Basecamp vs. Zoho Projects

Numerous companies all over the world depend on Basecamp and Zoho Projects in planning and carrying out their day-to-day business ventures smoothly. These two project management solutions are best known for their rich features that help businesses stay organized.

Basecamp is a top project management software that has an intuitive interface, and is great for team communication. Zoho Projects is an all-in-one project management solution that has workflow automation capabilities and useful timesheet features.

In this article, we’ll compare the features of Basecamp and Zoho Projects to demonstrate how each software handles similar features differently.

If you want to explore more than two project management solutions, use our Product Selection Tool to get a free list of five software solutions that will meet your needs and standards.

An overview of Basecamp vs. Zoho Projects

Basecamp has a simple interface with reliable capabilities to cater to the needs of thousands of users worldwide. Its key features include collaboration, to-do lists, scheduling, automatic check-ins, file management, and mobile application. Basecamp has high-end pricing. It offers a fixed price for an unlimited number of users and is more practical to be used by large companies.

Zoho Projects has valuable features that can help you in every stage of your work projects. The main features of this software are task automation, task management, time tracking, social project management, charts and reports, issue tracking, timesheets, and mobile application. Zoho has average pricing and offers a free plan. It’s suitable for both SMBs and large enterprises.

Comparing the features

Basecamp and Zoho Projects have task management, collaboration, and reporting features:

Task management

Basecamp manages tasks through its To-Do Lists feature. With this feature, you can create and assign tasks. Due dates can be set for each task as well. You won’t have to alert every task assignees of upcoming due dates because the system will take care of it for you. Basecamp lets you assign to-dos to multiple users. You can add notes and file attachments to each task and even comment directly on them.

Zoho Projects’ management feature lets you assign tasks to people and track them as they get done. Due dates, priority levels, and reminders can be set for each task. Complex tasks can be broken down into subtasks. The task owners can log the time spent manually or by using a timer. You can set milestones for a task or project and assign a start and end date to it. Zoho Projects has a built in project calendar to view all of the milestones, tasks, and bugs on a project.

Collaboration

Basecamp has a built-in chat feature called Campfire wherein users can engage in group chats for instant messages about the project they’re working on. Private, one-on-one direct messaging is also possible with this feature. Emojis and sounds can be added to the chat messages. Additionally, Basecamp has message boards to keep the conversation about a particular topic on a single page. With the message boards, you can customize your own post types and embed images or files into your message. Users can applaud messages and comments they like. Message board posts may be shared with everyone or only select individuals.

With Zoho Projects, each user gets a profile page which features an activity stream of their activities — providing an update regarding the tasks they’re working on. Users can post comments on the activities, @mention people, and talk about milestones, events, and tasks. This software also has Forums for lengthier ideas and more detailed discussions about projects. Like Basecamp, Zoho Projects has a native chat feature where users can collaborate with their colleagues.

Reporting

Basecamp offers several different types of reports to help you see the big picture when it comes to your projects. You can choose from reports for overdue to-dos, upcoming dates, to-dos added and completed, individual user’s work assignments, and user’s activity. You simply have to select the type of report you want to generate and the software will do the rest. Reports in Basecamp can be exported as PDF files.

Zoho Projects also lets you create reports to better understand what’s happening to your projects. The software comes with a set of project reporting tools to give you actionable insights into your projects. You can choose reports for time tracking, resource utilization, issues, planned vs. actual, agile reports, and tasks. You can build custom reports, too. You can access the reports for offline viewing and export them as PDF files.

Integrations

Basecamp can be integrated with various popular apps for team communication, visual collaboration, file syncing, issue tracking, and task tracking:

Slack
Trello
DropBox
ClickUp
Jira

Zoho Projects integrates seamlessly with other products from Zoho. It has integrations with other tools for file sharing, visual collaboration, issue tracking, spreadsheets, and cloud storage:

Google Drive
Microsoft Excel
Trello
Dropbox
Jira

The ideal project management software for your business

Basecamp and Zoho Projects both have a lot to offer for your company. The answer on which is the better suited project management software for your business will rely on some important factors — such as your business size and specific preferences.

Due to its expensive, flat-rate pricing, Basecamp is best for large companies. If you want a software that’s easy to learn and navigate — you can count on it, too. However, Zoho Projects is the better choice if you require custom reports to visualize various parts of your projects. If monitoring the actual time spent on each task is particularly important for you, Zoho Projects might just be the software you’re looking for.

If you’re looking for particular features not being offered by either Basecamp or Zoho Project Management, use our Product Selection Tool. You can get a list of other reputable project management software solutions that might have the unique features you need.

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