Basecamp vs. Pivotal Tracker vs. SpiraPlan

Small to mid-size would be a great fit [for Basecamp]. It's simple to use and does not require a ton of ramp-up. Unlike other platforms that require you to learn their terminology in order to use the platform this works well for the non technical user whom just needs to put in simple task updates[.]

Incentivized

The UI of the Pivotal tracker is really beautiful and amazing, which looks trivial, but we have it open all the time, so it's nice for us. In Pivotal tracker for me its very Easy to create tasks or stories anytime without facing any problems. Pivotal tracker provides us a ton of features to track the tasks and manage a team and the projects. Pivotal tracker allows for a entire team to be on the same page of the tool in regards to where is the project right now, right status of every task, what is being worked on and by whom.

Incentivized

We selected SpiraPlan because the workflow allows us to start simple without adopting an entire methodology. It suits small teams and single users really well.

• 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.

Incentivized

• Pivotal Tracker helps our team visualize our projects in the form of stories (virtual cards) moving through our workflow. This encourages us to break down projects into manageable chunks and have important conversations about deliverables and scope.
• The forced-prioritization allows our team to have a shared understanding about what is most important and make collective decisions about what our team will work on next.
• By dividing future iterations by our team's velocity, Pivotal Tracker accurately predicts when we will complete future work.

Incentivized

• Flexible requirements organisation structure. I'm able to group and sub-group requirements as I see fit.
• Competitive product pricing. Paying by active use instead of registered user was the winning point.
• UI is straightforward and easy to use.

• 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.

Incentivized

• Used to have a newsfeed-type feature with all the updates from the previous day. They removed it. I liked getting a snapchat of what changed from before.
• When signing up for email alerts, can be inundated with emails for every change to the status of a story.
• Communication on stories through the comment section can be a little difficult, and not very organized.

Incentivized

• Access from South East Asia is rather sluggish. Could be due to server location.
• Complimentary phone app to do simple tasks (e.g. create tasks, create requirements, add comments) offline would be beneficial because access to the internet can be an issue at the customer's environment.

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.

I love the simplicity, non-configurability, and price/performance of this tool. Hands down my favorite project management tool for agile.

Incentivized

I would give it a ten but we have some very minor issues. Those have all been easy to work around and I still really like Basecamp. We also have trouble with some clients who can only handle email—but those are rare cases when technology is just not their thing.

It was generally easy to use once you got the hang of it. The searching and tagging of tickets was fine, commenting worked well, and release planning was good. However, it wasn't the most intuitive tool in the beginning. The UI is pretty outdated and could have used upgrades over time.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

We've never had to request support in the 5 years I have been using it. A solid solution! Everything I have had questions about is on the website. New features are in their newsletter with more details on their website. Often I am using the new features within a few minutes of reading the article.

Incentivized

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)

Basecamp is the best application we've found for our team to interface with external clients. It makes project management simple, and allows our clients visibility into their projects, which in turn builds trust, fosters open communication, and improves customer satisfaction. It's easy to learn and use, and has just enough customizability to work for many different types of projects.

Incentivized

Pivotal Tracker, Asana and Trello all have free versions making them ideal for smaller companies to try out. All of them blast Kannan boards and issue tracking capabilities. While Trello and Asana are great products in themselves, Pivotal Tracker edges them out with its wealth of features including trackability of epics, burndowns, better reporting, and analytics. JIRA, on the other hand, is way more customizable, has more reporting capabilities and more features than Pivotal Tracker but is more expensive too. At the end of the day, it comes down to what you're looking for in an agile project management tool as well as how much you're willing to pay for it.

Incentivized

Main differentiating factors: 1. Lightweight process 2. Plans based on active users instead of registered users.

• It has helped keep every project organized, with all assets in one accessible place for everyone involved.
• It has helped with scheduling and assigning tasks so that everyone knows what is expected of them.
• It has helped keep all client correspondence in one place and within the project so that everything can be found immediately.
• The search function is very helpful.

Incentivized

• Pivotal Tracker has been a cost-effective solution for what we need. It has allowed our ROI to be greater than if we went with another system.
• Learning curve; with this easy to use tool, it has been a shorter learning curve for new hires to find what they need to accomplish their task.
• Flexibility; we are right now stuck at 4 levels of classification; project; Story, Task, Comments. If we were able to expand on this, we would be able to role this out faster to other departments within our business.

Incentivized

• Allows us to manage simple IT requirements without major upfront costs. Allows us to expand our process complexity at our own pace.
• Slow UI response from a South East Asia country can make data entry a drag.