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Basecamp vs Microsoft Project comparison

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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
21st
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
8th
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 September 2026, in the Project Management Software category, the mindshare of Basecamp is 1.6%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Project is 1.9%, down from 5.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Project Management Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Project1.9%
Basecamp1.6%
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 app functionality and ease of seeing the different functionalities parsed equally on the screen with consistent menu access to shift between areas."
"The ease of use is valuable."
"The ability to network informally is great for communicating with colleagues."
"The most valuable feature is the Auto resource leveling tool because it shows students that often, expert resources get over-scheduled, and that dealing with the issue by just using the auto-resource leveling tool would have a large impact on the delivery date."
"The user interface is simple and it helps me in planning what needs to be accomplished."
"The solution is very straightforward and simple, and you can connect the license in less than 30 minutes on a desktop."
"Combined with a project management methodology such as PMI for example, it is effective for monitoring and control."
"The most valuable feature is probably the Kanban diagram. People are familiar with the Kanban tools. When they do their scrum meetings, they have that Kanban board where you can see the different tiles for all the queries and move them from left to right. IT is familiar with that because, for development, most of the tools have that capability. It could also be more graphical, like Asana."
"The solution is very complete. It makes it a great option for project managers and they can use it extensively in almost any organizational setup."
"Technical support has been very helpful."
"With well-constructed templates that include milestones that allow upper management to effectively measure progress, the dependencies between project and external activities that often diminish project success can be mitigated."
 

Cons

"The solution could be more user-friendly."
"The product isn't easy to use. It's not very intuitive."
"Formalized area to store contact information indexed in a way that can pre-populate other areas would be helpful."
"I would like to see the inclusion of multi-currency support."
"Planview FLEX licensing gives us a central repository where all the projects are stored so you can check the finances, resources, etc. It's quite useful to have everything connected. We don't have that for Microsoft Project. It's disconnected. The reporting capabilities could also be better, especially with finance and resources. Everybody complains about reports. That's why we need another tool."
"It would be better if the solution is integrated with other communication platforms like Microsoft Teams."
"When you start getting into the more advanced features, it can become unstable. The more you use the advanced features, the more exposure you have to an unanticipated result. I think we need to add the Kanban Board capability to the product that would help them advance that board into the project management methodology that's being used in the industry today. Being able to depend on Scrum management is key."
"Microsoft Project tends to become very unstable on large project plans with more than 400 lines."
"It is positioned at the more high end. Sometimes it's more complicated than we need."
"The solution's interface seems to be an outdated one. So, I would like its interface to be improved."
"Its price can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I am not aware of any additional costs apart from the standard licensing fees of the solution."
"The license fees for the professional version, which is estimated to be approximately $1,600, and the standard version, which is approximately $1,200, may be considered expensive by some users. This is something that could be improved to make the platform more accessible to a wider audience."
"I do not have personal experience with pricing or licensing of this product."
"The licensing model is somewhat complex."
"I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."
"The solution is less expensive than other options."
"The pricing is based on a licensing model and is reasonable."
"We have to pay for a yearly license for Microsoft Project."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Security Firm
8%
Construction Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise16
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: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.