Oase vs Basecamp:
Which Is Better for Design Agencies?

Basecamp is built on a philosophy we genuinely respect: work should be calm, tools should stay out of your way, and you shouldn't need a PhD to manage a project. Their message boards, Hill Charts, and automatic check-ins are thoughtful, well-designed features.

Oase shares that philosophy. We're opinionated about how agencies should work, and we keep things simple on purpose. The difference is where we draw the line. Basecamp keeps it simple by doing fewer things. Oase keeps it simple by designing agency-specific workflows — briefs, project phases, client reviews, and delivery — that feel just as intuitive as a Basecamp to-do list, but cover more of what your agency actually does every day.

Basecamp lets you invite clients to projects — they'll see message boards, files, and schedules alongside your team. It works, and plenty of agencies use it. But clients see the same interface your team sees, and you have to be careful about what you post where.

Oase takes a different approach: clients get their own branded portal. They submit requests through a request hub, review designs with pin annotations and leave feedback directly on the work, track project status, and view quotes and invoices — all without seeing your internal conversations, task assignments, or messy first drafts. It's the difference between inviting a client into your office and giving them a reception area designed for them.

Basecamp is deliberate about what it won't build. No time tracking, no invoicing, no Gantt charts, no resource management. That's a feature, not a bug — it keeps the product focused. We respect the discipline.

The problem for agencies is that you still need those things. Time tracking is how you know if a project is profitable. Invoicing is how you get paid. Quote builders are how you win the work in the first place. Design review tools are how you get client sign-off without endless email threads. Basecamp's Timesheet add-on is $50/month extra, and the rest requires third-party tools entirely. Oase includes all of it because for agencies, these aren't nice-to-haves — they're the core workflow.

Basecamp Pro Unlimited at $299/month (annual) for unlimited users is genuinely appealing for large teams. No per-seat math, no surprise bills when you hire. For a 20-person team, that's under $15/person. For agencies that only need project management, it's a strong deal.

But most agencies also need time tracking ($50/mo Basecamp add-on), invoicing (FreshBooks ~$30/mo), quoting (Proposify ~$49/mo), and design review tools (~$20/mo). That pushes the real cost to $450+/month — and you're managing five logins instead of one. Even the per-user plan at $15/user (5 people = $75/mo) still requires all those add-ons. Oase Pro at €49/month on annual billing (€60 month-to-month) includes everything, and the gap only widens as your team grows.