If you are a member or leader of a software development team, you may encounter such a question: Which project management and collaboration tool should you choose to improve work efficiency and quality? There are many such tools on the market, such as Redmine and Jira, all of which have their own advantages and disadvantages, and are suitable for different scenarios and needs. This article will compare the differences between Redmine and Jira from the following aspects to help you make a better choice.
1. Introduction to Redmine and Jira
1.Redmine
Redmine is an open source, Ruby on Rails-based project management and issue tracking tool. It supports a variety of databases and can implement functions such as project management, issue tracking, document management, and forum management.
2. There is
Jira is a project management and issue tracking tool launched by Atlassian, mainly used for software development, task management and agile project management. Jira supports agile development methods such as Scrum and Kanban, and provides a wealth of plug-ins and integration capabilities.
2. Functional and non-functional comparison
1. Price and Open Source
Redmine is an open source transaction tracking tool, developed based on Ruby, free to download and use. The advantage of Redmine is that it can be installed by itself, secondary development, controllable, and expandable. The disadvantage of Redmine is that the interface is ugly, there is no built-in agile support, and the maintenance cost is high.
Jira is a commercial project management tool, developed based on Java, which needs to be purchased and used for a fee. The advantage of Jira is that it is easy to use, full-featured, and highly configurable. The disadvantage of Jira is that it is slightly complicated to use, difficult to implement, and the genuine version is more expensive.
2. Agile development support
Jira is a project management tool designed for agile development teams, providing a variety of agile templates, reports and best practices. Jira allows teams to plan, track, release and support software using Scrum or Kanban. Jira can also integrate a variety of development tools to achieve an open and diverse DevOps workflow.
Redmine is a generic transaction tracking tool without native agile support. Redmine can create projects, tasks, subtasks, documents, etc., with status tracking and time evaluation. Redmine can also add some agile functions through plug-ins, such as kanban, roadmap, etc.
3. Team size and complexity
Jira is suitable for large teams (100+) because it can support complex project management needs, such as planning, requirements, task management, etc. Jira also allows teams to customize workflows, permission settings, hierarchical structures, etc. to suit different working styles. Jira can also provide enterprise-level management features, such as sandbox environments and controlled releases.
Redmine is suitable for small teams (less than 100), because it is more lightweight and simple. Redmine allows teams to quickly create and manage projects and tasks, and perform basic collaboration and communication. Redmine can also extend some functions through plug-ins, but it may require more maintenance costs.
3. Advantages and disadvantages of using Jira and Redmine
Advantages and disadvantages of Redmine
As an open source project management software, Redmine is free, capable of secondary development, and has relatively mature functions, but it also has its disadvantages, such as: higher cost. Although open source software can save a certain amount of development costs, it will bring very high costs. Development and maintenance costs. We have calculated an account: the cost of purchasing an online project management system is about 150,000 per year (100-person team); the second open source project management system requires at least one dedicated programmer for development + long-term maintenance, and a The programmer's salary is at least 20W/year, but the staff investment in the early stage of the second opening must be more than one person. Limited functionality, the system is always "used"; Potentially less secure: When the source code of a software application is publicly available, its security becomes more vulnerable.
Advantages and disadvantages of Jira
The advantages of JIRA are flexible configuration, comprehensive functions, simple deployment, and rich extensions. Its more than 150 features have been recognized by more than 19,000 customers in 115 countries around the world.
Although many companies around the world use Jira for software R&D project management, surveys such as the "Kanban Status Report" show that although these companies are using Jira, they do not recommend Jira because it is very difficult to use. The main reasons are as follows:
- JIRA is a commercial software, and the price of plug-ins is usually in the millions/year;
- Jira is not a tool specifically designed for project management or agile development, so its functionality is not standard;
- The software responds very slowly, especially when you use it for a long time;
- Jira is too complicated, and for small and medium-sized teams, or in a short period of time, it increases the burden on the team instead of improving efficiency;
- Professionalism also brings complex configuration. It is not an easy task to establish a complete set of custom fields, workflow, and permission scheme.
- In terms of use, JIRA still does not conform to the logic of Chinese people.
- Although JIRA has a Chinese version, but in the process of using the Chinese version, there will still be a lot of English on some pages, and it cannot be a full Chinese interface.
- JIRA's after-sales service for domestic users is better than nothing, and there are some barriers in time and communication. If you consult an agent, you will need high agency fees every time.
Both Redmine and Jira have their own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to project management and task management. Which tool to choose depends on the size of your team, budget, needs and preferences. If you want a free, open source, controllable transaction tracking tool, and don't mind a beautiful interface and agile support, then Redmine may be a good choice. If you want an easy-to-use, powerful, highly configurable project management tool, and are willing to pay a certain fee and learning costs, and want to implement agile development and DevOps workflow, then Jira is a good choice.
4. In addition to Jira and Redmine, what other good project management tools are there?
Although Jira and Redmine are both good, there are nearly 6,000 project management tools in the world, so here are some project management software that are not inferior to the two.
1. PingCode : One-stop software R&D project management tool, covering the whole process of software R&D projects. In 2021, it will be selected into the 36 Krypton Project Management Software Gold List - TOP 1 in the R&D project management list; it is suitable for teams ranging from a dozen to a thousand people. Well-known customers include Ningde Times, Xiaohongshu, SenseTime, etc.; support private deployment, Kirin Kunpeng and other domestic systems.
2. Worktile : It is one of the project management software with the highest domestic market share. It is widely used in almost all types of projects including e-commerce, marketing activities, law firm projects, manufacturing, administration, finance, design, engineering, education, scientific research, etc. And there are many well-known customers, such as Baidu, China Merchants Bank, Xiaomi, Questyle and so on.
3. Trello: Known for its simplicity and ease of use, Trello is perfect for small teams that need a basic project management tool that's easy to understand. Since it was acquired by Atlassian, most of the functions have been opened for free, and only a few advanced functions have been charged. Trello is a typical kanban-type project management software. It provides a large kanban board like a convenient wall sticker. We can paste all tasks, chores, and materials on it, and then arrange them freely according to the progress or grouping one by one, and present them clearly Out of the structure of the entire project, Trello allows you to get the trivial things in order at once.
4. Asana: It is also a well-known project management software in the world. Judging from the number of users, Asana is definitely a very popular work management and collaboration platform. And it was once rated as one of the best working software by Fortune magazine, and has many well-known clients, such as NASA, Uber, Spotify, etc.
5.Moday: This is a project management software developed by a well-known Israeli technology company. In 2020, it ranked second on the professional software review website G2. Monday enables SMBs to build custom workflow applications to run projects, processes, and routines in a no-code environment. It can be used for design, IT, software development, sales, documentation, legal, HR and many other project types management.
Overall, both Redmine and Jira are excellent project management and task management tools. Redmine is loved by many users for its open source, free, flexible and scalable features. And Jira is favored by Internet technology companies for its rich functions, excellent interface and agile development support. Which tool to choose depends on the team's needs, budget and technical background.