Magnetic vs
Basecamp

The Best basecamp alternative for professional services firms

Basecamp is a popular project collaboration tool loved for its simplicity. Magnetic is purpose built for professional services firms. Here's how they compare.

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Quick summary

Both tools are purpose built for professional services. Here's how they differ in approach

magnetic is built for

Teams that need project budgets, margins, invoicing and time tracking in the same tool
Firms that want a single tool and not separate apps for time tracking, billing, CRM and reporting.
Professional Services firms that need to know which projects are profitable and which are overservicing.
Teams that need resource planning, utilisation tracking and capacity visibility.
Firms that want Gantt Charts, dependencies, and structured project hierarchies alongside financial controls.

basecamp is built for

Small teams that need a simple, focused project collaboration tool.
Companies that value simplicity over feature depth and want minimal onboarding.
Teams that prefer flat-rate pricing with unlimited users.
Organisations that want free client access and easy-to-use collaboration features
Teams happy to add seperate products for CRM and support as they grow.
how they compare

Feature-by-feature comparison

A detailed breakdown of capabilities across both tools,  based on publicly available information and product documentation

Features
Magnetic
Basecamp
Pricing
Starting price
per user, per month (billed annually)
$10/ user
Essentials plan (min. 5 users)
$15/ user
Plus plan (billed monthly only)
Free plan
Solo plan *1 user
Free trial
14-days
30-days
project ManagEment
Task Management
To-do lists with assignments & due dates
Gantt Charts
Kanban boards
Called "Card Table"
Project Templates
With relative dates for milestones
Milestones
Dependencies
Project budgets and cost tracking
Native budget management per project
Built in
Real-time project margins
Live profitability tracking
Net margin, net revenue, gross
+ net profit - visible per project, profitability reports
Budget warning thresholds
Alerts before budget is exceeded
Configurable alerts
(e.g. 80% budget used)
Sub-project heirarchy
Master projects with sub-projects
Resource planning
Resource scheduler
Visual resource allocation
Drag-and-drop with smart distribution
+ split tasks across users by day
Capacity planning dashboard
Ideal vs max capacity per use, per day
Utilisation tracking
Billable vs. non-billable visibility
Skills-based resource allocation
Resource suggestions based on availability, skills, role + capacity
Include pipeline in workload
Factor in unconfirmed deals for planning
Leave manangement
Balances, approvals, public holidays
- deducts from capacity
Out of office toggle
(no balances, approvals or leave types)
Financials & billing
Native invoicing
Create & send invoices
Generate invoices directly from tracked time
Client billing
Bill clients from tracked time
Built in
Client rate cards
Cost estimates
Purchase order management
POs, supplier invoices, spend tracking
WIP management
Work-in-progress tracking & revenue recognition
Profitability dashboard
Revenue forecasting
Multi-currency support
Expense claims
Accounting integration
Via Xero/Sage
Native integration
via Zapier or third-party connectors
time tracking
Native time tracking
Add on: $50/month (plus)
or included on Pro Unlimited
Timer (start/stop)
Native time tracker, desktop app available via timeboost
Required Timesheet add-on
Calendar auto-populates timesheets
Pre-fill from calendar entries
Auto-populates from calendars
+ creates tasks in timesheets
Billable vs non billable
Timesheet Enforcement
Block system access for incomplete timesheets
Time-to-invoice flow
Direct connection to billing
Approval workflows
Flexible approval engine across modules
crm & sales
Native CRM
Built in customer management
Sales pipeline management
Pipeline forecast dashboard
Deal-level margin insight
Evaluate profitability before a project starts
Time & Expense on Opportunties
Evaluate profitability before a project starts
Sales to Delivery Handoff
Automated project creation from won deals
Contact management
Automated project creation from won deals
general
Custom fields
Unlimited
Automations
Built-in customisable automation engine
Via Zapier or Make
(no native automations)
Reporting
Custom report builder + profitability pipeline, WIP, overservicing, and utilisation reports
Basic activity reports (overdue items, upcoming
dates, to-do progress) No financial reporting
Mobile App
iOS and Android
API Access
Zapier Integration
Slack integration
via Zapier
Via Zapier
Guest access
Built-in chat
Campfire (group chat)
and Pings (direct messages)
GDPR Compliance

Information accurate as of March 2026. Features and pricing may change. Please refer to each vendor's official website for the most current information. Comparison based on publicly available documentation and product information.

Switching is easy

Move to Magnetic without the Headache

Our onboarding team handles your data migration. Projects, contacts, and historical data move over cleanly so your team is productive from day one.

Guided data migration from ClickUp
Dedicated onboarding specialist
Team training sessions included
Up and running in weeks, not months
Talk to our team

2 week

Average Setup
Typical setup takes 2-3 weeks, but we've had firms up and running in 1 week too.

100%

Data Migrated
We'll help you migrate data from your current systems

1:1

Onboarding Support
Dedicated onboarding teams ensure you're setup matches the way you work

Monthly

Free Training
Monthly free training for existing & new team members
Customer Stories

We’ve seen the value firsthand. Magnetic has helped us replace the noise of multiple tools with a single, reliable system that actually supports how we work.”

Billy Einkamerer
Managing Director, Exonic Solutions
Facts & Numbers

80%

Improvement in project visibility

Why professional service firms choose Magnetic

Professional services firms operate differently from internal project teams. They need to manage both project delivery and financial performance. Magnetic was built with these requirements in mind.

Margin protection
Stop over-servicing early and keep your projects profitable.
Over-servicing alerts and reporting at company, client, project, and user level.
Baseline budgets and variance tracking against actuals over time
Timesheet enforecement to ensure accurate data across the business
Real-time margin visibility from pipeline through to invoice
Profitability Focus
See how projects are performing financially before they're finished.
Real-time project margins visibilty
Revenue and capacity forecasting
Deal-level financial insights before a project begins
Profitability reporting by client, project, user and department
Deep financial controls
WIP, POs, revenue recognition and quoting tools build for professional services firms.
WIP management with 3 revenue recognition methods.
Live KPI monitoring
Purchase order management with supplier invoicing and spent tracking.
Personalised onboarding and monthly live training
frequently asked questions

All your questions, answered

What's the main difference between Magnetic and Basecamp?
They are different types of tools. Magnetic is a purpose-built PSA with CRM, project management, resource planning, time tracking, invoicing, and reporting in a single product. Basecamp is a project collaboration and communication tool built around to-dos, message boards, chat, and file sharing. For professional services firms that need to manage finances, track profitability, and bill clients, Magnetic covers that end-to-end. Basecamp is a good fit for small teams that need a simple, focused way to organise projects and communicate with clients.
Does Basecamp have financial features like invoicing or budgeting?
No. Basecamp does not include invoicing, project budgets, rate cards, expense claims, profitability tracking, or any financial management features. It is designed purely for project collaboration and communication. If you need financial visibility, you would need to add separate tools like Harvest, FreshBooks, or Xero alongside Basecamp. Magnetic includes all of these natively from the Pro plan (£17/user/month), so your project data and financial data are connected in one place.
Does Basecamp offer time tracking?
Basecamp added a Timesheet feature, but it is a paid add-on ($50/month) on the Plus plan. It is included on the Pro Unlimited plan ($299/month). The Timesheet lets you log time against to-dos and other items with a start/stop timer or manual entry. However, it does not include billable vs non-billable categorisation, timesheet approvals, timesheet locking, or a time-to-invoice flow. Magnetic includes native time tracking on all plans with approval workflows, billable/non-billable tracking, timesheet enforcement, and direct connection to invoicing.
How do the pricing models compare?
Magnetic uses per-user pricing: Essentials at £9/user/month (min. 5 users) includes CRM, project management, resource planning, and time tracking. The Pro plan at £17/user/month adds invoicing, expense claims, and accounting integrations. Basecamp's Plus plan is $15/user/month, and their Pro Unlimited plan is a flat $299/month for unlimited users. The flat-rate pricing can be attractive for larger teams, but Basecamp does not include financial features, resource planning, or CRM on any plan. When you factor in the extra tools needed to fill those gaps, the total cost often increases.
Which tool offers better customer support?
Both tools offer knowledge bases and email-based support. Basecamp provides 24/7/365 support on all paid plans and runs weekly live Q&A classes. Personalized 1:1 onboarding is only available on their Pro Unlimited plan ($299/month). Magnetic provides personalised onboarding, monthly live training sessions, and live chat support.

See Magnetic in Action

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