasecampPaymo
Likelihood to Recommend
6.5
(144 ratings)
7.0
(10 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(26 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.8
(15 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.8
(28 ratings)
8.9
(3 ratings)
Online Training
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.7
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BasecampPaymo
Likelihood to Recommend
37 Signals
Basecamp is a wonderful tool for teams of varying degrees of technical knowledge, teams managing lots of different types of "agifall" and waterfall projects, and teams that are remotely distributed. It's probably less useful for more strictly agile-focused development teams, compared to other more flexible software applications like Jira and Asana.
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ProfitSolv
Beautiful interface throughout, easy setup, most natural progressions are fluid and easy to use. Browser functionality allows us to use it cross-platform. Very reasonable pricing model as well. We have had a little trouble using Paymo for the entire creative process to have proofs reviewed and approved. Also, have to use external forms to have work submitted from campus.
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Pros
37 Signals
  • Task management - It is very easy to add, organize and discuss tasks within Basecamp's interface.
  • The "Campfire" function is great for communicating when you just have a quick question for someone on the team.
  • Notifications - Basecamp lets you decide how often and about what you'd like to be notified. The ability to respond to messages in Basecamp directly via email saves a lot of time.
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ProfitSolv
  • The ability to code exactly what time I worked on a project enables me to bill clients more accurately and within different minimums, which besides more accurately tracking time, this has been extremely helpful as I negotiate contracts for services and offer different deals with potential clients. Some are billed to the minute, some in 15-minute minimums, and some in 20-minute blocks.
  • The live reports are great, showing time spent in the minimums that I've set, while also including as much detail as I wish to share.
  • I've now started just writing my notes into the tracker, which are then carried into the live reports - this eases my needing to send logs to clients, as well as helping me to keep projects on track.
Read full review
Cons
37 Signals
  • High Learning Curve. It's true that it can be easy to use, but to use well and effectively takes some time to learn. It's recommended to have an agreed-upon system in your team of what tools to use and when.
  • Notification Overload. If people aren't careful they could send a notification to everyone when only a couple people were meant to be prompted. And since emails are sent by default, you could have your mailbox overloaded with unnecessary updates. This is where it takes a bit of training in your team to have an agreed-upon system.
  • Lack of organization with Archived Projects. I will often need to reference an archived project to make a new one, but there is only a list of archived projects in alphabetical order, with no way to organize by archive date, or even search.
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ProfitSolv
  • It would be really helpful if on the timer tool, they asked you to switch projects when you stop the timer, so it could fill that time in right away for you.
  • I never use the 'My Tasks' because I don't fully understand how to integrate it to be useful to what our purposes are in Paymo. Some Youtube tutorials might be helpful
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Likelihood to Renew
37 Signals
When I bring new people onto a project, it's immediately obvious how to use Basecamp. I don't have to worry about teaching them the features or walking them through it, it's just incredibly user-friendly. For this reason, I'll continue to renew my subscription even as new people are brought onto production jobs or the client changes.
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ProfitSolv
No answers on this topic
Usability
37 Signals
Basecamp is a little tricky to learn. I've used it for quite a while but I feel like there's still so much I don't know. It took me a while to learn but having used it in college definitely helped me integrate it into my work career.
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ProfitSolv
It is a complete, a bit overambitious app but with many features that are needed. I didn't need most of the features but managed to make the most of the two I was using. Also, I think it is a well-rounded app and I am considering moving some team collab there.
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Reliability and Availability
37 Signals
I've never experienced downtime while using Basecamp, or been unable to access it when I needed it. That's not to say they've never had downtime, but I've been lucky enough not to encounter any, and I work odd hours, including late nights when maintenance is often undertaken.
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ProfitSolv
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
37 Signals
For the many reasons I've given, Basecamp is a very strong program. There are a few features I can imagine that might make it even better, but I don't have a basis for comparison to be able to say that there is definitely a better one out there. I've noticed that Basecamp has evolved a bit from the time I started using it until now, so that makes me think that the producer of this program values it and believes in continuous improvement. If you could use the features offered by Basecamp, I would think you could use it with confidence.
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ProfitSolv
Good! Fast, excellent, speedy responses. They always wanted to know why and how they could improve on something (good on receiving feedback, too). Not that they were much needed, but my limited experience with them is good; they were really keen to understand what the problem was really about and how they could help with it.
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Implementation Rating
37 Signals
Decide the process before implementation - i.e. when it's due 8/9 does that mean 8am, noon, 5pm, 11:59pm? Check your to-do list frequently Set-up templates - just not with the dates (they can be funky)
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ProfitSolv
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
37 Signals
Pretty good, but [Basecamp] has its drawbacks. Honestly I find the interface non-intuitive and sometimes have trouble figuring out how to change the status of a task. Perhaps it has something to do with the way it was originally set up by the admin, but I'm not sure. I liked Jira's drag and drop obvious functionality, but the project management side of the software was lacking. Smartsheet has excellent project management functionality, but the task management isn't as good.
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ProfitSolv
We still use Trello and Slack, but Basecamp and HubSpot are too much for our operation to manage or integrate. Paymo is missing some of the tracking features of HubSpot and isn't as universally used as Basecamp but we've been with them for 8 years and they seem to know what matters most to their user base
Read full review
Return on Investment
37 Signals
  • It has saved me time when having to get the same message out to multiple restaurants
  • It has helped us make smarter operational decisions because we can all collaborate on an answer in a shorter amount of time (instead of calling a meeting!!!)
  • The calendar function allows us to plot out our marketing agenda for the month and add/change it together as needed. The chef will post his recipe, the managers will cost it out, the social media manager will post pictures on it, and ultimately we will get that information out on an info sheet to the staff by printing the page.
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ProfitSolv
  • Gives me more accurate time that I've spent on projects compared to older methods I've used.
  • Has data that I can pull together, for example my boss wanted to know the percentage of time I'd spent working on projects for one client compared to everything else - I was able to give them an accurate percentage.
  • Forces you to stay on top of jobs, which can lengthen the time to complete something
Read full review
ScreenShots

Paymo Screenshots

Screenshot of List View.Screenshot of Table View.Screenshot of Gantt Chart View.Screenshot of Full Task Details.Screenshot of Team Scheduling.Screenshot of Leave Planner.