Basecamp is a good fit for teams that want a calm, opinionated project hub with message boards, to-dos, chat and client access. Roomwork is the better fit when you also want Kanban and Gantt views, tracked time, delivery checks and AI agents that follow up on stuck work.
Not a feature count, but the decisions that change which one fits your team.
| Decision area | Basecamp | Roomwork |
|---|---|---|
| Primary orientation | A fixed set of tools in every project | Connected work: rooms, tasks, time and delivery |
| Views | To-do lists, card tables and a schedule | Grid, Kanban and Gantt task views, saved Views with subscriptions |
| Conversation | Message boards and Campfire group chat | Project rooms with chat, Jams and client messaging, linked to the tasks they create |
| Client access | Clients can be invited into a project, with control over what they see | Internal and external room modes, with client messaging in the project |
| Progress | Hill Charts | Task statuses, blockers, sprints with rollover, and Rōrk answers |
| Meetings | Outside the product | Meeting capture: summaries, decisions and action items filed into the project |
| Time tracking | Not among its core tools | Roomwork Time: desktop clock-in agent, screenshots every 5 minutes, AI review of each session, hour and dollar budgets with runway alerts, payroll |
| AI approach | AI agents can be invited into projects | AI-first: Rōrk, Alva and Sten are part of the room, not a bolt-on |
| Best fit | Teams that want a simple, consistent project hub | Teams wanting one place for conversation, execution, time and verification |
A to-do is overdue. In a simple project hub, someone notices, or someone is chased. In Roomwork, Alva asks the owner for an update, reminds them, and tells the manager if there is still no reply. The discussion, the hours and the answer all sit next to the task, and Rōrk can summarize it all.
Nothing here asks you to relearn how your team works. The concepts map over directly.
| Capability | Basecamp | Roomwork |
|---|---|---|
| Projects | Projects with a fixed set of tools | Projects with rooms, tasks and Canvas |
| Task views | To-do lists and card tables | Grid, Kanban and Gantt, saved Views |
| Progress tracking | Hill Charts | Statuses, blockers, sprints with rollover and Rōrk answers |
| Chat | Message boards and Campfire | Persistent rooms with internal and external messaging |
| Client access | Invite clients into a project | Internal and external room modes |
| Live calls | Outside the product | Jams, recorded into room history |
| Meeting notes | Outside the product | Meeting capture to Canvas, with PDF and Word, and action items turned into tasks |
| Time tracking | Not among its core tools | Native Roomwork Time: screenshots every 5 minutes, AI session review, hour and dollar budgets, payroll |
| GitHub | Through integrations | Native issue creation and commit activity |
| Security checks | Not included | Sten runs Flaw.co Detect scans and Code reviews |
| Email to ticket | Not a focus | Email help@ becomes a ticket in the right client project |
| AI | AI agents can be invited into projects | Rōrk, Alva and Sten built in, with sources from your own rooms |
References: Basecamp features. Basecamp is a product of 37signals, LLC. Competitor details reflect public information as of November 2026 and change over time, so check the vendor's own site for current plans and pricing. All product names are trademarks of their respective owners, and Roomwork is not affiliated with or endorsed by Basecamp.
Basecamp gives every project the same set of tools, and time tracking is not among them.
Roomwork is free with every Paying.co engagement, and in limited beta for new teams. Chat, Jams, tasks, time tracking, Rōrk, Alva and Sten are built in, not sold as add-ons, so there is no stack of extra subscriptions to stitch together.
Start a room and bring your next project conversation, task, and delivery into one connected place, with AI built in from the start. Roomwork is free with every Paying.co engagement, and in limited beta for new teams. It replaces separate chat, project, issue-tracking, time-tracking and video-calling subscriptions.
Start a room →