Freedcamp – The All-Purpose Project Management App

Freedcamp is a project management app that professionals in a wide variety of industries can use. Like many of its competitors, Freedcamp offers group collaboration, instant notifications, project templates, and a dashboard page that puts all the most relevant information at a user’s fingertips. The main difference between Freedcamp and other similar web-apps? This application is totally free.

If you’ve thought about signing up for Basecamp, but hesitated because of the price, then Freedcamp is your solution. Choose a username and complete a short registration page to get started. If you’re bringing over your data from Basecamp, then your first order of business will be to click “Basecamp Import” and start the migration. If not, then you’ll want to click “Create Project.” Give your project a name, a description, and a group, then install the individual “application” modules that you want to use. Applications include to-dos, discussions, milestones, time, and files. Next up, it’s time to invite your colleagues or teammates to join in on the action. Use the discussions section to communicate with coworkers in a setting that’s far more secure than email, and keep track of the billable hours you spend on a specific project by using the ‘time’ application when you get ready to work.

Project templates can be used to speed up the process when it’s time to start new projects on Freedcamp, and the application’s SMS notification system is a great way to find out immediately when items in your projects have been modified by other users. While Freedcamp may not have all the same features as more robust systems like Basecamp, its free price tag makes it a very desirable alternative.

Practical Uses:

• Work together with your colleagues on an ongoing project
• Keep track of the time you spend working on a specific client’s campaign
• Get text message alerts when a coworker adds content to a project page
• Hold group discussions in a secure online environment

Insider Tips:

• Add the specific application modules you want for each project
• Set up templates to make creating new projects a faster process
• Integrates with Meebo for easy instant messaging with colleagues
• Import files from Basecamp by clicking on the “Import” button

What we liked:

• Freedcamp offers many of the same tools as similar apps, but it’s completely free
• Users can get set up with Freedcamp in less than a minute
• Group to-do lists are great for people working on team projects
• The timing function is useful for people who need an accurate way to track their billable hours

What we didn’t like:

• Freecamp doesn’t have a calendar feature yet, although that appears to be in the works

Alternatives:

• Apollo – http://www.apollohq.com
• Basecamp – http://basecamphq.com
• Zoho – http://www.zoho.com

Company Info:

• Launched: August 2011
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Santa Barbara, California
• Founded by: Enavu
• Web site: https://freedcamp.com

Costs:

• Free