Asana lets Division admins run their own custom roles, on top Enterprise plans only.
Jira alternatives
The best Jira alternatives in project management tools, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Nov 13, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to Jira? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in project management tools by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, Jira shipped 0 meaningful updates in the last 30 days and carries a velocity score of 0.0 out of 10 in 2026. The alternatives below are ranked the same way, so you're comparing real release momentum, not marketing claims.
About Jira
Jira is being pushed upward — from tracking the work to judging its cost, risk and business health.
Atlassian's recent Jira and Jira Service Management entries cluster around two ideas: giving leaders a synthesized view of delivery, and giving Rovo something operational to do. Alongside sit connector and consolidation items — HRIS ingestion into the Teamwork Graph, dashboards relocating into an Analytics app.
Velocity 0.0 · Last update 3mo ago
Top 12 alternatives to Jira
Ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial breakdown, or pivot to a head-to-head.
Hive turns reporting into a planning tool: shared inputs, grouped values, per-person drill-downs.
Tracecat 1.5 alpha patches add sub-cases and lock down agent sandboxes.
SmartSuite adds tracked changes to SmartDocs, so policy edits need an approver.
Atarim turns care plans into scheduled AI work and lets small fixes go live without approval.
Fibery puts MCP setup in one settings page and speeds up entity views and formulas.
NocoBase's v3 beta lets apps ship their own CLI, separate from Agents.
Productboard's v2 documents API now keeps plain web addresses and emoji as ordinary text.
Ever Teams tags dozens of versions a day; most are fixes and test changes.
My Hours 10.3 makes invoice dates editable and lets invoices carry a Detailed report.
Leantime swaps role ranks for real permissions and syncs with your calendar app.
Smartsheet becomes where plans drafted in Claude Sheets get executed.
Jira vs alternatives — shipping velocity at a glance
Velocity score (0–10) and meaningful releases shipped in the last 30 days, from official changelogs. Higher = shipping faster.
| Product | Velocity | Sparks · 30d | Focus areas | Latest release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jira (baseline) | 0.0 | 0 | rovoai-insightsitsm | Focus: Strategic Intelligence in Jira |
| Asana | 6.3 | 1 | work-managementgovernancepermissions | Introducing: Tables |
| Hive | 6.3 | 0 | project managementreportingbulk actions | — |
| Tracecat | 6.3 | 0 | security-automationai-agentsmulti-tenancy | — |
| SmartSuite | 6.3 | 1 | work managementdocument controlaudit trails | SmartSuite Script Engine |
| Atarim | 6.3 | 1 | agency-workflowai-agentscare-plans | Atarim 5.1.5: build the care plan once, put every client on it |
| Fibery | 6.3 | 1 | work-managementmcpai-agent | AI-built custom integrations (preview), MCP execute_code |
| NocoBase | 5.0 | 0 | no-codeai agentscli | — |
| Productboard | 5.0 | 0 | product-managementapidocuments | EntityType moves from fixed enum to workspace-specific open string |
| Ever Teams | 5.0 | 0 | time-trackingtask-viewsintegrations | — |
| My Hours | 5.0 | 0 | timesheetsinvoicingprofitability | — |
| Leantime | 5.0 | 0 | project-managementself-hostedpermissions | — |
| Smartsheet | 5.0 | 0 | table-viewai-handoffintegrations | — |
The 12 best Jira alternatives, in depth
1. Asana · velocity 6.3
Asana lets Division admins run their own custom roles, on top Enterprise plans only.
Over the last 30 days Asana shipped 1 meaningful update vs Jira's 0, most recently “Introducing: Tables”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Jira leans on rovo, ai insights and itsm, Asana focuses on work management, governance and permissions.
Over the last 30 days Asana has been shipping faster than Jira — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
2. Hive · velocity 6.3
Hive turns reporting into a planning tool: shared inputs, grouped values, per-person drill-downs.
Its velocity score of 6.3/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Jira leans on rovo, ai insights and itsm, Hive focuses on project management, reporting and bulk actions.
Hive and Jira have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
3. Tracecat · velocity 6.3
Tracecat 1.5 alpha patches add sub-cases and lock down agent sandboxes.
Its velocity score of 6.3/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Jira leans on rovo, ai insights and itsm, Tracecat focuses on security automation, ai agents and multi tenancy.
Tracecat and Jira have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
4. SmartSuite · velocity 6.3
SmartSuite adds tracked changes to SmartDocs, so policy edits need an approver.
Over the last 30 days SmartSuite shipped 1 meaningful update vs Jira's 0, most recently “SmartSuite Script Engine”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Jira leans on rovo, ai insights and itsm, SmartSuite focuses on work management, document control and audit trails.
Over the last 30 days SmartSuite has been shipping faster than Jira — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
5. Atarim · velocity 6.3
Atarim turns care plans into scheduled AI work and lets small fixes go live without approval.
Over the last 30 days Atarim shipped 1 meaningful update vs Jira's 0, most recently “Atarim 5.1.5: build the care plan once, put every client on it”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Jira leans on rovo, ai insights and itsm, Atarim focuses on agency workflow, ai agents and care plans.
Over the last 30 days Atarim has been shipping faster than Jira — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
6. Fibery · velocity 6.3
Fibery puts MCP setup in one settings page and speeds up entity views and formulas.
Over the last 30 days Fibery shipped 1 meaningful update vs Jira's 0, most recently “AI-built custom integrations (preview), MCP execute_code”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Jira leans on rovo, ai insights and itsm, Fibery focuses on work management, mcp and ai agent.
Over the last 30 days Fibery has been shipping faster than Jira — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
7. NocoBase · velocity 5.0
NocoBase's v3 beta lets apps ship their own CLI, separate from Agents.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Jira leans on rovo, ai insights and itsm, NocoBase focuses on no code, ai agents and cli.
NocoBase and Jira have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
8. Productboard · velocity 5.0
Productboard's v2 documents API now keeps plain web addresses and emoji as ordinary text.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “EntityType moves from fixed enum to workspace-specific open string”.
Where Jira leans on rovo, ai insights and itsm, Productboard focuses on product management, api and documents.
Productboard and Jira have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full Productboard trajectory → · Compare Jira vs Productboard →
9. Ever Teams · velocity 5.0
Ever Teams tags dozens of versions a day; most are fixes and test changes.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Jira leans on rovo, ai insights and itsm, Ever Teams focuses on time tracking, task views and integrations.
Ever Teams and Jira have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
10. My Hours · velocity 5.0
My Hours 10.3 makes invoice dates editable and lets invoices carry a Detailed report.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Jira leans on rovo, ai insights and itsm, My Hours focuses on timesheets, invoicing and profitability.
My Hours and Jira have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
11. Leantime · velocity 5.0
Leantime swaps role ranks for real permissions and syncs with your calendar app.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Jira leans on rovo, ai insights and itsm, Leantime focuses on project management, self hosted and permissions.
Leantime and Jira have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
12. Smartsheet · velocity 5.0
Smartsheet becomes where plans drafted in Claude Sheets get executed.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Jira leans on rovo, ai insights and itsm, Smartsheet focuses on table view, ai handoff and integrations.
Smartsheet and Jira have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to Jira?
The top Jira alternatives we currently track in project management tools are Asana, Hive, Tracecat, SmartSuite, Atarim, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of Jira alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare Jira directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with Jira" link to a side-by-side /compare page.