Basecamp
A weekend of work, and real gaps remain.
Project management with a fixed opinion: each project gets a to-do list, a message board, a schedule, file storage and a chat room, and that set does not change.
Build me an opinionated project workspace: one project, six fixed tools, no configuration. STACK - Astro with a Node adapter, SQLite via better-sqlite3, server-rendered HTML throughout THE SIX - To-dos: lists of items with assignee and due date - Message board: threaded posts, newest first, with comments - Schedule: dated events, rendered as a month grid - Docs and files: uploads with versions, never overwritten - Check-ins: a recurring question posted automatically, answers collected in one thread - Campfire: a simple chat room, polled rather than socketed THE OPINION, ENFORCED - No custom fields, no custom statuses, no workflow builder - Every project has all six and nothing else; the README explains that this is the feature CLIENT ACCESS - A person is internal or a client; client-visible is a flag on each post and to-do list - Clients never see anything not explicitly marked, and the composer shows the flag before posting NOTIFICATIONS - One daily summary per person; no instant email, no badge counts HILL CHART - A to-do list can be placed on a curve from figuring-it-out to making-it-happen - Store each move append-only with a timestamp, so the history draws itself Include a README on the client-visible rule, the check-in scheduler, and file versioning.
What you lose
- An opinion about how work should be organised, which is most of what is being bought
- Message boards, check-ins and a chat room that keep discussion out of email
- Client access as a first-class idea rather than a permission hack
- Hill charts, which describe progress better than a percentage and are surprisingly hard to imitate
- Twenty years of the company being here, which matters when it holds your project history
If you would rather not build
- Teamwork — paid, agency-oriented with client access
The escape hatch
open source · no votes, no paid placement
Kanboard
$0Minimal kanban project management that runs on ordinary PHP hosting.
kanboard/kanboardfree · open source
Plane
$0Issues, cycles and roadmaps in a similar shape, self-hosted.
makeplane/planefree · open source
Why this verdict
our own opinion · changed only by a person
57/100
Verdict kinda at 57: the six tools are individually simple and the prompt keeps them simple, which is the whole point. Everything hard here is social — the discipline not to add features, and trusting a company to hold years of project history.
History
tracked since 9 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten
Nothing recorded yet. This chart fills in once the page has visitors, votes or prompt copies — it will not draw a flat line to look busy.
Questions about Basecamp
answered from the record above
Is Basecamp free?
No — the plan we track is $15 a month. Per user at $15/month; Basecamp Pro Unlimited is a flat $299/month for unlimited users, billed annually.
Can you replace Basecamp by building your own?
ALMOST. A weekend of work, and real gaps remain. Replacement score 57 out of 100, build time a weekend. Read what you lose before you decide.
How much does Basecamp cost?
$15 a month on Per user — $180 a year. Recorded 9 Aug 2026.
What do you lose by replacing Basecamp?
An opinion about how work should be organised, which is most of what is being bought; Message boards, check-ins and a chat room that keep discussion out of email; Client access as a first-class idea rather than a permission hack; Hill charts, which describe progress better than a percentage and are surprisingly hard to imitate; Twenty years of the company being here, which matters when it holds your project history. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Basecamp?
Yes: Kanboard, Plane. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.
Related entries
same category first, most replaced first
Geekbot
Tability
Vikunja
Rocket.ChatEvery week, something stops being worth paying for.
New verdicts, prices that moved, entries added. One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click.
free forever · no tracking pixel · every prompt stays free on the site