Wondering if Jira Work Management is the right solution for you? Explore your options and check out these powerful alternatives before making a decision.
| Our Pick | Best For | Pricing Starts At |
|---|---|---|
 Try Jira Software | Best for Technical Teams | Free to try • $7.75 per user/month Read details |
 Try Trello | Best for Agile Teams | Free to try • $5 per user/month Read details |
 Try monday.com | Best for Customization-Focused Users | Free to try • $8 per user/month Read details |
 Try SmartSheet | Best for Excel Users | Free to try • $7 per user/month Read details |
 Try Wrike | Best for Ease of Use | Free to try • $9.80 per user/month Read details |
 Try ClickUp | Best for Integration Heavy Users | Free to try • $5 per user/month Read details |
 Try Basecamp | Best for Team Collaboration | Free to try • $15 per user/month Read details |
Featured Partners: Project Management Software
What is Jira Work Management?
Jira Work Management is a cloud-based task-tracking and workflow management system that helps business teams oversee all work-related activities. Whether it’s managing projects, delegating tasks, tracking routine workflows, or creating documents, Jira Work Management acts as a central hub for work and project components.
Read More: What is Jira Work Management?
Our Picks: Top Alternatives to Jira Work Management
Best for Technical Teams
Jira Software and Jira Work Management are both part of the Atlassian software universe, offering project and work management solutions for various types of teams. Where Jira Work Management caters to the project needs of business teams, Jira Software is designed to fit the needs of technical teams, specifically software developers. For teams with more complex project management needs, Jira Software is a highly flexible and customizable solution.
Example of a Scrum board setup in Jira Software. Source: Atlassian, accessed July 2023.
Why It’s Better Than Jira Work Management
Jira Software has more flexibility in usage than Jira Work Management, with the ability to support both Agile and Scrum methodologies. Compared to Jira Work Management, Jira Software also gives users more options for customization – including the ability to classify and prioritize issues, a key feature that Jira Work Management lacks. For users who want to take insights a step further, Jira Software also features advanced roadmap capabilities to help keep teams updated on their progress and aware of what comes next. Overall, while Jira Software shares many of the same benefits as Jira Work Management, its expanded functionality makes it a better choice for teams who require more technical features.
Read More: The Pros and Cons of Using Jira Software for Project Management
Best for Agile Teams
Purchased by Jira Work Management creator Atlassian in 2017, Trello has often been referred to as the premier Kanban-inspired solution for streamlined project management. Rooted in the Agile project management methodology, Trello is a project management platform that empowers teams to organize tasks as cards within a Kanban board layout. Within the Kanban board, teams can manage broad types of work, from projects, to workflows, and task tracking.
Example of Trello’s Kanban board setup. Source: Trello, accessed July 2023.
Why It’s Better Than Jira Work Management
Much like Jira Work Management, Trello offers a generous free plan and affordable paid pricing plan (starting at $5 per user/month). However, Trello offers users a much more user-friendly experience, where cards can be easily rearranged and designed by simply dragging and dropping them. When it comes to organizing and managing tasks, Trellos offers keyboard shortcuts to quickly access and filter cards. For users looking to personalize their experience, Trello offers numerous customization options, such as customizable card covers and advanced checklist features for breaking down and assigning micro-tasks. Overall, Trello is a better choice for smaller teams and teams who are looking for a simple, straightforward project management experience.
Read More: Trello Software for 2023
Best for Customization-Focused Users
monday.com is a highly capable and customizable work operating system (Work OS) that empowers teams to organize and manage a wide range of work tasks, including project management. With numerous views to choose from, including Gantt charts, table views, Kanban boards, and more, users can view tasks and project data on their terms – while customizing details down to the color of task columns and the background color of the interface.
An example of a project dashboard from monday.com. Source: monday.com, accessed July 2023.
Why It’s Better Than Jira Work Management
monday.com has often been referred to as a premier one-stop shop for all things work management. Its wide range of integration options and monday API (application programming interface) capabilities make it easy for users to extend the functionality of monday.com to fit their unique needs. Known for its colorful and playful interface, monday.com offers some of the most creative customization options on the market, from color-coded task columns to a dark mode background that makes tasks easier to view in high-contrast resolution. monday.com also includes a wide variety of free templates, so even less experienced users can get started right away.
Read More: monday.com Review 2023: Features, Pricing, Pros & Cons
Best for Excel Users
Inspired by the cell-based layout of Excel spreadsheets, Smartsheet is a comprehensive work management platform that enables users to assign tasks, track workflows, and house documents all in one tabular platform. At its core, Smartsheet pushes the limits of what a spreadsheet can be, with numerous task automation options, cell linking capabilities, and portfolio dashboard views for multi-project management.
Example of a sales dashboard in SmartSheet. Source: SmartSheet, accessed July 2023.
Why It’s Better Than Jira Work Management
While Smartsheet allows users to view tasks in multiple view types, the standard formatting of the Excel style sheets is a more approachable design for less experienced users. For teams looking to collaborate across multiple projects, Smartsheet is an excellent choice, as it features numerous collaboration options, including the ability to work on PDFs and presentations in real-time together, in the app. What’s more, Smartsheet features the same powerful analytics and reporting capabilities of Jira Work Management, so teams never have to sacrifice usability for data.
Read More: Smartsheet Review for 2023
Best for Ease of Use
Wrike is a San Jose-based project management software provider with a focus on work management and team collaboration. With over 2.3 million users internationally, Wrike has proven itself as a premier choice for team-based project management for teams of all shapes and sizes.
Example of a project dashboard overview in Wrike. Source: Wrike, accessed July 2023.
Why It’s Better Than Jira Work Management
Wrike offers a little bit of something for every team with diverse and unique tools such as an online proofing tool, dynamic request forms, custom item types, and the ability to request approval on individual tasks. Pre-made templates and the Blueprints feature (for easy task replication) make Wrike an excellent choice for teams who want to work together collaboratively and connect different areas of an organization. With the added benefit of unlimited task organization options (such as designated subtasks, task dependencies, and more), Wrike is a more appealing option than Jira Work Management for users who want more control over task categorization and workflow management.
Read More: What is Wrike?
Best for Integration Heavy Users
ClickUp is a cloud-based project management platform with a wide range of capabilities, from document storage, task management, team collaboration, and even a designated area for individual note-taking. The rich and easy-to-use user interface and high-level capabilities of ClickUp make it a top choice for organizations of various sizes across the globe.
Example of a basic Waterfall style project dashboard in ClickUp. Source: ClickUp, accessed July 2023.
Why It’s Better Than Jira Work Management
ClickUp blends functionality with aesthetically pleasing design to appeal to a wide base of users. For more technical teams, Clickup rivals Jira Work Management by offering integration with Hubspot, custom workflow statuses, and even embed views. ClickUp’s task management functionality is also impressive, with a multitasking toolbar for multi-project organization and expansive task filtering capabilities. Overall, Clickup offers users an equally capable tool to Jira Work Management packaged in a much more approachable interface.
Read More: ClickUp for Project Management
Best for Team Collaboration
Basecamp is a project management and collaboration tool that enables teams to house the entirety of their work-related data and tasks in one place. With a focus on team building and collaboration, Basecamp goes beyond the conventional project management features you may expect to provide teams with a robust platform capable of managing projects of various sizes.
Example of a customer support-focused dashboard in Basecamp. Source: Basecamp, accessed July 2023.
Why It’s Better Than Jira Work Management
For collaboration-focused teams, it’s hard to beat Basecamp’s tagging and commenting abilities, as well as its unique real-time messaging functionality that’s built right in. Basecamp also offers a comprehensive project dashboard, where users can access various project overviews, details, and materials all in one place. Basecamp’s all-in-one functionality matched with an intuitive interface makes it an appealing option for teams who work with freelancers or want to replace some of their existing tech stack with one convenient solution.
Read More: Basecamp Software Review for 2023
Methodology
Choosing the right software partner to manage your team’s project management process can be intimidating. If Jira Work Management isn’t quite the right fit, consider exploring one of these seven options.
