Basecamp might be the most commonly used platform for project management. However, since its inception, many other solutions have been created offering almost all the features available on Basecamp at a very low price or free at all in both hosted or self-hosted versions. From Gantt charts to iPhone apps to track your projects, these project managers have it all.
Active Collab
http://www.activecollab.com/
This project manager might be one of closest to Basecamp in terms of features. Once born as an open source clone of Basecamp, Active Collab is now developed under a close source model. AC offers 7 days of free trial extensible to 30 for $10. Active Collab is self hosted software and version 2 now features invoicing and Subversion integration.
Project Pier
http://www.projectpier.org/
Many developers were dissapointed when Active Collab went closed source, but a group forked the last open source of Active Collab and started Project Pier. It is self-hosted and you need MySQL with InnoDB support to run it.
Lighthouse
http://lighthouseapp.com/
This remotely hosted web application possesses a strong API which allows you to develop even desktop apps. Lighthouse pricing starts at $25/mo but you can try it for free.
Clocking IT
http://www.clockingit.com/
This application is available for free as a remotely hosted solution. However, the source is disclosed under a MIT/X11 license for you to set up your own self hosted application. Clocking IT is highly customizable and is available in a myriad of languages.
COMINDWORK
http://www.comindwork.com/
With an impressive list of features, including even wikis and project blog, COMINDWORK is available as a hosted or self hosted solution, offering plans for as low as $1 a day and even a free account for hosting one project.
Goalkeeper
http://www.goalkeeper.rs/
Goalkeeper is offered as a self hosted solutin and you can get a free account. The Dashboard can be easily customized whenever you need more information or when you want to keep things to a minimum.
Huddle
http://www.huddle.net/
This is one of the heavy contenders in this list, offering even an iPhone app to constantly keep track of your project, Huddle is a hosted solution. If you’re a charity foundation, you might get a free Huddle account given that you comply with a series of conditions.
5pm
http://www.5pmweb.com/
5pm is also hosted and features gadgets such as a desktop time tracker to submit time logs to 5pm or and iPhone app. The interface might be one of the best in this round up featuring interesting actions such as a interactive timeline following the Gantt style.
Redmine
http://www.redmine.org/
Written using Ruby on Rails, one of the most interesting features about Redmine is that it is cross-database and supports multiple databases as well. Redmine is self-hosted, free open source software and released under GPL 2. You can check their live demo site.
project-open
http://www.project-open.com/index.html
This project manager has been integrated within an enterprise resource planning system. The list of features is extremely extensive for an open source software, including document sharing based on permissions, invoicing, time logging, human resource management, integrated wiki and much more. Makes for a perfect solution for almost any project management requirements. The demo for ]project-open[ allows you to log in using different user roles.
So what do you think about these alternatives? do you know of any other that deserves to be featured?
We’re currently looking for a project collaboration company, but its hard to see which is best for us.
You guys all seem to know your stuff, so here’s a list of our priorities – any thoughts?
Our priorities are:
Client interface – we need private access for each client. A space which is theirs to view new or previous uploads and keep them away from other projects or internal communication
Video playability – as a production company we often send links to youtube for previews, it would be great to be able to stream a video, so the client can click in and view online.
Customisation: Being able to brand is very important to us. Potentially even add our cleints logos to their pages alongside ours as t makes them feel special
ipad/iphone compatibility or apps
Gannts style diaries or just diaries for each project as well as a compeany over view project
A userfee of around $40 a month max or $299 per annum.
If you guys have any ideas, I’d love to har them
Thanks
Great list. That makes Goplan a great alternative then. I have used basecamp and it gets annoying when you have many projects. Tabbing around is time consuming.
I’ve had trouble with basecamp in the past so this is a great list! I’d also like to add Workgroups, http://www.metacommunications.com the list! I currently use it only because we needed an enterprise project management app.
Our company started using Dooster a couple of months ago. The partners had really wanted Basecamp but we are a small company and budget dictates so they took Dooster and are very pleased. I think it’s good and easy to use and has improved communication and output level and the customer service is excellent.
Just want to add how great dooster is. I’ve been checking it out for a few days. The comment above about bad design must have been for an earlier edition ? It looks fine to me. The main thing is that it is very very functional. We’ve just migrated all our basecamp data over – they’ve got a tool and did it all for us in about 30 mins ie I just sent them one email and that was all it took me. Awesome. Love it. and we’re saving a ton of money over basecamp
A little late to this party but you should also take a look at TeamWork Live (http://www.teamworklive.com/basecamp-alternative). It has a nice Basecamp import tool that allows you to import your Basecamp projects in minutes (including all of your files!). TeamWork Live ahs a built-in Gmail-like messaging system that allows you to keep all your project conversations nicely organized without any work on your part.
anything that can be put on my own server so I can keep control over my one business?
Hey I would like to add another tool to this list. The tool is DeskAway. It’s a web based, simple tool with clean user interface & rich features.
[…] is easy, then many people will build one and compete with you. For example, there are many projects cloning 37signal’s Basecamp product or bringing basic telephony services to market based on the open source asterisk project. If […]
[…] the Simply Red sung many years ago me and Flavio Licciulli put ourselves in a quest to find some BaseCamp alternatives tools to deploy in our Institute. After some work our choice went over Project Pier: ProjectPier […]
For someone who needs a complicated project management software with Gantt charts support etc there is for example dotproject.net for free. For smaller project you can try, also for free (basic plan), http://www.projectino.com, what is more for online collaboration, personal project as well as for less complicated project in your company. Both softwares are SaaS, so you can use them with many people,wherever you want – only what you need is internet access.
I hope this info will be helpful for you.
We use Dooster and it’s pretty good. We seem to be functioning better since we’ve had it.
sos una crack, gracias por este post
Gack! There are SOOO many choices here. I’ve tried a few of them. I second the vote for MavenLink. It’s extremely intuitive and not “over-featured.”
Has anyone heard anything about Mavenlink?
is it any good?
We are looking for an online solution to mange our estimation & Design office, Engineering works and site teams, and output to invoicing and account management. any recommendations??
I guess you can also add Bontq, SifterApp and Trello to this list.
I would like to add MOOVIA http://www.moovia.com to this list, it’s a free, feature rich, and yet simple to use online project management solution.
There really isn’t a good alternative, most are too complex and hard to use/setup. I’m currently working on a new one, yet to be named. Need a good alternative to BaseCamp that is free and self hosted!
Been using Projecturf for 8 months now and up until this week was happy with it. I feel that i must warn others, however, their latest system maintenance lost content on my projects and after 24 hours I still cannot use the system. I understand technical problems occur, but this has been a key component of my business organization system and lost data and a greater than 24 hour down period is unacceptable. I am looking at other systems now after having done an extensive research before using Projecturf.
That’s really too bad Debby. So far the best option I’ve found and that I recommend you is Trello. I post something about it soon.
We used Huddle and tried out activecollab, neither really worked for us and the integrations were crumby. Then recently we started using Siasto (http://siasto.com) which we found through the Google Apps Marketplace and it’s great! It’s integrated into other products we use: GDocs, GCal, GMail, and Dropbox. And they seem to be working on it pretty fast too.
Great post! I’d like to throw in another tip about a system I work with – Hot Project (http://www.hotproject.com), they offer a heap of features including automated timesheets which I haven’t seen above. There’s a free trail at the moment for up to 5 users, I recommend having a look.
I’m using Activ collab and seriously it’s one of the best alternative.. Though sadly they don’t offer free upgrade after 1 year which makes it little costlier.
I would like to add ProofHub in your list. I am using it for project management, it is very simple and user friendly.
I had once checked out some project management tools to replace Basecamp and some I shortlisted were Zoho and 5PM.
One feature that’s missing from Basecamp is resource scheduling. Check out Resource Guru which tackles this problem – http://resourceguruapp.com. It’s a fast, simple way to schedule people, equipment and other resources online.
Maybe you could have a lot at http://kanbantool.com/
redmine.org is good, but be aware that your server will need to support SSH.
Hi everyone,
Just to check if anyone knows of a projectmanagement program connected to excel? Like interfacing my excel planning form (dates, sources etc.) with a project planning tool?
You should also include Brightpod (http://brightpod.com). Specifically built for marketers.
Here’s another tip- Try Google Calendar + ClipPod. We’ve using it for our own resource scheduling and basic project planning and it has worked out quite well so far.
Eulalia Hassinger
As a Newbie, I am continuously exploring online for articles that can be of assistance to me. Thank you