How to Migrate from
Basecamp to Thicket
Thicket is built on the same ideas as Basecamp — projects with a message board, to-dos, docs & files, a schedule, a kanban board, and group chat. That makes this the easiest migration you'll ever do: the structure maps almost one-to-one, and your team already knows how to work this way.
Same way of working. Familiar tools. $49/month flat.
Free plan available. No credit card required.
Reviewing Your Basecamp Bill?
In 2026 Basecamp restructured its plans: the per-user plan was renamed from Plus to Pro (still $15/employee/month), extras like the Timesheet and Admin Pro Pack became paid add-ons at $50/month each, and Pro Unlimited — the flat plan — is $299/month, billed annually. If the restructure has you re-reading your invoice, here's the math. (Prices verified July 2026.)
| Team size | Basecamp Pro ($15/employee) | Basecamp Pro Unlimited | Thicket (flat) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 people | $75/mo | $299/mo | $49/mo |
| 10 people | $150/mo | $299/mo | $49/mo |
| 20 people | $300/mo | $299/mo | $49/mo |
Basecamp Pro bills per employee — clients and contractors are free — so count your employees, not everyone with access. A 10-person team saves $101/month switching to Thicket ($1,212/year). And Thicket has no add-on packs: everything we ship is included in the flat price. Full breakdown on our Basecamp pricing & alternative page.
Before You Start
The rebuild is quick because nothing about how you work has to change. A little preparation makes it quicker still.
Set aside 1-3 hours
Rebuilding a typical account takes an afternoon. Because Thicket's tools mirror Basecamp's, you're re-entering active work — not redesigning your workflow or retraining anyone.
Find your account owner
Only Basecamp account owners can export data from Adminland. If you're not an owner, Adminland lists who is — ask them to run the export before you begin.
Know which projects are active
Don't migrate everything. List the projects your team touches weekly. Archived projects and finished work stay in your export archive — you rarely need them rebuilt.
The 5-Step Migration Process
There's no import — you rebuild by hand, and because the two tools share a shape, it's faster than you'd expect. Here's the whole process.
Export your data from Basecamp
In Basecamp, open Adminland and choose 'Export data from this account'. Only account owners can do this — if that's not you, ask an owner. You'll see every active and archived project on the account; check off the ones you want and Basecamp compiles a browsable HTML archive, then emails you when it's ready to download. This archive is your reference for the rebuild and your permanent record. There's a separate option for exporting Pings (direct messages) — most teams skip it; those are private conversations.
- Open Adminland from the Basecamp home page (account owners only)
- Select 'Export data from this account'
- Check off the projects you want — or export the whole account
- Wait for the email; download the HTML archive and keep it somewhere safe
- If you plan to cancel Basecamp, export first and let the download finish completely
Create your Thicket workspace
Sign up at thickethq.com/signup and name your organization — this replaces your Basecamp account. The free plan gives you 1 project and 5 team members, which is enough to rebuild one project and see how it feels. If you're moving more than one project right away, start the 14-day Pro trial for full access.
- Go to thickethq.com/signup and create your account
- Name your organization (your team or company name)
- Choose Free to evaluate, or start the 14-day Pro trial
- You'll land on your organization home — ready to create projects
Rebuild each active project, tool for tool
This is where migrating from Basecamp is easier than from anywhere else: the tools map almost one-to-one. For each active Basecamp project, create a Thicket project and work through the tools in order — repost the message-board announcements people still reference, recreate to-do lists with their groups, assignees, and due dates, rebuild living docs and re-upload current files, add upcoming schedule events, and rebuild your Card Table columns as a Thicket board. Skip completed to-dos and old threads — they're in your export archive if you ever need them.
- Create one Thicket project per active Basecamp project
- Message board: repost pinned announcements and anything people still reference
- To-dos: recreate active lists with groups, assignees, and due dates — skip completed items
- Docs & Files: rebuild living documents; re-upload files that are still current
- Schedule: add upcoming events; recurring events and iCal feeds work like you'd expect
- Card Table → Boards: recreate your columns, add cards for in-flight work
- Set up project templates if you spin up similar projects often
Invite your team and clients
Add everyone from your Basecamp account. Thicket never charges per person — employees, clients, and contractors are all included in the flat price, so there's no math to do before inviting someone. Give clients scoped access with approvals, the same working rhythm they had in Basecamp.
- Invite team members by email from your organization settings
- Add clients with scoped client access — they see only what you share
- Assign people to the projects you've rebuilt
- No seat counting: the bill stays the same no matter who you add
Run both tools briefly, then cancel Basecamp
Because the tools are so similar, the parallel period can be short — a few days to a week is typical. Start all new work in Thicket from day one, keep Basecamp read-only in practice, and set a firm cutover date. Before you cancel Basecamp, double-check your export finished downloading — if you cancel mid-download, the export won't complete. After the cutover, your archive covers the history and Thicket covers everything current.
- All new posts, to-dos, docs, and events go in Thicket from day one
- Set a firm cutover date — 'after Friday, everything happens in Thicket'
- Verify your Basecamp export downloaded completely
- Cancel your Basecamp subscription once the team has fully moved
- Keep the export archive as your permanent record
Rebuild your first project today
The free plan gives you 1 project and 5 team members — enough to move one Basecamp project over and see how familiar it feels.
Most teams rebuild their first project in under an hour.
Free plan available — no credit card required
$49/month flat for unlimited users on Pro — no add-on packs
14-day free trial of all Pro features
Cancel anytime — your Basecamp account stays intact meanwhile
Basecamp Concepts → Thicket Equivalents
Most rows in this table are the same tool with the same name — that's the point. The two honest differences are called out where they appear.
| Basecamp | → | Thicket | How it maps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account | Organization | Your top-level container. Projects, people, and settings live in your Thicket organization, just as they do in your Basecamp account. | |
| Project | Project | One-to-one. A project in Thicket holds the same set of tools as a Basecamp project — recreate each active project directly. | |
| Message Board | Message Board | Same tool, same name. Posts with categories and comments for announcements, updates, and decisions. | |
| To-dos | To-dos | Same tool, same name. Lists with groups, assignees, and due dates. Recreate each active list and its open items. | |
| Docs & Files | Docs & Files | Same tool, same name. Rich documents plus file storage. Recreate living docs; re-upload the files you still reference. | |
| Schedule | Schedule | Same tool, same name. Events with recurrence, reminders, and iCal feeds so calendars stay subscribed. | |
| Card Table | Boards | Same kanban idea, different name. Columns and cards that move through stages — rebuild your columns and add in-flight cards. | |
| Campfire | Chat | Group chat per project. Chat history starts fresh — old conversations live in your Basecamp export if you need them. | |
| Pings | Pings | Direct messages, same name. One-on-one and small-group conversations outside any project. | |
| Automatic Check-ins | Automatic Check-ins | Same tool, same name. Recurring questions to the team ('What did you work on today?') with answers collected in one place. | |
| Hill Charts | Progress & project health | The honest difference: Thicket doesn't have Hill Charts. It has progress charts and an On track / At risk / Off track health status — simpler, and enough for most small teams. | |
| Clients | Client access + approvals | Scoped client visibility with approvals on both tools. Clients are free on both — recreate their access when you rebuild the project. |
Your top-level container. Projects, people, and settings live in your Thicket organization, just as they do in your Basecamp account.
One-to-one. A project in Thicket holds the same set of tools as a Basecamp project — recreate each active project directly.
Same tool, same name. Posts with categories and comments for announcements, updates, and decisions.
Same tool, same name. Lists with groups, assignees, and due dates. Recreate each active list and its open items.
Same tool, same name. Rich documents plus file storage. Recreate living docs; re-upload the files you still reference.
Same tool, same name. Events with recurrence, reminders, and iCal feeds so calendars stay subscribed.
Same kanban idea, different name. Columns and cards that move through stages — rebuild your columns and add in-flight cards.
Group chat per project. Chat history starts fresh — old conversations live in your Basecamp export if you need them.
Direct messages, same name. One-on-one and small-group conversations outside any project.
Same tool, same name. Recurring questions to the team ('What did you work on today?') with answers collected in one place.
The honest difference: Thicket doesn't have Hill Charts. It has progress charts and an On track / At risk / Off track health status — simpler, and enough for most small teams.
Scoped client visibility with approvals on both tools. Clients are free on both — recreate their access when you rebuild the project.
What Stays the Same, What Changes
An honest accounting. Thicket shares Basecamp's philosophy — simplicity on purpose — but it isn't a clone, and a few things really are different.
What stays the same
- The working rhythm — projects with a message board, to-dos, docs & files, a schedule, a kanban board, and group chat. Your team won't need retraining.
- Automatic check-ins — recurring questions to the team, answers collected in one place.
- Client access — scoped visibility with approvals, and clients don't cost anything.
- The calm — no dashboards to configure, no custom fields, no automation rules. Simplicity as a feature, not a limitation.
- The essentials — @-mentions, notifications, rich-text editing, project templates, and a documented REST API.
What changes
- The bill — $49/month flat instead of $15 per employee per month or $299/month flat. Everything included, no add-on packs.
- Hill Charts are gone — Thicket has progress charts and an On track / At risk / Off track health status instead. Simpler, and honestly less nuanced.
- No time tracking at all — Basecamp sells a Timesheet add-on; Thicket deliberately doesn't do timesheets. If you bill by the hour, you'll need a separate tool for that.
- No native mobile apps — Thicket works in any mobile browser, but there's no iOS or Android app to install like Basecamp's.
- A smaller ecosystem — Basecamp has two decades of integrations and community. Thicket is newer and smaller; you're trading maturity for price.
Not sure if Thicket fits?
Read the full Basecamp vs. Thicket comparison for the feature-by-feature breakdown, or the plain-numbers answer to how much Basecamp costs in 2026. Coming from a heavier tool instead? There's a Monday.com migration guide too.
Making the Switch Stick
Migrating from Basecamp is unusual: the hard part of most tool changes — relearning how to work — doesn't apply. What remains is mostly discipline about the cutover.
Lead with the bill, not the tool
Your team already likes working the Basecamp way — that's why you chose it. So the pitch isn't “here's a better tool,” it's “here's the same way of working for $101/month less” (for a 10-person team). People accept a familiar-feeling change easily when the reason is concrete.
Be upfront about the differences too: no Hill Charts, no time tracking, no native mobile app. If someone relies on one of those daily, better to hear it from you now than discover it mid-week-one.
Rebuild only what's alive
The export archive is your safety net — use it as one. Every completed to-do list, every old thread, every file from a finished project lives there, browsable in any web browser. That means the rebuild only needs what's active: current projects, open to-dos, living documents, upcoming events.
Teams that try to recreate their full Basecamp history burn a day and gain nothing. Teams that rebuild only active work are done in an afternoon and start clean.
Keep the parallel period short
For most migrations we'd suggest a week or two of running both tools. Coming from Basecamp, you need less — there's no learning curve to absorb. Pick a cutover date a few days out, announce it on the new Thicket message board (a nice first post), and treat Basecamp as read-only from day one.
The one hard rule: don't cancel Basecamp until your export has finished downloading. If you cancel mid-download, the export won't complete — export first, verify the archive opens, then cancel.
Same ethos. Lower, flatter price.
Most teams rebuild their active Basecamp projects in an afternoon — the structure maps one-to-one, and nobody needs retraining.
No credit card required to start.
$49/month flat — a 10-person team saves $101/month vs Basecamp Pro
$250/month less than Basecamp Pro Unlimited, at any team size
Everything included — no $50/month add-on packs
Free plan to evaluate, 14-day Pro trial, cancel anytime
Migration Questions Answered
Common questions from teams considering the switch from Basecamp to Thicket.
How long does it take to migrate from Basecamp to Thicket?
Most teams finish in under a day. Because Thicket's structure maps almost one-to-one to Basecamp's — projects with a message board, to-do lists, docs and files, a schedule, a kanban board, and group chat — rebuilding a project is mostly re-entering active work, not redesigning how you work. The setup itself takes 1-3 hours for a typical account; team onboarding is nearly instant because the tools work the way your team already works.
Can I import my Basecamp data directly into Thicket?
No. Thicket doesn't have a one-click import from Basecamp — you rebuild your projects by hand. Basecamp lets account owners export a full HTML copy of everything from Adminland, and that archive becomes your reference while you recreate active projects in Thicket. Most teams find the rebuild quick, and treat it as a chance to leave behind stale to-dos and dormant projects.
Will I lose my Basecamp data when I switch?
No. Nothing in Basecamp is deleted when you start using Thicket — your account stays intact until you cancel it. Before you cancel, export your data from Adminland (account owners only): you can export individual projects, a selection, or the entire account as a browsable HTML archive. Make sure the export finishes downloading before you cancel, and keep the archive as a permanent record.
Why switch if Thicket is so similar to Basecamp?
Price, mostly — and that's not a small thing. Basecamp Pro is $15/employee/month, so a 10-person team pays $150/month and the bill grows with every hire. Basecamp also sells paid add-on packs at $50/month each on Pro, and its flat plan (Pro Unlimited) is $299/month billed annually. Thicket is $49/month flat for unlimited users with everything included. If you like how Basecamp works but not what it costs, that's exactly the gap Thicket fills.
What's the difference between Basecamp's Card Table and Thicket's Boards?
They're the same idea with a different name: a kanban-style board where cards move through columns. In Thicket it's called Boards. If your team uses a Card Table for a pipeline or workflow, recreate the columns in a Thicket board and add cards for in-flight work — there's no learning curve.
What Basecamp features does Thicket not have?
Hill Charts — Thicket has simpler progress charts and an On track / At risk / Off track health status instead. Time tracking — Basecamp sells a Timesheet add-on; Thicket doesn't do time tracking at all, deliberately. Native mobile apps — Basecamp has iOS and Android apps; Thicket works in any mobile browser but has no separate app to install. And Basecamp's two decades of ecosystem and third-party integrations are larger than Thicket's. If any of those are central to how you work, weigh them honestly before switching.
How much will I save by switching from Basecamp to Thicket?
Thicket Pro is $49/month flat for unlimited users. On Basecamp Pro at $15/employee/month, a 10-person team pays $150/month — switching saves $101/month ($1,212/year). A 20-person team saves $251/month ($3,012/year). Against Basecamp Pro Unlimited at $299/month, Thicket saves $250/month at any team size. (Basecamp prices verified July 2026.)
Can my clients keep working the way they did in Basecamp?
Yes. Thicket has client access with scoped visibility and approvals, so clients see what you choose to share and can sign off on work — the same working rhythm as Basecamp's client features. Clients are free on both tools; the difference is the rest of the bill. Basecamp Pro charges per employee, so your team's size sets the price. Thicket is flat no matter how many people you add.
What if my team doesn't like Thicket after switching?
Thicket has a free plan (1 project, 5 members) to test with before committing, and the Pro plan includes a 14-day free trial. You can cancel anytime. Since your Basecamp account stays intact until you cancel it, trying Thicket costs you nothing but an afternoon — if it's not the right fit, you've lost nothing.
Keep the way you work. Change what it costs.
Basecamp Pro is $15 per employee, per month — a 20-person team pays $300/month, and Pro Unlimited is $299/month billed annually. Thicket is $49/month flat: same working rhythm, $251/month back in a 20-person team's budget.
Start with the free plan, rebuild one project, and see how familiar it feels. Your Basecamp account stays intact until you're ready to cancel.