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20 basecamp alternatives for Project Management

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 01:47 — siteadmin
  • Note that it is essential to see all the tasks to be done to complete a milestone. Some products, including basecamp, will not allow this but hide the tasks within lists
Product Pricing Functionality Ease of Use Advantages Disadvantages Summary
Basecamp pricing
Free for 1 proj & unlimited users 		lacks effective tasks (Cannot attach todo items to a milestone. Need unwieldy lists) ● Nice simple and clean ● very easy to use because of so few features ● Dashboard page is missing good calendar
● Plans are expensive 		missing vital task functionality
Intervals pricing
#0 days free. Starts at $20 for 15 projects & unlimited users 		very complete ● very slick ● much more complete time/cost management than any other product ● overkill if you don’t need detailed time recording If this is what you need, it could pay for itself very quickly
Unfuddle pricing
Free for 1 proj & 2 users 		very complete ● not as cool looking as some
● some parts look overly complex 		● nice % completion graphics ● some processes can be a bit fiddly because of so many options workable solution but free plan is limiting
GoPlan pricing
Free for 3 proj & 2 users 		very complete ● Very nice clean interface ● Tickets as well as tasks
● Really nice creation of events on calendar
● subtasks is a really nice idea
● includes time tracking 		● none that I can find hard to find any disadvantages except that it is not free
TeamworkPM pricing
free plan includes time tracking 		same problem with tasks as basecamp ● good ●   ●   missing vital task functionality
Wrike pricing
charcged per user 		ok ● good ●   ● expensive (charged per user)
● no free starter plan 		too expensive
Central Desktop pricing
no free starter plan 		complete ● over featured ● full online office replacement, not just PM ● full online office replacement, not just PM over featured
ActiveCollab pricing
outright purchase of source 		complete ● Extremely nice and slick system ● very clean and obvious to use
● allows tagging
● provides “what’s happening” stream
● nice % completion graphics
● multiple company & client support 		● Expensive: $250/$500, not including upgrades Feng Office forked from ActiveCollab when it went closed-source, but I think Feng is actually ahead now. Nevertheless, a good solid product.
ProjectPier open source fork of activecollab missing full task functionality ● looks nice, and easy to use ● multiple company & client support
● allows tagging
● provides “what’s happening” stream 		● no dates on anything except milestones
● basecamp style task-lists
● tasks are very simple, no room for comments 		missing vital task functionality
Feng Office (was OpenGoo) pricing
open source version avaliable
● (fork of activecollab) 		everything ● very slick with nice drag-and-drop JavaScript goodness ● extremely complete with a unique concept of “workspaces”.
● Can be customized by reducing functionality when a simpler system is required. 		● I am using this in earnest now and have yet to find a downside Amazing product, way ahead of virtually everything else. This is what I ended up recommending for most of my clients.
Planigle pricing
or free hosted “community” edition, or open source version with less features 		releases can function as milestones ● flash - reasonably good ● pretty good agile support
● blocked tasks are supported—a major feature 		● only one project at a time for community version
● have to get used to Agile terminology 		Agile support gives a wholly new dimension to this PM
Not so good at tracking large numbers of small tasks
Rockclimbr Open source and totally free All the essentials are there ● Really not polished enough for use
● Lots of Drupally bits show causing confusion 		● integrates into Drupal
● good handling of todo-items 		● minimal feature set promising, but not ready yet
Open Atrium Open source and totally free totally missing calendar/time on todo-items (fatal flaw) ● Looks really cool ● chat room
● nice social integration and a few other tools
● integrates into Drupal 		● no milestones
● can be a bit confusing to navigate 		missing vital calendar functionality
Storm Open source and totally free Seems to have no time-aware features, a fatal flaw ● ok ● integrates into Drupal ● limited missing vital calendar functionality
TeamBox Open source and totally free
● plus a free online hosted service! 		complete ● very simple and cool, but not totally obvious what are tasks and what are lists ● tasks have start as well as end date which allows Gannt charts
● gives a twitter-like stream of events 		● no milestones—have to use tasklists (but function similarly)
● RoR code is a little harder to install 		Could be very good for some situations
WebCollab Open source and totally free all the essentials seem to be there ● simple and easy to use, but not polished ● simplicity ● no milestones, but there are sub-tasks which do as well
● no user avatars
● very basic 		I will recommend this to one of my clients as it would meet their need perfectly for a very simple, minimal system
Redmine Open source and totally free Hard-core software project tracker (RoR) ● unpolished ● optimized for high ticket volume ● Not really general purpose as far as I can see Minimal but clean and effective ticket tracking system, inspired by Trak
Lighthouse pricing
free hosting for your open source projects 		looks complete ● good ● activity streams
● has an API
● supports a public ticketing system
● integrates with version control 		● expensive Yet another improved basecamp?
DeskAway pricing
Free for 3 projects & 5 users 		same problem with tasks as basecamp ● good ● looks nice ● real tasks missing vital task functionality
Agilefant Open source and totally free review here ● very complex because of all the features ● will manage an enterprise ● massivly featured not suitable for simple project management
XPlanner-Plus Open source and totally free
● xplanner-plus.sourceforge.net 		full Agile PM system ● nice looking and clean ● Could be the best tool in the future
● blog at: blog.xplannerplus.org/
● demo at: demo.xplannerplus.org sysadmin/admin 		● stories can only be used as containers for tasks
● not quite ready yet 		Keep checking back for progress. May be the best Agile tool

Other products

  • Remindo
    • A whole company intranet, not just project management. I haven’t had time to check this out properly yet, but it looks worth spending some time with.
  • scrumy.com
    • Really easy to use post-it note simulation for tasks and stores for Agile PM
  • www.egroupware.org (open source), also part of www.ebox-platform.com/
    • contains project planning tool
  • www.creativeprooffice.com/
    • free but not open source. Office suit—not tried it
  • www.versionone.com
    • Provide Agile PM hosting. Basic plan is free for a year. Very expensive but looks good.
  • zoho.com (Projects)
    • hides tasks within task lists
    • also has CRM product

Resources

CRM

Ticketing Systems

Product Pricing Functionality Ease of Use Summary
Basecamp pricing
Free for 1 proj & unlimited users 		lacks effective tasks (Cannot attach todo items to a milestone. Need unwieldy lists) ● Nice simple and clean ● ● missing vital task functionality
Intervals pricing
#0 days free. Starts at $20 for 15 projects & unlimited users 		very complete ● very slick ● ● If this is what you need, it could pay for itself very quickly
Unfuddle pricing
Free for 1 proj & 2 users 		very complete ● not as cool looking as some
● some parts look overly complex 		● ● workable solution but free plan is limiting
GoPlan pricing
Free for 3 proj & 2 users 		very complete ● Very nice clean interface ● ● hard to find any disadvantages except that it is not free
TeamworkPM pricing
free plan includes time tracking 		same problem with tasks as basecamp ● good ● ● missing vital task functionality
Wrike pricing
charcged per user 		ok ● good ● ● too expensive
Central Desktop pricing
no free starter plan 		complete ● over featured ● ● over featured
ActiveCollab pricing
outright purchase of source 		complete ● Extremely nice and slick system ● ● Feng Office forked from ActiveCollab when it went closed-source, but I think Feng is actually ahead now. Nevertheless, a good solid product.
ProjectPier open source fork of activecollab missing full task functionality ● looks nice, and easy to use ● ● missing vital task functionality
Feng Office (was OpenGoo) pricing
open source version avaliable
● (fork of activecollab) 		everything ● very slick with nice drag-and-drop JavaScript goodness ● ● Amazing product, way ahead of virtually everything else. This is what I ended up recommending for most of my clients.
Planigle pricing
or free hosted “community” edition, or open source version with less features 		releases can function as milestones ● flash - reasonably good ● ● Agile support gives a wholly new dimension to this PM
Not so good at tracking large numbers of small tasks
Rockclimbr Open source and totally free All the essentials are there ● Really not polished enough for use
● Lots of Drupally bits show causing confusion 		● ● promising, but not ready yet
Open Atrium Open source and totally free totally missing calendar/time on todo-items (fatal flaw) ● Looks really cool ● ● missing vital calendar functionality
Storm Open source and totally free Seems to have no time-aware features, a fatal flaw ● ok ● ● missing vital calendar functionality
TeamBox Open source and totally free
● plus a free online hosted service! 		complete ● very simple and cool, but not totally obvious what are tasks and what are lists ● ● Could be very good for some situations
WebCollab Open source and totally free all the essentials seem to be there ● simple and easy to use, but not polished ● ● I will recommend this to one of my clients as it would meet their need perfectly for a very simple, minimal system
Redmine Open source and totally free Hard-core software project tracker (RoR) ● unpolished ● ● Minimal but clean and effective ticket tracking system, inspired by Trak
Lighthouse pricing
free hosting for your open source projects 		looks complete ● good ● ● Yet another improved basecamp?
DeskAway pricing
Free for 3 projects & 5 users 		same problem with tasks as basecamp ● good ● ● missing vital task functionality
Agilefant Open source and totally free review here ● very complex because of all the features ● ● not suitable for simple project management
XPlanner-Plus Open source and totally free
● xplanner-plus.sourceforge.net 		full Agile PM system ● nice looking and clean ● ● Keep checking back for progress. May be the best Agile tool

Other products

  • Remindo
    • A whole company intranet, not just project management. I haven’t had time to check this out properly yet, but it looks worth spending some time with.
  • scrumy.com
    • Really easy to use post-it note simulation for tasks and stores for Agile PM
  • www.egroupware.org (open source), also part of www.ebox-platform.com/
    • contains project planning tool
  • www.creativeprooffice.com/
    • free but not open source. Office suit—not tried it
  • www.versionone.com
    • Provide Agile PM hosting. Basic plan is free for a year. Very expensive but looks good.
  • zoho.com (Projects)
    • hides tasks within task lists
    • also has CRM product

Resources

CRM

Ticketing Systems

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