5 Best Jira Alternatives To Try in 2021

Jira is a great project management tool engineered to guide complex Projects, but there many options available in the market for you to try out.

You might have different requirements from a startup, enterprise, e-commerce or SaaS project managment tool, or perhaps you are looking for a simpler tool that is easy-to-use. Or, one that integrates with the other apps you use to run your business smoothly.You don't need to look any further, because we have researched for you.

Here's 5 project management tools we personally battle tested for you, along with their pros and cons

Here are the tools we checked out:

• Trello
• Asana
• Monday
• Notion
• Clickup
  

Before we go into describing the alternatives, let’s have a quick look at why Jira is regarded as one of the lot in the industry and why they amass customers from Nasa to small startups across the world.

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Trello

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Trello is a web-based platform that is used for organizing projects. It contains a three tier information system that is highly customizable and adaptable. The first tier is boards, and they contain lists. Lists are then given names. The second tier is made up of cards, and the third tier consists of tasks

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Pros:

• Mobile friendly – Mobile is becoming increasingly popular. Trello is mobile friendly, which means you can use it on any mobile device.
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• You wouldn't expect a simple pricing structure from a company that offers more services than other companies. For example, Trello is a lot cheaper than other recognized project management tools. Monthly plans start at $25/month. This package lets you invite as many members as you want. This package also includes a wide range of features that shouldn't be overlooked.
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• Notifications - Trello will definitely get you updated! Whenever a task is removed, commented on or updated, you'll receive an email notification.
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• No More Forgets – A problem with sticky notes is that you often forget what they are for. Trello will make paper notes redundant
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• Their system is real-time; updates are sent immediately, so multiple employees will not see any delays.
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• Follows The Kanban System – The Kanban System was founded by Toyota in the 1950s. The Kanban system was created to improve the development process by separating tasks into smaller components, such as cards and boards

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Cons:

• No Trello, No Data - Software like Trello relies on data. Without internet access, you lose access to the data. This is a big problem when you're working in areas with unreliable internet access or none at all
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• Their storage capacity is restricted – However, Trello only allows a maximum of 250MB per file. This is only available to gold members, or 10MB to basic members.
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• Comments - an issue that needs to be fixed in Trello is that you can't edit a comment once you have posted it. Once you have saved the comment, you will only have the option to write a new comment rather than editing the original one, even if you're using a comment that is copied onto multiple cards.
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• For small projects, Trello works well. If your team requires the management of larger projects, maybe Trello isn’t the best option.

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Quick Conclusion:

Trello is an excellent software that can help you get those essential jobs done.

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Asana
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This is a cloud-based project management platform where people can organize all elements of their project, such as tasks, deadlines, and team members.

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Pros:

• They offer a free plan. Small businesses may use project management software to keep track of their tasks. However, some of them can be expensive but not Asana. To keep their costs down, they offer a free plan to small teams.
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• Variety of integrations. This fact more than makes up for Asana’s lack of some features. With Asana, there are numerous third party integrations that can be integrated into it, including Salesforce, Slack, Dropbox, Google Calendar and a lot more.
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• Asana is an organizational tool, with this in mind it allows you to mark the progress of each project and task to keep on top of projects and tasks.
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• We ensure all data is protected. Asana support this by ensuring all files are encrypted using the 2048-bit RSA encryption.
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• Asana provides a customizable dashboards that team leaders can use to track each task separately. Aside from that, the dashboard can be utilized for customer queries, recruitment, and group conversations.
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• Better collaboration. Asana enables you to invite people to collaborate in your projects. People can see all the tasks and projects in your workspace. You can assign a task to someone or they can follow a project voluntarily

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Cons:

• Asana is not so friendly for new users. It is particularly intimidating for new project managers who may not have the exposure to software like Asana. However, some experienced project managers have found it useful because of its interface.
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• Asana is not ideal for small teams or single projects. It has too many options and features that can become overwhelming for a very basic project. A lot of users complain of having decision fatigue because of this.
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• Tasks can only be assigned to one person at a time. Some other software allows you to assign projects to more than one person but this creates confusion as to who is responsible. A workaround to this would be to create a task and then assign multiple people to it, but this then leads to multiple heads, and you can end up with a conflict between them in terms of who is doing what
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• If you have to track time spent by your team members and wish to classify this time accordingly, Asana may not be the best choice for you.
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• There is limited exporting functionality. Our team needs to take files outside of the app, we have this feature in JSON and CSV formats but not in PDF and Excel formats.

Quick Conclusion:

With so much emphasis laid on Asana, it’s hard to tell if it will really make your business run more smoothly.

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Monday
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Monday is a project management tool designed to improve the effectiveness of teams by enabling them to plan, manage and track work. Monday is a visual platform, allowing you to assign team members, tasks and track progress from a central view. By using Monday, individuals and the teams they're a part of can become more efficient and productive by staying on top of all their work, no matter the size and complexity of their projects and tasks. Monday helps individuals and teams to organize their work and projects that are relevant to their business. The tool has been designed to improve the visibility of work so that everyone involved can work closely together as a unit to overcome challenges and create a synergy that improves the effectiveness of the team

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Pros:

• Ready for business. Team collaboration is a key concern for us and our product is built to allow editors to work on a list together. This means that all users get control over the same list at the same time and can send each other messages when they need help or information.
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• Monday's tracking features are excellent. No matter what task you are doing or what issue you are working on, Monday gives you the tools you need to be effective. The visual boards make analysing progress a cinch with clear colour-coded boards. Knowing what's urgent is not guesswork, you can easily find out what is next on your to-do list
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• Alternative views. Although the software doesn't have a Gantt chart, it does provide a timeline view that many users find more appropriate for their requirements. Even if it doesn't provide you a Gantt chart, it does help you track progress and be aware of upcoming deadlines. Other views include a calendar view and a kanban board.
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• Communication is a key part of any team. With Boards and Timelines, you can easily share information with anyone, no matter how big your company is, or how close they are to your location.
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• The platform enables you to keep all project information in one place. This means you can organise, manage, and update your project efficiently.
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• Call us on 0203040506, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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Cons:

• Monday uses tiered pricing. The Basic plan is available for $20/month/user, but if you want complete user integration or useful features such as one-click screen sharing, you'll need to pay more.
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• Certain features are missing. This product does not allow you to track time and the cost of projects, nor does it provide a Gantt chart.
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• Some users find the UI to be cluttered, disorganized, or confusing. Some users find the kanban board, for example, a bit hard to understand.
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• A few users are disappointed in the app. App updates are not as good as they could be. They feel the app could be improved a lot, and we'll try to make that happen
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• The current list of integrations proves popular with our customers. Monday allows you to integrate with Dropbox, Excel, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Slack, Trello, and Zapier. However, some customers would like to see Salesforce, Sharepoint, and other popular third-party applications added to our list of integrations.

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Quick Conclusion:

Any company that wants to be successful needs to have the tools that allow them to have enough flexibility. Monday is a top contender for project management. It offers tools that promote collaboration and visibility. Companies should always carefully evaluate the situation if their needs change or if the tools they used have reached their limit.

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Notion
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Notion is a tool designed to allow teams to collaborate, plan, write, and get organized. Users have described it as being similar to the Lego structure, which provides the building blocks of projects where users can create their own layouts. Simply put, it is like having everything one needs to create something, and users only need to decide what they want to make. Our product is a workspace where users can write on a clean space and build their own wiki. It also allows them to plan using the Kanban view, use a calendar, and capture workflows and record them. Like other project management software, it offers its users functionality that allows real-time collaboration. Furthermore, it gives the ability for teams to share and assign tasks, as well as comment on them.

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Pros:

• We've put together detailed guides and include on-screen instructions to help you make the most of Notion. This combined with our effortless in-app chat support mean you can get up and running pretty quickly.
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• Notion is all-encompassing. Notion is so efficient that its one-stop nature satisfies all of your needs.
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• You can use Notion on different devices. We don't limit you in how you use Notion and let you use it in the manner that best suits your workflow.
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• Notion offers a free trial. Notion offers a free trial so that users will have the chance to decide if it is the right tool. free trial is bound to expire in a few days, but it can be extended for a new, longer free trial if you decide that the software is worth purchasing.
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• Notion is known for its uncluttered and intuitive interface. Notion's spreadsheets and databases are easy to navigate, which helps keep your files organized. This is because Notion understands that being organized is key to being productive.
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• Notion has a suite of features. Notion empowers its users by allowing them to take notes and manage their to-do lists. It allows them to track their bills and manage their finances in their personal finance page.

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Cons:

• People find it takes time to get up and running with Notion. While others view this as a natural part of the setup process, some others would rather use software that's quick to get to grips with. The app may also need some improvement
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• Notion has some limitations. Notion is a great tool but users want to be able to collaborate and annotate on PDF’s and images. Also, it doesn’t have the feature that locks pages so no one can edit the content. Many users also hope that Notion can integrate with design apps like Sketch and UXPin
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• Notion has both free and paid versions. With the free one being limited to only 1000 blocks. But this is good enough, considering that it is free of charge and is also good for students.
• Boomerang notifications are unreliable. It’s a feature that is meant to be useful and notify users of tasks and deadlines. However, users can turn off email notifications which effect the notifications being received.
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• None of these technologies can be freely used in production: they are often limited by copyright of the original creator, and their business model dictates that it is impossible to use them outside the scope they were created for.

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Quick Conclusion:

Notion is used in many offices today by companies like Facebook, Slack, and Atlassian. It's used to share and edit documents in real time, making its users more efficient and productive. Notion's developers are always improving and refining its features to make your life easier and more productive.

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ClickUp

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Clickup is perfect for any size of business. It can help big businesses, small businesses and anything in between. It can help you with communication and collaboration, sending tasks around and assigning people to them and keeping track of who is doing what. It can tell you when things need your attention and who they are coming from. It helps you track your progress and identify what needs doing next.

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Pros:

• The interface is perfect for both team and solo users. Clickup has a suite of features that are perfect for managing daily tasks. The 2.0 version is especially impressive due to the improved user interface. Also, the integrations help save a lot of time.
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• The interface design stands out and is easy to use. Along with that it offers a range of work management tools that you can switch between easily
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• Powerful even the free version. Free versions are expected to be less powerful and sometimes even lack features. Fortunately, this is not true with Clickup because it still supports many features that are otherwise only found in paid versions of other software. For example, it still supports email notifications, Android/OS app, task dependencies, and more.
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• The developers at ClickUp put the customer experience first and foremost. Their feature requests section displays this as it is filled with features that the users want, and the platform is constantly improved based on these requests.
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• Clickup has great customer support. We have a customer support group of over 200 employees based in various time zones and we are dedicated to answering all your questions within a timely manor.
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• Clickup has a streamlined layout, making it easy to see everything on a single page. One customer specifically praised Clickup's design: their own dyslexic brain, in particular, had no problem using it.

Cons:

• Too many features. Some users feel overwhelmed by the number of features, especially during the initial set-up. Some teams report that their members find it hard to use all the features.
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• The amount of customisation options can make it difficult to set up. This is a pro and con because the flexibility gives users the ability to build the system to suit their specific needs, but it can make the initial process of setting up the system harder.
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• Clickup calendar is not the most sophisticated function for scheduling events. It is difficult to use at first because of the numerous buttons that have to be clicked to complete each field.
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• The UI needs improvement. As a software whose tagline is ‘one app to replace them all’, the app often leaves users wondering what the empty panes and spaces are for. Additionally, the text size is also very small and the colors are too faint that they are hard to distinguish.
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• One feature Clickup developers are working on is an ability to send tasks directly from Gmail. This is a feature users are asking for, so at least their developer is listening.

Quick Conclusion:

Clickup is not as popular as Asana, Trello, Basecamp and other software but it is still impressing users. It may not have as many users as other applications but it is constantly improving and adding more features. It is worth a try for both team users and solo users

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