Basecamp vs Smartsheet comparison

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Basecamp

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Basecamp and Smartsheet compete in project management. Smartsheet has the upper hand due to its comprehensive features, which provide greater flexibility and automation for complex projects.

Features: Basecamp supports team communication with message boards, to-dos, and scheduling. Smartsheet includes project tracking, automation, data integration, and workflow customization, giving it an edge in handling diverse project needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Basecamp offers quick deployment and efficient customer service, focusing on simplicity. Smartsheet, though more complex to deploy due to its features, provides detailed support and resources, guiding users in managing intricate projects effectively.

Pricing and ROI: Basecamp's flat pricing is cost-effective and predictable. Smartsheet's tiered pricing can increase costs but matches its capabilities, offering a high ROI due to its advanced features, benefiting organizations needing sophisticated solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Basecamp vs. Smartsheet Report (Updated: March 2025).

Basecamp vs. Smartsheet

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Helped 845,406 peers since 2012

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

30th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Smartsheet

Ranking in Project Management Software

5th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Project Portfolio Management (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Project Management Software category, the mindshare of Basecamp is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Smartsheet is 4.6%, down from 6.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Project Management Software

Featured Reviews

Abenazzer Tadesse

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.

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PaulDiaz

Project Manager at Amgen

Needs to improve baselines and changing dates can be frustrating

I like the dashboarding feature best, as it lets me assemble a workspace with source sheets, dashboards, and reports simultaneously. The standard reports and worksheets are most useful for team collaboration. People look at dashboards during presentations, but they go to the sheets to update projects, add comments, or make notifications. It's automated, so changes come to me or whoever needs to see them. I can send notifications from specific line items. The worksheet is key for tracking project progress, though we track it at a higher level rather than detailed work breakdown structures. Subject matter experts say when they'll deliver things, and that's what we track.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ease of use is valuable."

"The ability to network informally is great for communicating with colleagues."

"The tool creates shareable dashboards. These dashboards allow us to display project deliverables' status, their position in the queue, expected delivery timelines, and more. The best part is that these dashboards can be shared with our clients without a license."

"If you just need a planning tool, it's a low-cost and effective option."

"It operates as an enhanced and versatile version of Excel, offering a wide range of capabilities that allow you to accomplish various tasks and operations."

"We like Smartsheet's workflows, automation, and low-code capabilities. I don't know of any other project management tool with low-code functionality designed for project managers."

"The deployment is very easy. All you need to do is log in."

"What I found most valuable in Smartsheet is its project customization feature. It's a great solution because you can add in your own WBS. You can see it in Jira style, Kanban, and you can even do Agile and Waterfall. Another feature that's valuable in the solution is when you have those connections, you have that API, you have a sandbox, and you can make a solution, it's a tremendous product because you can pull data."

"Enables coordination and sharing of information that is relatively inexpensive."

"The solution is scalable."

More Smartsheet pros

Cons

"The solution could be more user-friendly."

"The product isn't easy to use. It's not very intuitive."

"The main challenge with Smartsheet is that when you start putting components on the Smartsheet dashboard, they don't know about each other. So, if I filter something in one widget, or if I click on a region or a project ID, the other widget or component and the visualization that's on that dashboard don't change. It doesn't know about the other component."

"The only reason we migrated to another application was the full integration available in other solutions. We never used the integration capabilities of Smartsheet."

"Smartsheet could improve the UI and integrations. Some of Smartsheet's competitors have more than 2,000 integrations while Smartsheet only has approximately 40 integration applications."

"I think that the mobile interface needs to be improved. If you cannot access it through your laptop, I'd prefer to have that option on the mobile, but I don't think that it's user-friendly and easy to navigate."

"Smartsheet could be improved to be a ticketing system. It would be nice to have a system to do everything."

"Lacks the ability to edit attachments within the solution."

"Initially, there were issues like dropdowns. Those have been overcome."

"I think it is all going to be about APIs in the future and I don't think Smartsheet is doing a lot in that regard. They have some integrations with Jira, but you have to pay for them."

More Smartsheet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"I pay $ 120 or $ 128 a month for two to three users."

"This licensing is straightforward and they charge per user."

"Smartsheet can be low-priced, with personal subscriptions around eight dollars a month, but I imagine it gets pricier for enterprise systems. Microsoft Project can be more expensive."

"If I'm not mistaken, it was pretty manageable. It was about 200 bucks a seed. The business really felt a strong need for it. So, it was viewed as a safer and more straightforward cost that we were willing to pay as compared to Domo, which took some convincing."

"The solution is too expensive."

"There would be more extensive usage if the solution were cheaper. It's really expensive right now, and that's why we provide a few licenses for admins. The rest of them are just users without admin privileges."

"There's a license for Smartsheet, and the enterprise plan comes down to about $750. My company also pays an extra $60 monthly apart from the standard licensing fee."

"The solution is reasonably priced."

More Smartsheet pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

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Educational Organization

43%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

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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...

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What do you like most about Smartsheet?

The tool creates shareable dashboards. These dashboards allow us to display project deliverables' status, their position in the queue, expected delivery timelines, and more. The best part is that t...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Smartsheet?

The pricing is great and reasonable enough that I maintained my copy and bought it for my team independently.

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Product Reports

Project Management Software

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Overview

Basecamp is a web-based project-management tool developed by Basecamp and launched in 2004, with a new version being launched in 2012. Basecamp offers to-do lists, wiki-style web-based text documents, milestone management, file sharing, time tracking, and a messaging system. Basecamp Classic also offers integration with Basecamp's own Campfire product, and features APIs that are used by a host of web and mobile apps. Basecamp Classic's interface is available in different languages (e.g. Spanish, French, Italian, German, Finnish and Japanese). The newer version of Basecamp currently only supports English as the interface language.

37signals

Smartsheet is a dynamic platform with features like real-time data sharing, Gantt charts, and integration with Jira and Microsoft Teams, offering valuable tools for efficient task management.

Smartsheet combines Excel-like functionality with cloud accessibility, making it efficient for tracking, reporting, and workflow management. Users benefit from its scalability and robust security, making it ideal for enterprise-level projects. However, improvements in data visibility, real-time collaboration, and user-friendliness can enhance its utility. Customizable dashboards, project management features, and seamless integrations offer great flexibility, though there is a demand for better automation, API enhancements, and new templates.

What are Smartsheet's most important features?

Real-time Data Sharing: Facilitates seamless collaboration between users.
Project Management Tools: Includes Gantt charts and task prioritization for efficient project tracking.
Integration: Works with major platforms like Jira and Microsoft Teams for comprehensive data flow.
Automation Capabilities: Reduces manual work with robust automation functionalities.
Customizable Dashboards: Allows users to tailor dashboards to meet specific needs.

What benefits or ROI should users look for in reviews?

Efficiency: Streamlines workflows with tools that enhance project tracking and collaboration.
Scalability: Supports growing enterprise demands with its scalable architecture.
Security: Provides robust, secure environments for data management.
Adaptability: Offers flexibility to customize workflows for improved resource management.

Smartsheet is utilized by organizations in industries like engineering, education, and IT for project management, task tracking, and data integration. It enables planning, scheduling, and team collaboration, facilitating dashboard creation and automation of processes. Its flexibility in customizing workflows is appealing to those managing projects and programs.

Sample Customers

Ashland Addison Florist Co., Victory Auto Wreckers, Ideal Box Co., Hollymatic Corp.

Sony Music, ESPN, Hilton, Unisource, Colliers, Extreme Networks, Groupon, Netflix

Basecamp vs. Smartsheet