Agile project management is extremely popular and widespread, yet it is not that simple, especially for beginners. If you are planning to use this methodology and want to
manage your project successfully, then you definitely need to have the best Agile management tools.
While looking for such tools and software, you may come across another difficulty: there are too many options to choose from. So how do you know the software you choose is the one that you need? The criteria for choosing an Agile planning tool are simple:
Here in this article, we offer you a list of Agile management tools that match most of these criteria.
Table of content
- What kind of tools you need for agile development
- Best agile project management tools
- Final word
What kind of tools you need for agile development
There are several important elements that any Agile
project management software should have. Of course, while choosing an Agile project management tool, you can set your own additional criteria to find a solution that’s convenient for you and your dev team but these are as basic as it gets - you just gotta have them:
- Suitable for teams. An ideal set of Agile tools should enable quality teamwork and productive collaboration;
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Suitable for task management. It should be easy to add and move tasks, and the whole interface shouldn’t be too difficult to understand;
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Built-in analytics. Agile project management system implies analyzing data in order to improve the product development process. Top Agile tools feature such analytics and statistics tools by default allowing the manager to avoid manual data processing.
You should also consider how well a certain Agile tool integrates with the other tools you are using since it might save you a lot of time and enjoy a seamless experience across all of your tools.
Top 8 best agile project management tools
Now, let’s take a look at various project management tools to help you decide which one matches your needs better.
This Agile project management tool offers its users a platform with a wide range of tools for team communication as well as collaborating with customers. While organizing your work process through Bitrix24, you can also track your interactions with clients, manage data, and generate reports, all of which can help you to save some time.
Basic tools for organizing teamwork, scheduling meetings, and setting deadlines are also present. Tasks can be assigned to specific workers, time spent on completing a task is tracked which allows you to adjust the processes if necessary.
Users can choose settings that allow them to transfer the information from their website directly to CRM (Customer relationship management). This might be useful for storing orders as well as running a feedback section.
In case communication with several people at the same time is required, it is possible to create group emails. All of your team members will be updated on the current issues. They can also follow a suggested schedule and attend meetings according to it.
Sales can be also tracked using Bitrix24. It is extremely easy to send invoices to customers and then be sure you can follow the whole transaction progress. To send an invoice directly to your client, you only need basic information such as an email.
At the same time, Bitrix24 is very convenient for sales managers, as it can be used to create a sales dashboard. It both includes the number of deals won recently and reminders of those clients who have to be invoiced soon. The product also features a rating system for sales managers, which can be used as a motivational tool.
Various charts and tools are offered by Bitrix24 to schedule project work. It is both possible to visualize the basic plan and task dependencies which allows developers to prioritize one of them before moving on to the others. It is also possible to separate a bigger task into a series of smaller assignments and follow the process step-by-step by creating a checklist.
For team communication, various tools can be used as well, starting from chats and emails and up to video conferencing and telephony.
Pros
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Free to start
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Tons of features
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No per user charge
Cons
Jira
Jira is another famous Agile project management tool. It allows users to manage all of the stages of software development, starting from the very beginning (when the project is in its planning phase), all the way through the implementation (which includes multiple smaller tasks) and up to the moment when a product is released and handed down to a client.
It works with different Agile project management techniques, whether you prefer Scrum or Kanban or even a hybrid methodology.
Agile planning tools like Jira allow their users to get a full map of the development process at hand. Everything you have to do or what is in progress already can be added and monitored in the system. Each task is separated and can be managed by the person who completes it. While creating a project plan, you can add user stories as well as break down the main task into smaller ones.
Communication among team members is well-organized in Jira. It is possible to address a group of people (e.g., a department) or connect with a particular developer.
Additional Jira tools include the information you can get from various business applications. Those can be used to make your work more efficient and also give your developers more ideas and details on the industry they are currently working in. Jira users also can address a support team as well as access to support materials. Bug tracking is also available, which is an extremely important feature as it allows to fix them timely and increases efficiency.
Jira is available on virtually any platform. There is a browser version that is more convenient to use from a personal computer. But in case you don’t have one around, you can log in using a mobile application on your smartphone and keep tracking projects regardless of where you are.
Pros
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Designed specifically for dev teams
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Excellent task prioritization
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Features bug tracking capabilities
Cons
LeanKit
Our next Agile project management tool is LeanKit. It offers more of a visual approach which is based on the Kanban system. It is suitable for businesses of various sizes regardless of the industry.
Lean principles which LeanKit supports allow this product to provide an environment where continuous advancements with the customer and developer value are implemented. At the same time, LeanKit is visual software with great project management potential as it gives a full overview of the current work situation.
The board found in LeanKit can easily be modified. It includes vertical and horizontal lanes which imply different processes:
But, as the process of working on a project continues and certain iterations have to be made, you can change the layout of your board adding or deleting tasks and replacing them with others. You can also reassign a task to a different team member. If needed, the status of a task can be changed as well and, if certain assignments are connected, dependencies can also be visualized.
Featuring a simplistic board structure and the opportunity to give access to multiple members, LeanKit makes the whole work process more transparent and allows participants of different levels and departments to see the whole picture.
Another useful tool project managers can find in LeanKit software is analytics. It is possible to track various metrics which represent the efficiency of the project. This allows users to denote issues that are not so obvious and re-adjust working processes. In case a report has to be sent to a customer, it can also be generated using LeanKit. If you are using other project management software in your workplace, it can be integrated, which means no data will be lost.
If you need to update your project but there is no laptop or personal computer nearby, you can enter the LeanKit system using a mobile phone. Both mobile app and browser versions are available so you can choose the most suitable option.
Pros
Cons
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Lacks certain essential PM and dev tools
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Too much focus on the Kanban board
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No free plan (only 30-day trial)
Kanbanize
Kanbanize is an Agile software development tool that increases work productivity by creating a visual map of the working process. It is more than just a Kanban-style board as it also includes business process automation and creates an environment for productive and efficient development.
In addition to the Kanban board (which can be set exactly to the needs of your project) and business automation tools, Kanbanize also offers an analytical system that makes the work of a project manager easier as well as planning tools to optimize timelines. Various sides of project completion are tracked and the data can be used for work process optimization.
It is especially useful for cross-functional teams as it allows them to create multiple simultaneous workflows. Daily and long-term activities can be scheduled using Kanbanize. Each of them can be represented by a simple task with clear requirements, as well as marked “top priority” and assigned to a particular worker. Dependencies between tasks are also manageable which allows developers to pay attention to the assignments in the necessary order.
As with any other Kanban board, Kanbanize has Work In Progress limits. This means that workers are not overloaded with work and are not tempted to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. This means it is much simpler for them to pay enough attention to each task and complete them without bugs.
At the same time, the system allows great transparency among the team as well as in the company altogether. It is very easy for users to modify the work field, customize the number of cards and Work in Progress limits.
Another important feature of Kanbanize is that it shows work and progress in real time. That means no more status updates are required from team members and therefore they can concentrate on their tasks completely. That also means it is much easier to predict project delivery as well as plan the following stages of product completion.
If necessary, Kanbanize can be integrated with other tools your company works with. Those include Google Drive, Jira, Dropbox, and others. This is especially convenient for bigger companies with multiple departments that might use different software.
Pros
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Easy to track work progress
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Great transparency among the team
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Plenty of useful integrations
Cons
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Too much focus on the Kanban board
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Subscription price depends on the number of users
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No free plan (only 30-day trial)
Active Collab
Another Agile project management tool on our list is Active Collab. It is more affordable than other project management software but still has a lot to offer. Annual or monthly subscription can be chosen and the final price depends on the number of team members you work with, but altogether the price is generally more than acceptable.
Active Collab is a comprehensive Agile software project management tool as it offers a wide variety of possibilities for project managers, developers, and even customers. It can be used for team communication as well as addressing customers and features data tracking and reporting tools at the same time.
The interface was created with the possibility to understand it intuitively. That means even a user who has never come across a project management tool before can understand how to use Active Collab. As for experienced developers and project managers, they can just jump straight into the work process and have no issues integrating the system into it.
First and foremost, it is possible to set deadlines using Active Collab. That means each member of the team will be regularly updated on their upcoming deadlines and top-priority tasks. You can set a deadline for a certain upcoming event or a task that was specifically assigned to a person.
The system also allows communication between team members in a group or personally. Groups of users can also follow the updates, which makes it easier to communicate on certain tasks as they are completed.
In case you want to improve the process of product development but first need to fix the flaws of the working process, Active Collab offers various tools to track efficiency. These include tracking time spent on completing certain tasks, as well as tracking expenses and other criteria which can be improved.
If you are also looking for a platform to communicate with your client, Active Collab offers you to do it as well. Here, it is not only about discussions and messaging, but also about payments. You can create invoices using Active Collab and email them directly to your customers. Later on, you can follow the process and find out if the invoice has already been paid.
Pros
Cons
Pivotal Tracker
Another Agile project management tool on our list is Pivotal Tracker. The tool is especially convenient for managing developer teams as well as encouraging team collaboration. The entire project is watched, monitored, and analyzed with the information being gathered and counted. It is possible to create tasks and set deadlines for them, set daily tasks and split them into smaller assignments. Tasks can also be prioritized if something needs to be done as quickly as possible.
Stories are an important part of Pivotal Tracker. They help to review customer requests in a form that is clear to vendors. It can also be an overview of the work already done with the aim for further discussion and tasks. Each story should include features, bugs, and chores so that developers could have a full overview of what they already have and what they need to achieve. Each story consists of points that have to be completed.
If it is not your first time working with Pivotal Tracker, you can estimate the time your team will need to complete a single task or a whole project. The system uses past experiences to calculate the approximate timeline. That means your customers will always get updates and can follow the project timeline from the moment this project starts.
Pivotal Tracker also offers project managers tools that allow users to plan an efficient work schedule for the next project. This also implies that the work is distributed evenly and no developers feel extreme pressure. It is also possible to separate a bigger task into smaller ones which makes them more manageable and increases productivity as smaller tasks are usually completed faster.
Your workspace can also be adjusted to your needs. In case you work with several projects, you can follow them in Pivotal Tracker as a separate space is created for each of them, which makes them extremely easy to manage.
Project managers also have access to a visual analytics overview. Schemes and graphics show team efficiency as well as how healthy the work is organized. Those can be used to improve statistics and general processes of working on a product as well.
Pros
Cons
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Lacks certain professional tools and integrations
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Per user pricing - $6.50 per collaborator
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No free plan (only 14-day trial)
Asana
Like any other Agile project management tool, Asana is used to both organize the process of product creation, set tasks, and communicate inside the team as well as for communication with customers. If you are a project manager who works with several projects at the same time, it will be suitable for you as well as it features customizable workflows.
Working with Asana starts by mapping out a project and dividing it into stages. Simple cards are used marked with different colors depending on the stage your project is at the moment. This makes such a process map extremely visual and helps every team member to understand what’s going on.
A simple system of columns is used in Asana, which makes it relatable to many of the Agile project management methodologies. Here, you can decide for yourself what kind of columns you need for your project. Those may include a To-Do List, Work in Progress, Backlog, Verification, and, of course, Done.
If there are specific items that you need to find, you can filter tasks depending on your needs. For example, you can set a due date and filter all the tasks by due date. This is how you can see what needs to be done sooner and lead it to top priority.
You can also create a plan according to deadlines and dependencies. That being said, if you know that the completion of certain tasks depends on the previous completion of the others, you can link them together so that developers know where to start. And if a task takes longer than expected, you can always edit the timeline with just a single click.
There is one task that can be tedious for any project manager. And that is working with statistics. Although this data actually helps to improve the processes of product development, it also takes a lot of time. With Asana, this work is done automatically and the data can be found in the corresponding section which means there is no need to do this manually.
You can also see how busy your workers are currently and re-adjust the flow so that the work is distributed more evenly.
Asana is also available for any kind of device you use. Whether you connect with your team through a personal computer or a laptop or you prefer to use a tablet, Asana is always available. And even if you don’t have a chance to use a computer, you can always keep in touch using a phone regardless of its operating system.
Pros
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Available on any platform
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Universal solution for businesses of any size and/or industry
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Easy-to-read project stats
Cons
Axosoft
Axosoft is an Agile project management software represented by a spotlessly developed platform. It is used in both smaller businesses and corporations to keep track of projects and work processes as well as general team management.
Working with Axosoft gives a great overview of the whole project. After working in a system and getting detailed information about the efficiency of a previous project, managers can adjust the work in a team according to its members’ capacities and general information about the workflow.
Axosoft takes a Kanban board as a base for organizing project maps. It includes cards which consist of the information about a specific task and the details about its current status. The system also uses different colors which only makes the board more visual. Cards can be dragged and dropped from one column to another representing the whole process of working on a task.
Another feature that is extremely helpful to project managers is the ability to see Daily Scrum. It represents the progress the team made over the previous day and, if tracked regularly, allows you to adjust the work depending on the issues and necessary iterations. With a system like that, project managers are also able to estimate the delivery time.
Axosoft tools can be used for various purposes. In addition to project planning and monitoring, they allow users to handle documents, write and create reports as well as encourage team communication and collaboration. The dashboard allows you to leave comments and references while working on a task which means no details will be forgotten.
If any other software is used in your office, you can integrate Axosoft with it. Both other communication and organization tools are allowed which makes it extremely convenient to transfer data if necessary. That means you can also reply to emails and create mail lists reaching multiple people at the same time.
Axosoft is available from any device you might have and works with any operating system, whether it is iOS or Android, which allows you to always keep track of your team.
Pros
Cons
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Designed strictly for software dev teams, may not be suitable for everyone
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Per user pricing
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No free plan (only 14-day free trial)
Conclusion
These are just some of the best Agile project management tools. They can help you implement Agile methodology into your current project or just make your work easier in case you are not satisfied with your current choice of an Agile project management tool.
In this list, we gathered various tools which are suitable for different methodologies implementing Agile as well as those that have different prices and qualities. This way, we wanted to make sure every company manages to find a perfect solution and improve work quality with the goal to both satisfy their employees and customers.
