Free Plan
Yes – up to 3 users & 2 projects
No (30-day trial only)
Starting Price
~$5/user/month (Premium)
$15/user/month (Basecamp) or $299/month flat
Flat-Rate Unlimited Plan
No – always per-seat
$299/month for unlimited users
Gantt Charts
Yes – built-in with dependencies
No native Gantt chart
Time Tracking
Yes – built-in with timesheets
No native time tracking
Task Dependencies
Yes – finish-to-start and more
No task dependencies
Storage (paid plans)
Up to 120 GB (Enterprise)
500 GB on Basecamp Pro Unlimited
Client Access
Yes – with permission controls
Yes – free client access included
Built-in Chat
Basic – via Feeds & comments
Yes – Campfire real-time chat
Native Integrations
100+ (full Zoho ecosystem + Zapier)
~30-40 via direct + Zapier
Reporting & Dashboards
Advanced – custom reports, EVM
Basic – activity logs only
Learning Curve
Moderate to steep
Very gentle – most teams onboard in a day
Worth knowing
- Zoho Projects is part of the massive Zoho suite — if you already use Zoho CRM or Books, integration is nearly seamless.
- Basecamp's $299/month flat rate becomes a steal once your team exceeds ~20 users versus per-seat tools.
- Zoho Projects supports Earned Value Management (EVM), a feature usually reserved for enterprise PM tools costing 5x as much.
- Basecamp deliberately removed to-do dependencies and Gantt charts — it's a philosophy, not an oversight.
- Zoho Projects has a free tier; Basecamp has never offered one, betting on its reputation to convert trial users.
Basecamp famously runs its own company using only Basecamp — no spreadsheets, no Slack, no email internally. Confident flex or cautionary tale? You decide.
If you wantYou need Gantt charts, time tracking, and detailed reporting
Zoho Projects packs enterprise-grade PM features at a price that won't make your CFO cry.
→ Pick Zoho Projects If you wantYour team hates complexity and just wants to ship things
Basecamp's dead-simple UX means zero training time and near-zero tool abandonment.
→ Pick Basecamp If you wantYou have a large team (20+ people) and want predictable costs
The $299/month flat rate makes Basecamp significantly cheaper than per-seat alternatives at scale.
→ Pick Basecamp If you wantYou're already in the Zoho ecosystem
Native sync with Zoho CRM, Books, and Desk makes Zoho Projects a no-brainer extension of your stack.
→ Pick Zoho Projects Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.