Written by Fernanda Alvarez Piñeiro Reviewed by James Macey Updated on October 5, 2022 On this page ClickUp monday.com Smartsheet Asana Wrike Is Choosing A Jira Competitor Really The Right Option For Me? What's The Best Free Alternative To Jira? How Did We Find The Best Alternatives To Jira? Expert Verdict How We Found the Best Jira Alternatives FAQs Expand Our site is reader-supported – by clicking our links, we can match you with a potential supplier, and we may earn a small commission for this referral. Our in-depth research reveals that ClickUp is Jira’s best alternative and the best free project management software. This is because it gives you access to a wealth of user-friendly project creation and workflow features across all subscriptions. It ensures that piecing together and managing projects is an intuitive experience, more so than it is with Jira. It also is one of the cheapest platforms available – for as little as $5 per user.Although Jira has carved a respectable reputation within the project management arena, it has a steep learning curve relative to its competitors. From our first-hand research, we found that Jira’s resource management tool is pretty difficult to find, and communications can only be sent via comments on specific tasks. This is why we’ve given it a 3.5/5 for usability, placing behind its competitors. Therefore, if you’re looking for a Jira alternative that is intuitive, but doesn’t compromise on features, you’re on the right page.We’ve scoured the project management market for the top five Jira alternatives to give you all the insights you need to find a provider that fits your business. We’ve curated our list based on usability, pricing, customer support, features, and average customer score. Alternatively, you can use our free comparison tool – this will connect you with the providers you need to know about to find your next project management software. Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Jira Software ClickUp monday.com Smartsheet Asana Wrike Best For Best For Best Jira Alternative Best For Best Jira Alternative For User Experience Best For Best Jira Alternative For Spreadsheet Fans Best For Best Jira Alternative For Integrations Best For Best Jira Alternative For Complex Task Management Price $7.75 – $15.25 Price $5 – $19 per month Price $9 – $19 per month Price $7 – $25 per month Price $10.99 – $24.99 per month Price $9.80 – $24.80 per month Key features Time tracking and turndown chartsBest support for Agile project managementCustom and preset templates and automationsGantt chartKanban board Key features Preset chartsCustom project templatesCustom automationsGantt chartMilestones24/7 live support Key features Gantt chartOver 200 templates for projects and itemsSub-task milestones and dependencies Key features Email customer supportGantt chartKanban boardCustom project templatesCustom automationsTeam instant-messenger Key features CRM integrationsKanban boardCustom project templatesProject message boardTask commentsCalendar Key features Email customer supportKanban boardMilestonesProject message boardTask commentsSub-tasks Compare Try ClickUp Try monday.com Try Smartsheet Compare Try Wrike ClickUp – Best Jira Alternative ClickUp 4.6 Pricing $5 - tailored paid annually Try ClickUp Get free quotes Quick overview Scoring a very praise-worthy 4.6/5 in our independent research, we believe ClickUp is the strongest Jira alternative because of its wide range of project creation and workflow features, top-grade security, affordability, and average customer satisfaction score (4.3/5). Compared to Jira, ClickUp makes it quick and easy to set up a project, and you have the option to customize task lists and different columns. This makes for an easy and intuitive experience, which is why ClickUp scores a stellar 4/5 for usability in our research. The cherry on top is ClickUp’s price - scoring a 4.4/5 in pricing, ahead of Jira’s 4.2/5 you can take out a subscription for as little as $5 per user, per month.Although ClickUp is a great Jira alternative because it outscores it for usability, pricing, features, and average customer score, where ClickUp stumbles behind Jira is for customer support features. Scoring a 3.8/5 in this category, ClickUp misses out on onboarding support, phone support, and a community forum. Jira, on the other hand, has a live chat on offer, scoring a superior 4/5. Read more + Read less - Strengths Strong project creation and workflow features Extremely affordable Very fast and easy to use Weaknesses Not many post-project features available Collaboration features could be expanded Few integrations available Pricing See more See less ClickUp PlanPrice (per user, per month, paid annually) Unlimited $5 Business $12 Business Plus $19 Enterprise Tailored Gallery See more See less Click to expand Photo: ClickUp’s Gantt charts are sleek and intuitive, allowing you to see how much work’s been done quickly and easily Photo: ClickUp's List View Photo: ClickUp offers many ways to protect your Mac's sensitive data Is ClickUp Really Jira’s Best Equivalent?For lots of research-backed reasons, our answer is a resounding yes. ClickUp is user-friendly, and offers lots of intuitive project creation and workflow features, which is precisely where Jira struggles. Because of this, ClickUp scores a superior 4/5 for usability, ahead of Jira’s 3.5/5. It also is a great Jira alternative because of its competitive price point. For as little as $5 per user, per month, ClickUp gives you lots of features for what you pay, which is why it scores a 4.4/5 in pricing, above Jira’s 4.2/5.However, Jira is a better option if you’re in the market for great customer support. Scoring a 4/5, Jira offers a live chat, email support, a knowledge base, and a community forum. On the other hand, ClickUp doesn’t have a community forum, which is something you want if you don’t want to go contact a customer support agent to solve your issue. monday.com – Best Jira Alternative For User Experience monday.com 4.6 Pricing $9 - tailored paid annually Try monday.com Get free quotes Quick overview monday.com is another commendable Jira alternative, earning an overall score of 4.6/5 in our research. monday.com has a snazzy, color-coded interface that makes the user experience feel like a breeze when compared with Jira. On closer inspection, monday.com gives you access to a Gantt chart, Kanban boards, subtasks, and customer fields, which lets you have a highly customizable approach to your project management. Thanks to its intuitive interface, monday earns a 4.2/5 for features in our research, and a 4.1/5 for usability, giving it a significant advantage over Jira, which scores a 3.3/5 and 3.5/5, respectively.However, when it comes to customer support and pricing, monday.com is not the brightest star in the project management galaxy. Offering only email support, a knowledge base, and a community forum, our research scores monday.com an above-average 2.8/5 for customer support. Jira does significantly better on this front, earning a 4/5 so, if customer support is a dealbreaker, monday.com might not be the best option for you. Compared to Jira, monday.com also isn’t the most budget-friendly, scoring a 3.9/5, where Jira supersedes it with a 4.2/5. Read more + Read less - Strengths Strong project creation and workflow features Extremely affordable Very fast and easy to use Weaknesses Not many post-project features available Collaboration features could be expanded Few integrations available Pricing See more See less monday.com PlanPrice (per user, per month, paid annually) Basic $9 Standard $12 Pro $19 Enterprise Tailored Gallery See more See less Click to expand Photo: monday.com’s Kanban board view makes it easy to view milestones, update priorities, and delegate tasks Photo: monday.com's Calendar Photo: monday.com offers customizable Kanban boards to help you collaborate more easily Is monday.com Really Jira’s Best Equivalent?If you’re looking for an intuitive platform with lots of user-friendly features that make creating and managing a project an easy feat, then we definitely think monday.com is a solid Jira alternative. Its fashionable, color-coded interface, and wealth of project creation and workflow features, earns it a 4.1/5 for usability in our research, far ahead Jira’s 3.5/5 in the same category.monday.com also drives ahead of Jira for average customer satisfaction score, bagging a very impressive 4.5/5, far ahead of Jira’s 3.6/5. These scores were all averaged from sites like G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot, so you can trust that real monday.com users’ experience has definitely been very positive.However, keep in mind that monday.com isn’t more affordable and doesn’t offer better customer support than Jira so, if these criteria are at the top of your project management shopping list, monday.com might not be the alternative for your business. Smartsheet – Best Jira Alternative For Spreadsheet Fans Smartsheet 4.5 Pricing $7 - tailored paid annually Try Smartsheet Get free quotes Quick overview If spreadsheets feel like your project management home, transitioning to Smartsheet will feel like the next stepping stone in your business’ organizational modus operandi. Where Smartsheet drives ahead of Jira is with its ease of use. Smartsheet earns a commendable 4.3/5 usability score, and Jira only reaches 3.5/5 in this category. This is because of its wealth of task management features available to all subscriptions, and access to all the data visualization your project management heart could desire – dashboards, custom chart and widget builder, and preset charts and widgets. To top it all off, Smartsheet also has great collaboration features, which will make project management a true team effort.However, when compared with Jira, Smartsheet can be pricier, which is why it scores a 3.3/5 in this category, behind Jira’s 4.2/5 in this category. Smartsheet’s score for customer support is a dismal 2.5/5, below Jira’s 4/5. You can only reach Smartsheet’s customer support via email or, alternatively, you can reach out to a knowledge base or community forum. Read more + Read less - Strengths Excellent usability score (4.3/5) Feels like a second skin for spreadsheet fans Strong range of project creation and workflow features Weaknesses Unimpressive customer support Somewhat expensive Pricing See more See less Smartsheet PlanPrice (per user, per month, paid annually) Pro $7 Business $25 Enterprise Tailored Gallery See more See less Click to expand Photo: You can add task comments to improve collaboration with your team Is Smartsheet Really Jira’s Best Equivalent?If you’re a fan of spreadsheets, and are on the hunt for a project management system that fits your organizational needs like a glove, then our answer is a definite yes. With a generous offering of task management and data visualization features, Smartsheet is a powerful solution that requires little adaptation if you’re already familiar with Excel and Google Sheets. This is why Smartsheet performs better than Jira for usability, with a 4.3/5 above Jira’s 3.5/5. However, its disappointing customer support and average customer score of 3.8/5, and its dismal customer support score in our research (2.5/5), are things you should be aware of before you click the subscribe button. Asana –Best Jira Alternative For Integrations Asana 4.5 Pricing $0 - tailored paid annually Get free quotes Quick overview When it comes to hopping on board a new project management platform, being able to integrate apps that constitute your pre-existing software infrastructure is key. Asana is great at putting your integration-based worries at ease, scoring an overall 4.5/5 in our research. With the exception of finance integrations, Asana acts as a Swiss army knife for CRM, marketing, data and reporting, and communication integrations. This allows you to personalize your software and connect to tools that you otherwise wouldn’t have access to with Asana’s initial offerings.However, just like monday.com, Smartsheet, and Wrike, Asana falls into the poor customer support features category. Scoring a slightly above-average 2.8/5 for customer support in our research, you miss out on 24/7 live and phone support, so you’ll have to figure out how to fix any urgent issues on your own. In this arena, sticking to Jira is a better path or, alternatively, you can go for ClickUp which scores an okay-ish 3.8/5. Read more + Read less - Strengths Excellent range of integrations Sensible pricing Great security features Weaknesses Poor customer support Lacks billing and invoicing features Pricing See more See less Asana PlanPrice (per user, per month, paid annually) Basic $0 Premium $10.99 Business Plus $24.99 Enterprise Tailored Gallery See more See less Click to expand Photo: Asana Timeline Photo: Asana offers a clean and colourful interface, along with 200+ native integrations Is Asana Really Jira’s Best Equivalent?If integrations are the top of your project management wishlist, then we definitely advise you to go for Asana. With practically all the integrations you might need (with the exception of finance integrations), Asana evidently outcompetes Jira, which doesn’t offer marketing or finance integrations. We also like Asana as a Jira alternative because it performs better in the features arena, scoring a 4/5 in this category, above Jira’s 3.3/5. Therefore, if you want lots of integrations, and an affordable project management tool, Asana is the Jira alternative for your business.Having said that, Jira ranks significantly better than Asana for customer support, scoring an admirable 4/5. This drives ahead of Asana’s 2.8/5, which is explained by its lack of onboarding assistance, 24/7 live support, live chat, and phone support. Wrike – Best Jira Alternative For Complex Task Management Wrike 4.5 Pricing $9.80 - tailored paid annually Try Wrike Get free quotes Quick overview If you’re on the market for a project management tool that lets you piece together your complex projects through lots of intuitive features, we’d recommend going for Wrike. Scoring an overall 4.4/5 in our research, we think Wrike could be your next project management tool if you want generous access to task management and data visualization features.Even with the Professional subscription, you can get your hands on a Gantt chart, Kanban boards, subtasks, milestones, and task dependencies. If you choose to invest in the Business subscription (or higher), you can also use a dashboard, custom widget builder, preset widgets, custom chart builder, and preset charts. We also like Wrike as a Jira alternative because it has a commendable 4.1/5 average customer score, above Jira’s 3.6/5.Before you click Wrike’s subscribe button, you should know that it has a dismal customer support score of 1.8/5 in our research. If you have a project management emergency, you’ll either have to sit and wait for an email reply, or scavenge a knowledge base or community forum to find a solution. Read more + Read less - Strengths Excellent user experiences for straightforward project management Solid offer of task management and data visualization features Weaknesses Pricey compared with other providers Dismal customer support Automation builder can be tricky Pricing See more See less Wrike PlanPrice (per user, per month, paid annually) Team $9.80 Business $24.80 Enterprise Tailored Gallery See more See less Click to expand Is Wrike Really Jira’s Best Equivalent?Based on our research, we think Wrike is a great Jira competitor if you want project management software that offers generous task management and data visualization features. It also provides one of the best user experiences for straightforward project management in the market. This definitely gives it an edge over Jira, which can be a bit difficult to wrap your head around when you want to set up a project. This explains why Wrike scores a superior 4/5 usability score, ahead of Jira’s 3.5/5. We also think Wrike is a solid Jira alternative because of its higher average customer score of 4.1/5, ahead of Jira’s 3.6/5.Where we do advise proceeding with caution is when it comes to Wrike’s customer support, where it ranks poorly at 1.8/5 in our research. This is far below Jira’s 4/5⅘, which is one of the highest scores in the project management leaderboard. Is Choosing A Jira Competitor Really The Right Option For Me?The short answer is that it depends on what you’re looking for. Jira is one of the cheaper platforms in this market, and it provides a good range of customer support features, but it’s far from the most user-friendly option. Every business has different priorities when it comes to project management, and it’s inevitable that Jira won’t meet every single priority. Whether you’re on the hunt for software that is highly intuitive, or will reliably put out technical glitches, a Jira alternative can be a very worthy investment. To compare your options, you can use our free comparison tool. What’s The Best Free Alternative To Jira?Based on our research, we think ClickUp offers the best free alternative to Jira. Compared to other providers on this list, it offers the richest access to customer support, task management, project creation, collaboration, and data visualization features. Whether you’re looking for a free, long-term solution, or just want to take a project management tool for a spin, we think ClickUp is the way to go.Where we do advise proceeding with caution is when it comes to Wrike’s customer support, where it ranks poorly at 1.8/5 in our research. This is far below Jira’s 4/5⅘, which is one of the highest scores in the project management leaderboard. How Did We Find The Best Alternatives To Jira?Our team of independent researchers did a deep dive into 14 of the most used and top-rated project management suppliers on the market. After compiling all the needed information, we picked out the top five Jira alternatives and we rated each of the competitors on the following criteria:Price: the platforms with the most competitive prices score the highestFeatures: whichever platform offers the widest range of features ranks above those which have a thinner offeringUsability: our researchers have a collection of tasks they need to complete. The simplicity and time through which they can accomplish these tasks is then compared to determine which project management tool is the most usableCustomer Support: we look at the type of features the platforms offer to support their customers in case of a project management SOSCustomer Score: we aggregate customer reviews from platforms like Trustpilot and Capterra to assure you that our knowledge is not only robust on paper, but also in practiceAfter factoring in all of the individual scores from these categories, we calculated an overall score for each supplier to help guide your buying decisions. Expert Verdict Even though Jira is a praise-worthy veteran in the project management league, if you don’t think it’s the option for you, our favorite alternative is ClickUp. With a wealth of security features, ease of use, affordability, and promising customer satisfaction, it scores highly in our research at 4.6/5. ClickUp is also more affordable than Jira, with a 4.4/5 score for price against Jira’s 4.2/5.However, if you feel that ClickUp isn’t for you, we’d recommend looking at monday.com. Its interface is slick and intuitive, and it’s packed with many useful features that will make managing your projects a painless experience. This is why it also scores a 4.6/5 in our research, placing it alongside the best of the best. Just keep in mind that it does rank lower than ClickUp in usability, pricing, and customer support, which is why it only takes second place on our list. How We Found the Best Jira AlternativesWe've tested and researched 10 market-leading project management software platforms, evaluating their functionality, usability, integrations and customer support so we can make the most useful recommendations to US businessesOur rigorous testing process means these products have been scored and rated in five main categories of investigation and nine subcategories. We then gave each category score a ‘relevance weighting' to ensure the product's final score perfectly reflects the needs and requirements of Expert Market readers.Our main testing categories for project management software are:Pricing: The financial considerations associated with using a project management solution, e.g. licensing fees, subscription plans, or additional charges for advanced features or add-ons.Ease of use: This is where we get people just like you to test out the products to focus on evaluating the ease of use and user experience of the project management solution. We assess factors such as the user interface, navigation, and task organization.Features: The functionalities and capabilities offered by the project management solution, including features such as task management, team collaboration, and project planning and scheduling.Integrations: The number of third-party software platforms the system integrates with, and whether it easily connects with market-leading providers.Security: The number of security measures offered by the providers, as well as accreditations for data security.Customer Support: The assistance and resources provided by the project management solution provider to users, including phone support, email or chat support, and online forums. FAQs What is the best alternative to Jira? Based on our first-hand research, the best Jira alternative is ClickUp. Scoring a very impressive 4.6/5 overall in our research, what makes it so great is its strong range of project creation and workflow features, its price, and its intuitive interface. Which is better: Jira or Asana? Looking at factors like usability, pricing, customer support, features, and average customer score, our research reveals that Asana is definitely the strongest contender. This is thanks to its generous offer of CRM, marketing, data and reporting, and communication integrations, which lets you sync all your operational tools to one piece of software. Is Jira the best Agile tool? We think so! Even on the cheapest plan, Jira supports a wide range of management features, such as Gantt charts, subtasks, milestones, dependencies, custom fields, and time tracking, which makes using the Agile methodology an easy feat. Written by: Fernanda Alvarez Piñeiro Fernanda is a Mexican-born Expert Market writer, specialising in providing in-depth insights about business software to help businesses of all shapes and sizes thrive. From VoIP systems to project management software, she’s passionate about helping businesses find the tools and methods that will help give them an edge over their competitors. Fernanda has ample journalistic experience, having written for a multitude of online magazines about topics ranging from Latin American politics to cryptocurrency. Reviewed by: James Macey Senior Business Software Researcher James draws on his 4+ years experience as a researcher to offer specialized advice on a wide range of categories from CRM to Fleet Management. He believes all businesses can grow if they use the right tools and services.