No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Basecamp vs Microsoft Project comparison

 

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
22nd
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
7th
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 August 2026, in the Project Management Software category, the mindshare of Basecamp is 1.5%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Project is 2.0%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Project Management Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Project2.0%
Basecamp1.5%
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 ability to network informally is great for communicating with colleagues."
"The ease of use is valuable."
"The app functionality and ease of seeing the different functionalities parsed equally on the screen with consistent menu access to shift between areas."
"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."
"We didn't have any problems with the product; it's very stable, with no bugs or glitches, it doesn't crash or freeze, and it works great."
"The most valuable features are in the successor and predecessor determination and the tracking tools, such as obtaining data on the S curve financial curve."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Project is the reminder feature. This feature allows for the system to send notifications or reminders to individuals who have a task to complete once someone has finished their task. This has been especially useful in situations where multiple people are involved in a task. For example, if I have completed my task and the next person is just beginning, the system will send them a reminder to notify them of my completion. This feature has proven to be very beneficial and convenient for me in my tasks."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Project include dependency mapping, completion ratios, and the ability to apply specific constraints or constraint types."
"It's an easy solution to set up."
"The most valuable features of this solution are dependency management, milestone progress, multiple resource rates, and RAG views."
"Microsoft Project is easy to use and helps our teams visualize the evolution of our projects."
 

Cons

"Formalized area to store contact information indexed in a way that can pre-populate other areas would be helpful."
"The product isn't easy to use. It's not very intuitive."
"The solution could be more user-friendly."
"Microsoft's solution isn't really a collaboration tool, however. If you need a collaboration tool, you can use Slack, which can be integrated with your JIRA."
"The solution's interface seems to be an outdated one. So, I would like its interface to be improved."
"The product or service could be more user-friendly, and forecasting could be better."
"In a future release, the dashboard should improve because there isn't one, I had to create my own."
"There needs to be better integration with other Microsoft products such as SharePoint, and the like."
"The scalability is co-dependent on the stability of the product. We have 4000 users, and at times the product is slow."
"The Microsoft license is relatively expensive."
"Technical support needs improvement. It's hard to reach technical people to get the help you need."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The license is a one-time payment but it is expensive."
"The product is not expensive. My company has opted for an annual subscription."
"It was a three-year license deal that was reconciled on a quarterly basis. It is a reasonably priced product, and I consider that we got good value for money."
"Pricing-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten since I feel it is a bit costly."
"It gets expensive when having to add all of the plugins and everything that you need."
"I do not have personal experience with pricing or licensing of this product."
"The cost for an on-premises-based license is a one-time fee, and the cloud-based is an annual payment plan."
"I am not aware of any additional costs apart from the standard licensing fees of the solution."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Project Management Software solutions are best for your needs.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Security Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise15
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: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.