Today’s distributed teams reap enormous benefits from cloud-based software. A key category of solutions benefiting teams is collaborative issue tracking software. It provides a highly accessible and centralized source of truth regarding projects, products, issues, and tasks. Issue tracking web apps help identify priority issues, provide task details, and improve rates of resolution, so teams work more efficiently and customers receive support faster.
Table of Contents
- What Is Issue Tracking Software?
- Issue Tracking Web Apps: Our Top Picks
- Types of Issue Tracking Software
- Best Issue Tracking Software & Tools 2023
- Issue Tracking Software Features
What Is Issue Tracking Software?
Issue tracking software enables the capturing, registration, organization, tracking, and management of issues or problems discovered or reported internally or externally. An issue can come from a customer with a question or complaint about a product or service. Or it can come from the product or project team or sales when discovering a defect or bug during the development process. In either case, the problem needs to be documented and then tracked until it’s resolved.
An issue tracker enables the routing of the issue to a responsible agent or team. It lets the response team set a priority system for issues, add helpful details like notes and status, and create a reference or ticket number that allows for easier searching and tracking. The application helps set and streamline the process of receiving, recording, resolving, and reporting issues with visual tools like dashboards, messaging, checklists, and labels.
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Trending Issue Tracking Web Apps
Users who need more than a spreadsheet to track requests, complaints, or tasks can check out our picks for the top issue tracking web apps, so they can resolve issues faster and avoid more issues further down the road.
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What are the Types of Issue Tracking Software?
“Issue” is a general term with multiple meanings several meanings within project management and product development. It can mean any problem encountered in the course of day-to-day work, such as a customer complaint to a service agent, a user request to the IT department, a defect in software code, or an item in a construction punch list that a contractor needs to rework.
Bug Tracking Software
Bugs are errors or defects discovered during software testing. Bug tracking software enables the development team to log, evaluate, monitor, and prioritize these defects for debugging. Larger systems can have more bugs whose impacts may span multiple teams and projects. Unchecked, problems can multiply as the development process moves onward and systems near completion. A bug tracker is an effective way to detect, monitor, and report the presence, status, and final resolution of software bugs.
Help Desk Software
Help desk software enables teams to deal with computer- or systems-related incidents and complaints. While bug tracking software tracks product defects, help desk software records and follow the progress of any issue that an end-user identifies. Types of issues go beyond product development activities and can impact the specifications, design, workflow, and operations of a system.
Service Desk Software
Service desk software provides a central point of communication where employees and other internal customers can find help from their IT service providers. While help desk software enables agents to fix computer-related issues, service desk software enables agents to deliver support that includes service request management, knowledge management, self-service, and reporting — on top of incident management.
Integrated Issue Tracking Systems
Other types of issue tracking tools combine issue tracking or bug tracking software with other productivity solutions including project management, customer feedback, error tracking, or product monitoring and analytics. The objective of an integrated system is to consolidate processes and provide a single solution to the user rather than using multiple separate solutions.
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Best Issue Tracking Software & Tools 2023
We examined a variety of issue tracking software. Here are the best solutions we found, in no particular order.
Jira
Jira‘s issue and project tracking solutions help agile teams in their software development projects. It allows teams to create plans and break down big and complex projects into tasks of manageable sizes. Users can easily prioritize and discuss work within the context of the project as a whole. This increased visibility results in faster product releases.
Jira issue tracking enables teams to view and create code branches, pull requests, and view commits within the issue development panel. Users can view and link repositories where they work and include issue keys that automatically update the software. Jira supports agile and hybrid methodologies, and includes features for road mapping, reporting, and automation.
Pros
- Agile boards
- Progress tracking
- Team task management
Cons
- Setup and configuration can take some time
- Users wish for more customization features
Wrike
Wrike online project management software enables companies to digitally transform their business with increased visibility and seamless collaboration. It is customizable for a wide range of use cases including project tracking, issue tracking, enterprise project management, and remote working. Teams and stakeholders communicate and collaborate more easily and in real-time.
Wrike provides an issue tracking solution to help teams resolve problems quickly. Aggregated reports provide real-time performance insights. The software can send instant notifications to alert teams of errors. Other features also included are pre-built templates that help cut down errors and simplify workflows, as well as real-time visual monitoring tools that provide clearer information.
Pros
- Centralized, easy-to-use platform
- Real-time visibility of issues from creation to resolution
- Company-wide transparency and collaboration
Cons
- Needs a more intuitive UI to streamline the workflow
- Occasional slowdown when uploading video files
monday.com
monday.com is a flexible work management platform that lets users build a custom bug tracking or issue tracking web app. It provides a central workspace to manage all issues and tasks. The software is highly visual, with multiple work views that let users have a clear overview of the statuses of different issues and an easy way to add and update issues, as well as assign them to team members.
monday.com is customizable and allows users to filter views using various parameters. Users can customize their issue tracking workflows with custom stages, lists, and statuses. They can prioritize by dragging and dropping tickets on the board. Built-in collaboration tools allow teams to easily share videos, screenshots, and files to better describe the problem and resolve it faster. Other features include notifications and tagging.
Pros
- Integrated project and task management with issue tracking
- Highly visual organization
- Seamless team collaboration
Cons
- Users wish for simpler tools for reporting and exporting charts
- Needs additional controls for what is visible or not to different users
GitHub
GitHub is a software development platform that includes git repositories, automation, and project management tools. It offers a free plan, as well as several paid plans with additional development tools. The software makes it easy for users to write code, collaborate, configure a development environment, and automate workflows.
GitHub includes an Issues feature for project planning. Users can create issues, break the issues into tasks, and have conversations about the issues. They can convert issues into tasks and track the status with progress indicators. Other features include markdown tools, mentions, file attachments, multiple work views, custom fields, and other code action references.
Pros
- Ease of setup
- Comprehensive documentation
- Vendor and community support
Cons
- Needs more intuitive UI for faster learning
- Confusing code review tool display
Teamwork
Teamwork is project and team management software designed to manage client work using a central platform. It also includes advanced integrated tools like time tracking, budgeting, and resource allocation for an end-to-end business solution. Real-time collaboration features allow clients, teams, and other stakeholders to be on the same page.
Teamwork is appropriate for multiple use cases and industries. It has task management for tracking details such as owners, due dates, issues, and priorities. A built-in chat allows teams to solve problems faster without spending excessive time with threaded emails. It also has ready-to-use workflow templates like issue tracking. Features include tags to rank issues, comprehensive reports, and board views for a quick visual overview.
Pros
- Task and issue tracking
- Integrated team management tools
- Accountability management
Cons
- Lacks 2FA security enforcement
- No timesheet feature that comes with time tracking
SysAid
SysAid is automated IT service desk and help desk software. It offers several products for teams and companies of different sizes. Its help desk software for growing teams includes simple-to-use tools like asset management, ticket automation, self-service, automated reporting, and cloud or on-premise deployment. Larger teams and companies can opt for the ITSM and ITSM+ service desk systems.
SysAid’s ticket automation sorts, routes, and sends tickets to the right agent. It also has self-service automation that gives employees the means to resolve common IT problems on their own. Users can manage IT assets directly within the software with asset data and records to resolve tickets faster. It also has remote control, reporting, UI customization, and screen recording that end users can send for issue investigation.
Pros
- Incident reports
- Integrated asset management
- Easily scaled to full ITSM system
Cons
- Challenges in integration with other systems
- Users wish for easier workflow automation
Spiceworks Help Desk
Spiceworks Help Desk is free cloud software to help IT manage tickets and tasks. It has monitoring, alerts, custom ticket attributes, ticket rules, and reports. IT engineers can initiate secure remote support sessions from within the tickets. The solution also has a mobile app that supports push notifications.
Spiceworks Help Desk lets users easily accept tickets and then reply with additional notes. Users can add custom fields for closer tracking. It also comes with a user portal for self-service. Integration with Windows Active Directory automates the addition of end-users, portal authentication, and tagging. Other features include ticket rules for auto-assignment, ticket collaboration, and support for multiple portal sites.
Pros
- Ticket notification and automatic routing
- Comes with self-service portals
- Ease of use
Cons
- Users wish for test formatting features
- Outdated UI design and colors
Shortcut
Shortcut, formerly Clubhouse, is a project management and issue tracking solution ideal for software teams. It helps users plan their stories, iterations, and roadmaps for any timeline. Kanban and workflow tools make it easy for teams to track issues and collaborate across departments. It is also customizable to fit the needs of each team and squad.
Shortcut also includes measurement tools like customizable reporting and charts so teams are aware of their performance. It also integrates with many popular tools like GitHub and Slack with the option for users to write their own integration using API. Additionally, Shortcut’s Labs give users the option to test new features before they enter production.
Pros
- Ease of use and deployment
- Simple cross-functional collaboration for issue tracking
- Agile project management
Cons
- Kanban board view only
- Missing centralized file attachments management area
BugHerd
BugHerd combines a bug tracker and visual feedback in a single solution. It is ideal for website developers, QA teams, and clients during acceptance testing. The software acts like an additional layer over a website, where clients and end-users can post comments like sticky notes. BugHerd pins feedback about a website directly to page elements whether on a desktop, tablet, or mobile.
Users install it as a JavaScript snippet or through a browser extension. The software captures a screenshot to annotate and automatically collects technical information, such as the type of browser and OS. It also supports real-time commenting. Feedback goes to a Kanban-like Task Board for issue tracking and management.
Pros
- Easy to use
- Responsive support
- Automatic logging of technical information
Cons
- Only for websites
- Can get expensive with more users because of the pricing structure
Userback
Userback is a visual feedback tool for software and web development teams. It collects customer feedback directly from the website. Teams can also use it for user acceptance testing, feature requests, design feedback, customer satisfaction, and bug tracking. Userback’s customers include web agencies, design and development firms, and software teams.
Userback lets users track bugs with video and annotated screenshots. Users can collect bug reports from a website or application, then send screenshots and videos as attachments. Features include bug reporting templates, console logs, event tracking, custom workflows, chat and email notifications, user permissions, task assignment, and team collaboration, among others.
Pros
- On-site text and notes
- Video recording
- Integration with other apps
Cons
- Email notifications need an image preview and other information
- Users wish for additional features, like survey forms
Key Issue Tracking Software Features
A centralized issue tracker web app provides a one-stop information hub for teams, helping them achieve effective collaboration, improved efficiency, and better customer service. Here are some important features to look for when evaluating the best issue tracking app for your team and company’s requirements:
Scalability: As an organization grows, it will be easier and more cost-effective to scale the software, rather than add another or change systems down the road.
Integration: A solution that can integrate with more of your existing applications and services is more flexible, and provides users with more configuration options.
Support for multiple methodologies: Teams should be able to use different methodologies in managing and resolving issues. One team can use Scrum, another can use Kanban, etc.
Incident management: The solution you choose should easily handle your specific process of identifying, logging, categorizing, prioritizing, and responding to an incident. Some solutions provide multiple channels for receiving reported incidents. Incident logs, or tickets, can be manually or automatically created and assigned.
Escalation management: This key feature allows users to update and record the status of ticket requests.
Knowledge base: Central storage of tickets, where users can search for solutions to previous incidents and other references.
Reporting: Users are able to get real-time information on demand about the status of tickets and the performance of the support team, usually through dashboards.
Integrated communication: This feature allows developers or support agents to directly communicate with users, customers, and other team members for better investigation and faster resolution.
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