Basecamp costs $15 per user each month on its Plus plan, or a flat $299 per month (billed annually) on Pro Unlimited, which removes the per-seat fee entirely. A free plan covers one project, 1 GB of storage, and up to 20 users. Clients and contractors are always free to invite on any paid plan.
That two-track structure is the whole story with Basecamp, and it is unusual. Most project tools stack three or four tiers with features locked behind each one. Basecamp gives you nearly every feature on day one and only changes how you pay: per person, or one capped price for the entire company. The decision you are actually making is not which features but which billing model fits your headcount.
How Basecamp’s two paid plans actually work
The Plus plan bills $15 per user per month. You pay only for employees and full team members; clients, contractors, and guests are free. It includes unlimited projects and 500 GB of storage, with self-guided onboarding and a 30-day free trial.
The Pro Unlimited plan is a flat $299 per month, billed annually, no matter how many people you add. Basecamp is explicit that you could add 1,000 users and still pay $299. It bundles 5 TB of storage (ten times the Plus allotment), the Admin Pro Pack, the Timesheet add-on, personal onboarding, priority support, and a longer 60-day trial. It also unlocks payment by check, ACH, or wire instead of card-only.
The free plan is genuinely usable for one small project: one active project at a time, 1 GB of storage, and up to 20 people. Finish or delete that project and the slot frees up for the next one. No credit card is required to start, and Basecamp never auto-charges when a trial ends.
Basecamp pricing plans compared
| Feature | Free | Plus | Pro Unlimited |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $15/user/month | $299/month (billed annually) |
| Billing model | Free forever | Per user | Flat, unlimited users |
| Projects | 1 at a time | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Storage | 1 GB | 500 GB | 5 TB |
| Clients & contractors | Free | Free | Free |
| Timesheet & Admin Pro Pack | Not available | $50/month each (optional) | Included |
| Onboarding | Self-guided | Self-guided | Personal |
| Support | 24/7/365 | 24/7/365 | Priority 24/7/365 |
| Free trial | — | 30 days | 60 days |
One number in that table gets misreported constantly: the 5 TB on Pro Unlimited is a total account allotment, not 5 TB per user. Basecamp describes it as ten times the Plus plan’s 500 GB, shared across everyone on the account.
The real break-even: when Pro Unlimited beats Plus
Because Plus is per-seat and Pro Unlimited is flat, the math is simple. Divide $299 by $15 and you get 19.9. So:
- At 19 users, Plus costs $285/month, cheaper than Pro Unlimited’s $299.
- At 20 users, Plus costs $300/month, and Pro Unlimited’s flat $299 pulls ahead.
Twenty employees is the crossover. Below that, Plus is the cheaper plan. At exactly 20 you save a single dollar a month, so the real reason to jump is not that first dollar but everything past it: at 30 employees Plus would run $450/month, while Pro Unlimited stays at $299. Every seat you add after 20 is free on Pro Unlimited, which is why fast-growing teams tend to switch early rather than watch the per-user bill climb.
Two caveats keep this honest. First, only billable employees count toward that seat total, so if half your Basecamp population is clients, you can run a larger operation on Plus than the headcount suggests. Second, the $299 rate requires annual billing. Budget for the full $3,588 per year up front rather than a month-to-month commitment.
What Basecamp leaves out (and why it might not be for you)
Basecamp is opinionated software that deliberately does less. That is a feature for some teams and a dealbreaker for others, so be clear-eyed about the gaps before you commit.
There is no Gantt chart or dependency-linked timeline. Basecamp offers a schedule, a calendar, and its own Hill Charts for showing whether work is still being figured out or heading downhill to done, but nothing that maps task-to-task dependencies. If your projects live and die by a critical path, look at a tool built for it and read our comparison of ClickUp and Microsoft Project instead.
Time tracking is not built in. On Plus it is the paid Timesheet add-on at $50/month; only Pro Unlimited bundles it. There is also no native sprint tooling: no story points, no velocity charts, no sprint boards. The Card Table gives you a clean Kanban view, but agile teams that want burndown reporting will feel the absence. Reporting overall is light, custom fields are minimal, and automation is basic compared with a database-style tool like Notion or ClickUp.
Skip Basecamp if you need resource-loading, formula-driven dashboards, or granular permissions on cheaper tiers. Choose it if endless configuration is exactly the problem you are trying to escape.
Add-ons and hidden costs on the Plus plan
The Plus plan’s low headline price comes with optional extras that Pro Unlimited folds in for free. Each is a flat monthly fee regardless of team size:
- Timesheet for time tracking and exportable reports: $50/month.
- Admin Pro Pack for advanced permissions, forced two-factor authentication, and out-of-office controls: $50/month.
- Extra storage in 1 TB blocks: $50/month per terabyte.
If a Plus team needs both Timesheet and the Admin Pro Pack, that is $100/month on top of per-seat pricing, which nudges the Pro Unlimited break-even lower than the raw 20-seat figure. Run your own numbers with the add-ons you actually need before assuming Plus is the frugal choice.
Discounts for non-profits and schools
Registered 501(c)(3) non-profits get 10% off Pro Unlimited, bringing it to about $269.10/month billed annually with identical features. K-12 schools, homeschoolers, and universities get Basecamp free, provided the account is used only for classwork. Both discounts are applied manually: sign up first, then email Basecamp your paperwork for verification. Basecamp discounts one account per organization, so consolidate teams under a single account rather than expecting several free ones.
How to upgrade or switch your Basecamp plan
Changing plans is self-serve and takes under a minute. To move from Plus to Pro Unlimited:
- Sign in and open Adminland from your account menu in the top-right corner.
- Select Upgrade, downgrade, or change your plan.
- Choose Pro Unlimited and confirm the annual billing terms.
- Enter or confirm your payment details and click Confirm change.
Downgrading works the same way, with one condition: your usage has to fit the lower plan first. To drop to the Free plan you must be down to a single project, so archive or delete extras before the switch. If you cancel an annual plan partway through, Basecamp prorates the unused difference back to your card.
Is Basecamp worth the price?
For a team of 20 or more that wants calm, all-in-one collaboration without a per-seat meter, Pro Unlimited at a flat $299/month is one of the better values in the category, especially as you scale past 30 or 40 people. For small teams under roughly 15 employees, Plus at $15/user keeps costs low and clients free. Where Basecamp stops making sense is any workflow that depends on Gantt timelines, sprints, or heavy reporting, because those simply are not the software’s job. Weigh it against a more configurable option in our ClickUp pricing breakdown and Notion pricing guide, and if budget is the deciding factor, our roundup of the best free project management tools is a useful next stop.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Basecamp cost per month?
Basecamp costs $15 per user per month on the Plus plan, or a flat $299 per month on Pro Unlimited (billed annually, which works out to $3,588 per year). There is also a free plan for one project with 1 GB of storage and up to 20 users, with no credit card required.
Is Basecamp really free?
Yes. The free plan runs one active project at a time with 1 GB of storage and up to 20 people, at no cost forever. You cannot keep multiple projects, but you can delete a finished one to free the slot. No credit card is needed, and Basecamp never charges you automatically after any trial.
When does Pro Unlimited become cheaper than Plus?
At 20 employees. Twenty seats on Plus cost $300 per month, just above Pro Unlimited’s flat $299. Below 20 users Plus is cheaper; above 20 the savings grow because every extra seat on Pro Unlimited is free. Remember that only billable employees count, since clients and contractors are always free.
Do I have to pay for clients and contractors?
No. On every paid Basecamp plan, clients, contractors, and guests are free to invite. On the Plus plan you are billed $15 per month only for employees and full team members, not outside collaborators. This makes Basecamp especially cost-effective for agencies that work with many external clients on a single account.
Does Basecamp offer annual billing discounts?
Pro Unlimited’s $299 price already requires annual billing, so it is effectively the discounted rate at $3,588 per year. The Plus plan is billed monthly per user. Registered non-profits get an additional 10% off Pro Unlimited, and K-12 schools and universities can use Basecamp free for classwork after verification.
Pricing verified against the official Basecamp pricing page and Basecamp discounts page.
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