VIDEO: Comparing Asana and Basecamp for Project Management

With over 200 different project management vendors out there, narrowing your choice down to one or two tools is tough. In terms of features, many project management solutions are very similar, but this doesn't mean all solutions are the same. In this video, we'll explore two popular project management tools: Asana and Basecamp. We'll compare and contrast these solutions based on their features and integrations. Let's look at Asana first. Asana offers a clean, modern user interface that's easy to navigate.

After you make an account, you can start creating your team and adding users. Navigating the app using the left sidebar, you can see overviews of current projects in "Home," add or view tasks assigned in "My Tasks," view activity on tasks and projects in "Inbox," and track project status in "Portfolios." Projects in Asana are places to add and organize tasks, assign them to team members, set deadlines, and more. As with most other project management solutions, you can watch tasks for updates, @ mention others in a comment, upload files, and get shareable task links.

But Asana stands apart in that you can make certain tasks dependent on others so you don't get ahead of yourself. Tasks in Asana typically display as a list, but you can switch between different view options to visualize projects in other ways If you wanted to see which tasks are due next, you can view them as a timeline. If you want an overview, you can view them as a burn up chart. Basecamp offers many of the same features as Asana, but as soon as you log into your account, you'll notice the user interface is quite different.

While there's a lot going on in Asana, Basecamp has a much simpler design, though no less powerful. Instead of showing you a top-down view of information, Basecamp organizes information into small camps. Each camp is organized into six tools. You can find most of these tools in any project management solution, but Campfire and Automatic Check-Ins are two tools that really make Basecamp stand apart. Campfire is a real-time communication tool, which means you won't have to spend as much time switching back and forth between Basecamp and Slack.

Automatic Check-Ins let you send scheduled pulse checks to team members so that you spend less time in status meetings every week. Additionally, you can view tasks in To-dos as a hill chart, which is a feature unique to Basecamp. In terms of the number of available integrations, Asana has an edge over Basecamp. Both solutions offer APIs that allow app integration, but more apps currently integrate with Asana. That isn't to say Basecamp doesn't offer useful integrations, though.

All the more essential apps you'll find in Asana, you'll also find in Basecamp. These include automation, time-tracking and accounting, chart building and reporting tools, and more. It's worth noting that neither Asana or Basecamp currently offers a feature for building Gantt charts, but both solutions integrate with third-party apps that can do this for you. If you're using Asana, there's Instagantt, and if you're using Basecamp, there's Ganttify.

Instagantt and Ganttify are both third-party apps that cost extra, so take this into consideration when deciding which solution is right for your team. Again, project management software is a competitive field with many vendors, so don't end your search with Asana and Basecamp. To learn more about project management software, visit our project management software product selection tool. Click the button below to get started.