Basecamp vs Todoist: which one fits your team?
One holds items, the other holds pages. Both are pleasant to live in and both are relaxed about the calendar, which is fine until the week gets full.
It turns on whether your work is a set of things or a set of documents.
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 Todoist if
you want the quickest personal list in existence and you mostly work alone. Where it stops: a list is not a plan, and there is no time blocking.
What it costs
For a team of 5, billed yearly: Basecamp is about $900 a year, Todoist is about $480 a year, and UnaTask is €480 plus VAT. Between the two of them Todoist is $420 a year cheaper at that size.
Basecamp: Free for one project. $15 per user per month, or $299 a month flat for unlimited users. Todoist: Generous free tier. Pro around $5, Business around $8 per user per month.
Where they part company
Todoist does more on 4 of them
- having a free plan
- having a plan for today
- being the place the tasks actually live
- turning email and chat into tasks
Basecamp does more on 2 of them
- docs and a wiki inside
- turning meetings into tasks
Side by side
| What it does | Basecamp | Todoist | UnaTask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time blocking on a calendar | No | No | Core |
| A plan for today and this week | No | Partly. A today list, ordered by due date, not a day laid out against hours. | Core |
| Two way calendar sync | Partly. A schedule per project, not a calendar you plan a week on. | Partly. A calendar view and limited sync, not a calendar you plan on. | Yes |
| It is the task manager itself | Yes | Core | Core |
| Dependencies and a timeline | No. Left out on purpose. It is a philosophy, not an oversight. | No | 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 | No | Yes |
| Email and chat become tasks | Partly | Yes | Yes |
| Pull requests linked to work | No | No | Yes |
| Docs and wiki inside | Yes. Message boards, docs and check ins per project. | No | 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 | No | Yes. AI teammates you assign a task to. The work comes back on the task for review. |
| Useful before you configure it | Core | Core | Core |
| A free plan | No | Yes | Yes |
What should not decide it
They answer the same on 10: time blocking on a calendar, two way calendar sync, dependencies and a timeline, showing who has room, booking links, linking pull requests to the work, portfolio and agile reporting, rules that fire on their own, AI that does the work rather than the scheduling and being useful before you configure it.
And where UnaTask sits
UnaTask assumes it is both, and adds the part neither of them wants: hours, and a way to see whose hours are already spoken for.
It does more than both of them on time blocking on a calendar, having a plan for today, two way calendar sync, dependencies and a timeline, showing who has room, booking links, turning meetings 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 Todoist: 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 Todoist if you want the quickest personal list in existence and you mostly work alone.
What is the biggest difference between Basecamp and Todoist?
The clearest gap is docs and a wiki inside, where Basecamp does more than Todoist. Underneath that, Basecamp is a place to write things down together, with the work living inside the writing, and Todoist is a list or a board that everybody understands without being taught.
Is Basecamp or Todoist cheaper?
For a team of 5, billed yearly: Basecamp is about $900 a year, Todoist is about $480 a year, and UnaTask is €480 plus VAT. Between the two of them Todoist is $420 a year cheaper at that size.
What do Basecamp and Todoist have in common?
They answer the same on 10 of our 16 axes, among them time blocking on a calendar, two way calendar sync and dependencies and a timeline. Those are the things that should not decide it for you.
Where does UnaTask fit against Basecamp and Todoist?
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 and June 2026.