What are Jira alternatives? (10 tools with key features)

Looking for Jira alternatives can help teams with specific project management requirements improve their productivity. Depending on a team's specific expectations, team leaders can consider tools that nurture collaboration or offer users more intuitive, easy-to-use dashboards. Learning about common substitutes for Jira can help you decide which project management to use for your team. In this article, we answer, 'What are Jira alternatives?', explain why you may consider them and list 10 of the most popular alternatives for Jira with their key features.

What are Jira alternatives?

Learning the answer to, 'What are Jira alternatives?' can help you when you're looking for a new tool to manage your team's work digitally. Traditionally, teams use Jira to manage workflow, track bugs and manage their agile software development projects. It's one of the most popular tools for development and project teams, as it's widely available and suitable for different types of users, including developers, engineers and even non-technical professionals.

Jira alternatives are various software tools that offer similar functionalities but help teams focus on a particular area of their work. For example, when they want to work on the project-wide infrastructure without mapping to individual issues. Sometimes using Jira can also be ineffective for smaller projects, for which using a simpler and more intuitive tool can be more efficient than using Jira.

Related: What are project management tools (with 15 examples)

Why consider alternatives for Jira?

Choosing to migrate your team's work to a different tool can help you improve workflows and team productivity. Here's why you may want to look for Jira alternatives for your team to use:

You're looking for a more intuitive tool

For many people, a significant drawback of Jira is that using if effectively requires users to spend a lot of time exploring its different features and how it functions. Although this is not a problem for smaller development teams, it can be challenging for larger groups or users who have little or no software development experience. Luckily, it's possible to find Jira alternatives that are equally efficient and simply easier to use for users of different backgrounds.

You're looking for a tool that supports assistive technology

Opting for a Jira alternative can be a great option for users with disabilities. Depending on which assistive software they use on a daily basis, integrating that software with Jira can be expensive. Choosing a substitute that focuses on allowing third-party integrations can be a great solution, which also focuses on creating a highly accessible and inclusive work environment.

You want to assign more owners to one task

One of Jira's weaknesses is that it only allows one assignee per task. This isn't ideal for teams where collaboration is an important factor. What's great about alternatives for Jira is that many focus on allowing multiple users to work on the same task, which can help improve the entire team's performance.

Related: What does collaboration mean in the workplace?

The best alternatives for Jira with their key features

Depending on your team's specific requirements, there are many effective project management software tools you can use. Here are some of the most popular tools to consider:

1. Asana

Asana is a popular project management tool that companies of all sizes successfully use to improve their productivity and performance. It offers a clean, simple interface that even users with little computer experience can quickly learn, as it simplifies communication and collaboration across the entire team. It can be a better tool than Jira for teams that don't focus on agile. Key features of Asana include:

• multiple workspaces

• real-time communication and collaboration

• support for attachments and sharing files

• multiple task or project owners

• customisation

• breaking up tasks into smaller subtasks

• due dates and times

• task dependencies

Related: 20 fun team meeting ideas to boost engagement and productivity

2. Basecamp

Basecamps is a great digital tool for organising work while nurturing project transparency for maximum effectiveness. It allows remote teams to store all information, including files and emails, in one place for easy access. Key features of Basecamp include:

• creating and assigning tasks in a to-do list

• annotating tasks and adding attachments

• real-time chat tool

• sharing posts, images or files

• scheduling events with dates, time and date ranges

• issuing even notifications to others

• Docs integration

• colour coding files

• preparing and delivering check-in questions

• issuing project access to clients

• creating visual boards using project data, such as progress over time

3. Binfire

Binfire is an effective project collaboration software that intends to simplify the workflow of remote teams. Primarily, the tool focuses on improving how teams collaborate and manage their projects or content that they create. Key features of Binfire are:

• interactive whiteboard

• communication and document collaboration

• integrations with popular third-party apps

• message board

• generating reports to showcase in the workspace pages

• assigning different user ranges to members

• tagging files and tasks

• search tool

4. Bitrix24

Bitrix24 markets itself as the ultimate workspace that simplifies communication and progressing on projects. It's also an effective customer relationship management tool that automates sales and acts as a tool to issue and send invoices. Key features of Bitrix24 are:

• collaboration tools, including chats, messages, polls and video calls

• customer relationship management (CRM) tools, such as customer databases or sales automation

• project management, including creating tasks, subtasks or Gannt charts

• document management, including uploading, storing and sharing files

• time management, including worktime calculation and reports

• human resources (HR) tool, such as employee directory or appreciation badges

5. ClickUp

ClickUp allows your team to save valuable time by streamlining the workflow. For example, it makes it possible to integrate external tools such as emails, which allows you to manage all tasks from ClickUp's dashboard. ClickUp's key features include:

• view tool, which allows you to view workload in different ways

• no-code customisation options

• routine work automation through pre-built automation recipes

• template library with task, checklist or project templates

• relationships tool that allows you to link tasks or documents together

• over 1,000 third-party app integrations

• real-time communication tools

6. Shortcut

Shortcut, formerly Clubhouse, is a project management knowledge-based tool that aims to help software teams simplify their workflow. It's a highly functional tool with a simple, intuitive dashboard. Most commonly, teams that choose Shortcut use Kanban board workflow. Key features of Shortcut are:

• story creation to manage tasks or bugs

• focus on company-wide goals

• automatic milestones or roadmaps updates

• assigning and sharing goals with other users

• scheduling and conducting sprints

• creating reports, such as burndown charts

7. Kanbanize

Kanbanize is a Kanban tool for teams that use Agile project management. It allows them to visualise projects, monitor progress and improve their efficiency. It's great for projects from various industries, including aerospace engineering, IT, product development and architecture. It offers them Kanban-style features, such as:

• customisable Kanban boards and cards

• timeline and workflow planning

• multidimensional organisation with multiple workflows

• analytics module for monitoring workflow trends and visualising data

• third-party and email integrations

Related: Guide to project management frameworks (plus types)

8. Pivotal Tracker

Pivotal Tracker is an Agile project management tool that nurtures collaboration. It gives you access to dynamic tools that analyse your team's progress. You can then use this information to identify and eliminate weaknesses to improve the team's performance. Thanks to the tool's guided iteration planning tool, you can get more things done in less time. Here are the key features of Pivotal Tracker:

• story points

• tools for estimating work and prioritising tasks

• consistency tracking automation

• managing multiple projects from one dashboard

• time and trend reporting

Related: How to become an IT project manager (with salary info)

9. ProofHub

ProofHub is a more flexible Jira alternative. It allows you to create to-do lists, agile workflows and kanban boards. What's great about this tool is that it provides your team with a dedicated space for real-time communication. Before implementing ProofHub, pay attention to use fixed price plans, as the tools doesn't charge you per user. Some of the key features of ProofHub are:

• custom to-do lists, workflows and Kanban boards

• tools for effective file management

• time tracking

• monitoring team and individual progress

• advanced search tools

• announcements to recognise well-performing users

10. Trello

Trello is a popular team and project management tool that many remote teams use. It's simpler than Jira, which makes it great even for non-technical users. Switching to Trello can be a great option for smaller development teams that want to focus on collaboration and working on multiple projects simultaneously. Here are the key features of Trello:

• tagging, labelling and categorising tools and projects

• drag-and-drop interface

• generating progress charts

• setting and sharing reminders

• assigning multiple users to one task

• easy third-app integrations

Please note that none of the companies mentioned in this article are affiliated with Indeed.