Our pick for most teams
77.1/ 100
- Price
- From $12/user/mo · $108/user/yr
- Free plan
- No free plan
Basecamp vs Smartsheet: Smartsheet fits most teams of 5
Start here: Smartsheet
Operations, marketing and PMO teams managing complex cross-functional projects
52/ 100
- Price
- From $25/mo (monthly only)
- Free plan
- Free account: 1 project, 1 GB storage, up to 5 users
Add more tools to this comparisonCompare a different set
Which one fits your team
- Checked 2026-10-14
- 2 sources
The score is worked out from the facts below. How we score tools. What we earn is not part of it.
Smartsheet: who it fits and who it does not
- Good for
- Operations, marketing and PMO teams managing complex cross-functional projects
- Mid-sized and enterprise companies (construction, healthcare, IT)
- Spreadsheet-comfortable teams needing more automation and control
- Not for
- Freelancers, very small teams and early-stage startups
- Sales teams (CRM work feels clunky)
- Teams wanting plug-and-play simplicity
- The catch
- Spreadsheet-style work management made for larger companies, but setup isn't intuitive and advanced automation and reports take time to learn.
Data last verified: 2026-10-14
Basecamp: who it fits and who it does not
- Good for
- Freelancers, startups and small teams with simple to-do based projects
- Teams that want built-in communication (message boards, Campfire chat)
- Agencies that need to include clients as guests
- Large teams, thanks to flat-fee unlimited-user plan
- Not for
- Large, complex projects or Agile teams needing sprints and dependencies
- Teams needing Gantt charts, built-in advanced reports or detailed time tracking
- Organizations requiring SSO/SAML or phone/live-chat support
- The catch
- Simple and communication-first, but deliberately light on task management (no native Gantt, dependencies or sprints) and has limited automation and reporting.
Data last verified: 2026-10-14
What each one costs over five years
Same team size, cheapest plan of each, paid monthly or yearly.
Smartsheet
Five years for a team of 5, paid yearly: $2,700
On the Pro plan, at today's price. We do not assume a rise.
- Paid monthly, one year
- $720
- Paid yearly, one year
- $540
Paying yearly saves $180 a year (25%).
Change the number to see your own total. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Vendor pricing page · checked 2026-10-18Basecamp
Five years for a team of 5, paid monthly: $1,500
On the Freelancer plan, at today's price. We do not assume a rise.
- Paid monthly, one year
- $300
- Paid yearly, one year
- Not verified
- "Freelancer" has no verified annual price
Change the number to see your own total. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Vendor pricing page · checked 2026-10-18The four facts that decide it
| Smartsheet | Basecamp | |
|---|---|---|
| Score out of 100 | 77.1 | 52 |
| Cheapest plan | Pro | Freelancer |
| Free plan | No free plan | Free account: 1 project, 1 GB storage, up to 5 users |
| Works with (apps) | 9 | 8 |
Every figure comes from the vendor's own pages, listed under Sources.
Smartsheet
- Score out of 100
- 77.1
- Cheapest plan
- Pro
- Free plan
- No free plan
- Works with (apps)
- 9
Basecamp
- Score out of 100
- 52
- Cheapest plan
- Freelancer
- Free plan
- Free account: 1 project, 1 GB storage, up to 5 users
- Works with (apps)
- 8
Feature by feature, on the same list
Open a row for the vendor's own wording and the page we read it on.
Task managementSmartsheet: YesBasecamp: Not verified
- Basecamp
- Not verified: the vendor gives no detail. Not verified
Board view (Kanban)Smartsheet: YesBasecamp: Yes
Timeline view (Gantt)Smartsheet: Not verifiedBasecamp: Yes
- Smartsheet
- Not verified: the vendor gives no detail. Not verified
Time trackingSmartsheet: YesBasecamp: Not verified
- Smartsheet
- 'Track hours/time spent working on projects' on every plan Vendor page · checked 2026-10-14
- Basecamp
- Not verified: the vendor gives no detail. Not verified
Recurring tasksSmartsheet: Not verifiedBasecamp: Not verified
- Smartsheet
- Not verified: the vendor gives no detail. Not verified
- Basecamp
- Not verified: the vendor gives no detail. Not verified
File sharingSmartsheet: YesBasecamp: Yes
Invite clients or guestsSmartsheet: YesBasecamp: Yes
- Smartsheet
- Guests and clients are supported but count toward user limits; Studio and above have unlimited users Vendor page · checked 2026-10-14
Does routine steps for youSmartsheet: Not verifiedBasecamp: Yes
- Smartsheet
- Not verified: the vendor gives no detail. Not verified
ReportingSmartsheet: YesBasecamp: Yes
- Basecamp
- Dashboards and reports on all plans (Pro limited to 10 widgets and 1 sheet per report) Vendor page · checked 2026-10-14
Mobile appSmartsheet: Not verifiedBasecamp: Yes
- Smartsheet
- Not verified: the vendor gives no detail. Not verified
What you risk by starting
Smartsheet
Trial, refunds and getting your data out of Smartsheet.
- Getting your data out
- Sheets and reports can be exported to Excel and Google Sheets on all plans
- Vendor page · checked 2026-10-18
Basecamp
Trial, refunds and getting your data out of Basecamp.
- Refund policy
- No general refund policy stated; annual cancellations are prorated back to the card
- Vendor page · checked 2026-10-18
Where these facts come from
What to do next
- Work out the cost for your own team size
- Compare the runner-up, Basecamp
- See how we score, so you can check our work
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Data last verified: 2026-10-14