Project management software is essentially a must-have for any business today. Asana vs Basecamp are two of the best and most common software out there – but deciding the right one can be hard.
Both tools help you and your team get organized with task lists, track your progress, and communicate with each other for a more efficiently run business.
So, we’re here to help pick which one, Asana vs Basecamp, is best for your business! We’ll go through the similarities and differences between the two software, helping you decide which project management best suits the needs of your business.
Asana vs Basecamp: Common Features & Stats
Both Asana and Basecamp share tons of handy features. It’s comforting to know that you won’t go majorly wrong by choosing either of the two. Both have:
- Great user interfaces that are visually appealing and easy to use
- Mobile versions for both iPhones and Androids
- An API
- An activity dashboard, great for visual tracking of your tasks
- Chat features, making communication more efficient than through email
- Commenting on particular tasks or projects (both also allow you to @mention others in comments)
- The ability to set due dates for tasks
- Calendar views (both calendars allow you to sync to Google Calendar, Outlook, or iCalendar)
- Automatic notifications through email with reminders about due dates and scheduled events
- The ability to export data to CSV
- An area devoted to file uploads that the whole team may need access to
- A free user option! BUT- Basecamp’s free option is only offered to teachers and students.
If the above functionality is good enough for your business, then making the choice in Asana vs Basecamp is super simple – whichever user experience you’ll like more.
It should be noted, however, that both software has some limitations. Asana and Basecamp are both pretty limited when it comes to communications within larger companies. As such, we specifically recommend the two for small to medium sizes businesses.
Asana
Asana’s Pros
- Quick to add tasks
- Landing page with personal tasks
- Reports
- Project templates (ex. Onboarding, Meeting Agenda)
- Sophisticated page design
- Advanced task search
- 30-40 keyboard shortcuts
- Integrations (ex. Slack)
- Graphic project summary on dashboard
Asana’s Cons
- Steeper learning curve than Basecamp
- Does not support as many graphics as Basecamp
- Does not allow you to create multi-day assignments
- Cannot manage multiple workspaces
Asana Feature Review
One of the first things I noticed on Asana was how fast I could add tasks to my lists or projects. I also particularly enjoyed how the landing page was a list of all tasks assigned to me, regardless of what project they had to do with or who assigned it. This was a breath of fresh air after Basecamp where you have to go out of your way to access your list of tasks rather than it being your landing page. These tasks are also nicely organized by due date on Asana, or at least somewhat relative to the order in which I should complete them.
On the sidebar, Asana also has a list of reports you can ask for including: “Tasks I’ve Created,” “Tasks I’ve Assigned to Others,” and “Recently Completed Tasks.”
As a new user, it was also nice to have the option of using project templates. Unfortunately, Basecamp does not offer any templates.
Also, Asana offers a cleaner, more sophisticated design that doesn’t overwhelm you with all your tasks and their details.
The next feature that I found many users are fond of is the advanced task search. Unlike Basecamp, Asana allows you to specify certain fields to easily find the task you are looking for.
While searching the internet for favorite features, one of the most repeated was the multitude of keyboard shortcuts (30-40).
Although both project management software offers a variety of integrations, some that stand out in Asana include Google Drive, Dropbox, Slack, GitHub, and WordPress.
Lastly, Asana has a nice visual representation in the form of a graph on the dashboard, which shows your project summary, aka how much you have completed and how much you still have to do. Sometimes when you finish a task, a unicorn or some other mystical creature pops up in celebration- a nice touch. Asana really does do a better job tracking and visualizing progress.
Asana’s Pricing
Who is Asana for?
It seems clear that Asana is a great all-in-one tool perfect for small to medium-sized businesses. It makes collaboration easy among a small team and has a more sophisticated layout than Basecamp. If your team is more than 10-20 people, and you have the time to learn about all of Asana’s features, I would recommend Asana more than Basecamp.
Basecamp
Basecamp’s Pros
- Easy to use
- Ability to see what tasks are on your colleagues’ plates
- Better customer service
- Chat in real-time
- Multi-day tasks
- Gantt charts on calendar
- Ability to create multiple workspaces
- Applaud other’s work
- Timeline with team actions
- Daily emails with updates
Basecamp’s Cons
- Not great for cross-team collaboration
- Overly simplified project management
- A lot of functionality requires integrating additional apps
- Restrictive pricing packages
- No explicit dashboard- Must integrate apps to add one
Basecamp Feature Review
The intuitive user interface is my favorite aspect of Basecamp. Anyone can learn how to use it without much outside help.
Furthermore, Basecamp offers a long list of reports you can ask for including “What’s on someone’s plate” and “What has someone been up to.” With these features, you can search for your colleagues’ tasks and then decide whether or not another task will fit into their schedule, or maybe you have just noticed they are overwhelmed and want to take something off of their plate.
Basecamp is also said to offer better customer service than Asana.
Basecamp allows you to chat with your team in real-time.
Unlike Asana, Basecamp allows you to create multi-day tasks that then show up on your calendar in a Gantt chart format. This makes it easy to see everything on your plate over a span of time.
Additionally, Basecamp has the option to create multiple workspaces. For instance, if you are a freelancer and have multiple jobs happening at once, you can create a workspace for each, and then within each workspace, you can create projects and tasks.
While Basecamp does not have flying unicorns, you can “applaud” your coworkers’ comments and task assignments, and each morning you’ll get a notification about all the applause you’ve gotten- it feels nice.
Basecamp has a nice timeline layout where you can see what’s been happening within your team, whether it’s commenting, new tasks or completion of tasks.
Lastly, every morning Basecamp will email you with an update on what has been completed, added, applauded or commented on in all the projects you are a part of. This way to start your workday so that you can organize yourself for what needs to be done.
Basecamp’s Pricing
Who is Basecamp for?
Basecamp is best for the smaller business, startup or individual who needs an easy-to-use project management software. It is helpful for teams, however, in that you can monitor what your team members have on their plates. The software is also pretty basic, so if you’re looking for a more in-depth option, I would keep looking.
Asana vs Basecamp: The Final Verdict
When it comes to Asana vs Basecamp, both share the core features of a great project management software. Again, you can’t go too wrong by choosing one or the other. Of course, each business has a better option specific to its situation.
Why Pick Asana
Asana’s cheaper price options, an abundance of integrations, and more sophisticated user interface make it work for almost any situation- individuals, teams, startups, SMBs, large enterprises, and non-profit organizations.
Companies looking to manage tasks and projects in departments like IT, marketing, and software will greatly benefit by using Asana.
If you are a larger scale company or enterprise I would suggest choosing Asana over Basecamp.
Why Pick Basecamp
Basecamp is a great option for smaller scale teams- students, freelancers, consultants, work groups, project teams and office departments.
It is easier to use and makes collaboration with teammates quick and easy in multiple different forms- chat, commenting, and task assignments.
If we managed to help you decide which tool is the best for your business, perfect! If not, both software – Asana vs Basecamp – are free to use. So, you can always give each software a run to figure out which one works for you.
Good luck choosing your perfect project management software!
Asana and Basecamp are trademarks of their respective owners.
