Basecamp vs Todoist Comparison 2026
Basecamp organises a team's work into projects with message boards, to-do lists, files and a chat room, priced flat at $299 a month once headcount passes a certain size. Todoist is a personal task list built around typing a sentence like 'post the newsletter every Tuesday at 9' and getting a recurring task back, free for five projects. The axis is team against individual. Basecamp coordinates handoffs between people. Todoist keeps one person's publishing rhythm from slipping.
Flat pricing that stops caring how big you get
A task list that survives being ignored for a week
At a glance
- Todoist starts cheaper, at $5.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Basecamp | Todoist | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $15 | From $5 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | 30 days | Not stated |
| API | Yes |
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
Todoist
A task list that survives being ignored for a week
Todoist takes a typed sentence like "post the newsletter every Tuesday at 9" and turns it into a scheduled recurring task, which is the feature the whole product is built around. Five projects on the free account is enough for one person running one operation. Paying raises the limits, adds reminders and calendar layouts, and opens filters that make a large list usable. Teams get their own tier above that, and none of it tries to be a project management suite.
Why people weigh these two
- Todoist instead of Basecamp
- A task list that survives being ignored for a week, from $5 with a free tier; the small end of the same job when a full project tool is too much.
- Basecamp instead of Todoist
- Basecamp charges one flat price regardless of headcount, from $15, built for a whole team's projects rather than one person's recurring tasks.
Which one should you pick
Basecamp suits a team managing dependencies and handoffs between people, not a single task list. Clients and guests are never billed, and a real free project covers up to 20 users with 1 GB of storage before anybody pays. Past a certain team size, Pro Unlimited goes flat at $299 a month for unlimited users and projects, so growth stops changing the bill.
Todoist suits one person running a publishing schedule and the admin around it, who wants capture to be instant and no methodology to learn. Five projects are free, enough for one person running one operation, and typing a date with a repeat is the entire interaction. Pro is $5 a user a month and raises the limits; Business is $8 for team features. The five-project ceiling is the real decision point, because a creator usually needs one project per channel and hits it within a month. At $5 the upgrade is not the real question. The bigger question is a task list against a calendar, and which one the work needs.
Common questions
- Is Basecamp too much for one person?
- Probably. Basecamp is built for a team split across clients and projects, with flat pricing that only pays off once headcount grows. Todoist is built for exactly the one-person case, with five free projects and reminders that do not need a team around them.
- How many projects do I get free on each?
- Basecamp gives one free project with 1 GB of storage for up to 20 users. Todoist gives five free projects for one person, which is closer to what a solo creator running several channels actually needs.
- Which one handles a team with dependencies and handoffs?
- Basecamp. Message boards hold long-form decisions, a separate chat room covers the fast stuff, and automatic check-ins replace a standing meeting. Todoist's own guidance says a team coordinating dependencies and handoffs will find it too simple and should buy something with a board and a timeline instead.
- What does Todoist's paid tier add?
- Pro at $5 a user a month raises the project limits and opens filter views properly, which is what makes a long list usable. Business at $8 a user adds the team features on top. Neither approaches Basecamp's flat $299-a-month ceiling for unlimited users.
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.