Basecamp vs. Workzone

The Project Management Institute reported a few years ago that less than half of all projects finish on time – about 47 percent. One of the reasons why projects fail is because people lose sight of why they are doing what they are doing. This is why it’s important to align project and company goals. Project management (PM) software such as Basecamp and Workzone allow project teams to relate their tasks to the bigger picture and understand the importance of their role.

This Basecamp vs. Workzone article compares common and important features of the two PM software and how they can increase project success rate. There are hundreds of PM products, but we can help you find the right project management software quickly. Use our Product Selection Tool to get a short list of recommendations.

Basecamp

Basecamp LLC started as 37signals in 1999. The company was co-founded by Jason Fried, CEO, in 1999 with headquarters in Chicago, IL. They renamed the company to Basecamp in February 2014 to focus on their flagship product. It remains a privately held and profitable software company with more than 3 million users. Customers from various industries include Piehole.TV, Quartz Media, and Faith Chapel.

Basecamp is an online project management and team collaboration software. It promotes organization and communication that results in greater efficiency and higher productivity. The software provides users a simple and intuitive interface. As they organize their projects and teams in the platform, they are able to clarify tasks, responsibilities, and priorities. Tools included are to-do lists, shared schedules, document and file managers, and several communication tools. It is an effective remote working software used by its own company to manage and develop the PM tool.

Workzone

Workzone LLC is a privately held software company based in Blue Bell, PA. It was founded in 2002 by Rick Mosenkis and Allan Kamish to provide advertising agencies and marketing firms an online project collaboration software. Over the years, the company improved existing features and added new ones to its product to give companies an alternative to offline PM tools and complex enterprise systems. Customers include Tufts Medical Center, Mississippi State University, and Reveil Agency.

Workzone’s cloud-based productivity software is for teams and companies that are looking for a powerful but simple tool. It is capable of supporting project visibility and task automation. At the same time, it is intuitive to be easily adopted by team members with different technical levels. The two major groups of features in Workzone fall under project management and document sharing. Some of the tools are project dashboards and to-do lists for managing projects and tasks, and file sharing and image markup for team collaboration.

Features comparison of Basecamp vs. Workzone

Task management

Basecamp lets you manage tasks with its to-dos feature. Easily create a list of tasks that you can assign to one or more team member. Set a due date, attach relevant files, and add a comment for clarification. The software will track the percent completion and notify you of upcoming due dates or overdue tasks. Move the items to reprioritize, and mark the checkbox beside the task to show it’s complete.

Workzone automatically creates a to-do list for each team member. The list contains tasks assigned to a particular user based on the main project plan. The tasks are organized by due date or priority. As team members update their individual lists, the project plan is automatically updated, giving the project manager the latest status of the project. No need to meet each teammate and ask for a status update. Other features include task dependencies and time tracking.

Work collaboration

Basecamp is a team software with several collaboration tools. A centralized docs and file storage allows any project user to quickly find documents, images, and other files to complete their work. Drag and drop a file to upload, reorder files to organize, and color code them for quick identification. It has a shared schedules tool where everyone can find important due dates and events. The PM tool also has several communication tools for topic discussion, group chat, and one-to-one direct messaging. Message boards and conversations can link to shared calendars and have file attachments, too.

Workzone lets you upload files to the platform from your desktop via drag and drop. Allow team members access to the right files with permission-based security. They also get email alerts when files are updated, new comments are posted, and approvals are given. The software has a built-in markup tool to directly put a comment on an image file or PDF. It also automates the approval workflow where it tracks requests, responses, and overdue dates. A centralized dashboard displays each request and its status. Every project or document has a comment area that displays threaded conversations. Other features include a group calendar, file versioning, and project request forms.

Reporting and integration

Basecamp includes several automated reporting tools that track tasks. It can track all the latest activities, upcoming dates, overdue to-dos, and more. An automated check-in tool lets you regularly ask your team questions that can help you get the status of the project. A Hill Chart combines to-do lists with a report charting tool to show where the project stands in terms of tasks completed. The PM software integrates with over 50 third-party applications and services to help extend its features and functionality. Categories of these integrations include mobile and desktop apps, time tracking, invoicing, accounting, reporting, and dev tools.

Workzone has a project dashboard tool that collectively shows the status of all projects with percent complete status and other summary information. Another reporting tool is the interactive Gantt chart that shows the schedule in a timeline. The PM tool has a customizable workload report that displays hours of work of a team member across projects. You can identify which resource is over or under-allocated. More than 20 other ready-to-use reports are also available. Integration with other apps and services is possible with its REST API and connection to Zapier. Featured integration includes native connection to Google Drive, Dropbox, Salesforce, Harvest, QuickBooks, and Slack.

Ready to decide on Basecamp or Workzone?

Basecamp and Workzone are among the pioneer online project management platforms that continue to thrive today. They provide users a simple interface and reliable service for both internal and client projects.

Basecamp project management helps companies of all sizes and industries organize projects and communicate with teams better. It has several messaging tools, configurable notification settings, and more choices for integration.

Workzone provides built-in dashboards, Gantt charts, time tracking, and proofing tools that are ideal for agencies and marketing companies. The right balance of features, customization, and templates makes it a great option for business of all sizes and sectors.

Ready to find the right project management software for your needs? Use our Product Selection Tool to get a list of recommended vendors that meet your requirements. It’s free and only takes five minutes.