Jira vs. Trello: How to Choose the Right Project Management Software

Jira and Trello are two of the biggest names in project management software. But which one should you choose when picking the right one for your team? In this blog post, we’ll go over the pros and cons of each software to help you figure out which project management software you should choose.

What is a project management software and why do I need one?

Let’s go straight to the basics with this section. Project management software helps dev teams collaborate in a variety of ways, from roadmap planning all the way to bug reporting. Project management software is probably most used to track issues when developers are building something new or improving existing systems. Project management software can be used in a variety of software development frameworks, too, from waterfall planning to agile development.

There are a lot of reasons to use project management software. In short, it can help you and your team:

• Be more organized
• Track progress on projects
• Communicate with each other more effectively
• Identify and fix problems faster (such as reporting visual bugs)

Now that we know what project management software is and why we need it, let’s take a more in-depth look at Jira vs. Trello.

Jira: The Powerhouse Product

Jira is one of the most popular project management software on the market today. It’s used by some of the biggest tech companies in the world, like Google and Amazon. Jira is a great tool for developers who need to track a lot of different issues and bugs. You can use it for everything, from reporting visual bugs on a web page to organizing your team’s daily tasks.

Pros:

• Jira is very customizable, so you can tailor it to your specific needs
• Jira has a lot of features and integrations that can be really helpful for developers
• Jira is very user-friendly and easy to learn how to use

Cons:

• Jira can be overwhelming for smaller teams because of all the features and customization options
• Jira can be expensive, especially for larger teams

Here are the key features of Jira

For starters, as mentioned before, Jira is great for tracking projects and keeping tabs on progress. It also offers burndown charts and time tracking, which can help to keep projects on track and ensure that deadlines are met. Additionally, Jira integrates with a number of other tools and platforms, making it easy to use in conjunction with other software applications. In short, Jira is a versatile and powerful project management tool that can be an asset for any business or organization.

The Jira free tier: is it good as free project management tool?

There’s no doubt that Jira is a powerful tool for project management and issue tracking. But is the free tier worth it for users? Let’s take a closer look.

The free tier of Jira allows for a user limit of up to 10 users, which may be enough for small projects or personal use. All the typical features are included in the free plan: scrum and kanban boards, a backlog, agile reporting and integrations (which means you can hook BugCatcher up to it easily!). You can also download the free Jira app to track things on your smartphone, which is helpful when you want to give quick status updates when you’re away from your computer.

For larger projects, the paid versions of Jira offer unlimited issue creation and a variety of other features, such as advanced roadmaps, advanced dependency management and custom workflows.

Finally, the free tier does not include access to Jira’s email notifications or customer support. So if you run into any problems using the tool, you’ll be on your own. But, if you’re smart enough to be using BugCatcher, you’re probably smart enough to do this troubleshooting on your own anyway. 😉

Trello: The Easy and Quick Contender

Trello is another popular project management software that’s known for being very user-friendly. Trello is great for small to medium-sized teams who need a simple way to track their projects. It’s used by teams at Google, Fender, Squarespace and Costco, to name a few.

Pros:

• Trello is very user-friendly and easy to learn how to use
• Trello is great for small to medium-sized teams
• Trello is a lot cheaper than Jira

Cons:

• Trello doesn’t have as many features as Jira, so it might not be suitable for larger teams
• Trello can be less customizable than Jira

Here are the key features of Trello

Trello is known for its simple and intuitive interface, which makes it easy to use for first-time users and non-technical users (such as a marketing team that wants to track projects).

One of the key features of Trello is its unlimited cards. This means that users can create as many cards as they need, without having to worry about storage space.

Another key feature is the ability to add Power-Ups to boards. Power-Ups are additional features that can be added to boards, such as calendars or kanban views. Trello also offers unlimited storage, which is a valuable feature for users who work with large files. Finally, Trello also has mobile apps for iOS and Android, which makes it convenient for users who need to access their Trello boards when they’re away from the computer.

The Trello free tier: is it good as free project management tool?

There’s no denying that Trello is a popular tool for project management. But what about the free tier? Is it worth it for users to try it out?

The short answer is: yeah, it’s free, so why not? You get up to 10 boards per Workspace, unlimited cards and all the useful features that most teams would want.

On the one hand, the free tier does have some limitations. You can’t customize certain fields in the tool, which might be useful for certain workflows. Additionally, users can only upload files up to 10MB in size (even though you can upload as many as you want; the next tier up lets you upload unlimited files at 250MB/file). So if you’re looking for a robust tool with no limits, Trello’s free tier might not be for you.

The Premium tiers seem to be where Trello really gets pretty robust. You get Dashboard, Timeline, Workspace Table and Calendar views which help with organizing. You can use Google Apps sign-on for login, and you get better security and admin features, which are definitely important if you’re working in an enterprise environment or with sensitive data.

On the other hand, the free tier is still a pretty powerful tool. And if you’re just getting started with project management, it can be a great way to try out the features of Trello without having to invest in a paid solution. Even then, if you do need more boards and advanced features, the Standard tier is only $5 per user (at the time of this writing in April 2022).

OK, that’s all great, but which one is right for me?

So, which project management software should you choose? It really depends on your specific needs. If you need a lot of features and customization options, then Jira is a great choice. However, if you’re looking for something simpler and cheaper, then Trello might be a better option for you. Jira also seems to be the software that most developers are familiar with throughout their career (for instance, both BugCatcher founders have used Jira extensively in a free and enterprise setting).

At the end of the day, the biggest thing is just to get started making sure you’re tracking your work and reporting bugs effectively. Without any system of organization for teamwork, you’re likely to get overwhelmed, confused and end up with work products that aren’t anything like what you intended to build.

Still not sure which project management software to choose? Why not try both and see which one works better for you and your team! There’s no harm in trying out different software to see what works best for you. Whichever project management software you choose, make sure it helps you and your team be more collaborative and communicative. After all, your project management software is only as good as the systems and habits built around it (and the team’s dedication to making it work!).