Jira Software Reviews

“Great for planning and reporting”

Pros

It's a really impressive tool for developers and support teams especially when it comes to reporting and building out development plans. It helps organize the work clearly and makes planning much more manageable.

Cons

One thing I do miss is the older UI, where status changes felt clearer and more user-friendly. The newer version just doesn't feel as comfortable to work with.

“tracking with crashes”

Pros

One thing I appreciated was being able to track change requests and test scenarios in one place. The workflow setup was also helpful for moving issues through the different stages of resolution.

Cons

Using it was pretty difficult overall and it crashed fairly often. The interface wasn't simple and the search was slow which is also where most of the crashes seemed to happen.

“perfect planning toolkit”

Pros

There's a huge amount you can do with this as a software development company managing projects. It covers resource capacity and availability, sprint, defect and task management, profitability tracking with burnup charts and progress monitoring down to each task and sub-task. It also helps with scheduling and running deployments and releases. On top of that, as a PM, the Big Picture plugin is a really valuable addition since it makes building project plans and Gantt charts much more practical and managing those plans feels easier than with many other project management tools.

Cons

It's not really a major downside but new users will probably need a bit of time to fully understand and take advantage of all the features available.

“project tracking hub”

Pros

It is an excellent project management tool with a lot of features and everything is organized in a logical way. The integration with Confluence for documentation and with Fisheye/Crucible for code reviews is especially useful and something I really appreciate.

Cons

One area that could use some improvement is the upgrade process, along with backup and restore. I don't mind using the CLI but when it comes to backups, I'd prefer if attachment management were handled through the GUI instead of relying on backend command-line steps.

“customization powerhouse”

Pros

There's an impressive range of customization available so it covers just about every need. The JQL-based setup and the API are especially useful and they make it a strong choice for power users who want to get the most out of their productivity.

Cons

The default configuration choices could be improved especially for organizations that want to preselect a group of commonly used settings across different project types.

“time tracking and sharing”

Pros

Keeping an hourly record of work is probably the strongest part of this tool and being able to share that information with teams, clients and others makes it even more useful. It does a good job of helping balance assigned work with what has actually been completed. I also appreciate that story points can be customized to fit specific requirements. The platform is highly configurable overall so it can be adjusted based on changing needs and it also handles dynamic updates well.

Cons

Sometimes it gets a little slow when the same page is accessed multiple times. It can also take a while for a new user to understand and get comfortable with how everything works.

“scrum management toolkit”

Pros

Getting a scrum team up and running with this is pretty easy and it can be tailored to match the team's specific workflow. It covers all the essentials needed to manage scrum properly, including boards, sprint planning and management, backlog handling, task sizing and more.

Cons

Pricing climbs pretty quickly even for a team that isn't very large. On top of that, subtask management and customization don't feel as complete or as powerful as some other tools available.

“story board flexibility”

Pros

There's a lot of flexibility in how boards, project stories and their overall presentation can be customized which makes it much easier to tailor the setup to the team's needs.

Cons

Performance in our environment was a weak spot. The permission levels also felt a bit confusing at times and on several occasions we had to ask for access to items we believed we already should have had.

“IT performance insights”

Pros

Keeping tabs on our Information Technology team has been much more manageable with this system. It not only helps us monitor the completion of different projects but also lets management or IT assign priorities as needed. The metrics are especially useful because they give managers measurable data to use during performance reviews.

Cons

At times, the system seems to slow down especially when updates are rolling out or when a lot of employees are using it at the same time.

“sprint tracking success”

Pros

It fits really well into the Agile methodology we use with our client. Users can clearly see the tasks assigned to them and track how those tasks are progressing throughout each sprint.

Cons

The new update has been a disappointment. It makes the Kanban board harder to view and takes away the ability to see the full project at a glance.

“Advanced task tracking”

Pros

Keeping track of tasks and subtasks is very convenient and working together with others on them feels convenient. It also lets you create custom filters for reports which makes it simple to monitor progress and see how work is distributed across the team.

Cons

At times it freezes a bit and pages can take longer than expected to load but overall it's still a great tool.

“Highly adaptable”

Pros

Customization is easily the standout feature here. We're constantly adjusting how our development workflows are set up and I haven't really hit a case where the app couldn't support what we were trying to do. Once you understand how the workflow editor maps to specific projects and features, it's fairly easy to work with. It also connects with a huge range of other apps which helps cut down the complexity of an organization's overall stack. We rely on integrations with tools like Slack and Git and they work really well for us. The mobile app is great and feels simpler to navigate and there's also a newer iOS app that runs on Mac which seems faster and a bit more user-friendly. I still haven't fully figured out how to customize notifications but the search functionality is extremely powerful.

Cons

Page loads are noticeably slow and moving between stories can feel sluggish. When you're using it every day, that delay becomes pretty frustrating. Changing settings is also more confusing than it should be because there are so many different places to go for options that seem very similar. If someone creates a ticket with the wrong type by mistake, the only way to fix it is by moving the ticket. On top of that, I haven't been able to update the status at the same time so an Open bug can end up turning into an Open feature when it really should be moved back to Draft instead.

“Custom dashboards and workflows”

Pros

One thing that really works well here is how neatly everything is arranged across projects, reports, stories and similar items. The way some user stories are categorized feels different from other tools and it can actually help product owners identify issues faster and start working on solutions. The dashboard is another strong point. It's easy and very useful when you need to keep an eye on something. The part I appreciate most is that it lets teams use their own tools and templates which a lot of software platforms usually restrict. On top of that, it also works well for basic workflow tickets and the ticket views can be customized so you see the exact information you need.

Cons

One frustrating part is that there are times when you can't close a ticket unless you were the person who created it. If you need to close it, you have to be the one who opened it and that can be annoying. Pricing is also a downside. It feels like each upgrade ends up costing more than the original purchase which doesn't feel great. The layout can also be overly complex so finding what you need sometimes takes longer than it should and ends up wasting time. On top of that, it feels like having some prior experience in this area is almost necessary to use it effectively.

“Team oversight and metrics”

Pros

Managing teams with this tool has been a really positive experience. The interface looks polished, the updates come regularly and the analytics charts are especially useful for tracking team velocity and planning sprints more effectively.

Cons

There are no major downsides overall. The only issue I ran into was a time when Bitbucket was unavailable for around four hours, likely because of a server update and that forced us to delay our sprint planning.

“Real-time collaboration”

Pros

It works like a Facebook-style hub for our program, giving us real-time access to information, updates and comments all in one place. It also helps us work across functions by connecting with other business units to assign tasks and get work completed. The built-in Power BI integration is a really nice bonus too.

Cons

Writing code in JQL can feel restrictive at times and the dashboard layouts don't offer much flexibility or variety. The calendar view also comes across as awkward and somewhat limiting.

“Effective project control”

Pros

Project management works really well overall. It's also convenient to update several tasks at the same time especially when preparing a version release.

Cons

New UI navigation still feels quite unfriendly. Switching between My Work and Reports with the Tempo plugin makes it harder to work efficiently. I often have to reset the view and go back to the root menu because the interface remains confusing. Tempo integration also doesn't feel well optimized, it clashes with the internal reporting and the value for money isn't very good.

“Sluggish navigation”

Pros

Honestly, there isn't much about this product that I enjoy. It runs slowly and feels weighed down by too many unnecessary drop-downs and extra selections.

Cons

Pretty much sums up my issue as well. I use this product every day and it really feels like there are other options out there that would fit my needs better.

“Useful features and monitoring”

Pros

Adding images is easy, assigning tasks works well and the time tracking feature is really helpful to have.

Cons

System crashes quite often, creating a project takes too long and the mobile app is not very user-friendly.

“Project and team coordination”

Pros

One of the best parts is how flexible it is. I can manage different projects, teams and processes in the same environment even when each one has its own way of working and specific characteristics.

Cons

They've been improving the user experience which is noticeable but there are still areas that could be better. At times, the interface also feels a bit overloaded and can seem like too much.

“Adaptive alerts and monitoring”

Pros

Keeping up with updates is easy and tagging teammates while managing tickets works really well. We use it for both contract exceptions and development tickets and it helps us monitor status clearly while making sure the right teams are notified. It also integrates with other systems which adds a lot of value.

Cons

Setting up the configuration can be a bit difficult for non-technical users. That said, after using it for more than five years, I still consider it fairly simple to work with overall.