11 Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Jira for Task Management

Summary: Many businesses are shifting to Jira alternatives because it has a complicated interface, they cannot add multiple assignees, and it is difficult to add projects to any third-party software. Let’s read more about the best Jira alternatives you will find in the market.

Project development tools are used for the management of application lifecycle and bug tracking. Jira is the name to reckon with when it comes to selecting the best project development tool.

Bug fixing, issue tracking, document management, Gantt charts, and code management are the prime functionalities offered by Jira, one of the most popular project management tools.

Jira project management tool is a great option for agile project management and is highly customizable. Also, there is a free Jira plan for up to 10 users with 2GB storage. As your business grows, you will have to move to the Standard plan, which costs more than ₹5000 per month!

The price of Jira is undoubtedly is on the high side. Additionally, Jira users have mentioned certain disadvantages of this tool, like its mobile app version is not that great. Also, it has a confusing UI (User Interface) for beginners with complex migration and integration functionalities.

What if we tell you that many open-source agile tools like Jira help with project management without making a dent in your pocket! Let’s find out some of the best Jira like open-source tools

Key Features to Look in Open Source Jira Alternatives

You will come across many self-hosted Jira alternatives, which are equally effective in centralizing all project-related activities. Some of the key features that you can expect with these best open source Jira alternatives are:

• Integrated business application suites for managing inventory, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), manufacturing, human resources, etc.
• Kanban board for multiple view formats, chats, and nested comments
• Scrum board to help agile teams in staying focused
• Roadmaps to present the bigger picture
• Reports to view sprint wise performance
• A single platform for managing multiple project tasks
• Support for Gantt charts, cost, and time reporting
• Simplified user interface

List of 11 Free and Open Source Jira Alternatives for Task Management in 2024

Top Jira Alternatives	Key Features	Starting Price	Integrations	Rating
Redmine	> Access control > Calendar for project tracking > Issues in tracking product	Free to use	> Unfuddle > Lighthouse > Mantis > FogBugz	4.1
GitLab	> Code testing > Pipeline management > Code analytics for merging requests	₹1,410	LDAP and SAML	4.2
Taiga.io	> Customizing workflows > Subtasks creation > Custom fields and tags	₹371/month	> Trello > Jira > Github > Asana	4.3
Kanboard	> Automated actions for assigning tasks > Swim lanes for delineating task > Category management	Free	> MathJax > Activity Streams > Amazon S3	4
The Trac Project	> Account manager > Spam filtering > SQL queries for customized reports	Free to use	> HackerOne > PractiTest > Zulip	4.1
Restyaboard	> Quick data transmission > Tracking project boards > Managing permissions	₹44/month	> Zendesk > Zapier > Freshworks	5
Odoo	> Pivot tables for statistical analysis > Time tracking for re-forecasting tasks > Task archiving	Open-source	> Zapier > Onlizer > Prismatic	4.1
Launchpad	> Controlling mailing permissions > Bug tracker > Blueprints specification tracking	Free to use	> Netsuite > Salesforce > Mulesoft > Blackbaud, etc.	4.1
Tuleap	> Test management for effective traceability > Code reviews for pull requests > Gitlab, SVN, and Git for code versioning	₹971/ user/month	GitLab	4.5
Phabricator	> Assigning task > Pre-commit code reviews > Audit source codes	Open-source software	> Git > Mercurial > SVN, etc.	4
Bugzilla	> Bug changes history > Bug fixing time tracker > Advanced searching capabilities	Open-source	> ALM > ITSM > CRM > DevOps, etc.	3.9

Here is a detailed comparison of software like Jira task management that you can consider for assigning and managing projects.

• Redmine

Redmine is an open-source project management software with issue tracking and time tracking capabilities. The software offers advanced tools to manage multiple projects like Gantt charts, calendars, and support for multiple databases. 

In addition, this free alternative for Jira can be integrated with different version control systems and allows self-registration. Its project tracking feature is quite similar to Jira project tracking function and offers multiple options to track projects.

Redmine Features

• Issue tracking for removing duplicates and simplifying workflows
• Access controls for defining permissions on a project
• Calendars for highlighting project deadlines
• SCM (Supply Chain Management) integration for browsing project repositories
• Custom fields for issues and time-entries
• Easy user self-registrations
• LDAP authentication for setting up accounts

Pros and Cons of Redmine

Redmine Price to Upgrade: Redmine is a free and open-source tool.

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• GitLab

GitLab is a DevOps platform offering task management functionalities for source code and project planning.

The open-source project management software offers continuous integration and issue tracking and the deployment pipeline for managing the DevOps lifecycle. GitLab can also be used for managing vulnerabilities, value streams, and cluster costs.

GitLab Features

• Granular user roles and SSH keys restriction for managing compliances
• Code testing and coverage for pipeline management
• Container registry for building and pushing images
• Issue tracking for elaborating code implementations and tracking tasks
• Code analytics for merging requests
• Design management for uploading design sheets

Pros and Cons of GitLab

GitLab Pricing: GitLab codes are source available to ensure transparency, and its features are the same as that of its free version. However, GitLab for commercial use is available in two different paid versions.

1. Premium: ₹1,410
2. Ultimate: ₹7,350

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• Taiga.io

Taiga.io is a project management platform with an intuitive interface and is ideal for multifunctional agile teams. This open source project management software offers a digital environment for defining deliverables so that high-priority ones can be picked right on time.

In addition, Taiga.io offers complete visibility regarding deliverables and ongoing activities for facilitating agile methodologies. If you are looking for a free alternative for Jira, then Taiga.io is the right choice for you.

Taiga Project Management Features

• Subtasks and EPIC for customizing workflows
• WIP (Windows Information Protection) limits with various filter options
• Estimation tool for sprint and backlog planning
• Integrated bug and issue tracking for adding to sprint the issues
• Performance dashboard for managing project timelines
• Custom fields and tags
• Embedded onboarding and project export/import

Pros and Cons of Taiga

Taiga Pricing: Taiga is an open-source platform. However, you can opt for its freemium version, which starts at the monthly plan of ₹ 371 to let you host your projects on-premises.

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• Kanboard

Kanboard is one of the most popular project management software ideal for task visualization using the Kanban methodology. The software offers project overviews besides flexible, agile project management and board sharing.

In addition, this Jira alternative offers analytics for generating task distribution and user repartition reports.

Key Features of Kanboard Open Source Tool

• Project duplication for configuring project templates
• Role management for standard users and administrators
• Automated actions for assigning tasks
• Swim lanes for delineating tasks and creating sequence diagrams
• Category management for task grouping
• Board configuration for managing multiple tasks
• Multiple authentication backends

Pros and Cons of Kanboard

Price to Upgrade: Kanboard is a completely free and open-source project management software and one of the most trusted open-source Jira alternatives.

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• The Trac Project

The Trac Project is an issue tracking system considered convenient for project management and progress tracking. The software is ideal for ticket tracking, hyperlinking, and version control.

In addition, Trac offers a wiki markup for handling bugs, issue descriptions, files, tasks, and change sets. It is an open-source alternative to Jira that also supports software developers with their innovative projects.

Trac Features

• Extensive plugin system
• Integration with several external tools
• Git and SVN support
• Account manager and spam filtering
• SQL queries for customized reports

Pros and Cons of Trac

Trac Pricing: Trac is a completely open-source project management software.

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• Restyaboard

Restyaboard project management tool provides visual boards for managing tasks and creating tickets using Restyaboard cards. The open-source Jira alternative offers electronic sticky notes for organizing tasks and managing to-do lists.

Restyaboard supports Kanban boards for tracking, planning, and collaborating on tasks. It also provides smart project management features like nested comments, offline sync, and layouts for multiple views similar to Jira task management software.

Key Features of Restyaboard

• Single unified interface for tracking Restya boards
• Easy to import prevailing boards into Restyaboard
• Quick data transmission and migration
• Copy board option for duplicating Restya boards
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Option for changing user permissions

Pros and Cons of Restyaboard

Restyaboard Pricing: Besides a free community edition, this Jira alternative offers the Pro plan at ₹44. Also, there is an Enterprise plan, and its price details are available from the vendor on request.

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• Odoo Software

Odoo project management software offers an open-source development model for automating all business processes. The project management tool comes with a modern user interface and is ideal for tracking tasks and projects just like Jira project management software.

In addition, Odoo supports various smart filters with multi-level grouping for analyzing the data along with a scrollable chatter.

Odoo Features:

• Pivot tables for statistical analysis
• Time tracking for re-forecasting tasks
• Task archiving
• Easy document management
• Multi-project searches and analysis
• Gantt charts for managing task timelines
• Graphs for analyzing tag wise, stage, and responsibility-wise task progress.

Pros and Cons of Odoo

Odoo Price: Odoo community edition is free and open source. However, its premium plans are available on request.

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• Launchpad

Launchpad is an open-source hosting and collaboration platform for sharing ideas across projects. The software can also be used for building communities using mailing and teams lists and sharing codes.

Launchpad also supports mirroring services and registries for code branches and projects. It also helps with bug fixing, cod hosting, translations, and mailing lists.

Launchpad Features

• Mailing lists for controlling mailing permissions
• Translations into different languages
• Specification tracking for blueprints
• Bug tracker for helping with bug fixes

Pros and Cons of Launchpad

Launchpad Pricing: Launchpad is an open-source Jira alternative.

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• Tuleap

You can trust Tuleap for project and product development and its drag n drop cards that help visualize upcoming sprints and releases.

Tuleap agile project management platform is deployed for improving collaboration across multi-profile teams. This tool like Jira supports DevOps tools practices for building innovative workspaces and managing large datasets.

Key Features of Tuleap

• Documents and deliveries for versions and controls
• Requirement baseline for a snapshot comparison
• Test management for effective traceability
• Code reviews for pull requests
• Gitlab, SVN, and Git for code versioning
• Issue tracking for automation workflow

Pros and Cons of Tuleap

Tuleap Pricing: The community edition of Tuleap is free and open source for everyone’s use. Its premium on-premises plan starts at ₹971 per user per month.

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• Phabricator

Phabricator project management solution is used for discussing, planning, coding, reviewing, and testing codes for managing project repositories and adding comments and anecdotes.

The built-in command-line tools can be used for running unit tests and emitting patches. In addition, this open-source alternative to Jira also supports Wiki to manage user manuals, technical guides, and such documents.

Phabricator Features

• Assigning tasks and setting task priorities
• Pre-commit code reviews
• Chat channels and business rules
• Audit source codes
• SVN, Mercurial, and Git support

Pros and Cons of Phabricator

Phabricator Pricing: Phabricator is a popular alternative to Jira, which is also open source.

• Bugzilla

Bugzilla bugs tracking software helps in tracking and fixing bugs in your software. It helps the developer’s team to maintain a track of issues, outstanding bugs, enhancements, and similar change requests in their products.

With its real-time collaboration feature, you can stay connected to your employees and stakeholders throughout the product development process. It also offers a request system to send requests to others for modifying the bugs.

Features of Bugzilla

• Offers advanced searching capabilities
• Displays the bug change history
• Creates graphs and charts to display bugs issues
• Tracks the time of bug fixing
• Keeps the comments and attachments private

Pros and Cons of Bugzilla

Pricing of Bugzilla: Bugzilla is an open-source project management tool.

Why Choose Free Jira Alternatives?

There are plenty of reasons why you should free Jira alternatives. One of the major reasons is that you can use features like project assigning and workflow automation for free. Some other reasons to use a free tool like Jira include:

• It is hard to use for people with little technical knowledge
• Jira has an outdated interface with a lot of inefficiencies
• You cannot assign multiple people into a single task in Jira
• It is very complicated to shift project details to other software

How to Use Jira for Project Management?

Jira project management software can help in managing a project from every stage starting from project ideation till its completion. Here are a few steps that you need to follow to manage your project in Jira:

Step 1: Select a project template and configure it as per your project needs.

Step 2: Plan your project by defining project tasks, adding project details, creating sub tasks, assigning tasks, etc.

Step 3: Next, set up the permission levels to provide access to employees to manage specific modules of the project.

Step 4: Use its tracking feature, reports, and dashboard feature, you can get visibility into the project’s progress.

Step 5: Once the project is completed, you can close the task with the archiving feature and also remove permissions.

Conclusion

Jira is one of the most prominent project management software. However, it has its own set of drawbacks like you cannot add multiple assignees in a project and it’s very expensive as compared to its competitors. Due to this, users are using its alternatives which are cheap or completely free to use.

If you are also looking for free agile tools like Jira, you can consider ClickUp, Asana, Trello, Basecamp, and Redmine. These are some of the best Jira alternatives available at a reasonable cost and offer all essential project management features.

FAQs Related to Free Jira Alternatives