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Basecamp vs Microsoft Project comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Basecamp
Ranking in Project Management Software
21st
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Project
Ranking in Project Management Software
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Project Management Software category, the mindshare of Basecamp is 1.6%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Project is 1.9%, down from 5.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Project Management Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Project1.9%
Basecamp1.6%
Other96.5%
Project Management Software
 

Featured Reviews

Abenazzer Tadesse - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Operations Officer at BeOnline ICT
An easy-to-use project management solution with good stability and scalability
The recent update on the solution has made it a little bit complex. For example, to create a team and a project, there is a separate button that you need to click. Recently they updated it with only one button making it difficult for us to create teams or supply teams other than a project. Hence the solution could be more user-friendly. Additionally, some additional features need to be integrated so it'll be easy for other companies or project managers to manage software projects.
Jacob-George - PeerSpot reviewer
Domain Consultant at a consultancy with 501-1,000 employees
Improved project scheduling has maximized resource utilization and has reduced delays
I think the licensing structure presents a significant area for improvement. The full features are not offered on the standard E4 license. This becomes problematic when distributing the project plan. I can export the plan as Excel and CSV files, but then I lose all the rich features, including dependency mapping. To recreate all that functionality without proper licensing is challenging. Microsoft Project offers a light version available for free, but when I try to distribute a project plan, it requires separate licensing. Microsoft Project Central used to be more of an enterprise product. Microsoft Project currently focuses on very low-level task management, and it could do much more. I do not see significant advancement happening because there is confusion about where Microsoft Project is heading. I believe Microsoft should bundle the license with Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. This approach would result in more people using Microsoft Project. That is my opinion on how to improve adoption and the product offering.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The app functionality and ease of seeing the different functionalities parsed equally on the screen with consistent menu access to shift between areas."
"The ability to network informally is great for communicating with colleagues."
"The ease of use is valuable."
"It has a nice interface that aligns with Excel and Word."
"The solution is extremely stable."
"It is easy to use and pretty intuitive. User interfaces have stayed the same for the most part for the last 20 years. So, there is a familiarity."
"The Gantt chart view is great."
"It's a scalable product, especially the online version."
"It is easy to define timelines with Microsoft Project, and you can get a clear picture of the model you want to create."
"We used it in my previous organization for business process optimization projects, application development projects, system integration projects, program management over a multitude of projects, and program interdependencies."
"The reporting and national resource capacity planning are the most valuable features."
 

Cons

"Formalized area to store contact information indexed in a way that can pre-populate other areas would be helpful."
"The solution could be more user-friendly."
"The product isn't easy to use. It's not very intuitive."
"I would like to have more access to templates and tools that could be used to teach project management best practices."
"Microsoft Project tends to become very unstable on large project plans with more than 400 lines."
"Microsoft Project currently focuses on very low-level task management, and it could do much more."
"Its user experience can be improved while configuring it. Its reporting can also be better."
"We'd like to be able to see different timelines as a part of one task."
"What could have been better is the integration with Office 365 so that if you're discussing a project on Teams or there's an email related to the project, it can be tagged to the project in Microsoft Project. That functionality is currently not there."
"The online version of Microsoft Project lacks some functionality compared to the on-premises version."
"It is positioned at the more high end. Sometimes it's more complicated than we need."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I do not remember the exact cost we paid but usually, they charge per user per month."
"I am not aware of any additional costs apart from the standard licensing fees of the solution."
"The solution is less expensive than other options."
"We purchase perpetual licenses due to the high cost of subscriptions, which are about 1,000 Australian dollars."
"The product is not expensive. My company has opted for an annual subscription."
"The license fees for the professional version, which is estimated to be approximately $1,600, and the standard version, which is approximately $1,200, may be considered expensive by some users. This is something that could be improved to make the platform more accessible to a wider audience."
"I am not involved with this."
"The licensing model is somewhat complex."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Security Firm
8%
Construction Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise42
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
Has anyone moved from Microsoft Project to Smartsheet? How has your experience been with Smartsheet?
Hi @Eire Zimmermann, I helped an organization evaluate both MS-Project and Smartsheet when they were conducting their PM tool RFP. The short of it is this, MS Project is not caught up with the mo...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Project?
I would say Microsoft Project is affordable, but the standalone Project license should be included in the Office price to increase adoption.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Project?
I am not expert enough to explain areas of improvement for Microsoft Project because I have not explored it extensively or used it enough, so I am not the right person to comment on this. I have no...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Project Pro, MS Project
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Ashland Addison Florist Co., Victory Auto Wreckers, Ideal Box Co., Hollymatic Corp.
Aston Martin, ABANCA, Airbus Group, Capita, Cardiff University, City of Saskatoon, Intel, Pegasus Airlines, South Australia Power Network (SAPN), Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing
Find out what your peers are saying about Basecamp vs. Microsoft Project and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.