Basecamp vs Notion: which one fits your team?
Both of these believe the writing is the work: decisions, context and discussion in one place, with tasks living inside the pages rather than beside them.
It turns on whether you want a blank page you shape yourself or an opinionated structure that refuses to bend.
Pick Basecamp if
your work is client shaped and full of discussion, and you want fewer meetings and less chat. Where it stops: it deliberately will not tell you when the work happens.
Pick Notion if
the thing you need is a place to write, document and think out loud together. Where it stops: a database of tasks is not a plan, and somebody has to build it first.
What it costs
For a team of 5, billed yearly: Basecamp is about $900 a year, Notion is about €570 a year, and UnaTask is €480 plus VAT. The two are quoted in different currencies, so we have not subtracted one from the other.
Basecamp: Free for one project. $15 per user per month, or $299 a month flat for unlimited users. Notion: Free plan. €9.50 Plus and €19.50 Business per member per month, with AI credits on top.
Where they part company
Notion does more on 7 of them
- having a free plan
- having a plan for today
- dependencies and a timeline
- turning meetings into tasks
- linking pull requests to the work
- docs and a wiki inside
- AI that does the work rather than the scheduling
Basecamp does more on 2 of them
- being useful before you configure it
- being the place the tasks actually live
Side by side
| What it does | Basecamp | Notion | UnaTask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time blocking on a calendar | No | No | Core |
| A plan for today and this week | No | Partly | Core |
| Two way calendar sync | Partly. A schedule per project, not a calendar you plan a week on. | Partly | Yes |
| It is the task manager itself | Yes | Partly. Tasks are a database you build, not a task manager you are given. | Core |
| Dependencies and a timeline | No. Left out on purpose. It is a philosophy, not an oversight. | Partly | Yes. Dependencies with a timeline that shows what is waiting on what. |
| See who has room | Partly | Partly | Core |
| Booking links | No | No | Yes |
| Meetings become tasks | Partly | Yes | Yes |
| Email and chat become tasks | Partly | Partly | Yes |
| Pull requests linked to work | No | Partly | Yes |
| Docs and wiki inside | Yes. Message boards, docs and check ins per project. | Core. This is the thing it is best at, and it is genuinely hard to beat. | Partly. Docs live on a project, they are not a wiki you would run a company from. |
| Portfolio or agile reporting | Partly | Partly | Partly. Team workload and project progress, not portfolios that roll up to a board. |
| Rules that fire on their own | Partly | Partly | Yes |
| AI that does the work, not just the scheduling | No | Partly | Yes. AI teammates you assign a task to. The work comes back on the task for review. |
| Useful before you configure it | Core | No. A blank page is the point, and it is also the work. | Core |
| A free plan | No | Yes | Yes |
What should not decide it
They answer the same on 7: time blocking on a calendar, two way calendar sync, showing who has room, booking links, turning email and chat into tasks, portfolio and agile reporting and rules that fire on their own.
And where UnaTask sits
UnaTask is the half these deliberately leave out. Keep writing where you write. Put the doing on a calendar where it has hours.
It does more than both of them on time blocking on a calendar, having a plan for today, two way calendar sync, being the place the tasks actually live, dependencies and a timeline, showing who has room, booking links, turning email and chat into tasks, linking pull requests to the work, rules that fire on their own and AI that does the work rather than the scheduling.
Common questions
Basecamp vs Notion: which should I pick?
Pick Basecamp if your work is client shaped and full of discussion, and you want fewer meetings and less chat. Pick Notion if the thing you need is a place to write, document and think out loud together.
What is the biggest difference between Basecamp and Notion?
The clearest gap is being useful before you configure it, where Basecamp does more than Notion. Underneath that, Basecamp is a place to write things down together, with the work living inside the writing, and Notion is a place to write things down together, with the work living inside the writing.
Is Basecamp or Notion cheaper?
For a team of 5, billed yearly: Basecamp is about $900 a year, Notion is about €570 a year, and UnaTask is €480 plus VAT. The two are quoted in different currencies, so we have not subtracted one from the other.
What do Basecamp and Notion have in common?
They answer the same on 7 of our 16 axes, among them time blocking on a calendar, two way calendar sync and showing who has room. Those are the things that should not decide it for you.
Where does UnaTask fit against Basecamp and Notion?
UnaTask does more than both on time blocking on a calendar, having a plan for today and two way calendar sync. It is free on your own and €10 per seat for a team, with every feature included. Where it does less: it is not an issue tracker with sprints and burndown, and it is not a documentation workspace.
Details checked 2 August 2026.