Basecamp Alternatives 2026: 5 Free Options
Basecamp alternatives: Plane, OpenProject, Vikunja, Kanboard and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 23, 2026.
•4 min read•Project & Task Management
Verdict:Leave Basecamp when the per-project model stops fitting how you work. The free plan covers one project and three users. The first paid step is Freelancer at $29 a month, which allows three active projects and five users, and Pro at $79 a month raises that to eight projects and ten users. Teams that run many small projects, or that want an open-source stack, have better options. If you have more than ten people and want a full project tracker, OpenProject is the strongest fit, because its Community edition has no minimum user count. Plane suits a team that wants a modern self-hosted tracker and fits the 12-user free tier. Vikunja is the lightest choice when the work is mostly lists and due dates, and it can be self-hosted free. Kanboard and Planka only make sense when a board is the whole job, and Planka's license rules out selling access to clients on a hosted service. The trade-off is maintenance. Every self-hosted option makes you handle upgrades, backups and uptime, which Basecamp handles for a monthly fee. If nobody on your team will maintain a server, pay for Basecamp or choose a hosted tool, and keep the self-hosted options for a team that already runs its own infrastructure.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plane | Free (up to 12 users with basic roles and views); paid from $6 per user/month, billed annually ($8 billed monthly, Pro) | Web, Self-hosted | Teams wanting a modern self-hosted tracker | Docs only |
| OpenProject | Free (Community edition with no minimum users and community-only support); paid from EUR 5.95 per user/month, 25-user minimum (Basic) | Web, Self-hosted | Larger teams that need proper work-package tracking | Docs only |
| Vikunja | Free (Self-host free forever); paid from EUR 4 per month, Vikunja Cloud Personal (Organization EUR 5 per user/month) | Web, Self-hosted | Lists, due dates and personal projects | Docs only |
| Kanboard | Free (Free self-hosted Kanban) | Web, Self-hosted | A free visual board for one team | Docs only |
| PLANKA | Free (Free Community edition for personal, internal and nonprofit use); paid from EUR 36 per month for 5 users, Pro Self-Hosted, billed annually (EUR 7.20 per user) | Web, Self-hosted | Internal Kanban boards for nonprofits | Docs only |
| Asana | Free (Personal plan for up to 2 users with unlimited tasks and projects and list, board and calendar views); paid from $10.99 per user/month, billed annually ($13.49 billed monthly) | Web, iOS, Android | Project management | Docs only |
| monday.com | Free (up to 2 seats, 3 boards and 3 docs); paid from $9 per seat/month, billed annually, 3-seat minimum for paid plans | Web, iOS, Android | Project management | Docs only |
| ClickUp | Free (Free Forever plan with unlimited members, 60 MB of storage, 5 Spaces and 100 automation actions a month) | Web, iOS, Android | Project management | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want free self-hosting for lists and due dates (Vikunja is the pick)
- Your team has more than ten people and no budget for seats (OpenProject is the pick)
- You need a free self-hosted tracker that fits 12 users (Plane is the pick)
- You only need a visual board for one team (Kanboard is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Basecamp features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Basecamp today: Free (Free plan: 1 project, 1 GB storage, up to 3 users); paid from $29 per per month, Freelancer plan (monthly billing shown on page) (Basecamp pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Why people look for Basecamp alternatives
Basecamp's free plan allows 1 project, 1 GB of storage and 3 users. Freelancer is $29 a month for 3 projects, 10 GB and 5 users, and Pro at $79 allows 8 projects and up to 10 users. Unlimited projects and users need Pro Unlimited, $199 a month billed annually or $329 monthly, with extra storage at $50 a month per TB. Pricing is flat rather than per user, but the project and user caps rise in steps.
Plane
Compared with Basecamp: Open-source (AGPL-3.0) project tracker with a free tier of up to 12 users. Against Basecamp Free, which allows one project and three users, you get far more room, but you lose Basecamp's simpler hosted setup.
Price: Free (up to 12 users with basic roles and views); paid from $6 per user/month, billed annually ($8 billed monthly, Pro) (Plane pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 61.6k GitHub stars · latest release v1.4.2 (Aug 23, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Teams wanting a modern self-hosted tracker.
Worth knowing: SSO (SAML, OIDC), wiki, time tracking and intake forms are paid features.
OpenProject
Compared with Basecamp: GPL-3.0 project management with a free Community edition and no minimum user count, though support is community-only. Basecamp Pro caps at 10 users, so this is the better fit once the team passes that size.
Price: Free (Community edition with no minimum users and community-only support); paid from EUR 5.95 per user/month, 25-user minimum (Basic) (OpenProject pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. GPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 16.7k GitHub stars · latest release v17.9.4 (Oct 26, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Larger teams that need proper work-package tracking.
Vikunja
Compared with Basecamp: AGPL-3.0 task and project app you can self-host free forever, with a hosted Personal plan from EUR 4 a month. Compared with Basecamp, you lose the hosted message and check-in style of work and gain a lighter list and board tool.
Price: Free (Self-host free forever); paid from EUR 4 per month, Vikunja Cloud Personal (Organization EUR 5 per user/month) (Vikunja pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 5.9k GitHub stars · latest release v2.7.1 (Oct 20, 2026) · last commit Oct 28, 2026
Best for: Lists, due dates and personal projects.
Kanboard
Compared with Basecamp: MIT-licensed, free self-hosted Kanban board. It covers boards and cards only, so you lose Basecamp's schedules, docs and client access, but you pay nothing and keep every board on your own server.
Price: Free (Free self-hosted Kanban) (Kanboard pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. MIT (open source).
Project activity: 9.9k GitHub stars · latest release v1.2.56 (Oct 21, 2026) · last commit Oct 24, 2026
Best for: A free visual board for one team.
PLANKA
Compared with Basecamp: Kanban board under the PLANKA Community License, free for personal, internal and nonprofit use. It is source-available rather than open source, and the license bars running it as a commercial hosted service, which Basecamp clients may need you to offer.
Price: Free (Free Community edition for personal, internal and nonprofit use); paid from EUR 36 per month for 5 users, Pro Self-Hosted, billed annually (EUR 7.20 per user) (PLANKA pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. PLANKA Community License (source-available, not open source).
Best for: Internal Kanban boards for nonprofits.
Worth knowing: The license bars running it as a commercial hosted service for third parties.
Other popular options (paid)
Asana
Compared with Basecamp: Free Personal plan covers up to 2 users, and paid is $10.99 per user a month billed annually ($13.49 monthly). Per-user pricing instead of Basecamp's flat plans, with list, board and calendar views.
Price: Free (Personal plan for up to 2 users with unlimited tasks and projects and list, board and calendar views); paid from $10.99 per user/month, billed annually ($13.49 billed monthly) (Asana pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
monday.com
Compared with Basecamp: Free for up to 2 seats, with paid plans from $9 per seat a month billed annually and a 3-seat minimum. Per-seat pricing, unlike Basecamp's flat monthly fee.
Price: Free (up to 2 seats, 3 boards and 3 docs); paid from $9 per seat/month, billed annually, 3-seat minimum for paid plans (monday.com pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
ClickUp
Compared with Basecamp: Free Forever has unlimited members but 60 MB of storage, 5 Spaces and 100 automation actions a month. Paid prices vary by plan. Unlimited users against Basecamp's 3-user free cap.
Price: Free (Free Forever plan with unlimited members, 60 MB of storage, 5 Spaces and 100 automation actions a month) (ClickUp pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
- You want free self-hosting for lists and due dates: Vikunja
- Your team has more than ten people and no budget for seats: OpenProject
- You need a free self-hosted tracker that fits 12 users: Plane
- You only need a visual board for one team: Kanboard
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Plane, OpenProject, Vikunja, Kanboard, PLANKA: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Basecamp. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
Related guides
More in Project & Task Management
All Project & Task Management alternatives →Sources
Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-23: Basecamp, Plane, OpenProject, Vikunja, Kanboard, PLANKA, Asana, monday.com, ClickUp. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.