Basecamp vs Trello

August 10, 2023 | Author: Adam Levine
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Basecamp
Basecamp tackles project management with a focus on communication and collaboration. Making to-do lists and adding to-do items literally just takes seconds. Basecamp is optimized to make the things you do most often really fast and really easy. Basecamp mobile is especially made for popular mobile devices like iPhone and Android.
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Trello
Get organized as fast as you can think. The easy-to-use interface takes no time to learn, and every action is instantaneous, so there’s nothing standing between you and your sweet productive flow. Trello is great alone, but even better with others. Get the whole group onboard in seconds. See their updates in real time.
Basecamp and Trello are both popular project management and collaboration tools, but they have distinct features and focuses. Basecamp is a comprehensive project management platform that offers features like task management, file sharing, messaging, scheduling, and team collaboration. It provides a centralized hub where teams can manage projects, communicate, and share documents. Basecamp focuses on simplicity, ease of use, and fostering collaboration across teams. On the other hand, Trello is a visually-oriented task management tool that uses a board-based system to organize tasks and projects. It offers features like task cards, lists, labels, due dates, attachments, and team collaboration options. Trello is known for its simplicity, user-friendly interface, and intuitive visual representation of tasks. It is suitable for individuals or teams seeking a flexible and straightforward task management solution.

See also: Top 10 Project Management software
Basecamp vs Trello in our news:

2021. Trello is redesigning its project management platform for a remote work future



Productivity app Trello, known for its virtual whiteboard-style platform designed for project organization and management, has unveiled a significant redesign and introduced new features to assist businesses in managing third-party integrations. The platform's visual elements, including the logo and illustrations displayed on its website and apps, have undergone a revamp. Moreover, Trello now offers enhanced customization options for cards and alternative ways to view workloads, expanding beyond the traditional whiteboard column view. The introduction of mirror cards and link cards aims to simplify the management of other applications and services within Trello. Additionally, Trello has introduced five new board views, deviating from its iconic column layout that has gained widespread popularity.


2020. Basecamp launches Hey, a hosted email service for neat freaks


Project management software maker Basecamp has introduced an innovative hosted email service named Hey. With Hey, the company aims to tackle the chaos and clutter typically associated with traditional email inboxes. One of its notable features is a built-in screener that prompts users to confirm whether they wish to receive emails from new senders. Upon consent, inbound emails are sorted into different trays. The central "imbox" (short for important box) exclusively contains communications designated as important by the user. Newsletters are organized in a News Feed-style tray called The Feed, where they are conveniently displayed in a partially opened format for casual reading. Additionally, email receipts are neatly arranged in a dedicated inbox view called the Paper Trail, serving as a reference for users.


2018. Trello acquired business process automation tool Butler



Trello, the collaborative tool under the ownership of Atlassian, has recently made an acquisition of Butler, a lightweight business process automation tool. With the integration of Butler, Trello gains the capability of automation, enabling users to streamline complex tasks through a series of automated commands. Over time, teams have recognized the value of automating processes on Trello boards using the Butler Power-Up, allowing them to allocate more time to essential responsibilities and enhance overall productivity. Butler empowers teams to systematize business rules and procedures, transforming a ten-step process into a single-click automation. This signifies that Trello transcends its static organizational role and ventures into the realm of agile business process automation.


2018. Basecamp adds recurring events and image galleries



Project management service Basecamp has introduced several exciting new features. The first addition is Recurring events, allowing users to schedule daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly repeating events within Basecamp 3. Users can choose to set the recurrence until a specific date or continue indefinitely. The second feature is Image galleries, which enables users to showcase their work or share photos in visually appealing side-by-side or three-in-a-row layouts. This enhancement makes it easier than ever to present visual content. Lastly, Basecamp introduces Automatic Check-ins, a simple and informal tool extensively utilized for team communication. The entire company can engage in queries such as sharing weekend activities and work updates, while smaller teams like Support can address specific questions related to common issues encountered during the week. These new features enrich the Basecamp experience, enhancing collaboration and streamlining communication within teams.


2018. Basecamp improves client collaboration



Collaborating with clients in Basecamp has been significantly enhanced, offering an improved experience. The latest updates enable you to effortlessly assign to-dos to clients, share files and folders, schedule events and meetings, engage in Campfire chats, and even automatically ask clients check-in questions. Within a project, all items are now clearly labeled as either "private to our team" or "visible to the client." To avoid any unexpected sharing mishaps and minimize concerns, every item within a project begins as private, accessible only to your team. When you post something new, you have the flexibility to specify whether it should be visible to the client or remain private within your team. These enhancements ensure smoother collaboration and allow for precise control over shared information in Basecamp.


2018. Trello gets a newsfeed and improved notifications



The project management service Trello, which is owned by Atlassian, is undergoing a makeover. Trello is renowned for its cards and boards, but this simplicity often led power users to sift through numerous boards to determine their next focus. To address this, Trello is introducing a personalized newsfeed that will showcase activity from your Trello teams. The newsfeed will include sections like "Up Next" and "Highlights," providing a comprehensive overview of the ongoing developments within your projects. Furthermore, Trello is introducing enhanced notifications. Users will now have the ability to modify due dates and disable notifications for specific cards directly from the notifications interface. Additionally, users can mark alerts as "read" or "unread" to manage their notification status effectively.


2017. Trello comes to the desktop, gets Stride integration



Popular project management tool Trello, which was recently acquired by Atlassian, has introduced desktop applications for both Mac and Windows operating systems. Previously, Trello was exclusively available as a web-based platform. With the new desktop apps, Trello users can enjoy all the familiar features they are accustomed to using in the browser, along with the added convenience of native desktop notifications. Furthermore, the desktop apps offer the flexibility to add cards from any application using a variety of keyboard shortcuts, allowing users to stay focused without the distraction of navigating to other websites like Facebook. If you are using an Apple laptop equipped with the Touch Bar, you can also take advantage of its capabilities to effortlessly create new cards and open boards in separate windows with a single tap. In line with Atlassian's recent launch of Stride, a competitor to Slack, it is unsurprising that Trello now integrates with Stride as well. This integration enables users to initiate Stride audio and video conferences directly from within Trello, facilitating instant conference calls with all Trello board members without the need to switch between different applications.


2017. Atlassian acquired Trello



Atlassian, the renowned software company, has made a significant acquisition by purchasing the project management service Trello for a whopping $425 million. Similar to its approach with previous acquisitions, Atlassian intends to maintain the Trello service and brand, ensuring that existing users will not experience immediate changes. By acquiring Trello, Atlassian gains access to one of the rapidly growing project management services, boasting approximately 19 million users. Trello enhances productivity for both individuals and teams by providing a comprehensive view of all projects within a single glance. Assigning projects is simple—just place them in the respective person's or team's list, and upon completion, drag them to the "completed" list. Each task, referred to as a "card," allows for comments and the addition of links. Trello is compatible with multiple devices and facilitates file uploads from platforms such as Dropbox or Google Drive.


2016. Trello makes its Power-Ups available to free users



The project management service Trello has expanded access to its Power-Ups feature, making it available to all users, including those on the free tier. Previously, only paying users had access to this functionality, which includes integrations with various products such as SurveyMonkey, join.me, Github, and Slack, among others. Free users were limited to three basic Power-Ups: Calendar for viewing Trello's calendar, Card Aging for gradually fading out cards as they age, and Voting for adding voting options to cards. Additionally, Trello is introducing integrations with Intercom, Github Enterprise, and Screenful. Moreover, Trello is launching two new Power-Ups of its own. The first is custom fields, enabling users to create new data fields and visual cues for their cards. The second is Card Repeater, allowing users to set intervals for recurring tasks. For instance, with Card Repeater, users can automatically generate copies of specific cards for tasks that repeat periodically, such as expense report due dates. Currently, this feature is in public beta, and admins need to request access to it.


2016. Trello launched platform for developers



Project management tool Trello has opened its Power-Ups Platform to developers, providing them with the opportunity to seamlessly integrate their services with Trello. Notable partners in Trello's new developer platform include SurveyMonkey, Zendesk, join.me, and Giphy. Currently, Trello's directory offers around 22 add-ons. By accessing these third-party tools within the Trello service itself, users can avoid frequent context switching to perform routine tasks and automate more aspects of their workflow directly within Trello. It is important to highlight that Trello has long provided an API that enables developers to utilize certain Trello features within their own applications. However, with the introduction of this new platform, developers can directly integrate specific features into the Trello user interface.

Author: Adam Levine
Adam is an expert in project management, collaboration and productivity technologies, team management, and motivation. With an extensive background working at prestigious companies such as Microsoft and Accenture, Adam's in-depth knowledge and experience in the field make him a sought-after professional. Currently, he has ventured into entrepreneurship, owning a thriving consulting and training agency where he imparts invaluable insights and practical strategies to individuals and organizations, empowering them to achieve their goals and maximize their potential. You can contact Adam via email adam@liventerprise.com