What’s best for your organisation: monday.com vs Jira
When it comes to choosing the right project management tool for your organisation, two names often stand out in the crowd: Jira vs monday.com. These cloud-based platforms have earned their stripes in the industry, offering unique features and seamless integrations. If you find yourself at the crossroads of selecting between these two powerhouse solutions, this article is your guide. Our project management experts are here to dissect the monday.com vs Jira battle, helping you make an informed decision that aligns with your organisation's priorities.
Introducing the Project Management Contenders: Jira vs. monday.com
While both Jira and monday.com offer extensive benefits, let’s compare the two in terms of project management features:
a) Jira
Jira, originally built as an issue and bug tracker, has now evolved to offer comprehensive tools for teams across various industries, especially in coding and software development and has emerged as a popular monday.com alternative. Jira's core features include customisable Scrum and Kanban board views, which are essential for Agile project management. It excels in bug tracking, management, and reporting, making it an attractive choice for software teams focused on quality assurance. Moreover, Jira's unique ability to connect issues to code provides increased visibility into the development pipeline - a crucial asset for software development teams.
b) monday.com
monday.com represents a holistic approach to work management as a complete Work OS (Operating System). This cloud-based platform empowers teams to handle a wide range of tasks, from bug tracking to creating custom workflow apps, all within a single, centralised environment.
monday.com distinguishes itself through its extensive feature set, which includes seamless app and data integration and powerful workflow automation. It's not limited to team-specific collaboration or task management but extends its capabilities for organisation-wide use. It also caters to the needs of remote workforces with its team collaboration features while streamlining automation and integrations for enhanced productivity. With monday.com, teams have the flexibility and tools to create a tailored work environment that suits their unique requirements, making it a versatile choice for modern organisations. In essence, monday.com serves as more than just a task management tool; it combines hundreds of robust features into one unified Work OS.
In the following sections, we'll delve deeper into the intricacies of monday.com and Jira, exploring their features, benefits, and real-world applications to help you make an educated choice in your quest for the perfect project management solution.
Evaluating Project Management Capabilities: Jira vs monday.com
While both platforms boast robust features and enjoy popularity, how do they stack up when evaluated as project management tools? Let’s find out!
a) Jira
Jira retains its reputation as a favorite among Agile software development teams worldwide. Designed with developers in mind, Jira offers complex reporting tools that cater to small software teams' specific needs. Part of the Atlassian ecosystem, Jira integrates seamlessly with other Atlassian products like Confluence, Bitbucket, and Trello, simplifying access for users across the suite. Its feature set includes project and issue tracking, scrum and Kanban support, backlog prioritisation, sprint planning, and flexible workflows. With extensive integrations and add-ons, Jira allows for customisation to suit diverse use cases, partnering with technology leaders such as Slack, Microsoft, Google, and Zoom. If you’re developing software in a small team, Jira might be the right fit for you.
b) monday.com
monday.com has emerged as the favoured project management tool in recent times, lauded for its impressive features and unparalleled flexibility. It serves as a versatile platform for planning, managing, and collaborating on projects and portfolios, regardless of complexity. It also supports cross-functional collaboration and provides visibility into projects through efficient automation and timely alerts, enhancing business outcomes. The platform's customisable dashboards offer a high-level organisational overview, facilitating confident decision-making and scalable workflows. monday.com's visual board enables customisation for various projects. It covers essential project management tasks, including task and resource management, lead capture, performance tracking, goal setting, portfolio management, business operations, requests, and approvals. This comprehensive approach empowers teams to efficiently deliver successful projects and work effectively, irrespective of industry.
Battle of the Features: Jira vs. monday.com - 17 Key Feature Comparisons
Let’s delve into the feature-by-feature comparison between Jira and monday.com, and understand how these two project management platforms stack up against each other.
a) Ease of Use
monday.com stands out for its user-friendliness, offering a variety of customisable templates tailored to different industries. Its intuitive interface incorporates animations, pop-up text, and a well-thought-out color scheme - simplifying navigation. While Jira offers a product tour and has developer-focused templates, it can be confusing to navigate for non-developer teams. However, it compensates with a robust knowledge base and an active user community.
According to general user opinion, monday.com is easier to use, with easy report customisation. Jira, although more powerful, has a steeper learning curve. The choice often comes down to a balance between ease of use and power, making monday.com the preferred option for those seeking user-friendly project management.
b) Kanban
monday.com excels in Kanban boards due to its user-centric design and versatility. Its highly visual and easy-to-use Kanban board features bright colors and clear elements, enhancing user experience. It offers various view options, including tables, files, forms, and cards, allowing users to customise their Kanban boards to match their preferences.
On the other hand, Jira's Kanban board, while potentially more sophisticated, can be challenging with an information-heavy screen. Additionally, Jira extends beyond Kanban to include Scrum and Sprint boards. For a straightforward and visually engaging Kanban solution, monday.com proves to be the superior choice.
c) Look & Feel
When it comes to the look and feel of project management tools, the user interface plays a crucial role in enhancing the overall experience. Jira's interface, rooted in software development, offers a wealth of features but can appear dense and technical, potentially posing a steeper learning curve for some users. In contrast, monday.com adopts a visually engaging and intuitive design, with clean visuals and customisable elements that make it inviting and user-friendly across industries. While Jira caters to software development teams, monday.com's universally appealing look and feel simplifies task and project management, accommodating both new and experienced users. Your choice -- Jira or monday.com -- depends on your team's preferences and familiarity with the interface.
d) Integrations & No. of Integrations
Both monday.com and Jira excel in integration capabilities, enabling seamless connections with various applications to enhance their functionality. monday.com boasts about an impressive library of over 1,000 integrations, while Jira offers integration with 500+ applications, ensuring adaptability within an organisation's existing software environment.
monday.com's integrations cover popular applications such as Slack, Google Drive, Trello, Mailchimp, Zendesk, and Microsoft Teams. In contrast, Jira offers compatibility with tools like Salesforce, Gliffy, Zephyr, Tempo, Microsoft Teams, and Google Docs.
It's worth noting that Jira's integrations are often geared towards software-focused teams whereas monday.com's user-friendly approach allows seamless integration with preferred apps in just a few clicks, eliminating the need for coding expertise.
e) Dashboards
Having diverse dashboards at your disposal can greatly enhance your team's efficiency. Two primary dashboard types - Kanban boards for task progression and Gantt charts for timeline visualisation - are key tools in this space. Additionally, scrum boards are invaluable for Agile teams and comprehensive project planning.
monday.com offers a rich array of essential dashboards and views, including Kanban views, timeline views, calendar views, map views, and chart views. On the other hand, Jira provides users with roadmap dashboards, Kanban boards, and scrum boards.
What sets them apart is the variety and depth of options available on monday.com, providing a more comprehensive toolkit for various project management needs. Both platforms, however, offer customisable dashboard options, allowing you to tailor your workspace to your specific requirements.
f) Mobile App
monday.com provides dedicated iOS and Android mobile apps tailored for project management. They cover essential tasks and project activities, including team collaboration and work status updates, ensuring you can stay connected and productive wherever you are. The Jira mobile app excels at managing boards and backlogs, tracking bugs and issues, and overseeing service SLAs. It offers comprehensive functionality for on-the-go project management.
Both apps cater to the mobile project management needs of users, with monday.com focusing on collaborative aspects and Jira offering extensive functionality for board and issue management. Your choice may depend on your specific mobile project management requirements.
g) Pricing
While making such a decision, the first question that arises is how much does monday.com cost? When it comes to pricing, both monday.com and Jira have their strengths. Monday.com offers a 4-tiered pricing plan: Basic, Standard, Pro, and Enterprise. The Basic Plan suits small teams, while the Standard and Pro Plans cater to larger businesses. The Enterprise Plan is designed for enterprise-level companies.
Jira, on the other hand, presents a 3-tiered pricing plan: Free, Standard, and Premium. The Free Plan accommodates up to 10 users and offers a robust set of features. The Standard Plan expands usage to up to 5,000 users, while the Premium Plan adds advanced features and reliability guarantees.
Jira's Free Plan is particularly noteworthy, earning it a spot among the best free project management software. However, monday.com's tiered plans provide scalability and customisation to suit different organisational needs. Your choice will depend on your team size, requirements, and budget, making it a balanced match in the pricing round.
h) Task Management
monday.com allows users to create and manage contacts, teams, and negotiations using customisable pulses and dashboards, along with templates and task-tracking options. Integrated communication and collaboration features include inviting team members and preserving conversations, emails, briefs, checklists, comments, and sheets. It also offers various views, timelines, Kanban boards, and mobile functionality.
Jira Software, specialising in Agile project management, provides scrum and Kanban boards for adaptable project tracking. It offers real-time progress updates and seamless integration with version control, build, deployment, and feature tools. Jira Software also includes custom filters, workflow configurations, and mobile apps.
While both provide Scrum boards for Agile development, Jira Software's Scrum board stands out with advanced features like Release Trains, Sprints, Burndown Charts, and Velocity Tracking. Your choice depends on your task management needs and desired level of sophistication.
i) Automation
Both monday.com and Jira Software offer automation capabilities. However, they differ in complexity and focus. monday.com provides user-friendly automation through custom workflows and pre-built templates, making it accessible for a variety of project management scenarios. In contrast, Jira Software offers advanced automation, particularly tailored to software development workflows. Its automation rules are highly customisable, but they may require a deeper understanding of the tool for effective implementation.
Choose between the two based on your project's automation needs and the level of expertise within your team. Monday.com is a more user-friendly option, while Jira Software is suitable for intricate automation requirements, especially in software development contexts.
j) Free Versions
While no company plans to stay on a free tier indefinitely, having access to free project management plans is invaluable for familiarising users with a platform. In this regard, both Jira and monday.com offer free plans, but with distinct characteristics.
Jira's free plan accommodates up to 10 users, surpassing monday.com's limit of 2 members, making Jira the preferred choice for larger teams on a budget. However, it's worth noting that monday.com's free version stands out by providing unlimited boards, offering versatility for smaller teams.
Customer support is another differentiator. monday.com offers 24/7 customer service for all plans, including free and basic tiers. In contrast, Jira's free version provides community support, and customer support is available during local business hours with the standard plan. If 24/7 customer support is indispensable to your team, it's exclusively accessible through Jira's premium plan.
The choice between these free versions ultimately hinges on your team's specific needs and priorities.
k) Workflows
Choosing the right tool for your workflow hinges on the balance between flexibility and control.
In Jira, your tasks adhere to predefined workflows, resembling a well-structured flowchart. Additionally, you can introduce validators and conditions to your workflows, ensuring that specific requirements are met. This level of control proves invaluable for keeping teams aligned and on the right track. However, this rigid structure might become a hindrance if your teams require the freedom to deviate from the preset path.
In contrast, monday.com places a premium on freedom, flexibility, and openness in its design philosophy. Users enjoy the liberty to create their own columns, update statuses, and craft custom workflows. The system doesn't impose many constraints on how items transition between statuses, fostering an environment conducive to teams still fine-tuning their processes or constantly iterating on them.
Ultimately, the choice between Jira and monday.com for managing workflows hinges on your team's specific needs and the level of flexibility and control required.
l) Customer Support
Customer support options vary between monday.com and Jira. While monday.com provides 24/7 support across all plans, including free and basic, Jira offers community support for its free version and standard support during local business hours for the standard plan with 24/7 support exclusively for premium users. Both platforms offer extensive knowledge bases and resources, but monday.com additionally provides one-on-one training and a dedicated customer success manager on higher plans.
m) Templates
When it comes to templates, monday.com Work Management and Jira Software offer distinct options. monday.com provides industry-specific templates for various tasks, such as job monitoring, Agile and client management, and project tracking. Its user-friendly interface with animations and clear navigation aids simplified use. Starting at $8 per month per user for the basic plan, it includes unlimited boards, over 200 templates, more than 20 column types, and free viewers.
Jira Software offers tailored templates primarily for software developers and offers a product tour to assist users. However, its user interface can be challenging, but users can seek help from an active community and an information base.
Both platforms recognize the value of templates in saving time and offer customisable options. Jira's templates span categories like software development, service management, and work management, including Scrum, Kanban, DevOps, and bug tracking.
On the other hand, monday.com boasts about a larger and more diverse template library, covering software development, CRM, portfolio management, marketing, and sales, making it a more versatile choice.
n) Audiences
monday.com primarily caters to Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs). It offers solutions and features tailored to the needs of smaller organisations.
Jira, on the other hand, is more oriented towards midsize and large enterprises. Its robust features and scalability make it suitable for businesses with a broader scale of operations and complex projects.
Choosing between the two platforms depends on the size and specific needs of your organisation. If you're an SMB looking for simplicity and agility, monday.com may be the ideal choice. However, if you are a midsize or large enterprise with complex projects and scalability requirements, Jira could better align with your needs.
o) Agile
In terms of Agile project management, both monday.com and Jira provide valuable tools.
monday.com offers agile support through customisable boards and columns, making it accessible for teams new to Agile methodologies. Its user-friendly interface simplifies the Agile workflow.
On the other hand, Jira is known for its robust Agile features, including Scrum and Kanban boards, making it a preferred choice for midsize to large enterprises with complex Agile requirements.
Choosing between them depends on the level of Agile complexity your team requires, with monday.com suiting those seeking simplicity and Jira catering to more intricate Agile needs.
p) Pulse Reporting & Roadmap Reporting
In terms of reporting, both monday.com and Jira offer valuable tools. monday.com provides Pulse Reporting, which uses visual indicators and charts to offer a quick overview of project progress and team performance. It also includes Roadmap views for effective project timeline planning and goal alignment.
Jira, on the other hand, doesn't have a specific "Pulse Reporting" feature but provides extensive reporting and dashboard capabilities through plugins and integrations. Teams can create custom dashboards to monitor project health and performance.
Additionally, Jira offers Roadmap features as part of its Premium and Enterprise plans, allowing teams to plan, track, and visualise project timelines and dependencies.
The choice between these platforms depends on your specific reporting and roadmap visualization needs and how they align with your overall project management requirements.
q) Marketing
monday.com offers a marketing-friendly platform with customisable boards and templates, facilitating efficient campaign planning and progress tracking for marketing teams. It integrates smoothly with various marketing tools, ensuring a seamless flow of data and information across your marketing stack. Its user-friendly interface simplifies task management and collaboration, making it accessible for marketing professionals.
Jira, while adaptable for marketing purposes, is primarily designed for software development. Marketing teams may need to extensively customise Jira to align with their workflows.
It's important to note that Jira's interface and features can be complex, posing a learning curve for marketing teams less familiar with its software development-oriented design. Your choice between the two platforms should depend on the specific needs and expertise of your marketing team.
Seamless Integration: Bridging Jira and monday.com for Enhanced Project Management
Integrating project management tools is essential for streamlining workflows. Fortunately, platforms offer versatile Jira and monday integration options. Whether you prefer monday.com to supplement your Agile project management in Jira or vice versa, you can connect these platforms with a variety of third-party applications. This two-way monday.com integration with Jira enhances your team's efficiency by syncing data and ensuring a seamless experience across your project management and collaboration tools.
Navigating Project Management Solutions with Expertise: The Role of TransFunnel
It can be overwhelming to decide which one aligns best with your organisation's unique needs and objectives. That's where TransFunnel comes into play, providing invaluable expertise in selecting the right project management solution.
Collaborating with a preferred monday.com partner in India like TransFunnel, you gain instant access to a wealth of knowledge and experience in the project management landscape.
Their experts are well-versed in a wide range of tools and can help you navigate the intricacies of these platforms. TransFunnel's guidance goes beyond mere recommendations; they provide actionable insights to help you optimise your project management processes, whether you're a small startup or a large enterprise.
In conclusion, the choice between Jira and monday.com ultimately depends upon the specific requirements of your organisation. Both platforms offer robust features and capabilities, but they cater to different preferences and needs. Jira excels in complex project management scenarios and software development, while monday.com shines in simplicity, visual planning, and team collaboration
The decision should be guided by the size of your business, the nature of your projects, and your team's familiarity with the chosen platform. Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all solution, and the right choice is the one that aligns best with your unique workflow and objectives.
