Basecamp - a great tool for first time project management software users, small groups, and those needing flexibility
Updated October 26, 2019
Basecamp - a great tool for first time project management software users, small groups, and those needing flexibility
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Basecamp
We use Basecamp to manage marketing, data entry, and personal tasks lists for a mid-size regional non-profit. Before using Basecamp, everything was managed through email and Excel. Conversations would digress, attachments would go missing, and the amount of emails going back and forth was simply overwhelming. Once we switched over to Basecamp, every project and every task has its own place.
Pros
- It's incredibly easy to use. I believe the company intentionally doesn't build in a ton of features to ensure that users focus on their work not how to use the product.
- The product is reasonably priced. In a market where competing tools charge per user, Basecamp gives you unlimited users and projects for one price.
- Support is fantastic. If you ever do have a problem, their customer service folks get back to you quickly and clearly to keep you moving. No expensive support contracts here!
Cons
- I've used Basecamp since the first edition, now called classic. While the company continually improves their core functionality, they also remove features used and loved by their customers. I give them credit for unapologetically sticking to when they feel is the right direction for their product, but their customers then have to balance upgrading to the new version or continuing to use an older version just to continue their current business processes.
- No option to pre-select users on a project to receive notifications. When creating a new task/message/event, the creator has to manually select every person on the project who should receive notifications. While this is great for small teams or to ensure that not everyone gets every email, some businesses just work differently and need to involve many people in certain situations.
- While the product is incredibly easy to use, there is not defined structure on how to use the software. I have noticed that this sometimes causes uncertainty and confusion among new users. It's up to each individual customer, and user to define their own business processes for how they use Basecamp.
- Basecamp has allowed our specific departments to centrally manage many projects instead of using a variety of different systems.
- The software has given us the ability to move a large amount of documentation to the cloud instead of emailing or printing.
I love both of these other products and would use them specifically for my own personal use or in other situations but hands down, I believe that Basecamp offers better flexibility and ease of use for an organization that has never used a project management tool before. Additionally, both Trello and Asana charge per user, which always makes finance question the business justification behind a product's use!
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