Basecamp vs Notion Comparison 2026
Both cover project management. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Flat pricing that stops caring how big you get
Where most creators end up planning everything
At a glance
- Notion starts cheaper, at $12.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Basecamp | Notion | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $15 | From $12 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial (they differ) | 30 days | None |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Everything, in an open format |
| Their cut | None |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Basecamp
Flat pricing that stops caring how big you get
Basecamp organises work as projects containing message boards, to-do lists, files and a chat room, and it has stayed close to that shape for twenty years. The reason to choose it is the pricing rather than the features: above a certain team size it is one flat monthly fee for everybody, and clients and guests are never billed at all. That makes it unusually easy to reason about for a studio that grows and shrinks. The free package runs a single project, which is a real way to test it rather than a demo.
Only on this side
- Covers hiring & freelancers
Notion
Where most creators end up planning everything
Notion is a content calendar, a sponsor tracker and a script archive, depending on how you build it. Selling templates on it has become a business in itself. The blank page at the start is the hard part.
Our note
The right answer only if you enjoy building the system. If you resent it a week in, that is the tool telling you something, and a purpose-built calendar will serve you better than a Notion setup you never finish.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.