Disclaimer: Jira Work Management and Jira Software were merged into a common platform in May 2024. This article examines each tool’s different features as they existed before the merger and the new merged offering to help users make informed decisions about the platform’s functionality.
Do you often feel overwhelmed trying to keep everything on track? Managing due tasks, meeting deadlines, and ensuring team alignment can be challenging.
But with the right software by your side, it doesn’t have to be! Earlier this year, Atlassian merged two heavyweight offerings—Jira Work Management and Jira Software—into one.
This blog post compares the erstwhile Jira Work Management vs Jira Software, why they were distinct, and what benefits the newly merged Jira brings.
👀 Did You Know? Jira was originally launched in 2002 purely as bug-tracking software aimed at software developers. Over time, Atlassian expanded its capabilities to cater to various teams across industries.
Jira Software Vs Work Management: Find the Right Fit
- What Is Jira Work Management?
- What Is Jira Software?
- Jira Work Management Vs. Jira Software
- Jira—A Combination of Jira Work Management and Jira Software
- Jira Work Management Vs. Jira Software on Reddit
- Meet Clickup—the Best Alternative to Jira Work Management vs. Jira Software
- Optimize Your Workflows with ClickUp
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Is Jira Work Management?
Jira Work Management was Atlassian’s answer to business teams’ needs. It offered a comprehensive platform for synchronous planning, collaboration, delivery, and reporting—all in one place.
Jira Work Management was designed to support daily operations across various teams. It included pre-configured templates, calendars, timelines, and Kanban boards for viewing tasks, deadlines, and progress.
Using this platform, HR teams could easily manage onboarding processes, marketing teams could plan their campaigns effectively, and finance departments could keep track of approvals without a hitch.
Jira Work Management features
Jira Work Management had various unique features that positioned it among the top project management tools:
Feature #1: Customizable templates
Jira Work Management offered customizable templates for various business functions, such as HR, marketing, and finance.
Whether you were planning an onboarding process, launching your first project, or creating a marketing campaign, these templates helped you get started quickly and ensured you didn’t miss any important steps.
You could even tweak them to fit your team’s needs so they felt right for your workflow.
Feature #2: Visual tracking with Kanban boards
Keeping track of all tasks simultaneously can be difficult. Jira Project Management visual tracking aimed to simplify your life by helping you visualize your workflows.
You could simply manage tasks and move them from one stage to another—from To Do to In Progress to Done—by dragging and dropping.
This way, everyone on your team knew the status of tasks at a glance, so things kept moving smoothly.
Feature #3: Reporting and insights
Reporting tools allowed you to generate business project timelines, track task completion rates, and understand team workloads—helping you quickly spot improvement areas and optimize your team’s efficiency.
Jira Work Management’s insights were designed to help business managers make informed decisions and ensure that resources were allocated effectively.
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Is Jira Software?
Jira Software was designed for software teams following Agile methodologies. It was the central hub for developers, testers, and project managers.
Whether managing sprints or bugs, Jira Software created a unified workflow experience.
Jira Software has long been favored by technical teams for its robust capabilities in managing the entire software development lifecycle. It provided the perfect environment for Agile teams to work efficiently, from sprint planning to tracking bugs and releasing products.
Jira Software features
Jira Software offered a wide range of features tailored specifically for developers, which kept everyone on the same page from planning to deployment:
Feature #1: Agile boards (Scrum and Kanban)
Jira Software provided Scrum and Kanban boards to help teams manage their projects visually. Scrum boards are ideal for sprint-based projects, while Kanban boards support continuous workflow management.
These Jira Software boards allowed teams to see what was in progress, what was blocked, and what was done, facilitating efficient stand-up meetings and planning sessions.
Feature #2: Integration with developer tools
Jira Software integrated easily with tools like GitHub and Bitbucket, allowing developers to link their code directly to tasks. This made the entire development process more transparent and connected.
The integration between code and tasks ensured that all stakeholders, including developers, testers, and managers, were on the same page throughout the development process.
Feature #3: Custom workflows
Teams could create workflows tailored to their development needs—bug tracking, code reviews, or release management—ensuring the software fits perfectly into their working process.
This customization allowed development teams to adapt Jira to their exact processes, whether working with complex product releases or fast iterations.
Summarize this article for me pleaseJira Work Management Vs. Jira Software
So, while they appear very similar at first glance, how exactly did these two tools stand apart from each other? Well, there were a few defining characteristics for each.
| Feature | Jira Work Management | Jira Software |
| Target audience | Business teams like HR, marketing, and finance | Agile development teams, such as developers and testers |
| Integration capabilities | Integrated with business tools like Slack and Google Workspace | Integrated with developer tools like GitHub and GitLab |
| Complexity | Ideal for straightforward project tracking without technical complexities | Designed for managing complex software development and bug tracking |
| Task view types | Calendar, List, Board, and Timeline | Scrum and Kanban boards |
| Accessibility | Designed for non-technical users | Tailored for Agile project management |
| Use cases | Visualizing campaign calendars or onboarding processes | Managing sprints and continuous delivery workflows |
| Report types | Basic reports to track timelines and progress | Advanced insights like velocity charts and burndown diagrams |
| Manager insights | Provided an overview for managers to see what’s on track, overdue, or bottlenecked | Essential for assessing sprint performance and making adjustments |
Let’s look at some of these key differences in greater detail:
Feature #1: Target users and teams
Jira Work Management targeted business teams, offering a user-friendly solution for managing daily operations like marketing and HR processes.
It integrated with tools they frequently use, such as Slack and Google Workspace. Jira Software, by contrast, catered to Agile development teams, integrating with developer tools like GitHub and GitLab and focusing on technical workflows.
Jira Work Management was created for those who need straightforward project tracking and task management without technical complexities. It was perfect for business users who may not be familiar with software development.
In contrast, Jira Software was designed for teams working with Agile methodologies, focusing on software development, bug tracking, and iteration planning.
Feature #2: Create and view tasks
A Jira Work Management project offered flexible task views, such as a calendar, list, board, and timeline view, making it accessible for non-technical users.
These different views allowed teams to organize their work in a way that best suited their needs, whether visualizing upcoming events on a campaign calendar or seeing a detailed list of onboarding tasks.
A Jira Software project provided Kanban and Scrum boards specifically designed for Agile project management. These views are tailored to help technical teams manage their workflows effectively.
For instance, Scrum boards are excellent for sprint-based projects, where tasks are divided into time-boxed periods, while Kanban boards are used for continuous delivery and progress visualization.
Also Read: How to Keep Track of Tasks at Work
Feature #3: Report and generate insights
Jira Work Management provided basic reports to track timelines and progress of business projects, which are crucial for business teams who must understand how well their JWM projects are progressing.
These user-friendly Jira Work Management reports gave managers an overview of what was on track, what was overdue, and where bottlenecks might occur.
On the other hand, Jira Software offered advanced insights, including velocity charts, burndown diagrams, and sprint reports. These tools are essential for Agile teams that must assess their performance during sprints, adjust mid-way plans, and ensure they are on pace to meet their goals.
This made Jira Software ideal for technical teams wanting to fine-tune their processes and continuously improve.
Feature #4: Workflow structure and customization
Jira Work Management provided pre-configured workflows designed to meet the needs of business teams without requiring extensive setup. This tool had everything you needed to hit the ground running.
You could automate routine tasks and even use pre-defined workflows with minimal customization. The aim was to assist you in completing tasks instead of managing the software.
By contrast, Jira Software came with advanced and highly customizable workflows. Teams could define as many workflow stages as needed, and each stage could have specific conditions, approvals, and triggers.
You could also use multiple workflows per project to handle complicated projects more easily.
🏆Winner: While they targeted different users and use cases, there was also a lot of overlap between Jira Work Management and Jira Software.
While picking a clear winner between these two is difficult, their successor definitely ticks all the right boxes by combining the best features of both.
Summarize this article for me pleaseJira—A Combination of Jira Work Management and Jira Software
By merging these two tools, Atlassian created a more powerful, all-in-one platform that makes collaboration more straightforward for diverse workflow and issue types.
The unified Jira is tailored to address the different workflows of the organization, including technical and non-technical teams. It offers greater value through integrated communication, shared goals, and better insights.
Jira features
Jira introduces some new collaboration and communication features for Jira Software and Jira Work Management users in addition to the pre-existing features of its predecessors:
Goal tracking
The new Jira platform lets you set up goals directly in Jira’s task views, making it easier to coordinate day-to-day work with broader objectives.
This feature helps teams see the bigger picture, ensuring that every task contributes to the overall success of a project or business goal.
AI-driven shortcuts
Jira’s AI-powered work breakdown feature helps split high-level issues (dubbed ‘epics’ on Jira) into smaller issues, enabling teams to focus more on progress rather than setup.
This includes AI-driven automation and natural language to Jira Query Language (JQL) translations for better efficiency. By automating repetitive tasks, teams can spend more time on creative and strategic work, enhancing productivity.
List view
Alongside the familiar board and timeline views, the list view is perfect for those who thrive in spreadsheet-style management, especially marketing and operations teams.
Handling large backlogs, making bulk updates, assigning tasks, and linking the same project items to goals becomes easy with in-line editing.
Need a custom field? You can configure and add it directly in the list view for seamless project management.
Confluence and Loom integration
Jira’s integrations with Confluence and Loom promote effective asynchronous collaboration, allowing whiteboard ideas to become actionable tasks with just a click.
This integration allows teams to brainstorm effectively, even if they are working remotely, and ensures that valuable ideas do not get lost in meeting notes.
With this merger, Jira Work Management and Jira Software users get a unified experience, preserving existing workflows while adding more collaborative tools.
This means that business teams can benefit from Agile features, and technical teams can use business templates, all within the same environment, ensuring smoother communication and workflow.
Jira pricing
- Free forever for 10 users
- Standard: Starts at $8.60 per user/month
- Premium: Starts at $17 per user/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Summarize this article for me pleaseJira Work Management Vs. Jira Software on Reddit
On Reddit, the Jira Work Management vs. Jira Software debate splits users based largely on their individual use cases and requirements.
For example, Redditor @TechnicalBid1811 feels Jira Software is the right choice when it comes to specific needs, like Service Level Agreements (SLAs):
There is also a consensus that the merger makes the Jira platform more versatile and valuable, particularly regarding collaboration between technical and non-technical users.
As Reddit user @christophersonne put it:
Summarize this article for me pleaseMeet Clickup—the Best Alternative to Jira Work Management vs. Jira Software
While Jira offers strong features, what if there was a single solution that went beyond the merged capabilities of Jira Work Management and Jira Software?
Meet ClickUp—the everything app for work. Yes, we aren’t kidding.
ClickUp is the only work management app that caters to both developers and non-technical teams without them needing multiple subscriptions to task manager apps, knowledge management and document management tools, communication apps, and AI assistants.
Why?
Because it combines your work and your conversations into one powerful platform.
Compared to Jira, ClickUp offers several advanced features, including 1,000+ customizable templates, context-driven and native AI, built-in chat, and even a natural language automation builder—to save time, organize tasks, and work in sync with your team.
ClickUp’s One-Up #1: All-in-one project management
ClickUp’s Project Management Platform integrates project tracking, document collaboration, time tracking, real-time dashboards, and automation in a single, intuitive platform. This contrasts with Jira, which primarily focuses on issue tracking and agile project management.
Further, ClickUp allows users to customize project workflows extensively, adapting to various team needs without the complexity often associated with Jira’s configurations.
ClickUp also emphasizes team collaboration with features like assigned comments, task assignments, and shared documents, facilitating better communication among team members.
ClickUp Brain, ClickUp’s context-aware AI, accelerates project planning and execution. Its AI Project Manager automatically generates subtasks based on task descriptions, efficiently breaking down larger tasks into manageable components.
It also automates the creation of project summaries, progress updates, and action items. This feature reduces the manual effort required for routine updates, allowing teams to focus on more strategic tasks while maintaining project visibility and alignment.
Plus, with its AI Knowledge Manager, you can get quick answers to questions about tasks, documents, and team members—without sifting through multiple documents or task lists, thereby saving time and improving decision-making. The result? You and your team stay productive and efficient in every situation.
With ClickUp Automations, you can create tailored automation sequences with actions, triggers, and conditions designed to reduce repetitive tasks and minimize errors by automating routine processes.
For those who prefer ready-made solutions, ClickUp offers a library of pre-built automation recipes that can be quickly implemented to enhance efficiency without extensive setup.
This allows your team to focus on high-impact work rather than getting bogged down in manual tasks.
ClickUp’s One-Up #2: Improved collaboration and visibility
ClickUp supports end-to-end software development cycles with highly customizable project views, such as Kanban boards, timelines, Gantt charts, and workload management dashboards.
With real-time collaboration and task management features, ClickUp makes it easy for software teams to stay in sync, even when working across different departments.
It also provides native integrations with tools like GitHub, Slack, and Zoom, offering effortless connectivity across different communication channels and networks.
While ClickUp Sprints facilitate Agile development, ClickUp Dashboards provide customizable, real-time visual collaboration, helping teams track progress, spot trends, and manage workloads efficiently.
ClickUp’s One Up #3: Advanced task management
ClickUp offers a flexible and feature-rich task management system that positions it as a solid alternative to Jira. With ClickUp, tasks become more than just to-dos—they evolve into fully customizable workflows.
ClickUp Tasks lets you plan, organize, and collaborate on any project workflow. You can easily customize progress statuses, set priority levels, add Custom Fields for context, and link dependencies for a bird’s-eye view of your plans.
Additionally, collaboration becomes seamless as team members can comment directly on tasks, share updates, and attach files, updating all concerned stakeholders in real time.
In addition, ClickUp Forms allow teams to improve data collection by turning submissions into tasks, making it easy to capture requests, feedback, or project inputs directly in your workflow.
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever
- Unlimited: $7 per user/month
- Business: $12 per user/month
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
- ClickUp Brain: Add to any paid plan for $7/month per member per workspace
Summarize this article for me pleaseOptimize Your Workflows with ClickUp
ClickUp doesn’t just keep up with Jira; it redefines project management by bringing all modern tools for work into one interface.
It bridges the gap between different workflows, offering a unified platform that scales with your needs. So why limit yourself to Jira? With ClickUp, you’ll always have the right tool at your fingertips, helping you easily deliver every project.
With its task management features, ready-to-use project management templates, and advanced reporting and analysis features, ClickUp helps businesses and individuals streamline processes like never before.
Sign up for ClickUp today and transform how you and your team collaborate—no more compromises, just effortless project management from start to finish.
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
