Basecamp vs Workfront

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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Workfront
Manage work in one place with Adobe Workfront, the only online cloud-based project management software to support all work in any methodology.
Basecamp and Workfront are both popular project management tools, but they have key differences. Basecamp is a simple and user-friendly project management platform that focuses on team collaboration and communication. It offers features such as task lists, file sharing, messaging, and project scheduling. Basecamp emphasizes a streamlined and intuitive interface, making it easy for teams to coordinate and stay updated on project progress.

Workfront, on the other hand, is a comprehensive work management platform that encompasses project planning, task management, resource allocation, and reporting. It caters to organizations with complex project workflows and a need for in-depth project tracking and analytics. Workfront emphasizes project visibility, resource management, and collaboration across various teams and departments within an organization.

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

2020. Adobe acquires project management startup Workfront for $1.5B



Adobe has recently made an announcement regarding its acquisition of the marketing workflow management startup Workfront for a substantial amount of $1.5 billion. This strategic move by Adobe is aimed at expanding its offerings within the Experience Cloud, enabling the integration of additional online marketing tools. Workfront specializes in assisting companies in effectively managing complex projects, whether within the marketing department or other areas of the organization. Notably, Workfront boasts an impressive customer base that includes renowned companies such as Home Depot, T-Mobile, and Deloitte. Furthermore, there is a significant overlap of 1,000 shared customers between Workfront and Adobe, out of Workfront's total customer base of 3,000. Workfront's APIs provide seamless connectivity to Adobe's Creative Cloud and Experience Cloud, two key components frequently utilized by marketers within Adobe's product family.


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. 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.


2015. Project management service Workfront raised $33 million



Project management solution Workfront (formerly known as AtTask) has recently announced securing a significant $33 million in Series E funding. While Workfront primarily targets marketing, IT, and services teams in its marketing efforts, its solution is not limited to these specific teams. The platform offers a comprehensive range of services, including basic project and task management, advanced workflow automation, approval processes, document management, and proofing tools. Prominent organizations such as Cisco, Comcast, Trek, and Cars.com are among Workfront's esteemed clientele. Workfront stands out by providing robust enterprise tools, distinguishing itself from some of its competitors. However, it operates within a highly competitive market that features well-funded emerging players like Asana and established companies like Atlassian. Notably, Atlassian's project management tools have gained significant traction beyond its traditional developer-centric market.


2014. Basecamp app is available for iPad



The official app for iPad has been launched by the popular project management service Basecamp, expanding beyond its previous availability only on iPhone and the web for iPad users. This app enables users to conveniently access their projects from anywhere, providing updates on each project's latest news, facilitating participation in discussions and sharing thoughts, and allowing the viewing of team members' progress as they complete tasks and upload files. With all project-related information accessible, users can easily reference documents and make decisions regardless of their location. The app boasts a swift and responsive performance, featuring a clean and well-organized interface.


2014. 37Signals renames to Basecamp, discontinues development of other products



37Signals emerged as one of the pioneers in the SaaS market. In 2004, they introduced Basecamp, a project management service that remains highly popular to this day. It boasts a user base of 15 million individuals and is often regarded as a trailblazer in web-app design. Notably, 37Signals CEO, Jason Fried, is widely recognized, and he has authored books such as Getting Real and ReWork. Jason's profound admiration for small businesses and the startup ethos is evident. Despite Basecamp's remarkable success, he has successfully maintained the startup mentality within the company, employing only 43 individuals. Jason even experimented with scaling back the customer base to control growth. Presently, he has conceived a new idea: to pause the development of other products (including the CRM system Highrise, group chat Campfire, task-manager Ta-Da List, wiki Writeboard, and organizer Backpack) and concentrate all efforts on Basecamp. Moreover, he has decided to rename the company from 37Signals to Basecamp, a concise and elegant title. If you are a user of 37Signals products affected by this decision, there is no need to panic. The products will continue to function and receive support in the future, albeit without further feature updates.


2013. Basecamp launches mobile app for iOS



HTML5 has taken a backseat to mobile applications, at least for the time being. Jason Fried, the CEO of the highly popular project management service Basecamp, has always prioritized the effectiveness of his product over following trends or engaging in mere PR stunts. He previously held the belief that focusing on the web interface was the best approach rather than chasing the multitude of mobile platforms. As a result, Basecamp was only available as a web app for mobile devices. However, Jason has recently concluded that a native client would offer greater convenience. As a result, Basecamp is now accessible as a native app for iPhone and iPad. The app is free and showcases the new, visually appealing style of the web version.


2013. Basecamp Personal - SaaS with no monthly charges



37Signals, the maker of the popular SaaS project management app Basecamp, always invent something interesting and innovative. This time they coming up with the new service Basecamp Personal, intended for small teams (projects), for which the regular Basecamp is too expensive. Earlier Basecamp used to provide a free version for one project and it was very popular. But as you know, 37Signals want to have fewer clients and more money. Therefore, they decided to create a paid version for 1 project and 5 users. But how beautiful they did it... ***


2012. New Basecamp: All ingenious is simple



As one of the Enterprise 2.0 classics said: "If I had more time, I would have created a simpler application". That's how 37Signals (the company behind the project management app Basecamp) is spending its time. Basecamp was launched about eight years ago and since then it remained almost unchanged. Every new feature was added only if it was really necessary. Due to this, Basecamp has retained its simplicity and effectiveness. But it turned out that the Basecamp developers during all these years not only defended the app from the complications, but also have been inventing more perfect and simple structure. And this year they decided to roll it out. It's hard to believe, but the new version of Basecamp is even easier and more effective. ***

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