For many software teams, Jira and project management go hand in hand and for good reason. Jira’s been the go-to for decades. It’s powerful, deeply configurable, and familiar to almost everyone who’s ever worked in software.
But let’s be honest: that power comes with a price. Setups that take hours. Workflows that need constant tweaking. Dashboards that feel more like a second job.
Most engineers don’t want to spend their day battling a project management tool. They want to be in their code. Their tools should stay out of the way, quietly capturing the work, keeping everyone aligned, and making it easy to see progress without slowing things down.
That’s where Shortcut comes in. It helps teams stay organized and connected without all the extra setup. You can plan work, track progress, and see what’s happening across projects without feeling like you’re managing the tool itself.
TL;DR: The Best Jira Alternatives in 2026
- Shortcut – Best for engineering and product teams that want power and speed without heavy configuration.
- Asana – Best for cross-functional collaboration across departments.
- Monday.com – Best for visual workflows and automation.
- ClickUp – Best all-in-one workspace combining tasks, docs, and goals.
- Notion – Best for early-stage teams that need flexible docs and light project tracking.
- Trello – Best for small teams that want a simple, visual Kanban system.
- GitHub Projects – Best for developers who live entirely in GitHub.
Common Questions About Jira Alternatives
Why look for a Jira alternative?
Jira’s configurability is powerful but can slow down smaller or fast-moving teams. Many are now choosing tools that offer structure, speed, and simplicity without complex setup.
What are the best Jira alternatives for developers?
Shortcut and GitHub Projects stand out for their deep GitHub integrations and developer-friendly workflows.
Which Jira alternative works best for cross-functional teams?
Asana and Monday.com are popular when design, marketing, and product all need to collaborate in one workspace.
Is Shortcut a good replacement for Jira?
Yes. Shortcut provides hierarchy (Objectives → Epics → Stories), built-in reporting, and GitHub integration, giving teams enterprise-level capability with startup-level simplicity.
Reasons to Look for Jira Alternatives
1. You want faster setup and simpler workflows
Jira’s flexibility often requires configuration time and dedicated admins. Teams that want to get productive on day one often turn to tools that work out of the box with minimal setup.
2. You want visibility without extra setup
Jira can show you almost anything but only after you’ve spent time setting it up. Getting meaningful visibility often means adding plugins, configuring dashboards, and managing reports across multiple views. In Shortcut, reporting, Iterations, and Roadmaps are built in and update automatically as your team works, so you can see progress without all the extra setup.
3. You’re ready to simplify collaboration
Cross-functional collaboration in Jira can be complex. Alternatives like Asana, Notion, and Monday.com make it easier for product, design, and engineering to work together in one shared environment.
Best Jira Alternatives for Engineering Teams
Shortcut: Project Management Built By Engineers For Engineers
Best for: Product and engineering teams that want speed, visibility, and structure.
Pricing: Free for up to 10 users; Team $8.50 per user/month; Business $12 per user/month; Enterprise custom.
Shortcut combines the structure and visibility of an enterprise tool with the speed and simplicity of a startup app. Teams can plan sprints, connect work to roadmap goals, and automatically track progress across Stories, Epics, and Objectives. Real-time GitHub sync, Slack updates, and reports keep everyone aligned.
Read about switching from Jira to Shortcut
Why teams choose Shortcut:
- Clean, fast interface that works out of the box
- Real hierarchy of work (Objectives → Epics → Stories → Sub-tasks)
- Native GitHub and GitLab integrations
- Built-in reports for velocity and progress
- Custom workflows, custom fields and automations
Asana: Best for Cross-Functional Collaboration
Best for: Teams that span product, design, and marketing.
Pricing: Free for small teams; paid plans start at $10.99 per user/month.
Asana offers multiple views including List, Board, Timeline, and Calendar, making it easy to visualize work across departments. Dashboards and integrations with tools like Figma, Slack, and Zoom help teams coordinate company-wide initiatives in one place.
Monday.com: Visual and Customizable Workflows
Best for: Teams that want automation and clarity.
Pricing: Free for up to two seats; paid plans start at $9 per seat/month.
Monday.com’s color-coded boards make project tracking visual and easy to digest. Automation rules reduce manual work, and integrations connect with tools like Slack, GitHub, and Jira.
ClickUp: The All-in-One Workspace
Best for: Organizations that want to centralize work management.
Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $7 per user/month.
ClickUp combines task management, documentation, and goals in one place. It’s flexible enough for enterprise-scale visibility but can feel heavy for smaller dev teams that just need sprint tracking and GitHub sync.
Notion: Flexible and Collaborative
Best for: Early-stage or hybrid teams that want docs and tasks in one space.
Pricing: Free for individuals; paid plans start at $10 per user/month.
Notion blends documentation and some issue tracking. Custom databases, templates, and inline comments make it great for managing bugs, features, and meeting notes in one workspace.
Trello: Simple and Familiar
Best for: Small teams or straightforward workflows.
Pricing: Free tier available; paid plans start at $5 per user/month.
Trello remains the go-to Kanban tool for small teams or single developers. Its boards, lists, and cards are intuitive and easy to adopt. Power-Ups add features like calendars and reporting.
GitHub Projects: Project Management Inside GitHub
Best for: Teams fully embedded in GitHub.
Pricing: Included with GitHub plans.
GitHub Projects ties directly into issues, pull requests, and discussions. Custom views and automation through GitHub Actions make it easy to manage development work without leaving your repository.
What to Look For in a Jira Alternative
When choosing your next tool, consider these factors:
- Ease of use: Can your team start quickly without admin setup?
- Developer integrations: Does it sync with GitHub, GitLab, or CI/CD tools?
- Agile support: Are sprints, velocity, and reporting built in?
- Performance: Does it stay fast at scale?
- Pricing transparency: Are costs predictable as your team grows?
- Customization: Can it adapt to your workflow without adding friction?
How Shortcut Compares to Jira
Shortcut provides everything engineering teams expect from Jira like agile features, structure, and reporting.
Where Jira focuses on configuration, Shortcut gets out of your way. If you spend your day in GitHub, the integration makes it so you rarely have to leave the tool. Shortcut is fast, simple to navigate, and makes it easy to see the full picture across your organization or within a single project.
If you’re a small team that just needs to track stories on a board, manage iterations, and plan a roadmap, you can disable everything else and focus on what matters. As you grow, you can bring in objectives and other features to match your team’s workflow.
And with Korey, work management gets even easier. Korey is an AI Product Manager, an intelligence layer that coordinates your work across tools. It can surface insights, answer questions about your projects, make recommendations, find stale stories, and handle the work about work so your team can stay focused on building.
You Should Try Before You Buy
Every team works a little differently. If you’re looking for a project management tool that keeps product and engineering in sync while staying fast and intuitive, Shortcut’s a great fit. It gives you the structure and visibility you’d expect from Jira without the heavy setup so your team can stay focused on building.
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