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In this updated Jira review, I share whether Jira is still the best choice for agile project management software for small business.
Jira has been the leading project management software for agile teams for over two decades.
But is it still the best agile software for projects, tasks, and issues on the market today? It’s time to find out!
Read more: 7 Best Project Management Software For Small Business.
Quick Summary
- Jira is a project management solution developed by Atlassian that is best suited for agile software development teams.
- The platform’s features help manage issues, bugs, and long-term project planning while enhancing collaboration in cross-functional projects and teams.
- Jira’s entirely free plan allows you to create unlimited project boards through Kanban boards, timelines, calendars, backlogs, or list views.
- Check out this in-depth guide explaining how you can use Jira project management software here.
Jira Review 2025
There’s no doubt that Jira’s robust suite of tools can help teams of all sizes plan, track, and release software with ease.
But as new competitors emerge, the question remains: Do Jira’s features, ease of use, complexities, and pricing still align with your project management needs?
If you’ve been thinking of switching to Jira or wondering if there’s anything better out there for you, this article is for you!
In this Jira review, I’ll dive deep into Jira to determine if it’s the best agile project management software for you.
But first, what is Jira?
What Is Jira?
Jira is a powerful project management and issue-tracking software developed by Atlassian for agile software development teams worldwide.
Since its inception in 2002, Jira has helped agile teams efficiently plan, track, test, and release their software products.
Initially created for bug and issue tracking, Jira has since evolved into a robust, agile, and collaborative project management solution used by over 300,000 teams worldwide.
It essentially allows teams to organize tasks, manage workflows, and work together using dynamic Scrum and Kanban boards.
And the platform’s seamless integration with other Atlassian products, such as Confluence and Trello, further enhances its versatility!
With Jira by your side, you can stay on top of your projects, manage issues and bugs, and improve the overall productivity within your organization.
Read more: How Much Does Project Management Cost?
For a visual walkthrough of this process, check out my video guide on How to use Jira below.
Ease Of Use
Thanks to its intuitive and well-organized dashboard interface, Jira is relatively easy to use.
Multiple menus, including a main navigation bar and a project sidebar, allow you to quickly and easily access every single key feature.
The interface is essentially designed for quick transitions between different sections.
Additionally, Jira’s helpful tutorials guide you through its various features.
Additionally, creating a new project is also straightforward with handy templates and import options.
Templates are available for projects and specific project documents, making it even easier for teams to stay organized from the get-go!
And with drag-and-drop boards, timeline views, and customization options, simply change project views and adjust task dates and estimated completion times in seconds.
It’s important to note that while the platform is fairly user-friendly, the wealth of features and customization choices may feel overwhelming, especially for beginners.
However, once you understand how it all works, I promise it becomes much easier to navigate!
Read more: What Is The Project Lifecycle?
Pricing
Jira’s pricing plans are as follows:
- Free: $0 (up to 10 users).
- Standard: $8.60 per user per month.
- Premium: $17 per user per month.
- Enterprise: Custom price.
The generous free plan is perfect for small teams. It offers unlimited project boards, access to all view types (including backlog and timelines), reporting features, and 2GB of storage.
Paid plans offer advanced permissions, external collaboration features, more storage, AI tools, and personalized customer support.
Key Features
Views And Boards
Jira’s boards and timeline tools are designed to streamline task and project management, and wow, does it exceed expectations!
You can view your projects in various ways, including lists, calendars, sprints, backlogs, or timeline views, to manage your project workflows in a way that suits you.
Whether you prefer an interactive way to meet deadlines or a spreadsheet-like approach to organize your work, Jira has you covered.
Additionally, Jira’s board types can effectively help you visualize your work. There are two primary types of boards:
- Scrum boards: Best suited for agile teams working in sprints or specific time intervals.
- Kanban boards: Easy-to-use, drag-and-drop boards for managing task workflows.
And guess what?
You can even build multiple boards for each project (each focusing on different tasks or issues) or cross-project boards to provide managers with a comprehensive overview.
Jira’s Scrum and Kanban boards are also completely customizable.
Whether modifying workflow stages, configuring swimlanes, or integrating with other tools, these boards provide the flexibility to maintain a clear, visual overview of your tasks.
Read more: What Is Estimate At Completion In Project Management?
Project Planning
Jira takes project planning to the next level. It allows you to organize and track tasks within your short or long-term projects, helping you reach your specific goals no matter what.
As mentioned, the platform is highly customizable, allowing you to tailor it to your team’s unique workflow, project, and needs.
Within each project, you can easily track issues, bugs, team members, and workflows in a central space, using dynamic visualizations to gain detailed insights.
Plus, Jira provides a variety of templates (as mentioned earlier) to help you get started quickly.
There is a template for every type of project and team, from simple, high-level, and cross-level projects.
You can even categorize your projects into team-managed and company-managed projects!
For teams seeking additional functionality, Jira’s advanced ‘Plans’ feature lets various teams work on shared goals or projects!
These ‘Plans serve as a sandbox environment, enabling teams to easily plan, experiment, and refine their workflows.
Read more: Top 5 Productivity Apps For Small Businesses.
Roadmaps
Jira’s project scrum roadmaps provide a comprehensive view of your projects.
They essentially allow you to prioritize tasks, track progress, identify potential bottlenecks, and stay ahead of issues from one centralized dashboard!
These roadmaps are perfect for outlining long-term plans and objectives, especially those in complex projects, giving your team a clear understanding of your project’s trajectory.
They offer a consolidated snapshot of every aspect of your project, enabling you to drill down into individual tasks and access critical information for informed decision-making.
You can easily manage risks, spot dependencies, collaborate with your team through feedback, and manage adjustments to scope or timelines as needed so you stay on track!
With Jira, you can also export your roadmaps into PDF or CSV formats and share them with any team member or stakeholder who isn’t using Jira.
Automation
Jira’s powerful workflow management and automation features, combined with the intuitive drag-and-drop editor, allow you to create tailored workflows for each team member.
This further simplifies the process of defining each project stage, from creation to approval and beyond.
With Jira, setting up automated workflows is effortless.
You can set up customizable triggers, conditions, and branching pathways to ensure each workflow runs smoothly and efficiently.
Simply build automations to send email reminders, move tasks to the next stage of the project lifecycle, create sub-tasks, and more.
Additionally, automation workflows can be used to enhance team productivity.
For instance, you can automatically notify the appropriate team members when a task is marked as complete.
Jira’s no-code rule builder makes task automation a breeze, saving valuable time for your team.
From managing a small project to scaling up, Jira’s automation tools reduce the manual effort required to manage your project workflows efficiently.
And as mentioned, Jira helps you design clear roadmap visualizations, providing stakeholders with a quick, birds-eye overview of project timelines, goals, and priorities.
Read more: Top 5 Small Business Automation Tools.
Issue And Bug Tracking
Jira’s strong emphasis on software development management distinguishes it from other project management platforms, such as Monday.com and Asana.
With Jira, you can easily track and tag potential issues within your projects, assigning priority levels to each to ensure they’re addressed promptly.
No other project management software does this as well as Jira!
You can categorize your issues into various segments based on the type of work required and break down each issue into specific ‘sub-tasks’ to monitor their progress.
Jira also provides real-time visibility into the development status of each issue, helping you stay on top of potential roadblocks.
Integrations
One of the standout features of Jira for project management is its seamless integration with a wide array of tools, enhancing its functionality and adaptability.
Did you know that Jira integrates with over 3,000 available apps?
That’s right, Jira doesn’t only connect with other Atlassian apps like Trello and Confluence!
Whether it’s collaboration tools, communication solutions, or other essential software, Jira connects effortlessly through its robust app marketplace in just a couple of clicks.
To streamline communication and collaboration, you can connect Jira with popular platforms such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, and more.
CRM systems like HubSpot and Zoho can also effortlessly integrate with Jira, so you can always stay on top of your customers.
Read more: My Top 7 CRM For Small Business.
Customer Support
Like many project management tools, Jira offers different levels of support depending on your plan type.
The community forum is available to both free and paid users and is best used for searching for answers to common questions, asking new ones, or engaging in discussions with others.
While the forum is a helpful resource and offers varied information, responses can be slow and lack personalization.
However, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid plan for more immediate assistance.
Support is available during regular business hours with the Standard plan, while the Premium plan provides 24/7 priority assistance.
The Enterprise plan takes it one step further, offering 24/7 support with the added benefit of managing multiple user subscriptions under one license.
Is Jira The Best Agile Project Management Software For You?
So, is Jira still the best agile project management software on the market? More importantly, is it the best choice for your business?
Jira is still undoubtedly one of the top project management tools, packed with key features for managing agile teams, complex projects, and cross-functional project managers.
That said, it’s certainly not the right fit for every business.
Although Jira is technically suitable for all teams, it’s best suited for software development teams, startups, or tech firms focused on quickly delivering high-quality products.
Jira might not be the best choice if you’re in the construction or engineering industry or simply require more traditional project management methods.
Luckily, there are plenty of impressive project management systems out there! Check out my list of the top project management tools here.
In my opinion, Jira’s free plan and impressive feature set is a great option for agile software development teams looking to streamline their workflows and accelerate product delivery.
Stews Final Thoughts
And you made it! That concludes this Jira review article covering everything you need to know about this impressive agile project management software.
Remember, selecting the right project management tool is crucial for staying ahead of the game.
I highly recommend Jira for any agile software development team looking for a user-friendly, customizable, collaborative solution.
Do you agree that Jira is still the best agile project management software? Let me know!
