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. Shortcut
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for software engineering teams that want tickets, docs and git automation in one workspace.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Basecamp | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | lower value Free; Team from $8.50 / user / month Billed monthly, with 25 percent off on yearly billing. Business is $12 per user and month billed monthly, Enterprise on request. The free plan covers up to 10 users. |
| Free trial | Free plan plus a 30-day trial, 45 days on the Unlimited Edition | 14-day free trial, no credit card required; free plan for up to 10 users |
| API | Not stated | Yes |
| Made in | USA | Not stated |
| Task planning | Yes, to-do lists and card tables (Kanban), with per-project schedules and message boards | Yes, stories, epics and objectives planned in iterations, with Kanban boards, work-in-progress limits, backlogs, roadmaps and custom fields |
| Resource planning | No dedicated resource planning | No capacity or workload planning is documented; planning runs through iterations, backlogs and work-in-progress limits on the boards |
| Time tracking | Not built in, available as the paid Timesheet add-on | No hour logging is documented; work is sized with story-point estimates and measured afterwards through the burndown, velocity and cycle time reports |
| Reporting and controlling | Yes, the Lineup, Hill Charts and Mission Control for progress | Epic and iteration reports on all plans; metrics dashboard with velocity, cycle and lead time and cumulative flow diagrams from Business |
| Integrations and API | Yes, a public API documented on GitHub, plus a directory of third-party integrations and Zapier | Yes, REST API plus version control automations for GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket and 40+ integrations |
| AI features | No | stated Yes |
| MCP-ready | No | stated Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Email helpdesk, Community forum | Not stated |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials | Documentation and knowledge base |
| 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 | GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Slack, Figma, Sentry |
Add a tool
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 Shortcut Free; Team from $8.50 / user / month
- Free trial Basecamp Free plan plus a 30-day trial, 45 days on the Unlimited Edition Shortcut 14-day free trial, no credit card required; free plan for up to 10 users
- Company size Basecamp Freelancers, Small and mid-sized Shortcut Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- AI features Basecamp No Shortcut Yes
- MCP-ready Basecamp No Shortcut Yes
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
Shortcut
Strengths
- Version control automations keep stories in step with branches and pull requests
- Docs, roadmaps and objectives sit in the same workspace as the tickets
- Free plan for up to 10 users, and 12 months free for startups under 50 employees
Limitations
- No native time tracking or capacity planning published
- Cycle time, lead time and velocity reporting only from the Business plan
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.
Shortcut
- Free $0 Up to 10 users. Kanban views, roadmap visibility, basic reporting, sprint planning, docs and GitHub, Slack and Figma integrations.
- Team $8.50 Per user and month billed monthly, 25 percent off on yearly billing. Adds advanced reporting, work-in-progress limits, workflow customization, automations and unlimited integrations.
- Business $12 Per user and month billed monthly, 25 percent off on yearly billing. Adds the metrics dashboard, objectives and key results, advanced custom fields and multiple workspaces.
- Enterprise Not stated Custom pricing. Adds volume discounts, premier support with SLAs, SSO and SCIM and custom terms.
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.
Shortcut
- 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
Shortcut https://www.shortcut.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-07
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.