YouTrack vs. Jira – Comprehensive Comparison in 2023

Jack

By Jack

Update on

youtrack vs. jira

You can read this YouTrack vs. Jira comparison to choose the best of the two. We will describe all the important details related to these two tools and compare them for reference. So, keep reading if you want to pick one of these two project tracking tools.

As a programmer, you will have to work with plenty of partners with many expectations. Your clients are expecting nothing but the best from you. So, as a coder, you must take all the available options to ensure perfect solutions.

The code you compose will be available on a myriad of devices, and therefore, there’s no room for error. This is exactly when project tracking tools such as YouTrack and Jira come to play.

Apart from Jira and YouTrack, there are various other project tracking tools in the market. So, doing extensive research is the best way to choose the best out of the rest.

Both YouTrack and Jira are popular options in this case. If you are in a situation to choose between YouTrack vs. Jira, this comparison is valuable for you.

YouTrack vs. Jira – A General Overview

In this segment of our article, we will explain Jira. In simplest terms, Jira is considered to be one of the most popular tools of its kind.

As of this writing, Jira is used by plenty of users across the globe, and its clientele is growing. Our team has worked with Jira for some time and found it pretty decent in performance.

However, it has some drawbacks as well. When it comes to YouTrack, is a relatively new software tool for the industry. Our team was able to test that as well and found it to be pretty impressive. So, we will share what we have experienced with Jira and YouTrack and their differences.

Jira has been in the business of project tracking for several years. This tool was first released back in 2002, and it was developed by Atlassian. However, YouTrack is younger than Jira. That means YouTrack was released in 2009 by a company called JetBrains. The same company is known for the creation of a tool called IntelliJ.

Well, if you consider the ‘industry experience’ aspect, Jira is older. There is a gap of 7 years between YouTrack vs. Jira.

In other words, if you are looking for a tool with a longer track record, choose Jira over YouTrack. If you have used to work with some specific functions with Jira, YouTrack may not have those.

Jira – A General Overview

When it comes to the support factor, YouTrack is far better compared to Jira. YouTrack’s efficient customer support service allows you to report bugs conveniently. In addition to that, you can use the same path to request new features from developers.

In other words, the developers are ready to read your suggestions and enhance their software. In addition to that, they choose feature requests from the community of YouTrack and even publish them. These are published for future releases.

When it comes to tasks like fixing critical bugs, JetBrains answer the issues very quickly. It is a very impressive approach for an issue-tracking tool. In addition to that, they welcome your new functionality proposals. So, if you notice some feature missing in YouTrack, you can report it to the developer team.

However, we cannot promise when they will release new versions of the software with the features you have suggested. They release a new patch every other week. In addition to that, JetBrains (the developers of YouTrack) release a couple of updates every year. They offer four updates (one major update and three major ones).

PS: Here is the full Bugzilla vs. Jira comparison for your reference.

Agile Boards (Kanban boards)

When it comes to Agile boards (or Kanban boards), YouTrack offers better convenience and features. Those boards are independent of projects, and they have better configuration options as well. A user can use those boards either to represent single projects or multiple projects.

When it comes to multiple projects, they can create a high-level view of the main issues. The most interesting part is that it gives you the option of configuring the way the issues are linked.

That is a very flexible approach, which is very useful for any user. As a user, you can assign the issues manually to the respective sprints, which is very handy. If not, you can make them linked to the selected properties only.

For some projects, this can be a sprint name or a number. However, for others, it is a planned fixed version. In addition to that, the user can filter some issues without getting into the board. All those aspects ensure that the user can adjust the project tracking tool to match the user’s exact requirements.

The other important thing associated with YouTrack is its Kanban view. YouTrack’s Kanban view comes with a real backlog that is built-in. As per this feature, you don’t have to collect all future tasks in a single column. Instead, you can have them in a designated place. So, it is pretty similar to the physical boards you find.

You can collect them up and down and have them organized properly. Later on, you can work with them easier. You can move, edit, and even assign them in the form of subtasks to other tasks.

As a result, you can expect a properly structured development. In addition to that, they can be added from a backlog to a sprint easily. To do that, you can use the very convenient drag-and-drop functionality.

Another interesting feature of YouTrack is that it lets you set your filter keys on Kanban’s view. As a result, you can find the elements with the parameters you require exactly.

When it comes to working with Jira, there are two choices for you to select from. You can either go for simple Kanban or Scrum. And the project’s view is designed to be based on it. Whenever the project is progressing, it can be pretty difficult to change it.

However, in YouTrack, you don’t see such a problem. You can easily change or add a new agile board. That agile board will represent the development workflow of the project, which is currently being deployed. So, in our YouTrack vs. Jira review, we should say that YouTrack stands ahead of Jira in that case.

When it comes to Jira, every single aspect is sorted out based on the projects. However, with YouTrack, you don’t get anything like the project view feature. YouTrack has a page called ‘Project,’ which shows the users assigned to the existing project.

Then, it shows the configurations to the administrator only. Other aspects, such as issues, agile boards, reports, etc., can be found on their own pages. Yes, it may look pretty strange at a glance.

However, you will gradually discover the usefulness of this feature in finding data from the entire project. All in all, this is a very useful feature for those who’re engaged in projects constantly.

YouTrack – A General Overview

Project Tracking Tool Dashboard

The reports that are generated by YouTrack come with better flexibility too. For instance, you can use it to create a matrix report for various different projects. In that case, it utilizes the fields of the issues for the X and Y-axis.

The same thing can be done in Jira as well. However, you will have to buy a separate plugin for that. That means you cannot do it with the default features available with Jira.

There is a plugin called ‘Tempo’ to accomplish the aforesaid task. Our team worked on that feature as well. The Tempo plugin was used by our project developers and project managers.

Both teams found it to be a very impressive tool that offers a very handy view. However, we are reluctant to mention that the reports generated by YouTrack are not the clearest for the purpose.

But we believe that this issue is already reported by many users. So, we believe that JetBrains (the developers) will bring a resolution to the issue pretty soon.

YouTrack vs. Jira – Key Differences in a Nutshell

In this segment, we will explain the key differences between YouTrack vs. Jira to give you a quick insight.

● Jira

Jira is the number one software issue-tracking tool for planning, tracking, and releasing. It is used by agile teams. One of the key aspects associated with Jira is how it makes complex things simplified.

It makes the software development process into conveniently manageable units. In simplest terms, Jira is a one-stop solution for issue tracking.

● YouTrack

This is a relatively new issue tracker tool, which is also designed especially for agile software teams. It can be used as a project management tool customized to your requirements.

It will help you deliver great software products. Teams can use it to track tasks and bugs. In addition, it can create workflows, plan sprints and releases, and so on.

Pros and Cons of Jira and YouTrack

Here’s a list of the pros and cons of Jira and YouTrack.

Pros of Jira

  • It has plenty of integrations and plugins.
  • It is backed by a highly reputed company (Atlassian).
  • Jira supports version-focused workflows as well.
  • Excellent reporting tools to improve the efficiency of the too.

Cons of Jira

  • Jira’s new releases are often confused because they change the GUI significantly with each release.
  • You have less freedom to go outside their ecosystem. To accomplish some basic features, you have to buy their tools.
  • There are no free client applications.

Pros of YouTrack

  • Supports Kanban boards;
  • It has a built-in image editor.
  • Plenty of migration options (such as from Jira to YouTrack);
  • It can be integrated with Zendesk.
  • Gant chart that provides an overview of the projects.
  • It has mobile apps for both iOS and Android devices.

Cons of YouTrack

  • Somewhat complex report generation.
  • Relatively new tool compared to Jira.
  • The interface can be somewhat complex if you switch to YouTrack from Jira.

Conclusion

Of course, it is not that easier to tell you whether to choose YouTrack over Jira or vice versa. Both of those tools have their own unique features. If someone asks which is the better one, we cannot give you a straightforward answer.

The answer depends on the exact requirement the user is looking for. That means some users will say Jira is better than YouTrack, and others will say otherwise. Our team has worked with YouTrack and found that to be an impressive option.

The pace of this tool offers pretty well. It also assures a greater deal of flexibility compared to Jira. Both of those aspects are vital when it comes to project management.

Our team had some experience with Jira as well. In fact, we used its business model. One of the key things we noticed with Jira is that it demands to purchase of even the basic ones.

That means some of the basic features are not available with Jira’s business model for free. However, when it comes to YouTrack, the full package is available for free. You don’t have to pay for different parts of the tracking tool if you go for YouTrack.

When you compare YouTrack vs. Jira, the former may not be the perfect option. However, considering the fact that you have to pay for features separately, YouTrack is far better.

Also, the features of YouTrack are good enough for most developers. Our team of developers says they are fully satisfied with YouTrack despite minor imperfections.

So, that’s our YouTrack vs. Jira comparison. We would appreciate it if you could leave us a comment below expressing your valued opinion. Your feedback is very important for the development of our forum.

FAQs

1. Can I migrate my data from YouTrack to Jira?

Yes, both YouTrack and Jira offer data migration options to facilitate the transition between the two tools. They provide import/export functionalities and tools to ensure a smooth migration process.

2. Is YouTrack better suited for small teams or large enterprises?

YouTrack caters to both small teams and large enterprises. Its free plan and flexible pricing options make it an attractive choice for startups and small teams. At the same time, its extensive customization and scalability accommodate the needs of large enterprises.

3. Does Jira offer cloud-based hosting?

Yes, Jira provides cloud-based hosting options in addition to self-hosted solutions. Cloud hosting offers convenience, scalability, and regular updates managed by Atlassian.

4. Can YouTrack and Jira be used for Agile project management?

Both YouTrack and Jira are well-suited for Agile project management. They offer features like Agile boards, sprint planning tools, and burndown charts to support Agile methodologies and frameworks.

5. How often are updates and new features released for YouTrack and Jira?

Both YouTrack and Jira have active development teams that regularly release updates and new features. They strive to address user feedback, enhance functionality, and improve the overall user experience.

Jack
Jack

Ten years of experience in information and computer technology. Passionate about electronic devices, smartphones, computers, and modern technology.

THERE’S MORE TO READ.