Registration
Registration for the 45 days free trial version takes literally 20 seconds, then you are immediately taken to the project page. There is no need of entering credit card details or irrelevant personal information, however we missed an introduction video, that would give an overview of the features and help get started with the application.
Main features
The application focuses on collaboration tools, and contain all the functions we would expect: Projects, To-do´s, Calendar, Files, Messages, Discussions and very interesting Daily progress, which is an overview of last activity, which can be also sorted by projects. There are couple of interesting features, like possibility to send content to a project via email (after creating the project in Basecamp). Also Basecamp includes User Management, which is very nicely done.
Extras
Mobile access to Basecamp is well working and thanks to the cloud system there is no need of special support application specific to operation system. The application runs well in all major web browsers. Basecamp further offers you to buy different Addons (mobile or desktop) which for example add possibility to make 3D graphs and similar functions. These Addons don’t come directly from the Basecamp developers; they are supplied by external companies.
User Interface
The user interface is very nice, intuitive and pleasant to use. There is a Projects page, giving short overview of all projects. Nicely done and useful would be also section Daily Progress, giving overview of what happened over the past day on each project.
The overview of all projects
Overview of last days activity
Pricing
Basecamp offers 4 plans from $20 do $150, as shown below. The price depends on number of projects and storage size.
Conclusion
Basecamp is a really smart and useful tool! It focuses on collaboration, so some typical project management features, like Gantt charts are not included. It is excellent especially for small and medium companies that require total stability and speed of the system, but even larger firms can benefit from it. Thanks to its great interface the work with the application is almost a pleasure and everyone should try it at least.
What we liked
- Ability to send messages and content to a project via e-mail without necessity to log in the application
- Fast response and easy user interface
- Various pricing plans, reasonable prices
What we didn’t like
- Missing video with help and quick overview after first time login
- Impossibility of installing the application on your own server; however for small and mid sized companies this is not so important