Best Jira Alternatives 2023 (Top 15 Similar Competitors)

Jira, by Atlassian, is one of the most established issue tracking and management tools as well as a great overall agile project management platform. But there are many Jira competitors out there. So before you commit to Jira, check out this super list of some of the best Jira alternatives you could use to streamline teamwork and hit milestones. 

If you’re not familiar, agile project management methodology is a collaborative software bug fixing and improvement methodology. What this means is that it is a way to plan, design and launch new software or features. The scrum system is one example of this. It makes the process flexible when it comes to the stages of development, testing, deployment and reviewing. 

Now, this mostly applies to tech stuff, but there are many overlaps with the kind of task and project management that businesses need for all sorts of purposes or industries. That’s why this article will delve into Jira’s competitors on both the more code-based software development side and the general project and task management side.

Top 10 Jira competitors with similar products

Here are the agile tools like Jira that we think are the best Jira alternatives. Although they are all fairly similar, some Jira competitors will be better suited to your circumstances than others so read more about each option in the sections below.

If you haven't already read our article about the best project management software, then feel free to go over that one too, either before or after this Jira replacement piece.

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Here’s our full list of the best Jira alternatives 2023:

This rundown of the best Jira alternatives is certainly going to lay a considerable amount of knowledge on you when it comes to these great project management tools. It even includes many Jira free alternatives, as well as many with several paid plans to choose from. While browsing, you might want to keep a Jira review tabbed. 

Here are 15 good alternatives to Jira: 

1. Basecamp (Best Jira alternative overall)

Basecamp is an all-in-one project management and team communication application. The company was founded in 1999 in Chicago, Illinois. Many think it is better than Jira, which says a lot, though we’d sooner claim that it should be considered simply the best alternative to Jira.

Basecamp is best for:

• Small teams

• Remote teams

• Startups

• SMBs

• Overall Jira substitute

Read more details in our Jira vs Basecamp comparison article.

Features

Basecamp has one package that is good for unlimited users and unlimited projects. The tools are clear-cut and intuitive. You get 500GB of storage to handle an unlimited number of clients, giving them advanced client access. The team projects feature of Basecamp is also one of their winning apps. Overall, Basecamp is ideal for sprints, scrums, and agile team collaboration. 

Pricing

• The Basecamp free plan is good for 20 users

• Basecamp standard plan is a flat $99 per month

Visit Basecamp

2. ClickUp (Best free Jira alternative)

While there are many project management tools on this list that offer free plans, ClickUp takes the cake for being the best of the free Jira alternatives. ClickUp was launched in 2017 and its head office is in San Diego.  

ClickUp is best for:

• Small teams

• Startups

• Small businesses

• Project managers

Features

Even the free version has unlimited tasks and users. You get collaborative document management for team members, whiteboard functionality and real-time chatting. Kanban boards are great for task management and sprints too. More expensive plans offer resource management and agile reporting. There is also a nifty widget for creating burndown charts, whether for sprint burndowns or product burndowns. ClickUp lets you integrate with GitHub for more control over the DevOps cycle.

Pricing

• ClickUp offers a free plan for unlimited number of users

• Unlimited plan is $5 per user per month billed annually, or you could make an offer

• Business plan is $12 per user per month billed annually

• Business Plus plan is $19 per user per month billed annually

• For the Enterprise plan, contact ClickUp

Visit ClickUp

3. Pivotal Tracker (Most similar to Jira)

Pivotal Tracker is a set of agile project management features. The app grew out of Pivotal Labs in 2006 to focus on collaboration and agile software development.

Pivotal Tracker is best for:

• Startups 

• Software developers

• SMBs

• Large companies

Features

Pivotal Tracker aims to help software development with smaller tasks like bug tracking and issue tracking from the initial roadmap plan on through to successful resolutions and deployments. It does time tracking on your team members and helps them collaborate and work in sync with one another. You also have decent tools for notifications, mentions, searching, file sharing, labels and project histories.

Pricing

• Pivotal Tracker has a free version for up to 5 users

• Startup plan is a flat $10 per month

• Standard plan is $6.50 per user per month 

• For Enterprise plan pricing, contact Pivotal Tracker

Visit Pivotal Tracker

4. Trello (Cheaper alternative to Jira if you’re on a budget)

Trello is already a very popular project management software. It is made by Trello Enterprise which itself is a subsidiary of Atlassian, which also makes Jira. Trello is a clear cheaper alternative to Jira as a project planning and set of collaboration tools.

Trello is best for:

• Remote teams

• Agile teams

• Startups

• Small businesses

• Companies on a budget

Read more details in our Jira vs Trello review.

Features

Trello has no-code automation built into the system for easy workflows. You also get access to Trello templates for faster project roadmap planning. The many user interfaces include dashboard, timeline, workspace table, calendar view, and map view. There are also very good mobile Trello apps for both iOS and Android, and a Slack add-on. If you want more than 10 boards, you’ll need Trello’s paid plans. 

Pricing

• The free Trello plan gets you unlimited cards and 10 boards

• Startup plan is $5 per user per month billed annually

• Premium plan is $10 per user per month billed annually 

• Enterprise plan is $17.50 per user per month billed annually

Visit Trello

5. Wrike (Good Jira alternative if you like customizability)

Wrike hails from San Jose, California, and has been offering its project management system to users since 2006. What makes Wrike stand out as a Jira competitor is its high degree of customizable settings. 

Wrike is best for:

• Small teams

• Startups

• SMBs

• Large companies

Read more details in our Jira vs Wrike review article.

Features

Whether on desktop, browser or mobile app, Wrike delivers awesome task and sub-task management through its intuitive interface. Software development teams can make use of shareable dashboards and Gantt charts. Wrike has a very advanced time tracking tool. Finally, you can set up customizable workflows with custom fields. You can also customize Wrike workflow automations.

Pricing

• Wrike offers a free plan for up to 5 users

• Professional plan is $9.80 per user month billed annually

• Business plan is $24.80 per user month billed annually

• For Enterprise plan for unlimited number of users, contact Wrike

Visit Wrike

6. Redmine (Best open-source Jira alternative)

Redmine is open-source and always free to use. It definitely strikes one as old school in terms of look and feel. 

Jira is best for:

• Startups

• Project managers

Features

With Redmine you can manage multiple projects, and get role-based access for assignees at different levels. There is time tracking and issue tracking, custom fields, and your dashboards are Gantt charts and calendar views. You can also use Redmine to create issues via email. There is SCM integration for tracking software versioning like GIT, CVS and more, and you can sync Redmine with GitHub.

Pricing

• Redmine is open-source and free

Visit Redmine

7. VersionOne (Top Jira substitute for large business)

VersionOne is made by the company CollabNet. It’s a serious business platform and a great alternative to Jira for large businesses and enterprise level companies.

VersionONe is best for:

• Large businesses

• Enterprise

Features

VersionOne markets itself as enterprise agile management, particularly geared to help multiple agile teams across various organizations. There is agile portfolio management, portfolio and team kanban boards, product roadmapping, executive dashboards and agile metrics. One thing about VersionOne is there is a slight learning curve to get through at first.

Pricing

• For pricing information, contact CollabNet VersionOne

Visit VersionOne

8. ProofHub (Great Jira competitor for small business)

ProofHub is another great all-in-one alternative to Jira especially for startups and small businesses. It’s a suite of apps to plan, collaborate and manage tasks and projects.

ProofHub is best for:

• Startups 

• Small companies

• Small teams

• Medium-sized businesses

Features

Task management starts with being able to assign multiple tasks to one assignee or single tasks to multiple assignees, and you can use data like due dates or labels. Gantt charts let you organize task dependencies. ProofHub offers great project templates. You also have good shared docs tools and file versioning.

Pricing

• $45 per user per month for up to 5 users

• $90 per user per month for between 6 and 10 users

• $135 per user per month for between 11 and 50 users

• $248 per user per month for between 51 and 100 users

• For prices above 100 users, contact ProofHub

Visit ProofHub

9. Backlog (Good Jira alternative if you need code management)

Backlog is made by Nulab, which was founded in Fukuoka, Japan in 2004. This is a combination of project management and code management all in one, which makes it a good Jira substitute.

Backlog is best for:

• Startups

• SMEs

• DevOps management

Features

You can collaborate on code review in GIT, Subversion and Wiki. You get Gantt charts and burndown charts as well. There is an issue management template library and you can also do subtasking and custom statuses. They offer push notifications and drag and drop file attachments for file sharing. Backlog has an iOS and Android mobile app.  

Pricing

• Backlog has a free plan for up to 10 users

• Starter plan is $35 per month flat

• Standard plan is $100 per month flat

• Premium plan is $175 per month flat

Visit Backlog

10. Bugzilla (Top alternative to Jira for bug tracking)

Bugzilla is another free and open-source bug tracking software that’s a solid replacement for Jira. Like most open-source software, it’s long had an old fashioned interface.

Bugzilla is best for:

• IT

• Bug tracking

• Startups

Features

You get bug lists in multiple formats including iCal and Atom. Get reports sent automatically to email. There’s time tracking, saved searches and a request system. There’s a cool tool to follow other users, where you can stay in the loop on a bug fix.  

Pricing

• Bugzilla is free and open source

Visit Bugzilla

11. Teamwork

Teamwork is a team collaboration, task and project management platform that’s good to think about when considering alternatives to Jira, especially for its project templates.

Teamwork is best for:

• Small teams

• Startups

• Medium business

• Remote teams

Features

Good resource management and planning features with Teamwork really help map out team milestones and company goals, keep track in real-time of progress, and get clear reporting. Granular day-to-day task management gets you subtasks and to-do lists, or drag and drop your task cards from one status to the next. You can set up simple when-then workflows that auto-update invoices based on changing costs. The Teamwork project template library is great but only available in the paid plans..

Pricing

• Teamwork has a Free Forever plan 

• Deliver plan is $10 per user per month billed annually

• Grow plan is $18 per user per month billed annually

• For the Scale plan, contact Teamwork

Visit Teamwork

12. LiquidPlanner

As far as project management software goes, LiquidPlanner bills itself as one that is also a predictive scheduling solution.

LiquidPlanner is best for:

• SMEs

• Large business

• Enterprise

Features

LiquidPlanner is a project management system that has the dynamic ability to recognize and react to changes in your business process or environment, updating your project plans, due dates and expenses automatically. There are priority-driven board views, portfolio management, target-finish driven alerts and change tracking.

Pricing

• Essentials plan is $15 per user per month billed annually

• Professional plan is $25 per user per month billed annually

• Ultimate plan is $35 per user per month billed annually

Visit LiquidPlanner

13. Workzone

The agile project management app Workzone was founded in the early 2000s. They have helped over 2.5 million projects and have donated $2 million to charity.

Workzone is best for:

• Startups 

• Small businesses

• Nonprofits

• Retail

Features

Easily create personal to-do lists and check them off, while Workzone will also send reminder emails to make sure you do. Great analytics and reporting give you quick in-the-weeds details of projects in progress as well as god’s eye views.

Pricing

• Team plan is $24 per user per month billed annually

• Professional plan is $34 per user per month billed annually

• Ultimate plan is $43 per user per month billed annually

Visit Workzone

14. Asana 

The Asana project management tool launched in 2012, and the company headquarters is in San Francisco, California. 

Asana is best for:

• Remote teams

• Startups

• Small business

• Project managers

Read more details in our Jira vs Asana comparison.

Features

Asana is a very visual platform with board views, lists and calendars. There is also good document management. With Asana, you can communicate with team members through tasks or projects. There are portfolio tracking and goal setting features. Developers can also create apps and plugins that run with Asana with their open API, as is common with many of these vendors. 

Pricing

• Asana offers a free forever version

• Premium plan is $10.99 per user per month billed annually

• Business plan is $24.99 per user per month billed annually

Visit Asana

15. Microsoft Project

Everyone knows Microsoft, and part of the Microsoft 365 set of business apps is MS Project.

Microsoft Project is best for:

• SMBs

• Large business

• Enterprise

Features

You can subscribe to MS Project as a cloud-based solution or get it on-premise. You get your standard grid view, time view or Gantt, and board view. Project is a good tool for collaboration, communication and co-authoring of docs. You can also build visual roadmaps and get resource management. 

Pricing

• Project Plan 1 costs $10 per user per month

• Project Plan 2 costs $30 per user per month

• Project Plan 3 costs $55 per user per month

• Project Standard on-premise costs $679.99

• Project Professional on-premise costs $1,1299.99

Visit Microsoft Project

Which of the alternatives to Jira is a good choice for you?

If you still haven’t figured out if Atlassian’s Jira is right for you, or whether you need to choose from one of these amazing Jira replacements, then good luck going forward. We stress again, Basecamp, ClickUp and Pivotal Tracker are top choices to replace Jira. For those who love a lot of customizable options, Wrike is a great choice. 

And sure, did we leave some platforms out? Yes, we had to, so quick nods in the direction of Dropbox’s free online project management tool, as well as Monday.com and CodeProject. Sometimes you might find all you need is a tiny to-do list or time-tracking plugin in your web browser, and plenty of those exist as well.

For more information about each vendor, check out their sites, see if they have free trials, and you can even contact their customer support if you have further questions about their tools, functionalities or pricing plans. It definitely helps to read FAQs on software like Jira too.

Now, it’s time to get ready to task, sprint, scrum, stay agile, plan those roadmaps, hit those milestones, and manage the heck out of your projects for more coordinated teamwork and better business results.