What is Jira?
Need a straight-talking Jira review before you spend money on it? Jira is a popular online tool that helps teams organize their work and track projects. Think of it like a super-powered to-do list where your whole team can see what everyone is working on. More than 65,000 companies use it worldwide, from small startups to huge corporations like Spotify and Airbnb.
Originally made for tech teams building software, Jira now works for all kinds of businesses. You can use it to manage projects, track bugs in your website, plan your team’s work schedule, and see reports on how everything is going. This Jira review explains everything – no confusing tech talk.
We’ll show you exactly what you get, what it costs (there’s a free version!), and whether it’s easy enough for your team to actually use. We’ll also compare it to simpler options like Trello or Monday.com so you can pick the right tool. By the end, you’ll know if Jira’s power is worth the learning curve, or if you should look elsewhere.
Software and tech teams, IT support teams, Product managers, Big companies , Remote teams, Quality testing teams, Tech operations teams
Key Features
Visual Work Boards (Scrum & Kanban)
Simple boards that show all your tasks as cards you can drag around. Like sticky notes on a wall, but online. You can see what's "To Do," "In Progress," and "Done" at a glance. Works for both planned sprints (time-boxed work periods) and ongoing work flows.
Task & Bug Tracking
Keep track of every piece of work - from small tasks to big bugs. You can add descriptions, attach files, set due dates, assign people, and mark how important each thing is. Never lose track of what needs doing.
Project Roadmaps
Visual timelines that show what you're working on now and what's coming next. Like a calendar for your projects. Helps everyone see the big picture and when things will get done. Shows how different tasks depend on each other.
Custom Workflows
Make Jira match how your team actually works. Set up approval steps, automatic notifications, and rules for how tasks move through your process. No coding needed - just drag, drop, and configure.
Automation Rules
Tell Jira to do repetitive stuff automatically. For example: "When someone marks a bug as fixed, automatically notify the person who reported it." Saves hours of boring, repetitive work every week.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Best agile tools available - If your team does sprints, Jira has everything you need built-in like sprint planning, burndown charts, and velocity tracking that actually work well
- Makes the tool fit your process - Unlike other tools that force you to work their way, Jira bends to match how you already work with custom fields, statuses, and workflows
- Saves time with automation - Set up rules once and Jira handles boring repetitive tasks automatically, like sending reminders, assigning work, or updating fields
- Connects to everything - Works with over 3,000 other apps like Slack, GitHub, Google Drive, and pretty much any tool your team already uses daily
- Great reports - Built-in charts and dashboards show exactly what's happening with your projects without needing to manually create reports in Excel
Cons
- Hard to learn at first - Jira has so many features and options that new users feel overwhelmed. Expect to spend a few weeks getting comfortable with it
- Gets expensive quickly - Free plan is great, but once you add more people or need premium features, monthly costs add up fast, especially for growing teams
- Looks cluttered and old - The interface feels busy with too many buttons and menus everywhere. Newer tools like Linear or ClickUp look cleaner and more modern
- Slows down with lots of data - If you have thousands of tasks, pages load slowly and boards get laggy. Can be frustrating when you're trying to work fast
- Mobile app missing features - While functional, you can't do everything on mobile that you can on desktop, especially advanced searching and bulk changes
Pricing Plans
Standard
- Unlimited team members
- 250GB storage space
- Email and chat help during business hours
- Better planning tools (up to 5,000 tasks)
- 1,700 automation rule runs per month
- Multi-region data residency
- Connect to 250+ other apps you use
- Up to 100,000 users per site
Premium
- Everything from Standard Plan
- Unlimited storage
- Help available 24/7
- Cross-team planning and dependency management
- 99.9% uptime SLA
- More control over permissions
- Unlimited automatic actions
- Customizable approval processes
- Better release tracking
- Archive old projects
Enterprise
- Everything from Premium plan
- Unlimited storage
- Personal account manager
- 99.9% uptime promise
- Top-level security
- Single sign-on (one login for everything)
- Manage all teams from one place
- Get help within 1 hour
- Choose where your data is stored
- Advanced analytics
How It Compares
Asana
Jira is much better for software teams with special features like sprint planning and bug tracking that Asana doesn't have. Connects better with coding tools like GitHub. Has more powerful customization for complex workflows. Better search with JQL.
Trello
Jira has way more features than Trello - things like roadmaps, release tracking, and detailed reports that Trello completely lacks. Better security and permissions for companies. Handles complex workflows beyond simple boards. Fun fact: same company owns both tools.