Introduction
Whether you’re debating between Monday vs Jira or simply curious about the competition, our comprehensive comparison is here to guide you.
Missed deadlines, unclear communication, and scattered tasks – these are some challenges that arise in the absence of the right tool.
Moreover, what makes the situation even worse is choosing the best one out of a plethora of tools.
Monday and Jira are two decent project management software options that can help teams streamline workflow and execute projects seamlessly.
Both of them shine through the lens of efficiency, but differences do exist. The confusion between the two is understandable.
In this article, we’ll break down the features and functionalities of both platforms. We’ll also highlight a powerful alternative, that may become your top choice as you move through the decision-making process.
So, let’s find out how they stack up against each other.
What is the difference between monday.com and Jira?
The main difference between Monday and Jira is that Monday is a highly customizable work management platform designed for managing a variety of workflows across different teams. While, Jira is specifically tailored for software development teams, offering robust features for issue tracking, and agile project management, making it ideal for managing complex software development projects.
Overview of monday.com
Monday.com, formerly known as daPulse, is one of the versatile tools available in the market. It is commonly referred to as a project management tool, however it is a work management tool. It positions itself as a platform that can be used for multiple purposes. Besides its project management capabilities, it can be used as a customer relationship management (CRM) and software development management (Dev) solution.
Teams all across use it for various purposes: project management, customer management, task management, sprint management, team collaboration, bug tracking, and much more.
Known for its Kanban methodology adoption and visually appealing elements, the tool is highly suitable for marketing and creative teams.
monday.com’s strengths lie in its intuitive drag-and-drop functionality and unparalleled ability to customize. However, it falls short due to its limited reporting capabilities, basic automation, and no built-in collaboration features.
Not satisfied with monday.com’s offerings? Discover 27 best monday alternatives to find the best fit for your organization.
Overview of Jira
Jira Software, a member of the Atlassian family, is an agile project management solution. Initially founded as an issue & bug-tracking software tool in 2002, it has since evolved to be a comprehensive platform for handling all aspects of the software development process. Furthermore, some other products of the Atlassian family include Jira service management, Jira work management, and more.
Companies can use the tool for issue tracking, sprint planning, Scrum and Kanban support, backlog prioritization, and sprint planning.
The agile and flexible framework of Jira is suitable for teams working with customizable workflows, multiple project management methodologies, and coding and software development.
Jira’s appreciated traits include bug tracking, complex reporting functionalities, and advanced roadmaps. One thing that takes down Jira is its steeper learning curve due to its technical approach.
Looking for alternatives to Jira? Explore our comprehensive guide to discover the top 23 Jira alternatives
Monday.com vs Jira: side-by-side features comparison
Monday.com and Jira are on par with each other regarding effectiveness. However, who wins the game to effectiveness, hugely depends on how user-friendly teams find these platforms to be.
Let’s dissect the efficiency of these platforms into various categories.
1. Project management
- Task management
Monday.com’s color-coded dashboard and modest task views are much more suitable for all project types and needs. Its customizable labels and columns provide visual task updates. However, you need to rely on templates to avail of development features.
Jira’s powerful agile dashboard and structured interface support issue tracking and backlog management. Suited more for software development than general project management, it improves clarity across your workflow. You can use this to deliver maximum in minimal cycle time and get granular control over your workflow.
What does ProofHub offer?
For task management, ProofHub offers the best of both worlds: Kanban boards for visualizing progress with drag-and-drop functionality, task lists for straightforward organization, and Gantt charts for tracking project timelines.
Plus, you can set up recurring tasks and monitor team workload to avoid overburdening. This flexibility strikes a perfect balance between monday.com’s visual appeal and Jira’s project management focus, making ProofHub ideal for diverse project needs and team sizes.
- Team collaboration
Monday.com’s collaboration features though not wholesome, still manage to beat Jira. It allows users to have discussions on whiteboards, leave comments using @mentions, and embed docs for seamless collaboration.
Jira’s collaboration functionality is far limited to what monday.com offers. You can only communicate via @comments on cards, have workspace discussions, and add file attachments. However, you can integrate it with other tools to promote real-time collaboration.
What does ProofHub offer?
ProofHub stands out for its robust collaboration features that streamline team communication. Built-in chat, dedicated discussion threads, file sharing, and @mentions within tasks keep everyone connected and informed.
This eliminates the need to switch between multiple platforms, fostering seamless collaboration and reducing context switching, making it a strong contender compared to monday.com and Jira.
Boost your team’s productivity with the right collaboration tools!
- Workflow automation
Monday.com’s automation is less convincing than Jira’s. You can easily create no-code automation and customize them to suit your workflow in no time. You can either choose to create it on your own or use a pre-prepared template. The platform does not support automation in every plan.
Jira also allows you to build your automation using no code, and drag and drop instructions. Or, you can even start by choosing either from its hundreds of pre-built automation templates. Jira automation is available on every plan, however, the count varies in every plan.
- Reporting
Monady.com offers some basic reporting functionality in comparison to Jira. It is highly suitable for teams to get a glance at various project aspects. You can use these insights to meet your project objectives.
Jira’s powerful reporting tools help you stay on top of your sprints, tasks, and workflows. Additionally, you can get real-time insights into your development pipeline to improve retrospectives, spot blockages, analyze issues, and forecast to optimize efficiency.
What does ProofHub offer?
Forget the limitations of basic reporting in monday.com or the complexities of advanced features in Jira. ProofHub strikes the perfect balance, offering customizable reports with real-time data visualization. Tailor reports to your specific needs, easily export data for further analysis, and gain valuable insights without extensive integrations.
2. Usability and user experience
- Interface design and learning curve
Monday.com’s interface is highly intuitive and easy to use when compared to Jira. Notably, with its interface similar to spreadsheets, monday.com’s aesthetically pleasing platform enhances user experience. Additionally, its seamless navigation allows teams to easily adapt to its interface.
Jira’s scrum and Kanban board approach to project management is more complex. It provides richer features and stronger capabilities for advanced operations but can be overwhelming for beginners. Its terminology can seem complex to non-technical users in comparison to technical teams.
What does ProofHub offer?
Forget navigating complex interfaces and struggling with confusing workflows. ProofHub’s user-friendly design prioritizes simplicity with a clean, uncluttered layout and intuitive menus. This makes it accessible to everyone on your team, regardless of their technical expertise, ensuring a smooth learning curve and effortless adoption.
- Customization
Both monday.com and Jira are highly customizable. In addition, you can create custom workflows, dashboards, and more to tailor your workflow to your specific needs. Moreover, you can even use project templates to kickstart your projects without delving into complex configurations.
3. Integration capabilities
Jira and monday showcase strong compatibility with third-party tools. While monday.com covers a broader spectrum, Jira too doesn’t lag. Moreover, Monday offers around 200+ DevOps integrations, covering a vast range with additional costs. However, it imposes a certain limit on actions per month in its higher pricing plans.
On the other hand, Jira offers 3000+ Atlassian and third-party integrations. Additionally, you can witness diverse categories in the Atlassian marketplace to cater to different business cases. This provides flexibility to add additional functionalities to your existing tech stack.
Cut off the need to depend on integrations using ProofHub’s comprehensive all-in-one platform. Sign up for a free trial and streamline your workflow effortlessly.
4. Templates
Jira and monday.com both own template libraries to jumpstart projects quickly. Monday offers 200+ templates covering a broad range of categories.
Jira, however, takes the lead by providing more templates to get started in no time. You can choose any template from its easy-to-browse 11 categories such as software development, project management, service management, marketing, and more.
5. Customer support
Jira’s customer services are limited to monday. Monday.com offers a comprehensive knowledge base, including tutorials, guides, instructions, and articles in all its plans. It also offers 24/7 customer support in all its plans except the Free plan.
Also, you get exclusive access to its live webinars, training, and video tutorials, with a dedicated customer success manager and 99.9% uptime SLA available on its Enterprise plan only. With monday.com’s Academy and community, you can learn all the intricacies of the platform.
Jira’s Free plan users spend major time looking for answers in community forums. On the other hand, only business-hours support is available on the Standard plan.
Its 24/7 customer support is only available on higher plans, where Premium users can reach out for high-impact issues and Enterprise users for all the technical issues. Enterprise users also get dedicated phone support. Jira also has a knowledge base and community support sites. Uptime SLA is 99.9% for the Premium plan and 99.95% for the Enterprise plan.
ProofHub shines in customer satisfaction
ProofHub boasts a dedicated support team available 24/7 via email, chat, and phone. This ensures prompt assistance whenever you encounter issues or require guidance.
Unlike monday.com and Jira, ProofHub offers personalized onboarding assistance. This includes a dedicated account manager who guides you through the platform’s features and functionalities, ensuring a smooth transition and maximizing your efficiency.
Get round-the-clock assistance at ProofHub. No matter the plan you choose, you get access to our dedicated support team whenever you need it.
Monday.com vs Jira pricing
The pricing structure of monday.com and Jira host a range of different packages, suitable for various organizations. Also, the features and functionalities differ depending on the packages you choose per your needs.
Let’s compare both the tools plan by plan-
Both monday.com and Jira offer a free trial and a plan. Monday.com only supports 2 members with 3 boards supporting up to 1000 items. It offers a limited 500 MB storage along with no automation.
Jira’s free plan shines, as it offers 10 users with unlimited projects and tasks. Its storage is 2 GB with 100 automation per site per month (only 1 site is available).
monday’s basic plan at $9/seat/month. It offers 5 GB storage supporting unlimited boards, items, and docs. Despite the affordability, it fails to meet user demands due to no access to task views except Kanban.
Note: monday.com charges users per seat. And for every plan you must purchase a minimum of 3 seats.
Trello and monday.com’s Standard plan is comparable to each other. Where monday.com costs $12/seat/month for the plan, Jira costs $8.15/user/month. 250 automation actions are allowed on monday.com in contrast to 1700 automation in Jira.
Next, comes monday’s pro plan $19/seat/month with added features and functionalities, scaling the platform further in its Enterprise plan. Jira’s Premium plan at $16/user/month adds unlimited storage, planning, and dependency management tools to the list. It also offers an Enterprise plan for which you need to contact their sales team.
| Features | Monday.com | Jira |
| Free Plan | 2 users 500 MB file storage | 10 users, 2 GB storage, 100 automation |
| Entry-Tier Plan | Basic: $9/user/month (billed annually) unlimited users and viewers 5 GB storage, 24/7 support | N/A |
| Mid-Tier Plan | Standard: $12 per user per month, 20GB storage, 250 monthly automation, Timeline view, Calendar view, Map view | Standard: $8.15 per user per month, 250GB storage, 50,000 user limit, 1,700 automation, Better security |
| High-Tier Plan | Pro: $19 per user per month, 100GB of storage, 25,000 automation, Time tracking, Chart view | Premium $16 per user per month, Unlimited storage, 1,000 automation per user per month, 24/7 premium support |
| Enterprise Plan | Contact the sales team for pricing, 250,000 actions/month, Enterprise-level security and administration control | Contact the sales team for pricing, Unlimited automation, Advanced admin controls and security |
Note: Jira’s per-user pricing slides (decrease) as the number of users increases beyond 100. But still falls on the expensive side.
With ProofHub’s flat fee pricing, you get clarity and control over your budget. No hidden costs and unpredictable bills.
Monday.com vs Jira user reviews on G2, Capterra, Reddit, and Quora
Let us take into account some user experiences with each tool to understand their real-world sentiments.
monday.com
monday.com has a user rating of 4.7 on G2 and 4.6 on Captera.
User positive review:
“Great for multitasking, project managing, and everything in between!” – Tyler T., Mid-Market
Using Monday.com really does help me plan what’s in the system and what’s been approved. – Claudia D., Small-Business
Users negative review:
“Automation is too limited and Customer Service help is a JOKE!” – Alex V., General Manager
“It could be a little more user friendly in that I would like to be able to make changes to the ‘My Work’ board so I can add in things on the go.” – Pooja P.
Jira
Capterra has a user rating of 4.3 on G2 and 4.5 on Capterra.
Users positive review:
“it helps me to complete my task on time, this is beacuse jira sprint track all task of that sprint and if any task is remaining then i easily got to know from jira.” – Ashwini B., Small-Business
“JIRA has been an excellent tool overall – provides the perfect mix of task, project and issue tracking features that every company needs.” – Verified Reviewer, Technical Operations Manager, Medical Devices
Users negative review:
“The UI of jira is not that great. I mean they should work on their UI part. The subscription amount increases based on user and that is also very high. I think they should work on their pricing part.” – Ninad M., Small-Business
“Automations have changed recently and extra costs are now associated with them.” – James S., support engineer, Computer Software
Here are some random user statements available on Reddit & Quora:
“I can say that Jira is just a ticketing system, and confluense a wiki-like documentation system. I think monday is a proper project management tool.” – via Reddit
“JIRA is far more scalable than Monday.com, full stop. The bigger the team, the more diverse the requirements, dependencies, and levels of visibility/autonomy required between them.” – via Quora
Is there any similarity between monday.com and Jira?
While both platforms are jacks of different trades and cater to different user bases, they still manage to find common ground. Let’s explore what key features are common to both monday.com and Jira.
1. Agile project management
From planning your sprint through Scrum boards to creating your roadmap and backlog, both platforms offer the same features. The only difference is that all these functionalities are native to Jira while monday.com provides templates for the same. Also, you will find the Kanban board functionality to stay on top of your workflow.
2. Task management
With Jira and Trello, managing workload is seamless. Additionally, you can easily segment a project into tasks, divide it into smaller and more manageable subtasks, and delegate them for effective task scheduling.
You can even set deadlines, add labels, and collaborate on tasks directly. Also, visualizing your task progress and status is pretty convenient for both. The lone dissimilarity is that monday.com offers ten different views while Jira provides six.
3. Resource management
monday.com assists managers in tracking and managing workloads using the Workload view and Team view. On the other hand, monday’s Summary view and capacity management features provide a comprehensive overview of your team’s workload.
But if you want to get a snapshot into a single user’s capacity, you can utilize its user workload report.
4. Reports
Monday offers robust dashboards that are pretty wholesome. Along with offering chart view, overview, performance insights view, and pivot boards to get insights into your project’s progress. But you can avail them only in its Enterprise plan.
Jira’s dashboards, on the other hand, are no less functional than monday. Besides it, there is a wide range of reports including, burndown charts, velocity charts, sprint reports, team dashboards, and a lot more to get a quick insight into various project aspects.
5. Security and privacy
Monday.com is GDPR, CCPA, and HIPPA compliant, and so is Jira. Its comprehensive and advanced data protection regulations, apart from SCO 2 Type II compliance, however, are limited to its high pricing plan.
Jira’s security measures fall on advanced standards as it uses ISO/IEC, PCI DSS, and TLS 1.2+ with perfect forward secrecy for data in transit. While AES 256 encryption ensures security for data at rest.
What is the best alternative to Jira & monday.com?
When talking about Jira and monday.com’s alternatives, the closest alternative that crops up is ProofHub.
This all-in-one project management and team collaboration tool with its robust functionalities, combines the strengths of both Monday.com and Jira.
Some of its key functionalities that rival both platforms are:
- ProofHub, like monday.com., boasts a user-friendly interface with intuitive drag-and-drop functionality.
- It offers multiple visual task management tools to support agile methodologies like Jira by integrating its core functionalities for agile methodologies like Kanban boards, task dependencies, and Calendar for software development teams.
- ProofHub surpasses both Jira & monday.com by providing robust collaboration features. Additionally, it provides built-in chat, discussions, file-sharing, @mentions, and more, meaning you do not need separate communication platforms for better collaboration.
- It is easy to adapt to and throws a minimal learning curve to new onboarding users.
- It offers a built-in time tracker to track time spent on tasks and for efficient time management.
- You can create custom reports to get detailed project insights into performance.
Apart from all these functionalities, ProofHub beats both Jira and monday.com in the affordability domain. Its scalable flat-fee pricing caters to the needs of teams of all sizes.
ProofHub offers a transparent pricing structure with 14 day free trial and two paid plans:
- Essential: $45/month (billed annually) for unlimited users
- Pro: $89/month (billed annually) for unlimited users and projects
Start your 14-day free trial today and scale further without worrying about any additional expenses with ProofHub. Sign up now!
Which is better, Jira or Monday?
There is no better or one-size-fits solution. Because the excellence zone of both differs from one another.
Drawing from my own experience in the field for years, I would recommend Jira for agile software development teams. monday takes the lead when it comes to staying on top of the day-to-day workload.
However, the ideal choice greatly depends on your unique project management needs and perspectives. Here is a quick breakdown of the parameters you must consider before deciding your ideal bet.
1. Project type
If your business focuses on ongoing tasks, marketing campaigns, and creative projects, monday.com is perfect for you. However, if you want a robust feature set for repetitive software development lifecycles based on Agile methodologies, Jira might be the right fit for you.
2. Team size and structure
monday.com is best suited for smaller to mid-size teams due to its simplistic approach to project management. Jira, on the other hand, works fine for large, complex organizations. It showcases its mastery in handling large product development departments or teams with prior Agile experience.
3. Desired functionality
Choose monday.com if you prioritize an easy-to-use interface with powerful customization options. Moreover, it offers Kanban boards and basic reporting and automation functionalities.
On the other hand, you should opt for Jira if advanced project visualization is crucial for your scrum teams. Its in-depth reporting, workload management, and complex automation capabilities are unmatched.
Here’s a quick recap:
Choose Monday.com if:
- You have smaller or mid-size teams.
- You want complete work management software to organize your workload.
- Your team prioritizes the Kanban board’s visualization for project management.
- You are looking for a user-friendly interface for your team to easily adapt to.
- You want the flexibility to handle diverse project types.
- You want basic reporting and automation.
Choose Jira if:
- You have medium to large size scrum teams.
- You want an agile solution to streamline your development cycles.
- Your team leans towards advanced Scrum and Kanban boards to implement agile methodologies.
- Your team holds the technical expertise to run a feature-rich platform.
- You have complex software development projects with strict deadlines.
- You want in-depth reporting and automation tailored to your needs.
- You are already a user of either of the Atlassian family products.
Comparison table:
| Feature | Monday.com | Jira |
| Pricing | Free plan for up to 2 users Paid plans start at $9/user/month | Free plan for up to 10 users Paid plans start at $8.15/user/month |
| Project Management Style | Visual and flexible | Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) |
| Task Management | Kanban boards, timelines, task lists | Kanban boards, backlogs, sprints |
| Collaboration Tools | Whiteboards, updates section, embedded docs, @mentions | Comments, @mentions, workspace discussions, file attachments, smart links |
| Automation | Basic automation to automate processes | Advanced automation to control the workflows |
| Customization Options | Highly customizable boards, views, automation | Customizable workflows, fields, issue types |
| Reporting and Analytics | Basic reporting | Robust reporting on sprints, burndown charts, workload, and more |
| Integrations (with other tools) | Integrates with popular tools like Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox | Integrates with development tools (Git, GitHub), communication tools (Slack) |
Conclusion
Jira and monday.com one way or another share identical feature sets but appeal to different audiences. Where monday.com’s intuitive task management steals the show, Jira’s in-depth and technical expertise grabs the attention of software teams.
However, no platform is without drawback. And that can be seen from their per-user pricing and advanced features limited to higher plans. ProofHub eliminates all these concerns with its robust feature set and flat-fee pricing, making it a suitable replacement for both tools.
Try ProofHub free today – Discover why is it the perfect replacement for Monday and Jira. No credit card required. Cancel anytime.
Related articles
- Monday.com for product management: Is it worth the hype?
- Monday.com review – All you wanted to know
- 27 best Monday.com alternatives & competitors for project work in 2024
- Jira kanban board: Is there a better replacement?
- 23 best Jira alternatives & competitors for agile project management
FAQs
What are the advantages of Monday over Jira?
Monday.com surpasses Jira in terms of flexibility, ease of use, and its visually aesthetic user interface. Moreover, the versatile nature of monday makes it an ideal option for teams seeking work management capabilities.
Does Monday support Agile?
Yes, monday.com does support agile methodologies. Its Kanban board ingrained functionality, and its development features like sprint management, bug tracking, and roadmap planning, are some advanced features. However, these are not at par with Jira’s in-depth agile capabilities.
Can you integrate Monday com with Jira?
Yes, monday.com does offer integration with Jira to collaborate across departments on projects. You can set up Jira monday integration by syncing up in either one-way or two-way, that too in just 3 minutes.
Who uses Jira the most?
Jira is most commonly used by software development teams, especially ones utilizing agile methodologies.
Why is Jira so difficult to use?
Jira despite its immense popularity among software development teams is quite hard to use. It has a shallow learning curve in comparison to monday.com, which requires teams to get extensive training and technical expertise to get familiar with it. Also, its user interface is outdated in comparison to other tools in the market.
