Since the beginning, Basecamp has been marketed as a collaboration tool for small businesses (or small groups inside larger businesses).
However, over the years we’ve also heard from many thousands of people who use Basecamp outside of work. They’ve turned to Basecamp to help them manage home improvement projects, hobby projects, volunteer projects, school projects, weddings, etc.
But one complaint we’ve heard is… Basecamp is priced for businesses, not for personal side projects.
So today we’re going to make it easier for people to use Basecamp for their non-work projects. Today we launch Basecamp Personal.
Basecamp Personal is priced for personal projects. Instead of paying a monthly subscription fee, you can buy a Basecamp Personal project for $25. That’s a one-time-fee. Just $25, and it’s yours. Need another project down the road? Buy another one for $25. Buy one, buy many – buy just what you need, as you need it, and never have to worry about paying a monthly subscription.
How else is Basecamp Personal different from Basecamp?
Basecamp Personal projects include 1 GB of file space and you can collaborate with up to five people. There are a few other differences, too. Here’s how Basecamp Personal compares to the full version of Basecamp.
Available exclusively for current Basecamp users
For the next few months, Basecamp Personal is available exclusively for current Basecamp users. You don’t have to be the Basecamp account owner – you just have to be a user on a Basecamp account, any Basecamp account.
Down the road we plan on opening up Basecamp Personal to anyone. But for now, it’s just for people who already use Basecamp.
Start a project today
So if you have a Basecamp account already, and you have a personal project that could use some Basecamp-style organization, hop on over and get yourself a Basecamp Personal project today for just $25.
Forrest
on 22 Jan 13So great! Excited to see you guys continue to build on the momentum from Basecamp. You’re an inspiration to bootstrappers everywhere!
Chris Carpita
on 22 Jan 13Hey Jason, this is fantastic! I’ve been wanting this from basecamp for a long time, and was forced to use lesser apps as $20/month seemed excessive for home use.
I just have a couple of questions before I drop $25:
1) Can I update the personal project to use my personal e-mail, rather than work e-mail, and will this affect my work account?
2) Once I’ve bought my personal project, can I invite someone who is not currently a Basecamp user (girlfriend, roommates, friends)?
Thanks!
Harry Llewelyn
on 22 Jan 13Great idea!
Jack Veloneim
on 22 Jan 13I am interested in your change of methods, you have now released two projects with a one off fee, basecamp personal and the email for groups. How do you see this sustaining itself in the long term?
Chris McKinney
on 22 Jan 13Interesting concept. Couple of questions come to my mind:
1) Wondering if your Basecamp Personal projects will show up in your Launchpad or if each one will have a completely separate URL that I have to keep track of?
2) Will the list-view deadlines have an available iCal feed like they do in Basecamp for Groups so I can feed those to my mobile device?
Matt Tate
on 22 Jan 13I like the one off fee, but how do you cover the unlikely possibility of you shutting up shop in five/ten/twenty-five years? If it’s a subscribed service you just stop taking money, but $25 forever isn’t really forever forever, is it?
Daryl
on 22 Jan 13The logo looks like The Onion
Jason Fried
on 22 Jan 131) Can I update the personal project to use my personal e-mail, rather than work e-mail, and will this affect my work account?
The email address on your account is attached to your 37signals ID. Any changes to your 37signals ID will be reflected everywhere.
2) Once I’ve bought my personal project, can I invite someone who is not currently a Basecamp user (girlfriend, roommates, friends)?
Yup, you can invite anyone you’d like.
DHH
on 22 Jan 13Jack, lots of apps charge a one time fee. The iOS app store is more or less only that. Basecamp Personal and Breeze are pretty different products, so I don’t see any issue there either.
Chris, Personal accounts show up in the Launchpad as individual accounts. So that all works. Yes on the iCal feed.
Matt, only diamonds are forever. This deal is for as long as we’re running Basecamp. If you’re worried that your $25 might be wasted if we go out of business, then yup, that’s the counter-party risk you take buying this product.
Scott
on 22 Jan 13Basecamp Personal reminds me of Backpack. Feeling nostalgic.
Chris Carpita
on 22 Jan 13In defense of the one-time fee: let’s say 37 signals does shut down the product. How long would this be realistically? I think we can assume we at the very least have a good 16 months if they are putting all of this effort into the product, and don’t want to really piss off the business users who are getting exclusive access as of this writing.
At 16 months, it amortizes to $1.56/month, which is a fantastic deal compared to the feature set at $20/month, and that’s a price point where I would jump on it without question.
Less realistically, even if it’s 4 months, you’re getting it at $5/month, which IMO is still a fair price for the value it provides, and I would consider it seriously. In the long run due to recurring server costs, this is the price point we might see, and there’s a chance we’ll be grandfathered in due to the original association with business accounts, and desire to not raise the ire of high-value customers, so it’s an opportunity to jump in and get a great deal for an excellent service.
Mert
on 22 Jan 13I want to buy it but it declines my credit card because it only asks card number and zip code. But I live in Turkey and my card is international credit card I think I have to also give exp date and ccv number but there is no place to give. How can we buy it? Did you open for only US Citizens???
Eric Anderson
on 22 Jan 13I was curious about the pricing of Basecamp Breeze. Since groups could go on for years the non-recurring revenue made me worry it would become a Backpack, Writeboard or Tada list. But this product’s pricing makes sense to me. How long does a personal project really go on for? Are you really going to be remolding that basement for 20 years? Likely most projects will only last a few months. After that the activity will die down and the amount of resources 37Signals will need to expend to maintain your dormant project will be tiny.
ecbp
on 22 Jan 13I respect 37signals a lot, so please don’t take this critique as mean-spirited.
One-time pricing for a product/service that a person doesn’t physically own/control creates confusion. It’s not quite like iOS apps, which are on my phone, once I have them for the most part I can keep using them even if the developer gets hit by a bus, runs away to the woods, becomes a poet, etc. It’s mine, and on my phone.
In this case you’re (implicitly) selling forever, but of course you can’t provide forever (per DHH: only diamonds are forever). So you’re adding open-ended counter-party risk which now makes me feel like I’m placing a trade, when all I wanted was an intelligent to-do list.
$/period pricing is cut and dry, nothing open to interpretation, $/infinity is gray and open to individual expectations. Which opens you up to customers with expectations that are misaligned with 37signals’, and that’s never good.
That said, I’m glad you guys are trying out new things, and I’m sure it’ll work out.
mightbeme
on 22 Jan 13@ecbp
What happens when your iOS developer gets hit by a bus, runs away to the woods, becomes a poet, etc and you upgrade your iOS to a version not compatible with the app?
Doesn’t sound to me that the app was ‘forever’ in your scenario either.
Matt Chagnon
on 22 Jan 13I’ve been hoping 37signals would offer something in the personal space for years, so this new service is great news.
I agree with Chris Carpita on the work/personal email issue. I wouldn’t want personal stuff going to work email (and FWIW, our crummy Lotus Notes setup has never played well with Basecamp). I suppose you could create a personal account and add it to Personal projects as one of the five seats, but that defeats the purpose…
+1 for feeling nostalgic for Backpack.
Nathan
on 22 Jan 13Is there a mailing list I can join for when/if Basecamp Personal opens up for general users (non-Basecamp users)?
ecbp
on 22 Jan 13@mightbeme you make the choice not to upgrade the iOS on your phone :) . . . of course anything is possible in scenario-land, the bigger point is that with iOS you have ‘some’ level of control/possession/choice. With hosted services you don’t. The relationship between the iphone owner and the iOS app are such that one-time pricing just feels better than one-time pricing for a service that requires on-going maintenance/support/dependence . . . but feelings can change.
TJ
on 22 Jan 13I really like this idea and am so pleased that 37signals continues to find ways to serve us well. I am a current Basecamp user but use it only for managing projects for which I volunteer. Jason, if I were to open Basecamp Personal accounts for those projects, I would then not need to pay for regular Basecamp anymore because I don’t use regular Basecamp for work. Is it possible for me to sign up for Personal projects and then cancel my regular Basecamp account at this time? Thanks for helping me clarify this.
Muriithi
on 22 Jan 13Typo(repetition); For the next few months, Basecamp Personal is available exclusively for current Basecamp users. You don’t have to be the Basecamp account owner – you just have to have be a user on a Basecamp account, any Basecamp account.
Angus
on 22 Jan 13Quit whining. NOBODY is forcing you to buy it. They are simply offering a new way to get an existing product. How cool is that?
Gosh it’s no different to any other saas product on the planet. Any saas provider could turn off the server at any point… But ordinarily by don’t.. So relax
ecbp
on 22 Jan 13@angus
I reviewed the comments and I don’t think anyone is complaining, and no one is saying don’t buy this because of the payment scheme. Comments are for discussions, I wouldn’t read any antagonism into any of the critiques. This is a fairly novel pricing approach for hosted software (and am glad 37S is trying it); I don’t see anything wrong with a discussion about pros/cons. There are no attacks and no defenses, it’s just ideas.
Anthony Mastrean
on 22 Jan 13Can I migrate personal projects that are currently in my regular Basecamp account to a Personal account? What’s that process like?
Steve T
on 23 Jan 13Sounds interesting, not using Basecamp now but might look at this in the future.
Can’t believe the complaints here… people seem to be saying “I can’t believe you’re making me pay only once for this tool, make me pay every month!” Seems kind of illogical… they’re aiming this at a personal/non-profit base, so they decided that a one-off payment was a more appropriate model to use (like buying any product really). Yes, it might not be forever, but haven’t 37Signals established a pretty good track record now? They might not be around “forever”, but I think they’re going to be here for a while yet…
Scott
on 23 Jan 13Are you concerned about line extension? In the book The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing they talk a lot about how mature companies extend their successful brands and end up hurting them in the long run.
Emil
on 23 Jan 13Has anyone tried BC Personal yet? I’d love to see some example of personal use like Backpack had
The new Basecamp made me think differently about what a project is. Instead of having a “catch-all” project we divided each feature and change into own projects. I can’t see how this applies to personal projects. I would have a lot of different projects (Travel: Paris february 2012, Apartment: Kitchen renovation, Apartment: Lights etc) and then it feels cheaper with a business plan. Having a catch all project (Apartment in my example above) feels like a mess when you can’t organize text documents or messages/notes. The sorting we had in Backpack made all the difference.
LowLessMore
on 23 Jan 13So, here is my tip for free: Change the price and start charge $9.99 for the BP!
Thanks me later!
Bye!
Peter
on 24 Jan 13I’ve impressed with both Basecamp Personal and Basecamp Breeze. It shows how 37s is constantly experimenting with business model. In the case of Basecamp Personal, they are repackaging unused capacity to realize a sale that would otherwise not have happened.
With Basecamp Breeze, 37s has launched a utility function as a stand alone application. Of course, the product does speak to 37s ethic of simplicity and clarity. There is a discussion to be had here about why Breeze is launched as an extension of the Basecamp Brand, especially because I believe that the target customer for Breeze may not already be familiar with 37s or Basecamp. I do that think that it will inspire others to launch purpose built clear web application
In both cases the price point in very interesting. One off payment for a web app does buck the trend, but may speak to the potential customer who would buy Breeze and to a lesser extent Personal.
I am one of those who is inspired both but the price point and a new breed of simple, clear utility web applications. I’m launching such an experiment soon, PageAtOnce. A web app that that answers the question. “How do I put a page on the internet, now”.
I look forward to hear more information on Basecamp Breeze and Personal, as well as other announcements of “experimental” app and business model for 37 Signals
Cesar
on 28 Jan 13Guys, this is great!! for example a PhD student could create a personal basecamp to share his/her work with the advisor, allow me make a quick suggestion, add a Calendar. Also, maybe add a family edition of Basecamp.
This discussion is closed.