The two pricing pages disagree about what a team is paying for. Basecamp's headline is "no per-user fees, everyone's included" — the bill tracks projects and storage, not headcount. Trello's bill tracks people: every paid tier is stated per user per month, with annual and monthly rates shown side by side.
TL;DR
Basecamp sells flat project packages with no per-user fees: Free with 1 project and 5 users, Freelancer at $25 a month for 3 active projects and 20 users, Studio at $59 a month billed annually for 10 active projects, Pro at $99 a month billed annually for 25 active projects, and Unlimited at $299 a month billed annually with unlimited projects and 1TB of storage. Trello sells seats on a board: Free for up to 10 collaborators with 10 boards per Workspace, Standard at $5 per user a month billed yearly, Premium at $10, and Enterprise at $17.50 per user billed annually. Basecamp wins when the whole company needs one tool and headcount grows; Trello wins when a small team wants a visible board for a few dollars a seat.
Basecamp's ladder starts with a Free package holding 1 project, 1GB of storage and 5 users max. Freelancer is $25 a month for up to 3 active projects, 5GB and 20 users with no per-user fees. Studio is $59 a month billed annually for 10 active projects and 25GB; Pro is $99 a month billed annually for 25 active projects and 100GB, described on the page as the sweet spot; Unlimited is $299 a month billed annually for unlimited projects, 1TB of storage, priority 24/7/365 support and personalised onboarding. Every package carries the same core tools — message boards, to-dos, schedules, docs and group chat — and paid packages start with a 30-day trial (45 days on Unlimited). The page advertises 99.99% historical uptime, a 10% discount for registered 501(c)(3) non-profits, and free use for K-12, homeschool and university class work.
Trello's page lists Free at $0 for up to 10 collaborators per Workspace, with unlimited cards but 10 boards per Workspace, 10MB per file and 250 Workspace command runs a month. Standard is $5 per user a month billed annually ($6 billed monthly) and adds AI features, unlimited boards, card mirroring, 250MB per file and 1,000 command runs. Premium is $10 per user a month annually ($12.50 monthly) and adds admin controls, collections, observers and simple data export. Enterprise is $17.50 per user a month billed annually, shown as $210.00 a year per user, and includes Atlassian Guard Standard plus 24/7 enterprise admin support; an organisation-wide Atlassian Guard subscription for other products starts at $4 per month per user.
| Feature | Basecamp | Trello |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat packages, no per-user fees, everyone included | Per user per month, billed annually or monthly |
| Free tier | 1 project, 1GB storage, 5 users max | Up to 10 collaborators, unlimited cards, 10 boards per Workspace |
| Entry paid plan | Freelancer at $25/month: 3 active projects, 5GB, 20 users max | Standard at $5/user/month yearly, $6 billed monthly |
| Mid tier | Studio at $59/month billed annually: 10 active projects, 25GB | Premium at $10/user/month yearly, $12.50 monthly |
| Upper tier | Pro at $99/month billed annually: 25 active projects, 100GB | Enterprise at $17.50/user/month billed annually, $210.00 a year per user |
| Top tier | Unlimited at $299/month billed annually: unlimited projects, 1TB, 45-day trial | Atlassian Guard Standard included; Guard for other products starts at $4/month/user |
| Storage | 1GB free, 5GB, 25GB, 100GB, 1TB by package | 10MB per file on Free, 250MB per file from Standard |
| Automation and AI | Bring your own AI agents via CLI access and MCP support on paid packages | AI features arrive with Standard; 250 Workspace command runs on Free, 1,000 from Standard |
| Support | 24/7/365 support, priority queue and onboarding on Unlimited | Community support on Free; 24/7 enterprise admin support on Enterprise |
| Free trial | 30 days on paid packages, 45 days on Unlimited | Workspace trial of Premium available to all users |
Pick Basecamp if
Basecamp charges a flat $25, $59, $99 or $299 a month depending on how many projects are active, and explicitly charges no per-user fees. Teams that add people faster than they add projects — agencies, small companies, whole organisations moving off email — find the cost predictable here, with the trade-off that active project counts are capped until the $299 Unlimited package.
Pick Trello if
Trello charges $5 then $10 per user a month billed yearly, and the interaction model is a card moving across a column. Teams that want a shared queue of visible next actions with automations and admin controls get going in minutes, and the $5 Standard tier is the lowest paid entry in this comparison — but the bill scales with headcount.
No user reviews, ratings or quotes were gathered for this pair. Figures come from basecamp.com/pricing and trello.com/pricing as fetched for this page; uptime, support and feature statements are the vendors' own claims.
Basecamp's pricing page states there are no per-user fees and that everyone is included, and it lists explicit user caps only on the Free package (5 users) and Freelancer (20 users). The paid packages are priced by active project count and storage, not by headcount.
Trello Standard is $5 per user a month billed yearly, so 10 users cost about $50 a month. Basecamp's Freelancer package is $25 a month for up to 20 people and 3 active projects, and Studio at $59 a month billed annually covers 10 active projects. The answer turns on project count: few projects favour Basecamp, higher per-person cost tolerance favours Trello's board model.
Yes. Trello Free is $0 for up to 10 collaborators per Workspace with unlimited cards, 10 boards per Workspace, 10MB per file and 250 Workspace command runs a month. Standard at $5 per user a month lifts the board limit and adds AI features.
Basecamp includes message boards, to-dos, docs and schedules inside every package, so notes and files live with the project. Trello stores material on cards and attachments; its Free tier allows 10MB per file and Standard raises that to 250MB per file.
Basecamp Unlimited is $299 a month billed annually for unlimited projects, 1TB, priority 24/7/365 support and personalised onboarding. Trello Enterprise is $17.50 per user a month billed annually, $210.00 a year per user, with Atlassian Guard Standard and 24/7 enterprise admin support — so the top tier of each is priced on completely different units.
Basecamp gives 10% off to registered 501(c)(3) non-profits and is free for K-12, homeschool and university class work. Trello's page promotes annual billing (Standard drops from $6 to $5 per user a month) and a free trial of Premium for the Workspace.
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