Basecamp vs ClickUp
We give Basecamp a 3.6 GPA and ClickUp a 3.4, out of 4.0. Basecamp grades higher on ease of use. ClickUp grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Basecamp
Flat-priced project management with chat, to-dos and files
ClickUp
Work platform combining tasks, docs, chat and dashboards
How we grade them
| 3.6GPABasecampExcellent | 3.4GPAClickUpVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BFreelancer is a flat $25 a month for up to 20 users. Fill it and it's far cheaper per head than the $8 or so a user that's typical here. With one or two of you it's dear. And it only covers 3 active projects. Need 10 and it's Studio at $59. | A$7 a person a month on yearly billing gets unlimited storage, Gantt charts, time tracking and guests. Asana and monday.com both start higher. Just know AI is a separate bill. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree for personal use with no credit card, but it's a single project with 1 GB of storage and up to 5 users. Enough to see how it works, not enough to run a business on. Paid plans get a 30-day trial. | BUnlimited tasks and unlimited members for free is rare. But storage stops at 60MB, you get 5 spaces and 1 form, and the fancier features are only there to try. |
| Features | AEach project gets a message board, to-do lists, kanban-style Card Tables, Campfire chat, a schedule and file storage. Hill Charts show where work stands, the Lineup plots every project on a timeline, and client mode controls what clients see. | ATasks in 15+ views, docs, chat, whiteboards, dashboards, goals, time tracking and automations, all in one workspace. It's hard to name a thing it doesn't have a go at. |
| Ease of use | A4.7 from about 20,900 App Store ratings. Every project gets the same page of tools, so once you've seen one you've seen them all. | CHere's where it loses marks. Reviewers describe confusing menus and a week of videos without it clicking, and the phone app gets called slow and cluttered. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. There's a public API, and it links up with Zapier, Unito and Zoho Flow, plus time trackers like Harvest, Toggl, Clockify and Everhour. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android and a Chrome extension. There's a public API, and it hooks into Slack, GitHub, GitLab, HubSpot, Google Drive, Figma and more. |
| Best for | flat-fee projects with clients in the room | teams that want everything in one app |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Basecamp and ClickUp. How we grade
Where they differ
- Basecamp starts at $25 per month, flat rate for up to 20 users (Freelancer). ClickUp starts at $7 per user / month, billed yearly ($10 billed monthly).
- Only ClickUp lists a Linux app.
- Only ClickUp lists a browser extension.
- Basecamp also covers templates and calendar.
- ClickUp also covers Gantt & timelines and workflow automation.
At a glance
| Basecamp | ClickUp | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $25 per month, flat rate for up to 20 users (Freelancer) | $7 per user / month, billed yearly ($10 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Free plan for personal use: 1 project, 1 GB of storage and up to 5 users. No credit card required. | Free Forever plan: unlimited tasks and members, 60MB of storage, 5 spaces, 1 form and 3 whiteboards, with trial-only access to advanced features. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial on Freelancer, Studio and Pro; 45 days on Unlimited Edition. No credit card required. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | 37signals LLC | ClickUp (Mango Technologies, Inc.) |
| Price read from | basecamp.com | clickup.com |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Basecamp
- Agencies and studios that bring clients into projects
- Teams that prefer a flat monthly fee to per-user pricing
- Companies replacing separate chat, file and task tools
ClickUp
- Teams that want tasks, docs and chat under one subscription
- Workspaces that need many different views of the same work
- Small teams starting on a free plan with unlimited members
Worth knowing
Basecamp
- Paid plans are limited by active projects: 3 on Freelancer, 10 on Studio and 25 on Pro.
- The Free plan covers a single project with 1 GB of storage and 5 users.
- Every person added counts as a user, clients included, and Freelancer is capped at 20 users.
- Unlimited Edition is billed annually only, and a paid plan cannot be downgraded to the Free plan.
ClickUp
- The Free Forever plan is capped at 60MB of storage, 5 spaces, 1 form and 3 whiteboards.
- AI is billed separately: Brain AI is listed at $9 and Everything AI at $28 per user / month.
- Timeline view, unlimited dashboards and mind maps start on the Business plan.
- SAML SSO, SCIM provisioning and audit logs are limited to Enterprise.
Key features
Basecamp
- Message Board
- Announcements and discussions are kept as posts inside each project, intended as a replacement for internal email.
- To-dos and Card Tables
- To-do lists support assignees, due dates, attachments and subtasks. Card Tables are Basecamp's version of kanban boards.
- Campfire chat
- Group chat is built into Basecamp, so a team does not need a separate chat app alongside its projects.
- Schedule and Lineup
- A per-project calendar holds deadlines, milestones and events, and the Lineup plots every project on a timeline by start and end date.
- Hill Charts and Automatic Check-ins
- Hill Charts show where a piece of work stands, and Automatic Check-ins ask the team recurring questions on a set schedule.
- Client mode
- Clients can be brought into a project, with control over what they can and cannot see, project by project.
ClickUp
- Tasks in 15+ views
- Show the same tasks as a list, board, Gantt chart, calendar, table and more. Gantt charts are unlimited from the Unlimited plan; timeline view needs Business.
- Docs and wikis
- Collaborative documents that link to tasks and can serve as wikis or standard operating procedures inside the same workspace.
- Chat
- Real-time team messaging that sits inside the workspace, next to tasks and docs.
- Automations
- Rules that update tasks when conditions are met. Business includes 5,000 automation runs a month and Enterprise 250,000.
- Dashboards, goals and time tracking
- Dashboards chart project progress, goals roll up from linked tasks, and a built-in timer records time against tasks. Native time tracking starts on Unlimited.
- ClickUp Brain
- An AI assistant that works across tasks, docs and chat. The paid AI plans, Brain AI and Everything AI, are priced per user on top of the workspace plan.
Plans
Basecamp
Free$0
One project for personal use, 1 GB of storage and up to 5 users.
Freelancer$25
per month, flat rate
Up to 3 active projects, 5 GB of storage and up to 20 users, with no per-user fees.
Studio$59
per month, flat rate
Up to 10 active projects, 25 GB of storage and unlimited users.
Pro$99
per month, flat rate
Up to 25 active projects, 100 GB of storage and unlimited users.
Unlimited Edition$299
per month, billed annually
Unlimited projects and users, 1,000 GB of storage, priority support and personalized onboarding.
ClickUp
Free Forever$0
Unlimited tasks and members with 60MB of storage, 5 spaces, 1 form and 3 whiteboards.
Unlimited$7
per user / month, billed yearly ($10 billed monthly)
Unlimited storage, spaces, forms and Gantt charts, plus native time tracking, guest permissions and integrations.
Business$12
per user / month, billed yearly ($19 billed monthly)
Everything in Unlimited, plus unlimited dashboards, timeline view, mind maps and 5,000 automation runs a month.
EnterpriseCustom
SAML SSO and SCIM provisioning, audit log, custom roles, data residency and 250,000 automation runs a month.
Ways to pay less
Basecamp
- Nonprofit
10% off for registered nonprofits
Basecamp's pricing FAQ gives registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits 10% off after verification.
- Education
Free for classroom use
Basecamp is free for K-12 schools, homeschoolers and universities as long as it is used for class work only.
ClickUp
- Annual discount
Yearly billing lowers the per-user price
Unlimited is $7 per user / month billed yearly against $10 billed monthly, and Business is $12 against $19.
- Nonprofit
Nonprofit discount on request
ClickUp's pricing FAQ says nonprofits can claim a discount through its nonprofit page. The size of the discount is not published.
- Education
Academic discount for students and educators
The pricing FAQ says students, educators and administrators can claim an academic discount. The amount is not published.
- Startups
Startup credit by application
The pricing FAQ says startups can apply for a startup credit through a form. The amount and eligibility rules are not published.
