Basecamp vs Jira 2023: Features, Pricing & More Compared

Basecamp and Jira are well-known players in the project management world, but they can't be more different from one another. Jira is made to support teams working with agile methodologies, and Basecamp caters to teams that care about team communication. 

So Basecamp vs Jira, which one is right for you? Below we’ll detail the many differences and get into the weeds of pricing, features, and more. By the end, you’ll have a good idea of which would be best for your needs.

What is the difference between Basecamp and Jira?

The main difference between Jira and Basecamp is that Jira is a bug and issues tracking tool that focuses on agile project management, while Basecamp is a project management and team communication platform for cross-organizational teamwork. Basecamp is a midweight project management tool, while Jira is a heavyweight tool.

Jira’s great if you have elaborate processes and need to customize many components to fit them. It has native features that support the agile methodologies like issue tracking, sprint planning, and bug tracking. 

Basecamp’s ideal for keeping teams of at least 10 people on the same page. It primarily focuses on communication features and gives you a few options for project management. 

In Basecamp, there are no epics, stories, or sprints—you simply work on a card and move it through the different stages. As such, it's more suitable for freelancers, agencies, and remote companies to manage their work.

If you want to dissect Jira’s software to its tiniest details, read this full-scale Jira review. We also have an extensive Basecamp review that discusses this software’s perks and limitations.

Basecamp vs Jira comparison chart

^{*Prices start at}

Basecamp vs Jira pricing

Basecamp has a different pricing model than Jira. You pay a flat monthly fee of $99, regardless of the number of users. You can have as many as 100 users or as few as two. The price doesn't change. 

Jira, on the other hand, charges you on a per-user basis. There are three different monthly plans, ranging from $7.50 to $14.50/user/month and up. The highest Enterprise plan's price is not publicly available. Until recently, Jira also had an on-premise version, but the company will be ending these services in 2024.

Which is best for you? 

Let's imagine you have 15 people on your team. If you opt for Basecamp, you'll be paying a flat fee of $99 per month or $6.60/user/month if we break it down. For Jira, for the same number of users, you would pay $7.50/user/month, or $112.50 per month in total (if you're on the Standard plan). If you're on the Premium plan, that's $217.50 per month.

In short, Jira is the more expensive option, but it has more features. Basecamp is also not cost-effective if you have fewer than 10 people on your team. We’ll call this round a tie. 

Jira vs Basecamp free versions

The good news is that both platforms come with a free plan. Jira's free plan is a limited version of the full Jira software. For example, you can only have up to 10 users at once, which can be perfect for small businesses. There's also a limited 2 GB of storage, and you can only automate one project at a time. 

Basecamp’s free plan is also limited. You can only have up to three projects, 1GB of storage space, and no more than 20 users. The free plan lacks features like client access, unlimited projects, and project templates. 

Which is best for you? 

Jira is the winner in this round as its free plan might be good enough for smaller teams or startups with basic needs. Basecamp’s free plan is only good for solopreneurs and personal projects. If you belong in this group, definitely go with Basecamp. 

Customer support

Jira's customer support services vary depending on your monthly plan. Users of the free plan only get community support, while Standard plan users get customer support from 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays. Premium and Enterprise plan users have access to 24/7 customer support. 

Basecamp has chat and email support for all users, but there's no phone support. All users can get in touch with support Monday through Friday, 24/7. During the weekend, customer support is available from 9 am to 6 pm Central Time.

Which is best for you? 

Basecamp wins this round as it offers 24/7 customer support to all users, even those of the free plan. Jira offers better support if you’re subscribed to a higher plan. 

Knowledgebase & learning

Basecamp's knowledge base has podcasts, books, help articles, how-to guides, and video tutorials. 

In Jira's knowledge base, you’ll find a great deal of troubleshooting and how-to articles for versions of Jira Software Server 7.0 and newer. You can also find a range of courses hosted by Atlassian experts where you can learn the main features, key concepts, and best practices of Jira. There’s also a lively community forum, which is always a plus. 

Which is best for you? 

Jira wins this round because it has a more extensive knowledge base and many courses through Atlassian University. 

Basecamp or Jira for ease of use? 

Jira, as a more heavyweight platform, has a steeper learning curve than Basecamp. If you're unfamiliar with the software and are new to project management, the software may not be intuitive at first. It always helps if you follow tutorials and guides on configuring and managing this feature-rich platform. Having a professional on your team who can fine-tune your processes and make the system work for you is always a good idea. 

Basecamp is less complex and more intuitive. Learning how the system works shouldn't take more than a day or two. This is because the software doesn't overwhelm you with too many features; it has just the right amount of functionality for medium-sized teams.

One downside is that some users may feel the software is somewhat siloed as work is divided into multiple Spaces, called Teams and Projects. If you're running multiple projects with several teams, you'll need to jump from one Space to another constantly.

Which is best for you? 

We'll yield this round to Basecamp as it's a more straightforward platform. This software feels intuitive even to newbies to project management. Jira is more complex to learn as it's more feature-rich, and there's a great deal of customization. 

Product limitations

Both tools have their perks, but they also have their downsides. For example, Jira is more geared towards software development needs. The software's features are carefully created to help agile teams track issues.

Any feature that isn't focused on the scrum methodology or agile project management has been stripped out of the platform. The software can be an overkill for smaller teams that are not technical. 

Basecamp's major limitation is the lack of Kanban boards and Gantt charts. This may be a disadvantage for teams that prefer to work more visually. Basecamp may be too lightweight to manage complex projects involving many moving parts. You won’t find any advanced features like time tracking, resource management, or invoicing.

Which is best for you? 

This round is a tie as both Jira and Basecamp have their limitations. Jira may be an overkill unless you’re an agile team, and Basecamp lacks Kanban boards, which are many teams’ favorite way of working. 

Jira vs Basecamp features & functionality

Now that we’ve compared Jira vs Basecamp in terms of pricing, free plans, customer service, and ease of use, it’s time to see how they stack up against each other in features and functionality.  

Integrations

Jira integrates with 3,000+ third-party solutions to offer more extensive capabilities via the Atlassian Marketplace. The software integrates with powerful tools like AdobeXD, Jenkins, Github, Bitbucket, Figma, Slack, Google Workspace, Confluence, and more.  

Basecamp’s integration feature is called Doors. There are 70+ native integrations with third-party tools, and additional 4,000+ integrations via Zapier. 

Which is best for you? 

Jira has a slight edge in this category as it's much more open in terms of integrations. There’s a vast library of native integrations for CRM, time tracking, reporting, code review, cloud storage, and more. 

A note on Jira Basecamp integration

The Basecamp-Jira integration is a great way to relay data from one app to another. The integration works via Zapier, letting you send info between Basecamp 3 and Jira automatically. You have to pick one of the apps as a trigger, which will kick off your automation. For example, every time there’s a new to-do in Basecamp, it will appear as an issue in Jira. 

Mobile versions

Basecamp and Jira have Android and iOS apps for working on the go. You can easily manage your simple day-to-day tasks using the mobile apps. However, keep in mind the mobile apps fall short when you have to do more complex activities. 

Which is best for you? 

This round is a strong tie. In either case, the mobile version is a good option when you’re working on the move, but it’s not on par with the browser version. As usual with PM apps, you’ll want to be using the web app whenever possible, rather than your iPhone or Android phone. 

Automation

Jira has a powerful automation workflow builder that’s fairly easy to use. It operates on a drag and drop functionality and uses the 'when/if-then' logic. 

Basecamp doesn’t come with a native automation feature. 

Which is best for you? 

Jira wins this category as Basecamp doesn’t come with a native automation feature.  You can add this functionality via integration with a third-party app. 

Views

Jira has several ways of viewing your projects. There are Kanban boards for viewing your projects as a whole and Scrum boards for managing overflowing backlogs or planning roadmaps. Jira's boards are fully customizable to fit the workflow of software development, marketing, and project management teams.

Basecamp doesn't come with visual project views like Kanban boards or Gantt charts; you can see your projects and tasks in a simple one-level list. You can add a Kanban board or Gantt chart functionality via an integration.

Basecamp has recently introduced a new way of looking at projects called Lineup. The Lineup feature lets you visually see what you worked on in the past weeks, what you're working on right now, and what you’ll be working on in the future.

Which is best for you? 

Jira is the winner in this round as it has decent Kanban boards and one of the best Scrum boards for software development teams. Basecamp is more limited in this regard. 

Workflow Templates 

Jira has built-in workflows you can use instead of creating your own. You can simply copy and use a specific workflow without much hassle. Additionally, you can build a workflow from scratch or edit one of the numerous pre-existing templates. It's also possible to import a workflow from Atlassian Marketplace. 

Basecamp doesn’t have pre-made templates, but you can create custom project templates from scratch and then start a new project using the templates you've created. 

Which is best for you? 

We’ll give this round to Jira as it has more options for creating workflows. 

Reporting

Jira is one of the most capable project management tools on the market in terms of reports and analytics. For example, the Sprint report gives you an in-depth analysis of each sprint on your Scrum board. The Burndown chart tracks progress within your sprints. The Velocity chart measures the time it takes to move from one sprint to another and estimates how long future sprints will take. There are also time tracking reports, user workload reports, resolution time reports, and more. 

Basecamp is not without reporting features, but compared to Jira, they’re more basic. You can see data like overdue tasks, who’s responsible for which tasks, tasks that are coming up, etc. 

Which is best for you? 

If you care about detailed reports and analytics, then Jira is what you need. But if you care more about communication features than reporting capabilities, go with Basecamp. 

Task management 

In Jira, you can create tasks (called issues), assign tasks to team members, move tasks from one column to another, create subtasks, etc. You can also add multiple dependencies to an issue.

In Basecamp, every Team and Project has a to-do list that you can populate with tasks. Tasks can have a due date, assignees, attachments, and more. You can even assign a task to multiple users and make tasks recurring.

Which is best for you? 

Jira has more robust task management features. It also lets you create dependencies, a functionality Basecamp lacks. 

Collaboration and communication 

Collaboration and communication is where Basecamp shines. It comes packed with many built-in features that support both real-time synchronous and asynchronous discussions. 

In terms of communication tools, you'll find a Message Board, private chats called Pings, and group chats called Campfire. You can adjust your notifications to focus your work as well. 

When it comes to collaboration tools, there's a neat feature called client access that allows you to invite external users to specific teams and boards. What's more, every Project and Team has a space where everyone can share documents, files, and images. 

Jira doesn't have a built-in chat option, but it does have advanced permission features. You can let users create or edit specific projects and invite external users to follow along with project progress.

Which is best for you? 

This round goes to Basecamp as it’s more powerful in terms of collaboration and communication features. While Jira has advanced project roles and permissions, it lacks more powerful team communication features.

File storage 

Jira’s free plan gives you 2 GBs of file storage, but the Standard plan gets you 250 GBs. The two highest-paid plans have unlimited storage space. Basecamp's free plan only offers 1 GB, but the paid plan ups that to 500 GBs. 

Which is best for you? 

We'll call this round a tie as both platforms have pros and cons for file storage. Jira's free plan has more storage space than Basecamp's free plan, but the basic plan gives you 250 GBs. To compare, Basecamp's paid plan gives you 500 GB of storage space. 

Which is better, Jira or Basecamp? Final points

We finally arrive at the end of this extensive side-by-side comparison. We hope it has answered all of your questions about how popular project management tools Jira and Basecamp compare in terms of usability, affordability, features, and functionality. 

But the most important question remains: Which one is better? 

That would depend on your big picture needs. If you’re a software development team and need a task management tool for issue tracking, go with Jira. If you need a collaborative platform to track projects across multiple departments, Basecamp is the better choice. 

A friendly reminder: there are plenty of other good options when it comes to capable project management tools. You can read our article that lists the best CRM and project management software with notes on what kind of business each platform is good for. On the list, you’ll find powerful alternatives like Asana, Monday.com, Wrike, and Trello. 

Good luck!