Jira Software Reviews

“Packed with integrations”

Pros

It covers just about everything. Nearly any software management feature you need is built in and the platform offers a huge number of integrations so it connects with pretty much everything our team uses.

Cons

The downside is how complex it is. Getting everything set up is a major project and it takes so long to become productive with the tool that the payoff doesn't really feel worth the added value.

“Project tracking done right”

Pros

When it comes to project management, this works extremely well. It has been very useful for tracking tasks and I really appreciate how it keeps me updated on the team's progress, current assignments and even upcoming projects. On top of that, having all the information gathered in one place helps a lot and makes everything much more organized.

Cons

At first, it can feel a little complicated to understand. Once people get used to it though, they really enjoy working with it. Aside from that initial learning curve, I'm completely satisfied with the product and haven't come across anything else concerning.

“Helpful task visibility”

Pros

One thing that really works well is how effectively it helps me stay on top of my own tasks. It also gives me clear visibility into what other people need to handle which makes coordination a lot better.

Cons

I do wish the interface looked a bit nicer because it feels somewhat bare-bones. The comments section can also be hard to follow and things sometimes slip through the cracks unless we create a separate ticket.

“Customization and reporting”

Pros

There's a ton of flexibility in how this software can be customized which makes it really appealing if you want to tailor it to your workflow. It also connects well with other platforms so fitting it into an existing setup isn't much of a problem. The reporting tools are especially strong and the Kanban boards make it simple to identify bottlenecks and see where work is getting stuck. It's definitely a great choice for power users who want more control and depth.

Cons

Out of the box, the functionality feels pretty limited and even basic things like comparing two dates require add-ons. Pricing is another downside because the higher user tiers jump up significantly compared with the 1-10 user range and the extra add-ons can make it even more expensive. On top of that, most add-ons don't work with the cloud version which is frustrating. There's also a learning curve so it can feel overly complex for users who aren't as advanced.

“Reliable for years”

Pros

After using this tool for more than five years, I can honestly say I've been happy with pretty much everything about it.

Cons

Having worked with this tool for over five years, I really haven't run into any cons to mention.

“excellent tracking features”

Pros

One of the biggest advantages is how accurately it helps track project work. Being able to add target implementation dates, note business benefits and link items for related tasks makes managing and monitoring projects much more efficient and organized.

Cons

One thing I don't like is that the underlying items sometimes fail to respond properly to the selected filter criteria. That can create confusion and occasionally cause important project-related work to be missed.

“great for allocation and file sharing”

Pros

The allocation management works extremely well and it's also very effective for handling knowledge bases and issue scheduling. Another strong point is the file sharing system which is very fast.

Cons

It's missing presentation tools and doesn't include a properly integrated team chat feature. There's also no integration with an office suite and it lacks an option for auditing problems.

“Boards keep projects moving”

Pros

Keeping projects organized with this has honestly been a lifesaver. We use the boards not just for project work but also to monitor our sales pipeline, goal progress and a lot more. It gives a really clear visual snapshot of where everything stands and the notifications make it much easier to see who owns each task. Moving items into a "Finished" column still feels incredibly satisfying every single time.

Cons

Setting up custom workflows used to be an absolute nightmare although the recent updates have improved that a lot. The overall user experience is much better now than it was before. During the setup process, we ended up depending heavily on YouTube videos and blog posts from other websites because the built-in help navigation and support articles really did not guide us very well.

“Sprint tracking toolkit”

Pros

It covers all the functionality product managers and engineers need to plan sprints, follow progress and keep an eye on projects. The ability to connect features and break work into subtasks is especially valuable in any project tracking tool.

Cons

Navigation is not always very simple. There are times when I want to see every user story in a project, including both released and unreleased ones and after a lot of trial and error I realized the only way to do that was by clicking the project's ticket number since there is no menu option or clearly labeled shortcut. A few restrictions are also frustrating. I can't close a project until every single user story, along with however many subtasks were created under them, is marked complete. That can get pretty tedious especially since there's no way to update them in batches.

“Tracking and teamwork”

Pros

I really like its powerful features and bug tracking, plus strong team collaboration with plenty of extensions and customization options.

Cons

It took a bit of time for non-software team members to get comfortable with it.

“Integrations and visibility”

Pros

There's a lot this platform can handle. You can configure it to work with a wide range of tools and APIs which makes it especially valuable in a development environment. It also gives great visibility into different projects your teams may be working on which is really helpful.

Cons

The downside is that setting up just about anything feels more complicated than it should be. Even a small change that seems like it ought to be quick can end up taking a long time and way too many clicks to get done.

“Strong features and value”

Pros

It covers pretty much everything needed to run a software product development program. On top of that, we use it for customer support task management too and it handles that role really well. The pricing feels fair for what you get.

Cons

One area that was frustrating was customer service and product stability. About a year ago, a major section of the dashboard stopped working and plenty of other users were reporting the same problem. It ended up taking close to a year for the fix to arrive which made the software much more difficult to work with during that period. Thankfully, those problems have now been resolved.

“simple test tracking”

Pros

Using this software feels very easy. The interface is simple, the screens are user-friendly and the overall setup is well structured for managing test cycles. It also makes documenting changes simple and organized.

Cons

There really isn't much to dislike about the software. If anything, customer support could be a little better.

“Ticket tracking across teams”

Pros

One of the strongest things about it is how well it keeps all ongoing work organized through tickets. It fits different ways of working really well too. Our company works in an Agile setup, with some teams following Scrum and others using Kanban and it still works across all of them. No matter how a team is organized, everything runs through tickets which gives us one central place to manage and review work. It also makes searching across teams very convenient. The Epic and Story structure is also very clear so it's simple to see which tickets belong to a larger initiative and track progress through them. Keeping a backlog organized is easy as well. Another helpful part is being able to merge similar tickets when two people submit requests tied to the same effort which keeps the queue from looking bigger than the actual workload.

Cons

A recurring issue on our team is deciding when something really needs its own ticket. It has pushed us into a habit of documenting every tiny task even when the work only takes a minute to finish. At times, creating the ticket takes more effort than doing the task itself. That makes it feel like there's too much dependence on the system just to show that work happened. It also lets some managers measure success by the number of tickets closed even though that doesn't fully reflect the value of the work. Since tickets don't include any real time-based context, they often miss an important part of the overall picture.

“Dashboards and backlog control”

Pros

This project management tool does a really good job of tracking development velocity. It lets us assign tasks to developers, see how long each task takes to finish and allows developers to add comments along with the hours spent on every task. We can also build dashboards with attractive visualizations that clearly show the current project status. On top of that, it has plenty of useful features, such as re-prioritizing user stories when there's a backlog which helps improve the overall project completion time.

Cons

At the beginning, the layout was a bit hard to understand and getting the tool set up took some effort. Also, when managing multiple projects at once, the volume of emails can become overwhelming.

“Workflow powerhouse”

Pros

Eight years in, this tool still hasn't let me down. I've used it both as a freelancer handling everything myself and within teams of 200+ people and it held up in situations where other platforms would have turned into chaos. It supports multiple ways to organize work, whether that's Kanban, Scrum or even a custom setup of your own. All in all, it's a strong fit for just about any company, from an ambitious startup to a Fortune 500 organization.

Cons

One downside is that its deep customization can work against it. People sometimes try to force it into doing everything their own way which can make the whole setup feel messy, overbuilt and hard to use. It also comes with a pretty steep learning curve since there are so many features and that can be a turnoff for some users.

“Marketplace integrations”

Pros

One of the biggest advantages for us has been how well it connects with other tools and the constantly growing marketplace makes it even more valuable. We were able to hook it up with GitHub, Slack and Travis CI very quickly without any hassle.

Cons

The biggest downside is the pricing for larger teams which makes some of our clients hesitant to adopt it. On top of that, the notification settings can be difficult to manage.

“Ticket tracking that delivers”

Pros

Being able to watch or subscribe to ticket activity is probably the most useful part of this software. It helps us keep customers informed whenever there's an update and everything stays in one central place instead of being scattered around. We can also keep an archive of bugs that have come up in our system, along with the details of the work done to resolve them which is really valuable.

Cons

It's on the expensive side but if you genuinely need this kind of tool, the cost is justified.

“Kanban and planning tool”

Pros

It's a really versatile tool that works well for planning, bug tracking and overall organization. You can set up a Kanban board which makes it much easier to visually follow tasks, stories, epics and bugs. Since it's a web-based application, it runs on any system without needing to install anything.

Cons

I honestly haven't come across any major downsides though there are times when the time calculation for completing a story or tracking a pending story seems inaccurate.

“Ticketing and project visibility”

Pros

One thing that really works well is the ability to create ticketing templates that guide users in submitting standard, consistent tickets. It also helps a lot to have a visible status map that shows the full ticket lifecycle and the kanban board is a strong feature for organizing and managing projects effectively.

Cons

Getting started can take time because there's a fairly steep learning curve when it comes to teaching users how to file tickets properly. It also helps to have someone dedicated to learning the platform in depth or someone who already has experience setting up an IT system.