What does Timeliner do better?

Timeliner has a publishing module: an approved cut can be scheduled to social media from the same window, with a content calendar per brand. It also has more automations on its higher plans. If your agency ships content for a dozen brands, that counts.

Does Basalt work for a solo editor?

Yes. The free plan is built for solo work, and the Pathfinder plan includes two members. Timeliner sells from five seats, which is overpaying for one person.

Can I import my projects from Timeliner?

Not automatically. The simplest path is to open new projects in Basalt and finish current ones in Timeliner. Clients, rates and task templates take an evening to move by hand.

Does my client need an account?

No. The client opens a link and leaves notes without signing up, just as in Timeliner. If they want one place for all their projects and invoices, they use the portal under your brand.

The Timeliner alternative you can start for free

Timecode notes, tasks, estimates and a client portal in one system. A free plan instead of a two-week trial, a Premiere Pro panel, and a paid plan from $19 a month.

Start free Pricing

The short answer

Timeliner is the product closest to ours: video review, tasks, time tracking, estimates and payments, and a client portal. The idea is the same, to replace a player, a task tracker and a spreadsheet.

The difference is who can afford it. Plans start at $89 a month for five seats, there is no free plan, and payment tracking and profitability sit on the $199 Agency plan.

Basalt PMS covers the same ground and adds a Premiere Pro panel and a portfolio built from delivered projects. You can start free, and the paid plan is $19 a month.

Basalt

Timeliner

Comments pinned to a timecode

Versions and side-by-side compare

Client reviews without an account

Client portal under your brand

Projects, tasks and deadlines

Estimates, invoices and per-project profit

Editor time tracking

AI assistant and MCP access

Portfolio and public case pages

Panel inside Premiere Pro

Free plan you can deliver on

Starting price

Free · then $19

$89 · for 5 seats

IncludedLimited, or on a higher planNot available

Estimates, invoices and per-project profit.: Timeliner has estimates on every plan. Payment tracking and profitability unlock on the Agency plan at $199 a month.
Portfolio and public case pages.: We could not find public case pages or a portfolio site on timeliner.io. If that changes, we will update this row.
Free plan you can deliver on.: Timeliner offers a 14-day trial. Basalt has a free plan with no time limit: two projects you can take all the way to delivery.

Timeliner details checked against timeliner.io in September 2026. Found something out of date? Tell us and we will correct the page.

Moving from Timeliner

There is no automatic import. Start new projects in Basalt and finish current ones where they began. Move clients and rates over by hand once, and re-upload final cuts only for projects that are still live. While you switch, the free plan means you are not paying for two tools.

Why studios choose Basalt. The same scope, a lower door.

Notes on the frame

The client comments on the timeline. The editor sees a marker in the edit, not a chat thread to decode.

A client portal

Your logo, their projects, statuses and invoices. They go there instead of digging for an email.

A panel in Premiere Pro

Notes, versions and footage search inside the edit. No switching to a browser to see what changed.

Work becomes a portfolio

A delivered project turns into a public case page in a couple of clicks. No separate website.

Tasks and deadlines

Stages, assignees and due dates next to the video they belong to.

A mobile app

Approve a cut and answer a note from your phone, on the days you are not at the workstation.

What people ask.
Straight answers.

The questions that come up when choosing between Basalt and Timeliner.

The price of entry, and the details an editor cares about. Basalt starts free and moves to $19 a month once you need more than two projects. We have a panel inside Premiere Pro and a portfolio built from delivered work.

Try it on a real project

Free plan, no card, no time limit: two projects, timecode review and a client portal.

Start free

Other comparisons

The short answer

Timeliner is the product closest to ours: video review, tasks, time tracking, estimates and payments, and a client portal. The idea is the same, to replace a player, a task tracker and a spreadsheet.

The difference is who can afford it. Plans start at $89 a month for five seats, there is no free plan, and payment tracking and profitability sit on the $199 Agency plan.

Basalt PMS covers the same ground and adds a Premiere Pro panel and a portfolio built from delivered projects. You can start free, and the paid plan is $19 a month.

Why studios choose Basalt. The same scope, a lower door.