Basecamp organises projects with message boards, to-dos, card tables, schedules, docs, and chat, and charges a fixed monthly price with no per-user fees. Its Timesheet, included on Pro and Unlimited, lets a team type in hours against a project or item and download a CSV report. What Basecamp does not do is attach a billing rate, approve the hours, or send the client an invoice. Keito covers that part: AI-drafted entries each person confirms, approved by a reviewer, then turned into invoices and client-ready reports.
Basecamp is a strong project and client-communication tool, and its Timesheet records hours on the Pro and Unlimited packages. It has no billing rates, timesheet approvals, or client invoicing. If the gap is billing for time, Keito is the alternative: confirmed entries, reviewer approval, and invoices built from approved hours, used alongside Basecamp or instead of its Timesheet.
Illustrative billing review
Illustrative billing period
Hours approved
Entries confirmed
164
Clients billed
8
Projects covered
15
Hours tied to client work
Client, project, task, and billable status on every entry
Approved before invoicing
A reviewer approves hours before the invoice is built
Invoice built from approved time
Approved hours become invoice lines and a client report
Basecamp teams run client work through projects: message boards, to-dos, card tables, schedules, docs, and chat, with clients invited where it helps. On Pro and Unlimited, or with the Timesheet upgrade on other packages, they can turn on a project Timesheet, type in hours by date and person, and pull a cross-project Timesheets report as a CSV. The question Basecamp leaves to another system is the invoice: which of those hours are billable, at whose rate, approved by whom, and billed to which client. Keito answers it from a reviewed time record, whether the team keeps Basecamp for delivery or moves its time and billing out of it.
Add clients, projects, billable rates, and reviewers in Keito. Teams that keep Basecamp carry on running to-dos, card tables, and client conversations there; teams leaving Basecamp bring their client and project list across with a spreadsheet import.
Keito drafts a time entry from the work a person did, so they confirm hours against the right client, project, and task instead of reconstructing a week of Timesheet entries from memory.
A reviewer approves billable status before the period closes. Approved hours become Keito estimates, invoices, recurring invoices, and client-ready reports, with Stripe invoice payments.
Project communication is not billing
Basecamp publishes a project management and team communication product: message boards, to-dos, card tables, schedules, docs and files, chat, Hill Charts, and reports, with clients invited into the projects they need to see. Public pricing on Basecamp’s pricing page (verified 2026-10-07) lists a Free plan with one project, Freelancer at $25 per month, Studio at $59 per month, Pro at $99 per month, and Unlimited at $299 per month billed annually, all with no per-user fees. Time tracking is listed on Pro and Unlimited. Basecamp’s help center describes Timesheet as enabled per project, with entries made by typing the date, hours, person, and an optional note, either on the project Timesheet or on a message, to-do, or other item. A Timesheets report filters entries by project, person, and date range and downloads as a CSV, and clients cannot see it. Reviewed Basecamp materials describe no billing rates, no billable or non-billable status, no timesheet approval step, and no client invoicing from logged hours. Keito’s argument is not that a studio should give up Basecamp for project work; Keito is not a message board, card table, or client portal. It is that billable time deserves entries the person who did the work confirms, a reviewer who approves them, and invoices and client reports built from those approved hours.
Choose Basecamp when the core need is running projects and client conversations in one calm, fixed-price place
Choose Keito when the problem is billable hours: capturing time by client and project, pricing and approving it, and invoicing from approved time
Prove it in one billing period: run Keito alongside Basecamp and compare invoices built from approved hours with totals pulled from a Timesheet CSV
Workflow fit
Keito keeps Basecamp alternative connected to client, project, billable status, approval, and invoice context before the work reaches finance.
Choose Basecamp when the core need is running projects and client conversations in one calm, fixed-price place
Choose Keito when the problem is billable hours: capturing time by client and project, pricing and approving it, and invoicing from approved time
Prove it in one billing period: run Keito alongside Basecamp and compare invoices built from approved hours with totals pulled from a Timesheet CSV
Basecamp’s Timesheet records hours someone types in against a project or item. Keito drafts a time entry from the work done; the person confirms and corrects it against the right client, project, and task, and marks what is billable.
Basecamp’s Timesheet has no billing rates or approval step. Keito Pro, at $49 USD/month per workspace with no per-user fees, adds per-member billing rates and timesheet approvals, so a reviewer settles billable status and value before hours reach an invoice.
Basecamp leaves the invoice to another tool. Keito builds estimates, invoices, recurring invoices, and client-ready reports from approved hours, with Stripe invoice payments, so the client sees what the work cost and why.
The difference is not just recording time. It is whether the record can support billing, project decisions, and client conversations.
Product shape
A workspace for time and expense tracking, reviewed billable hours, estimates, invoices, and client reporting.
Basecamp publishes project management and team communication: message boards, to-dos, card tables, schedules, docs, chat, Hill Charts, and reports, with client access to projects.
How time is captured
AI drafts an entry from the work done; the person confirms it against a client, project, and task, and a reviewer approves it.
Basecamp’s Timesheet is turned on per project; people type in the date, hours, person, and an optional note on the project or on a message, to-do, or other item.
Rates and review before billing
Per-member billing rates and a reviewer distinct from the person who worked, who settles billable status per entry before the invoice is built, on Pro and above.
Reviewed Basecamp help and pricing pages describe no billing rates, billable status, or timesheet approval step; entries can be edited or deleted.
Invoicing from hours
Invoices, recurring invoices, and client reports are built from approved hours by client and project, with Stripe invoice payments.
Basecamp’s Timesheets report filters hours by project, person, and date range and downloads as a CSV; reviewed materials describe no client invoicing.
Pricing
Published flat pricing: Solo $19 USD/month for one licensed user; Pro $49 USD/month and Business $199 USD/month per workspace with no per-user fees.
Basecamp lists Free, Freelancer $25/month, Studio $59/month, Pro $99/month, and Unlimited $299/month billed annually with no per-user fees on 2026-10-07; time tracking is listed on Pro and Unlimited.
Working together
Keito’s Basecamp integration is in limited rollout on the Business plan: once enabled for a workspace, members pick a linked Basecamp to-do while logging time in Keito, and time stays in Keito.
Basecamp keeps the projects and to-dos; the integration reads them and does not write Keito time into Basecamp Timesheet entries.
It is software a team uses instead of, or alongside, Basecamp, which runs projects, to-dos, message boards, card tables, schedules, and client communication. Some teams switch to another project management tool. Agencies, studios, and consultancies that bill by the hour often need a better home for billable time and invoicing. Keito is that alternative: AI-drafted time each person confirms, approved by a reviewer, then turned into invoices and client reports.
Yes, on some packages. Basecamp’s pricing page lists time tracking on Pro and Unlimited, and its help center says other packages can add Timesheet as an upgrade. Timesheet is enabled per project; people type in the date, hours, person, and an optional note, and a Timesheets report filters entries by project, person, and date range and downloads as a CSV. It does not add billing rates, approvals, or invoices.
Basecamp’s pricing page (verified 2026-10-07) lists Free with one project, Freelancer at $25 per month, Studio at $59 per month, Pro at $99 per month, and Unlimited at $299 per month billed annually, with no per-user fees; time tracking is listed on Pro and Unlimited. Keito publishes flat workspace pricing: Solo at $19 USD/month for one licensed user, Pro at $49 USD/month with approvals and billing rates, and Business at $199 USD/month.
Keep Basecamp when the main need is running projects and client conversations: to-dos, card tables, schedules, message boards, and client access in one place. Keito is not a project management or client communication tool, so it is the wrong choice for replacing those. It fits when the gap is billable time: capturing hours by client and project, pricing and approving them, and invoicing from approved time.
Each approved entry in Keito carries the client, project, task, person, duration, description, billable status, rate, reviewer, and approval state. Keito builds estimates, invoices, and recurring invoices from those approved hours, accepts Stripe invoice payments, and produces client-ready reports by project and task, so a billing question is answered from the reviewed record rather than a Timesheet export.
Keito’s Basecamp integration is in limited rollout on the Business plan and must be enabled for the workspace. An administrator links Keito projects to Basecamp 5 projects, and members pick a Basecamp to-do while logging time in Keito; it reads projects and to-dos and does not write time into Basecamp Timesheet. Teams without it start by adding clients, projects, and rates in Keito and tracking one billing period alongside Basecamp.
Solo includes 1 licensed user, unlimited AI agents, Mac, Windows, and iOS apps, Stripe payments, and standard CSV and Excel exports. Pro adds your team. Business adds integrations, planning, advanced reporting, and stronger controls.
1 licensed user
For independent consultants, freelancers, and small studios running work with AI agents.
Flat workspace price for 1 licensed user
Team collaboration
For teams that need shared workspaces, approvals, and team-level project visibility.
Flat workspace price with no per-user fees
Advanced operations
For organizations that need integrations, planning, advanced reporting, and stronger controls.
Flat workspace price with no per-user fees
Optional Business add-on: Microsoft Entra SSO.
View add-on and pricingAI agents do not require licenses on any plan.
Solo, Pro, and Business can use API keys for agent workflows.
Solo, Pro, and Business include standard CSV and Excel data export.
Start with Solo, add people on Pro when you need reviewers or collaborators, and see how Keito turns tracked effort into clearer reports.
