Project Management is the field of planning, monitoring, and controlling software projects, identifying the scope, estimating the work involved, and creating a project schedule. Apart from that it is also responsible to keep the team updated regarding the progress of the project and managing problems and discussing solutions. So, project management tools have great importance in the industry today as it makes the workflow of a specific organization easier. Many project management tools can easily track various issues and identify bugs thereby reducing several risks. There are many project management software available on the internet that are paid as well as free with multiple features in them.
Jira
JIRA is one of the project management tools. Bug Tracking and Agile Project Management can be done in it. It was developed by Atlassian Corporation. Fedora Commons, Hibernate, and Apache Software Foundation are some of the main organizations that use Jira for bug tracking and project management. It is not a platform-dependent tool so it can easily run anywhere. Jira is called a multilingual tool because it supports languages such as English, Chinese, German, Portuguese, Spanish, etc. It is widely used as an issue tracker for all kinds of testing. Jira is an Incident management tool. Some of the key features for which Jira is used are project management, issue tracking, issue tracking, and workflow. It is adaptable to any workflow and highly customizable. Handling issues is made easy with the JIRA dashboard, which consists of many useful features. Jira allows you to track the progress of your project at any time.
Pros of Jira
- Track various tasks: Jira helps to track various tasks no matter if it is a bug, something that needs tracking, or any other issue.
- Monitor progress: Perfect for allocating work across teams and for monitoring progress and problems.
- Users can manage processes: It allows its users to manage progress and dependencies with sync to team size. A team can plan together when they have the visibility and context to make the right decisions while staying aligned with the company’s goals.
- Reports and Insights: It provides timely insights and other data which help to develop successful products. It provides ready-to-use dashboards and reports that offer up-to-date information. With the help of insights, users are able to plan the sprints that deliver value to their customers.
- Integrations: JIRA can be integrated with thousands of apps and integrations thus extending the capability of the tool. Quick and deep integrations enable designers and developers to be more productive without having to switch from one application to another.
- Agile work management: It supports using Scrum and Kanban with its agile boards. Scrum and Kanban templates help the development team manage its processes.
Cons of Jira
- Complex configuration: It has a complex configuration as the starting user has to choose among a plethora of features to choose.
- Not suitable for a simple task: It is good for big tasks and for bigger corporations and it is not suited for simpler tasks.
- Steep learning curve: It has a steep learning curve for beginners. First-time users can be overwhelmed by multiple options for various configurations when used for a simple project.
- Missing communication tool: There is no quick way to send messages directly from JIRA, although users can get email notifications while tracking issues or projects.
- Limited project management: It is ideal for tracking bugs, and issues but as a project management tool, it lacks capabilities such as features to manage costs or assess risks.
Redmine
Redmine is a project management system that is Ruby-based. It is also known for its issue-tracking system and can support many database servers. It’s an open-source platform that allows users to discuss their ideas through forums and internal blogs, allowing knowledge to be shared between team members. Users can manage various projects and linked subprojects while using the tool. Redmine is a web-based project management tool that helps in issue tracking. Redmine allows users to easily manage multiple projects. It was released on June 25, 2006, and its development credits go to Jean-Philippe Lang. Its design is similar to Trac which is a software package with some similar features. It supports nearly 50 languages.
Pros of Redmine
- It provides with Gantt chart, calendar news, document, and easy file management.
- It provides SCM integration and issue creation with the help of mail.
- It has the ability to support multiple databases.
- It has a flexible issue-tracking system.
- It also has flexible role-based access control and multilanguage support.
Cons of Redmine
- It requires self-installation and maintenance.
- It only has community docs for support.
- There is no dedicated support as it is not paid software.
- It might not be suitable for all kinds of teams and projects.
- It might be sometimes tricky to use and even difficult to install
Difference Between Jira and Redmine
|
Parameter |
Jira |
Redmine |
|---|---|---|
| Launched | Jira was released in 2002. | Redmine was released in 2006. |
| Developed | Its development credit goes to Atlassian Corporation. | Its development credit goes to Jean-Philippe Lang. |
| Pricing | Jira has paid plans for its users i.e, $7.50 per user, per month and it also offers a free trial. | It is completely free and open source. |
| No of Users | Jira has comparatively more users. | It has comparatively fewer users. |
| Language Used | Jira is mainly written in Java. | It is written using Ruby on Rails. |
| Companies Using | Pinterest, Twitter, Udemy, Reddit, etc. | alaTest, iVPN, Alphanodes, etc. |
| Customer Support | It has a good customer support system. | It does not have a good customer support system. |
| Security | It has advanced security features. | It does not possess security features as compared to Jira. |
| Speed | It’s speed is slow as compared to Redmine. | Redmine’s speed is faster than Jira. |
| Apps and Integrations | Jira has 3000+ applications that are available. | Limited number of 3rd party plugins are used for Agile boards, CRM, and for more. |
| Agile-friendly | It is designed for Agile teams using Kanban or Scrum. | It requires an additional plugin. |
| Documentation | It provides good documentation for users. | It does not provide well-prepared documentation. |
Conclusion
Both tools are good at what they specialize in. The answer depends entirely on the requirements, needs, and preferences of an organization or a person. Some persons may go for a nice-looking design and techniques, and, others may rather go with better performance, intuitive interface, and flexibility as their criterion for choosing.