Jira Software Reviews

“Flexible with many plugins”

Pros

Designed with flexibility in mind, this product keeps growing all the time. There's a huge library of plug-ins, a large and enthusiastic user community and it fits Agile workflows really well. It can handle just about anything you throw at it although if you need something very specific outside its usual use case, you may have to do some extra work to shape it the way you want. The pricing feels reasonable and it's not limited to software development either since it can also be used for other kinds of teams with the right training and support.

Cons

From my perspective getting comfortable with it can take time. Developers and more technical users will probably adapt to it fairly quickly but if you're using it for non-technical departments like marketing or HR, there's definitely a learning curve. In those cases, it's worth planning for training and consulting costs especially if nobody on your team knows the platform deeply while also being able to guide less technical users effectively.

“Excellent team collaboration”

Pros

Coming to this as my first collaborative software, I was really impressed by how well it was organized. It made it clear how a full team spread across different parts of the world could still work together effectively.

Cons

Honestly, I didn't come across any real issues with it. While I was using it, most features felt self-explanatory and it worked as the ideal central place to keep track of tasks and stay on schedule with deadlines.

“Helpful ticket visibility”

Pros

One thing that's really useful is being able to see who is posting the different tickets and issues.

Cons

The downside is that it isn't user-friendly at all and creating a table in the notes is almost impossible.

“Useful across departments”

Pros

This works well beyond just engineering and has been useful across other departments too. It makes it very simple to keep track of what everyone is working on and being able to link tickets together adds a lot more visibility for the whole team. The mobile app is also a nice benefit.

Cons

One downside is that the online documentation can be hard to locate at times, depending on which version you're using.

“Wiki-style documentation hub”

Pros

At my workplace, we rely on it as a really great place to store large amounts of information especially documentation in a wiki-style format. The flexibility when it comes to formatting articles and documents is something I really appreciate and it makes organizing content much more useful.

Cons

It can feel like there's almost too much packed into it and some days you end up spending hours just trying to figure out how to do certain tasks. I just wish the platform were a little more simple overall.

“Handy booking tool”

Pros

Being online is probably the biggest advantage and once you get the hang of it, it's relatively simple to use.

Cons

The first time using it can feel a little overwhelming and I do wish there were a built-in tutorial to help new users get started.

“Organized projects and integrations”

Pros

Having multiple ways to monitor progress is a big plus and the wide range of integrations really shows why this is such a leading tool in our industry. It keeps projects far more organized overall and it also gives clients clear visibility into the process and how things are moving along.

Cons

Getting comfortable with this software takes a much steeper learning curve than most platforms. Even after using it for 5 years, I still need help figuring out how to do certain tasks and making sure I do not disrupt the current workflow. That part is definitely frustrating.

“Excellent for agile collaboration”

Pros

After more than four years of using it, I've really grown to love this product. A few things stand out in a very positive way, team collaboration is excellent, the navigation is simple and easy and the overall user experience feels polished. It fits Agile teams really well too especially when creating user stories, tasks and dependencies and the Kanban view gives a very helpful snapshot of everything in progress. On top of that, the dashboard is simple and easy to understand.

Cons

As impressive as the feature set is, it may not be the ideal choice for small businesses or startups. It seems to deliver much more value in enterprise environments or larger organizations. Because of that, smaller companies may not feel they are getting the best value for the money.

“Great boards and reporting”

Pros

Using this for website build management has been excellent for our team. It's a really impressive ticketing tool and the board view makes it simple to get a quick snapshot of where everyone is at any given time. The burndown reports are also very useful because they keep us realistic and accountable when it comes to the team's actual velocity.

Cons

We really enjoy it for internal use but things get more difficult when we invite clients in so they can follow tickets themselves. That's where problems tend to come up most often. The interface just isn't very simple for a lot of people and quite a few clients have ended up feeling lost while using it. The other downside is the cost since the hosted per-seat pricing can become expensive pretty fast.

“Project tracking features”

Pros

Being able to map out a whole project, assign tasks, log bugs and keep an eye on progress all in one place is fantastic.

Cons

Moving a task or bug through the full workflow can feel pretty tough. For some projects, it requires far more clicks and approvals than necessary and the project-specific customization ended up being difficult to work with.

“Good for simple planning”

Pros

I find it easy to use while still being powerful and I appreciate how effectively it helps me manage and track multiple projects.

Cons

Once a project gets packed with too many tiles, the scaling starts to feel a bit off. Handling several projects at the same time can also make task creation confusing and it doesn't offer much value when working on non-linear projects.

“Flexible task tracking”

Pros

Originally our developers and engineers relied on it to manage code work and track issues but I've started using it for proposal assignments and as the central place to store all of my proposal materials. The flexibility is a huge plus and it's very user-friendly. It makes it simple to see who's responsible for each task and to follow their progress along the way. Having that visibility into ownership and completion status takes a lot of the stress out of project management. I'd honestly recommend finding a way to use it in just about any project. Really excellent tool!

Cons

I really haven't run into any downsides and I haven't heard any complaints from others either. Our developers practically run their day through tickets in it. It sets clear expectations for everyone and works especially well for people who like working through checklists and marking things off as they go.

“Goal and bug tracking”

Pros

After getting familiar with the software, it becomes an incredibly powerful tool that helps you track not only individual bugs but also broader team goals that need to be completed.

Cons

If you don't already know the specific IT number you need, searching can be frustrating because the results often aren't what you're looking for.

“Sorting and collection tools”

Pros

Sorting data is really easy and collecting information is just as simple.

Cons

It's also very possible to over-categorize things and redundant entries can cause information to end up sorted incorrectly.

“Task management hub”

Pros

It works well as a single place to keep all project-related tasks together.

Cons

This tool takes a bit of time to get comfortable with at the beginning and some features are tricky to learn and fully get used to. The UX could definitely be improved.

“Agile team management”

Pros

Packed with features and plenty of options for managing a team. It stands out as one of the best software development management tools especially for teams working with Agile methodology.

Cons

Older versions were far too complicated to install and get started with although the newer versions have become much more flexible.

“Helpful bug reports”

Pros

Keeping track of time spent on project-related bugs is very convenient and I can export the reports in several different formats.

Cons

The user interface could be made more user-friendly.

“Project tracking and wiki”

Pros

Being able to assign projects to different people and keep an eye on their progress is really useful. The wiki section is another big plus and it's actually the part of the software I use most often.

Cons

Getting started can be a bit challenging and the interface isn't always the most simple.

“Laggy cloud and confusing icons”

Pros

The overall concept of using SCRUM and Kanban boards for software development makes sense and those features do function well here. Keeping a record of previous issues is also helpful and does a good job of reducing confusion when it comes to organization.

Cons

On the cloud version we use, the system feels noticeably slow and laggy. The application is also overly complicated, with a really poor interface. There are around 15 strange icons on the right side and it is not at all clear what they do or even which one is supposed to be Active Sprints. Usability also seems to have declined over the past year rather than improved.

“Perfect for task history and epics”

Pros

Between task cloning, epics and the ability to build nested subtasks, this tool covers a lot of what I need to organize work efficiently. One feature I especially appreciate is the full activity log for every task, including changes, updates, edits, additions and deletions. That kind of history is incredibly useful in a professional environment because it gives everyone the background and context behind a task when details need to be reviewed later.

Cons

A limitation that still stands out is that each task can only have one assignee. There are plenty of cases where a task is genuinely shared by more than one person and splitting it into separate tasks does not always make sense. If people are handling distinct parts, that is workable but for things like brainstorming, design, requirements gathering or investigations, the work is often collaborative in a way that cannot be meaningfully divided.