TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Basecamp

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/ABasecamp is a web-based project-management tool. Basecamp offers features standard to project management platforms, as well as mobile accessibility, unlimited users, and 3rd party integrations. Basecamp is priced by space requirements and concurrent projects.

    $15

    per month per user

    Harpoon

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AHarpoon is a web-hosted accounting and finance app that helps freelancers and consultants set and meet their financial goals. In addition, Harpoon provides useful tools to help users collect revenue and manage finances. Features include time tracking, invoicing, expense tracking, project scheduling and more.  The vendor’s value proposition is that their solution that helps users boost their freelancing career.

    $19

    per month

    Pricing
    BasecampHarpoon
    Editions & Modules
    Basecamp Plus
    $15
    per month per user
    Basecamp Pro Unlimited
    $299
    per month (billed annually)
    Basecamp Free
    Free
    Limited Capabilities
    Single User - Unlimited Everything
    $19
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BasecampHarpoon
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BasecampHarpoon
    Considered Both Products
    37 Signals
    No answer on this topic
    Harpoon
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    89%
    Would buy again
    49 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    44 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    85%
    Happy with the feature set
    47 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    36 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    42 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    BasecampHarpoon
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of Basecamp and Harpoon
    Feature
    Basecamp
    7.9
    121 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Harpoon
    -
    Ratings
    Task Management9.4120 Ratings00 Ratings
    Resource Management8.4101 Ratings00 Ratings
    Gantt Charts2.041 Ratings00 Ratings
    Scheduling6.996 Ratings00 Ratings
    Workflow Automation7.071 Ratings00 Ratings
    Team Collaboration10.0120 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for Agile Methodology6.950 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for Waterfall Methodology6.946 Ratings00 Ratings
    Document Management9.7112 Ratings00 Ratings
    Email integration7.798 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Access9.698 Ratings00 Ratings
    Timesheet Tracking10.046 Ratings00 Ratings
    Change request and Case Management8.956 Ratings00 Ratings
    Budget and Expense Management7.040 Ratings00 Ratings
    Professional Services Automation
    Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Basecamp and Harpoon
    Feature
    Basecamp
    6.8
    41 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Harpoon
    -
    Ratings
    Quotes/estimates8.329 Ratings00 Ratings
    Invoicing6.925 Ratings00 Ratings
    Project & financial reporting8.034 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with accounting software4.028 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BasecampHarpoon
    Small Businesses
    Any.do
    Score8 out of 10
    Time Doctor
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    KanbanFlow
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Toggl Track
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft To Do
    Score9.6 out of 10
    TimeCamp
    Score8.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BasecampHarpoon
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.3
    (147 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (26 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (17 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.8
    (28 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.7
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BasecampHarpoon
    Likelihood to Recommend
    37 Signals
    Basecamp is a wonderful tool for teams of varying degrees of technical knowledge, teams managing lots of different types of "agifall" and waterfall projects, and teams that are remotely distributed. It's probably less useful for more strictly agile-focused development teams, compared to other more flexible software applications like Jira and Asana.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Harpoon
    I think Harpoon works best for freelancers, consultants, self employed people and smaller companies with less client to bill. For larger enterprises with hundreds or thousands of clients, there are larger, more intricate platforms in the market that are better suited for those needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    37 Signals
    • Task management - It is very easy to add, organize and discuss tasks within Basecamp's interface.
    • The "Campfire" function is great for communicating when you just have a quick question for someone on the team.
    • Notifications - Basecamp lets you decide how often and about what you'd like to be notified. The ability to respond to messages in Basecamp directly via email saves a lot of time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Harpoon
    • Makes Sending Invoices & Collecting Payment Easy, for Freelancers
    • Tracking Financial Goals (Monthly & Annual) & Projecting Future Results
    • Provides Insights On AR, Earned Income, Top Clients, and other helpful but highly relevant data points.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    37 Signals
    • High Learning Curve. It's true that it can be easy to use, but to use well and effectively takes some time to learn. It's recommended to have an agreed-upon system in your team of what tools to use and when.
    • Notification Overload. If people aren't careful they could send a notification to everyone when only a couple people were meant to be prompted. And since emails are sent by default, you could have your mailbox overloaded with unnecessary updates. This is where it takes a bit of training in your team to have an agreed-upon system.
    • Lack of organization with Archived Projects. I will often need to reference an archived project to make a new one, but there is only a list of archived projects in alphabetical order, with no way to organize by archive date, or even search.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Harpoon
    • Sometimes expense reporting bring up duplicate transactions, which may be more of a fault of the API that connects my account, which is Plaid
    • Would be nice if in the future, they can offer ACH as one of the payment options for invoices
    • There are some redundancies that pop up when setting time frames for client work and the projects attached to them. If they aren't aligned, it can cause inaccurate reporting. If it just sent it once and it took care of both functions, it would be easier
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    37 Signals
    When I bring new people onto a project, it's immediately obvious how to use Basecamp. I don't have to worry about teaching them the features or walking them through it, it's just incredibly user-friendly. For this reason, I'll continue to renew my subscription even as new people are brought onto production jobs or the client changes.
    Read full review
    Harpoon
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    37 Signals
    It is easy to use, even for clients who have no experience with the platform. It can only get a little cumbersome to ensure that a client can't see certain documents you might want to keep in the Docs & Files folders. And sometimes, getting a client to actually use an unfamiliar platform can be a challenge.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Harpoon
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    37 Signals
    I've never experienced downtime while using Basecamp, or been unable to access it when I needed it. That's not to say they've never had downtime, but I've been lucky enough not to encounter any, and I work odd hours, including late nights when maintenance is often undertaken.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Harpoon
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    37 Signals
    For the many reasons I've given, Basecamp is a very strong program. There are a few features I can imagine that might make it even better, but I don't have a basis for comparison to be able to say that there is definitely a better one out there. I've noticed that Basecamp has evolved a bit from the time I started using it until now, so that makes me think that the producer of this program values it and believes in continuous improvement. If you could use the features offered by Basecamp, I would think you could use it with confidence.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Harpoon
    The few times I've needed help or had questions about the platform, the founder got back to me. And fairly fast. The extra effort resonated well with me
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    37 Signals
    Decide the process before implementation - i.e. when it's due 8/9 does that mean 8am, noon, 5pm, 11:59pm? Check your to-do list frequently Set-up templates - just not with the dates (they can be funky)
    Read full review
    Harpoon
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    37 Signals
    Pretty good, but [Basecamp] has its drawbacks. Honestly I find the interface non-intuitive and sometimes have trouble figuring out how to change the status of a task. Perhaps it has something to do with the way it was originally set up by the admin, but I'm not sure. I liked Jira's drag and drop obvious functionality, but the project management side of the software was lacking. Smartsheet has excellent project management functionality, but the task management isn't as good.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Harpoon
    I've used Less Accounting and & Quickbooks Online. After Less Accounting was acquired, its development was mostly stopped. While the tool was a simple way to manage invoices and expenses, its directional philosophy changed with the new owners. Quickbooks Online was a solid tool, but the company support was unhelpful and hard to work with at times. Harpoon provides a great tool, with a company that cares about its users.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    37 Signals
    • It has saved me time when having to get the same message out to multiple restaurants
    • It has helped us make smarter operational decisions because we can all collaborate on an answer in a shorter amount of time (instead of calling a meeting!!!)
    • The calendar function allows us to plot out our marketing agenda for the month and add/change it together as needed. The chef will post his recipe, the managers will cost it out, the social media manager will post pictures on it, and ultimately we will get that information out on an info sheet to the staff by printing the page.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Harpoon
    • Clear and precise visibility of my financial status.
    • Projections of how I'm doing today, this month, and this year.
    • Clarity on what needs to happen with client development to reach my goals.
    • It shrinks the amount of time I spend on getting clients to pay my invoices.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Harpoon Screenshots

    Screenshot of Harpoon's Dashboard showcases over a dozen crucial metrics to help you understand the health of your business. Enjoy the big picture view of your freelancing finances.Screenshot of Every business has expenses and Harpoon is the perfect place to track them. Assign expenses to your projects and easily add those expenses to invoices for reimbursement.Screenshot of You'll appreciate how simple it is to create invoices, and your clients will appreciate the one-click ease of making payments online. Harpoon's invoices are clean and beautiful, a perfect complement to the professional services and products you provide.Screenshot of All of a project's invoices, expenses, and recorded hours are grouped and organized in one convenient place ready for you to take action, or simply there for historical reference. Handy!Screenshot of Harpoon gives you powerful tools to track and organize your time. Simple one-click timers combined with flexible reporting puts you in total control of your business's tracked time.