Best for
Best for small and remote teams that want projects, chat and docs in one calm, flat-priced tool.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Project Management Comparison
Basecamp vs. OpenProject
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for organisations that need a full project management suite on their own infrastructure rather than in someone else's cloud.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Basecamp | OpenProject |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free; Freelancer from $25 / month Flat rates for the whole account: Freelancer $25 for up to 3 active projects and 20 users, Studio $59 for up to 10 projects and Pro $99 for up to 25, both with unlimited users, and the Unlimited Edition at $299 per month billed annually. The free plan covers one project, 5 users and 1 GB. | Free (Community edition); Enterprise from €5.95 / user / month Community edition is free, self-hosted and has no user minimum. Enterprise Basic €5.95 and Professional €10.95 per user / month from 25 users, Premium €15.95 from 100 users, Corporate on request from 250 users. Rates are for a one-year term; a monthly term adds €1.00 per user and is available for Cloud Basic only. The BIM add-on costs €1.00 per user. |
| Free trial | Free plan plus a 30-day trial, 45 days on the Unlimited Edition | 14 days on the Enterprise cloud, or a 14-day trial licence for a self-hosted installation |
| Users | Not stated | Unlimited on the self-hosted Community edition; Enterprise plans start at 25 users |
| API | Not stated | Yes, REST API v3 plus a BCF API |
| Hosting | Not stated | Self-hosted on-premises (DEB and RPM packages, Docker, Kubernetes) or Enterprise cloud on servers in the EU |
| Made in | USA | Germany |
| Task planning | Yes, to-do lists and card tables (Kanban), with per-project schedules and message boards | Yes, work packages with hierarchies and relations, Gantt charts with automatic or manual scheduling, agile boards for Scrum and Kanban with sprints and story points, and reusable project templates |
| Resource planning | No dedicated resource planning | Yes, team planner plus resource allocation across projects, with working hours, holidays and availability feeding the schedule |
| Time tracking | Not built in, available as the paid Timesheet add-on | Yes, hours logged on work packages daily or weekly, a personal time tracking page and PDF timesheet reports |
| Reporting and controlling | Yes, the Lineup, Hill Charts and Mission Control for progress | Yes, filterable cost reports, budgets for labour and unit costs, hourly rates per member and project, baseline comparison and customisable project dashboards |
| Integrations and API | Yes, a public API documented on GitHub, plus a directory of third-party integrations and Zapier | Yes, REST API v3 and a BCF API, plus integrations with Nextcloud, GitHub, GitLab, OneDrive, SharePoint, XWiki and openDesk and an official MCP server |
| MCP-ready | No | stated Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise |
| Support | Email helpdesk, Community forum | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Personal consulting, Guided onboarding |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | more entries Zapier, Zoho Flow, Harvest, Toggl, Clockify, Everhour, Timely, Tick, GitHub, Honeybadger, Marker.io, TestLodge, Ganttify, Bridge24, Easy Insight, Klipfolio, Grow, Deskpro, SupportBee | Nextcloud, GitHub, GitLab, OneDrive, SharePoint, XWiki, openDesk |
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Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Basecamp Free; Freelancer from $25 / month OpenProject Free (Community edition); Enterprise from €5.95 / user / month
- Free trial Basecamp Free plan plus a 30-day trial, 45 days on the Unlimited Edition OpenProject 14 days on the Enterprise cloud, or a 14-day trial licence for a self-hosted installation
- Deployment Basecamp Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based OpenProject Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
- Company size Basecamp Freelancers, Small and mid-sized OpenProject Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Support Basecamp Email helpdesk, Community forum OpenProject Email helpdesk, Phone, Community forum
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Basecamp
Strengths
- Flat monthly rates for the account, with no per-user fees
- Combines to-dos, chat, docs and schedules in one place
- Unlimited users from the Studio plan upwards
Limitations
- No native resource planning
- Time tracking only through a paid add-on
- Fewer views and reports than dedicated PM tools
- Every paid plan below the Unlimited Edition caps the number of active projects
OpenProject
Strengths
- Free Community edition under the GNU GPL v3 with no user limit
- Runs on-premises or in an EU-hosted cloud, so project data can stay in-house
- Hours, hourly rates, unit costs and budgets sit in the same tool as the plan
- Official MCP server lets AI assistants work on project data within existing roles and permissions
Limitations
- Enterprise plans start at 25 users, Premium at 100 and Corporate at 250
- Self-hosting means running, securing and upgrading the installation yourself
- Monthly billing costs €1.00 more per user and is limited to Cloud Basic
Plans
Pricing
Basecamp
- Free $0 One project for personal use, 5 users, 1 GB storage.
- Freelancer $25 Per month. Up to 3 active projects, 20 users, 5 GB storage.
- Studio $59 Per month. Up to 10 active projects, unlimited users, 25 GB storage.
- Pro $99 Per month. Up to 25 active projects, unlimited users, 100 GB storage.
- Unlimited Edition $299 Per month, billed annually. Unlimited projects, unlimited users, 1 TB storage, with 5 TB more available for $100 per month.
OpenProject
- Community €0 Free and open source, self-hosted, no user minimum. Community features, community forum and user guides.
- Basic €5.95 Per user / month on a one-year term, from 25 users. Adds the Basic Enterprise add-ons and email support, Mon-Fri 9:30-16:00 CET.
- Professional €10.95 Per user / month on a one-year term, from 25 users. Adds the Professional Enterprise add-ons and phone support, Mon-Fri 9:30-17:00 CET.
- Premium €15.95 Per user / month on a one-year term, from 100 users. Adds the Premium Enterprise add-ons, remote hands and installation and upgrade assistance.
- Corporate On request From 250 users. Adds the Corporate Enterprise add-ons, openDesk and OpenID Connect for Nextcloud Hub, a dedicated support engineer, custom plugin support and onboarding training.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Basecamp
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
OpenProject
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Basecamp https://basecamp.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-14
OpenProject https://www.openproject.org · checked against the official source on 2026-09-03
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.