Legal firms can benefit from project management software just as much as any other business, but they also have specific needs that are unique. In this article, we’ve rounded up some of the top legal project management software that you should consider during your search.

Looking for more industry specific recommendations? Check out our top picks for the best healthcare project management software, the best project management software for construction and the best project management software for architects.

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Top legal project management software comparison

Lawyers and law firms must weigh many different factors when choosing legal project management software. This chart captures some of the most important factors to consider when considering legal project management software.

monday work management: Best for most teams

monday work management is one of the most flexible and scalable project management solutions out there. While it’s not specifically designed for case management, law firms will find this to be a powerful and yet versatile tool for managing their caseload and office projects. It also offers a separate CRM product that integrates seamlessly with the work management solution in case you are looking for a way to manage prospective clients.

Pricing

• Individual: $0 for up to two seats.
• Basic: $8 per seat per month billed annually, or $10 per seat per month billed monthly. A free trial is available.
• Standard: $10 per seat per month billed annually, or $12 per seat per month billed monthly. A free trial is available.
• Pro: $16 per seat per month billed annually, or $20 per seat per month billed monthly. A free trial is available.
• Enterprise: Quotes are available upon request.

Features

• Built-in chat messaging feature.
• WorkFroms tool for creating and sending surveys.
• Pre-built automations available.
• Many templates to choose from.

Pros

• Advanced reporting and analytics.
• Easy-to-navigate user interface.
• Many customization options available.
• Billing & invoicing tools included.

Cons

• Time tracking limited to higher tier pricing plans.
• Higher learning curve due to the number of features.
• Default notification settings overwhelm users.
• Import engine doesn’t always work.

For more information, read the full monday work management review.

ClickUp: Best for customization

While ClickUp recently increased the cost of its entry-level premium subscription, it still offers a great combination of price and project management functionality. This powerful software packages robust features in a colorful, appealing interface, which is also why we named it one of the best creative project management software of 2023. The platform is also highly customizable, allowing you to structure projects, tasks and workflows according to your firm’s needs.

Pricing

• Free Forever: $0; best for personal use.
• Unlimited: $7 per user per month billed annually, or $10 per user per month billed monthly.
• Business: $12 per user per month billed annually, or $19 per user per month billed monthly.
• Enterprise: Quotes are available upon request.

Features

• Easy customization capabilities.
• Native chat messaging feature.
• Real-time reporting and analytics.
• Over 15 project views to choose from.

Pros

• Free plan does not limit the number of users.
• 24/7 customer support.
• More than 1,000 integrations through Zapier.
• Interface is colorful and easy to navigate.

Cons

• Storage for the free plan is limited to 100MB.
• System occasionally lags when moving between pages.
• There’s a bit of a learning curve due to the number of features.
• Price for the entry-level Unlimited plan recently increased.

For more information, read the full ClickUp review.

MerusCase: Best for easy onboarding

MerusCase is a software platform created specifically for legal practices. It combines document management, time tracking and billing, and teamwork and collaboration. Merus offers a white glove onboarding service to make switching from legacy platforms easy on new clients. Resources for in-person training, live video training and self-guided on-demand training are also available.

Pricing

MerusCase does not publicly disclose pricing information. You must contact the sales team for a quote.

Features

• Document creation and merge function.
• Customizable billing settings.
• Email is fully integrated into MerusCase.
• Native time tracking feature.

Pros

• Great customer service.
• Tiered calendars make scheduling easy.
• All-in-one system means that you don’t need another platform.
• Suitable for many types of law practices and cases.

Cons

• Lacks integrations with other software.
• Pricing is not transparent.
• No free trial or forever free plan.

Wrike: Best for managing multiple cases

Wrike is one of the most full featured project management software platforms on the market today. It presents a steep learning curve, but it’s hard to beat when it comes to managing complex cases or many different cases at once. While not specifically designed for case management, Wrike includes a lot of features that law firms will find helpful, including time tracking and invoicing.

Pricing

• Free: $0 per user per month.
• Team: $9.80 per user per month.
• Business: $24.80 per user per month.
• Enterprise: Quotes are available upon request.
• Pinnacle: Quotes are available upon request.

Features

• Advanced reporting and business intelligence.
• Wrike Lock advanced encryption available.
• Native time tracking and invoicing.
• Legal-specific templates available.

Pros

• Over 400 integrations available.
• Well laid out and organized user interface.
• Lots of training resources available.
• Create custom automations and workflows.

Cons

• Steep learning curve due to all the features.
• Must upgrade to Enterprise plan for advanced security features.
• Team plan capped at only 25 users.
• Storage is limited per user.

For more information, read the full Wrike review.

Clio: Best for growing law firms

One of the most popular case management software platforms, Clio helps lawyers keep cases, contacts, bills and calendars organized in one place. Its two products, Clio Grow and Clio Manage, feature an intuitive design that is easy to navigate. Clio Grow streamlines the intake process to help you attract and onboard more prospective clients. Clio Manage has a centralized overview that shows upcoming appointments, finances, keys and more all on a single page.

Pricing

• EasyStart: $39 per user per month billed annually, or $49 per user per month billed annually.
• Essentials: $69 per user per month billed annually, or $79 per user per month billed annually.
• Advanced: $99 per user per month billed annually, or $119 per user per month billed annually.
• Complete: $129 per user per month billed annually, or $149 per user per month billed annually; Clio Grow is included in this plan.

A 7-day free trial is available for Clio. For the Essentials and Advanced plans, you can choose to add Clio Grow for $59 per user per month billed annually, or $49 per user per month billed annually.

Features

• Custom fields keep information categorized.
• Matter Timelines show real-time updates.
• e-Signature functionality makes it easy for clients to sign documents.
• Auto-fill document templates available.

Pros

• Intuitive user interface and mobile app.
• Unlimited document management.
• Branded invoices and billing available.
• Client intake tracking and checklist features.

Cons

• Customizing the set up can be time consuming.
• Separate logins for Clio Grow and Clio Manage can be confusing.
• Learning curve can be intimidating for new users.

Smartsheet: Best for spreadsheet lovers

If you are currently using Excel to project manage your law firm, then you should definitely check out Smartsheet. This software takes the familiar spreadsheet grid and elevates it with project management functionality. You can assign tasks, set due dates, notify colleagues and more — all within a familiar interface. That being said, Smartsheet’s design can feel a bit dated compared to some other alternatives, so if you’re not set on a spreadsheet-based interface, you might want to check out some other options on this list.

Pricing

• Free: No cost for up to one user and two editors.
• Pro: $7 per user per month if billed annually or $9 per user per month if billed monthly. A free trial is available.
• Business: $25 per user per month if billed annually or $32 per user per month if billed monthly. A free trial is available.
• Enterprise: Quotes are available upon request.

Features

• Task dependencies ensure optimal efficiency.
• Multiple project views besides the grid are available.
• Powerful reporting and analytics tools.
• Share notes, files, PDFs and presentations and tasks in the tool.

Pros

• Grid interface will be familiar to many.
• Dashboards are highly customizable.
• Premium plans offer enterprise-grade security
• Over 350 templates to choose from.

Cons

• Free plan is limited compared to competitors.
• Spreadsheet-based interface can feel outdated.
• Mobile app is limited.
• Pages don’t always update in real time.

For more information, read the full Smartsheet review.

MyCase: Best for reporting and analytics

MyCase is another popular case management software that incorporates project management features as well. You can assign tasks to users, add workflows to cases and track the status of each case using the tool. Track billable hours, invoice clients and review financial reporting all in the MyCase interface. MyCase also provides case analytics so you can take a birds’ eye of how the file is doing or deep dive into a specific case.

Pricing

• Basic: $39 per user per month billed annually, or $49 per user per month billed annually.
• Pro: $69 per user per month billed annually, or $79 per user per month billed annually.
• Advanced: $89 per user per month billed annually, or $99 per user per month billed annually.

A 10-day free trial is available for MyCase.

Features

• Dedicated client portal so they have their own login.
• Workflow function helps employees stay on track.
• Case analytics deliver strategic insights.
• CRM system helps you manage prospective clients.

Pros

• Transparent pricing and a free trial.
• All-in-one platform means that you don’t need multiple software products.
• Workflow automation reduces redundant work.
• Unlimited storage for document management.

Cons

• Accounting function could use improvement.
• Customer support could be better.
• Less integrations than some competitors.
• Document management isn’t very user friendly.

Trello: Best for teams on a budget

Trello is known for its intuitive Kanban boards, which use a card-like design to instantly display the status of tasks and projects. While not specifically designed for law firms, Trello offers a lot of excellent project management features in a visually appealing interface that is simple to navigate. Its entry-level pricing plans also start at only $5 per person per month, which is one of the most affordable price points out there.

Pricing

• Free: Up to 10 boards per workspace.
• Standard: $5 per user per month if billed annually, or $6 per user per month if billed monthly.
• Premium: $10 per user per month if billed annually, or $12.50 per user per month if billed monthly.
• Enterprise: $17.50 per user per month when billed annually.

Features

• Easy drag-and-drop file attachment system.
• Many pre-built templates to choose from.
• Checklists break down big projects.
• Built-in automation tool called Butler.

Pros

• Highly visual Kanban boards.
• Unlimited users on the forever free plan.
• Seamless syncing with other Atlassian products (Jira, Confluence, etc.).
• Good selection of native integrations.

Cons

• Number of projects (boards) is limited to 10 on the free plan.
• Need a “power up” add-on for time tracking.
• Integrations are somewhat limited.
• Reporting tools could be more robust.

For more information, read the full Trello review.

CASEpeer: Best for personal injury lawyers

Unlike other legal project management software, which is usually targeted towards multiple kinds of firms, CASEpeer was specifically designed with personal injury law firms in mind. It provides both case and practice management features, helping your entire practice to stay on top of their tasks. It also includes medical treatment tracking that is especially beneficial for personal injury lawyers.

Pricing

• Basic: $69 per user per month.
• Pro: $99 per user per month.
• Advanced: $129 per user per month.

Features

• Track deadlines and discovery requests.
• Assign tasks and set reminders, due dates and priority levels.
• Automate document creation, statute notifications, task workflows and notes.
• Cloud management for documents.

Pros

• Created specifically for personal injury lawyers.
• Cost tracking integrates with Soluno and Quickbooks Online.
• Syncs to Outlook, Google or iCal calendars.
• More than 50+ reporting templates.

Cons

• More expensive than other case management competitors.
• May be less beneficial to other types of law practices.
• No free trial available.
• No integrations offered for the Basic plan.

Asana: Best for small law firms

Asana is a general project management software that offers a forever free plan for teams of up to 15 people, with no limits on the number of tasks or projects that you can have. This makes it a great option for small law firms looking for a forever free software that isn’t too difficult to master. Asana’s simple approach to project management can’t match the more robust functionality of monday or ClickUp, but it offers a lower learning curve for beginners — which is why we also named it one of the best marketing project management software of 2023.

Pricing

• Basic: $0 per user per month.
• Premium: $10.99 per user per month billed annually, or $13.49 per user per month billed monthly.
• Business: $24.99 per user per month billed annually, or $30.49 per user per month billed monthly.

Features

• Rules features help you create automated workflows.
• Task templates quickly populate projects.
• Portfolios function lets you visualize multiple projects at once.
• Multiple import options make it easy to switch platforms.

Pros

• Forever free plan supports up to 15 members and unlimited tasks and projects.
• Generous list of features on the free plan.
• Approachable user interface is easy to learn.
• Highly scalable if your team grows.

Cons

• Timeline view limited to the Premium account.
• Resource management like time tracking only available on the Business plan.
• Tasks can only be assigned to one team member at a time.
• Projects with large datasets can experience lags.

For more information, read the full Asana review.

Key features of legal project management software

Security

Security and compliance is an especially big concern for law firms, so this should be one of your top concerns when looking for a legal project management software. Keep in mind that many platforms restrict their most advanced to the higher tier premium plans, so you might need to be willing to pay more in order to get the security protocols that you need to safeguard your case information.

Document management

Lawyers must manage heaps of documents everyday: contracts, will and testaments, NDAs and more. Ideally, you want a legal project management software that will let you upload and organize these documents in a cloud library. More advanced software will provide the ability to markup proofing files and e-sign the final version, all within the same system.

Project and task management

You should be able to create tasks under a specific case or project, assign it to a specific worker and set deadlines. You should also be able to choose from multiple project views like timeline (Gantt chart), board (Kanban) and grid (spreadsheet). The software should also include legal project management templates that are specific to your industry.

Team collaboration

All great project management software includes features for collaborating with your team, including task comments, @ mentions, notifications and sometimes even a native chat function. Many platforms also include integrations for popular email clients and messaging tools like Slack so that your communication is seamless no matter what platform you are using.

Billing & invoicing

The best legal project management software will include a native time tracking module that lets you track billable hours. That data should flow right over to an invoicing tool that makes it easy to create an invoice and bill clients. It should also include its own accounting features, or integrate with popular accounting programs such as QuickBooks.

How do I choose the best legal project management software for my business?

When looking for a new legal project management software, the first decision that you need to make is whether you want specialized case management software or more general purpose project management software. Case management software is specifically designed for lawyers and will include helpful features, such as invoicing, that more general purpose project management software may not. However, the tradeoff is that case management software often has less powerful project management features, so it might not be robust enough for large firms that juggle a lot of cases at once.

You also need to decide on your budget. Dedicated case management software typically does not offer a forever free plan, which might be an impediment for small firms or solo lawyers just getting their start. Case management software also typically costs more than more general project management software, as you can see from the chart at the top. Choosing a free or lower cost general purpose project management software can help you stay on budget while you get a feel for what features you need.

You should also take advantage of free trials as well as demo calls with the sales team to help you narrow down your options. Forever free plans also give you the option to test the software on a more extended basis without time limits, but the features are often restricted. If you’re not totally sold on a platform, it might make more sense to pay for a month-to-month subscription at first, so you’re not locked into an annual contract if you decide to switch later on.

Methodology

We reviewed these legal project management software based on a number of criteria, including pricing, ease of use, user interface design and the difficulty of the learning curve. We also weighed additional features such as document management, automation, project views, templates, time tracking and billing and invoicing. Additionally, we evaluated these platforms by consulting user reviews and product documentation.

Project management certifications have claimed a place in every top IT certification list for years. That’s because project managers are important to IT operations of all kinds. Whether you are interested in becoming an IT project manager or just want to add project management to your list of soft skills, these five leading certifications will help you add to or boost those skills and, in turn, increase your value.

If there’s a single set of soft skills that’s been fixed on the IT radar for the past decade or so, to the point where it’s become almost as sought after and every bit as valuable as top-level credentials, it must be project management. Thanks in large part to the immensely popular and widely pursued Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI), this area has become an incredibly valuable merit badge for IT professionals of all stripes. That’s because it enhances and expands on the value of just about any other kind of technical credential.

Project management has everything to do with planning, scheduling, budgeting for, and then executing and reporting on projects of all shapes and sizes. In fact, anything and everything that IT does can be understood or handled as a project of some kind. It applies to one-of-a-kind activities that happen only once or very seldom (think hardware or OS upgrades or migrating from older to newer platforms or infrastructures). Ditto for a recurring series of activities that repeat regularly (think security patches, software updates or other regular maintenance tasks). Thus, project management is incredibly important and valuable to IT operations across the board.

According to PMI’s Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey, 10th Edition [pdf], IT professionals who hold a PMP report median base annual salaries in the U.S. of almost $116,000. The top 25 percent of survey respondents report base salaries of at least $139,000. Depending on such factors as complexity and size of projects, location, fields of expertise (e.g., IT, construction or healthcare), and experience, salaries for some PMP credential holders can be much higher still.

Robert Half’s Technology & IT 2019 Salary Guide lists project management as a hot certification, with salaries varying slightly by technology area. It cites a salary range of $93,000 to $157,500 for project managers in application development environments. Project managers engaged in consulting and system integration roles can expect to earn $96,250 to $163,500 nationwide. This explains nicely why PMP appears in nearly every top 10 list of popular, targeted or most desirable certifications since the early 2000s. It’s no surprise that Robert Half also lists the PMP credential, along with Agile and Scrum certifications, as “highly valued technology certifications” trending up in the IT industry.

To give you an idea of which project management credentials employers look for in prospective candidates, we conducted a quick survey on some popular job boards. Clearly, the PMP is the overall favorite and remains our No. 1 pick for must-have project management certifications. PMI’s entry-level project management credential, the CAPM, also made our top five. The CSM from Scrum Alliance, along with ASQ’s Certified Six Sigma Black Belt and Green Belt credentials, round out those picks. It’s also worth noting that job postings for project managers increased by 20 percent from 2018 across all project management certifications.

By Brian Fugere, Chief Product Officer at symplr.

The healthcare industry today continues to face significant, ongoing challenges, including low-to-negative margins, clinician burnout and shortages, competitive pressures, and an excess of siloed software solutions.

To thrive rather than just survive amid these threats, health systems can leverage enterprise-level operations solutions that provide consistent experiences for providers, administrative staff and patients. Other industries have seen the impact of enterprise solutions, from accounting software to project management and e-commerce platforms.

I’ve spent more than 20 years as a senior executive leader and product manager at startup, growth, enterprise and turn-around organizations—and currently as the chief product officer of a company that provides healthcare operations solutions. Through my experience in product management and software development across industries, I’ve seen firsthand the toll that non-optimized, siloed technology can take on operational efficiency and revenue. Healthcare is no different. I believe that streamlined and consistent enterprise operations are the future of the healthcare industry.

Health systems that follow in the footsteps of tech and e-commerce to implement consolidated solutions that incorporate more of their operational needs can have a leg up across the organization, from improving financial margins to reducing worker burnout and ensuring regulatory compliance.

The Benefits Of Enterprise Solutions

1. Streamlined Tasks And Reduced Burnout

The American Hospital Association (AHA) predicts that America will face a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2033 and will need to hire at least 200,000 new nurses per year to meet demand. While many healthcare workers are leaving the workforce due to reaching retirement age, many others are retiring early or switching professions due to burnout.

The epidemic of burnout among healthcare workers is often driven by system inefficiencies, administrative burdens, and increased regulatory and technology requirements. Alleviating some of the administrative burdens on healthcare workers through consolidated and consistent healthcare operations solutions can free up more time for patient care and reduce clinician burnout.

2. Standardized Consumer Experiences

Inefficient and siloed technology has an impact on patients as well as clinicians. Many healthcare providers today offer sub-optimal consumer experiences driven by a lack of personalization, siloed and disjointed systems, and a lack of consumer-centric data.

Enterprise solutions that Boost and standardize consumer experiences can help organizations evolve their operations to be more consumer-driven. This change is much needed, as providing frictionless patient experiences throughout patients’ entire care journey is critical to improving both patient engagement and care outcomes as well as the health systems’ financial outlooks.

3. Improved Economics And Higher Leverage

The past few years have proven that healthcare is no longer “recession-proof.” While margins have improved slightly since last year’s record downturn, health systems are still pressed to cut costs and do more with less. McKinsey analysts have described healthcare’s financial outlook as a “gathering storm” and say that at-scale innovation and technology enablement will be key to health systems turning headwinds into tailwinds.

Centralized, enterprise-level purchasing and operations can help health systems to thrive amid these financial challenges. Health systems must pick and choose the vendor partners they continue doing business with, and those vendor partners need to facilitate exceptional, near-immediate returns on investment. I think the vendors that can transcend transactional relationships to provide high-yield, enterprise-level solutions and become true partners for the long term will stand out from the crowd while making a significant positive impact on the quality and quantity of care health systems are able to provide.

Best Practices For Implementing Enterprise Solutions

For business leaders who are just getting started with implementing enterprise-level operation solutions, there are several key pieces of advice to keep in mind.

First and foremost, it is crucial to thoroughly evaluate your business’ specific needs and goals before implementing any solutions. Understand the pain points and inefficiencies within your current operations, and identify the areas that can benefit the most from streamlined processes or automation.

Once you have a clear understanding of your objectives, conduct thorough research on available solutions in your current inventory and in the market. Look for reputable vendors with a proven track record in delivering enterprise-level solutions. Take the time to evaluate their features, scalability, security measures and integration capabilities to ensure they align with your business requirements.

Of course, any new endeavor will come with challenges. Some of the main challenges that business leaders may encounter are effectively training staff (change management!) on the new technology and scaling the technology as the business grows to ensure it continues to meet the evolving needs of the business.

To meet these challenges, I’d recommend starting small and prioritizing incremental improvements rather than attempting a full-scale transformation all at once. Begin with a pilot project or a specific department to test the solution’s effectiveness, and gather feedback before rolling it out across the entire organization. This iterative approach allows for adjustments, mitigates potential risks or disruptions to the business, and develops internal champions that can evangelize the new solution.

Furthermore, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement is essential. Encourage feedback from employees, and create channels for open communication to identify further opportunities for optimization and enhancements (more change management!).

Investing in education and training can also help you to bridge the knowledge gap and ensure that business leaders and employees have the necessary skills to adopt and leverage the solutions effectively.

Why Consolidation Is Key

Centralized enterprise purchasing rather than siloed or department-level purchasing can optimize healthcare operations through vendor-partner consolidation, improved economics and higher leverage. Rather than focusing on shiny new point solutions that carry high costs and don’t integrate with existing solutions and processes as well as they should, health system leaders can shift their focus to enterprise solutions.

Consolidating vendors and forming and leveraging relationships with a few trusted and high-value strategic partners enables health systems to Boost their efficiency, engagement and financial stability, ultimately leading to better patient care and better outcomes. By taking a proactive approach to technology training and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, business leaders can successfully navigate the implementation of enterprise-level operation solutions.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?

Healthcare marketing agency The Considered has announced the promotion of Tina Bertolini to the role of head of operations and project management.

Bertolini has been with the agency since its beginnings in 2021, first as senior operations manager and then as director of operations and project management.

Prior to this, she was senior project manager at global creative agency Rapp and previously held roles at DDB.

“In many of my previous roles, I was also in positions in which I wore many hats. I think this skill set has set me up for success,” Bertolini said. “I enjoy learning aspects of everyone’s roles, as I am eager to continually grow and always happy to help my teammates.”

Commenting on her latest venture, Bertolini said: “I hope to continue to build upon how we can be even more operationally efficient, continue to wow our clients and ensure the collaborative and incredible culture we have built is maintained.”

The Considered founder and chief executive officer, David Hunt, commented: "Yes, Tina is exceptional, one of the absolute best. But more than that, Tina is a leader, she’s been a leader since she arrived, she is a leader in everything she does.

“It is why, in less than two years, having joined as a senior project manager, she is a leader in name and title, and not just words."

Jira Service Management and Airtable are powerful project management tools that cater to different needs and workflows. Jira Service Management, developed by Atlassian, is a project management tool designed specifically for software development teams. It offers a robust set of features that support agile methodologies, including Scrum and Kanban boards, backlogs, sprint planning tools and more. On the other hand, Airtable is a flexible tool that offers the simplicity of a spreadsheet to teams that need to organize work, from content production schedules to event planning and everything in between.

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Jira Service Management vs. Airtable: Comparison table

Jira Service Management and Airtable pricing

Jira Service Management and Airtable both offer tiered pricing structures. Jira Service Management’s pricing structure begins with a free plan that supports up to 10 users, making it an economical choice for small teams. For larger teams, the pricing begins at $7.75 per user per month for the Standard plan and $15.25 for the Premium plan. Jira Service Management also provides an Enterprise plan for large organizations. For pricing info for this plan, you would need to contact Jira Service Management’s sales team directly.

Check out our full Jira Service Management review for a more comprehensive understanding of Jira Service Management offerings.

Airtable also provides a free plan, but its paid plans start at $10 per seat per month when billed annually for the Plus plan. The Pro plan, priced at $20 per seat per month when billed annually, provides even more advanced features. These two premium plans are billed at $12 and $24 monthly. Like Jira Service Management, Airtable also offers an Enterprise plan, but the pricing details for this plan are not publicly available.

For a more in-depth analysis of Airtable, read our full Airtable review.

Feature comparison: Jira Service Management vs. Airtable

Jira Service Management vs. Airtable: Task tracking

Jira Service Management provides robust task-tracking features as users can create, assign and track tasks as part of their software development workflow. Tasks can be linked to specific projects and tracked through various stages of development. Jira Service Management issue and project tracking capabilities allow teams to stay on top of their work and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Airtable also offers strong task-tracking features. Users can create tasks as standalone items or as part of larger projects. Tasks can be assigned to team members and tracked through various stages. Airtable’s different views, including grid, calendar, Kanban and gallery, allow teams to visualize their tasks in the way that works best for them. Its spreadsheet-like grid view (Figure A) particularly stands out.

Figure A

Jira Service Management vs. Airtable: Agile methodologies

Jira Service Management is designed with agile methodologies in mind. It provides comprehensive support for Scrum and Kanban workflows, with features like Scrum boards (Figure B), Kanban boards, backlogs, sprints and more. Teams can customize their workflows to match their agile processes and Jira Service Management’s reporting features provide insights into agile metrics like velocity, burn down and more.

Figure B

While Airtable isn’t specifically designed for agile methodologies, its flexibility allows it to be used in an agile manner. Teams can create Kanban views for visual task management, use date fields for sprints and more. However, it lacks some of the agile-specific features found in Jira Service Management, like Scrum boards and agile reporting.

Jira Service Management vs. Airtable: Customizable fields

Jira Service Management offers customizable fields, allowing teams to tailor the tool to their specific needs. Teams can create custom issue types, fields and workflows, making Jira Service Management adaptable to a wide range of projects and workflows. This level of customization makes Jira Service Management a powerful tool for teams that need to track intricate projects.

Airtable also offers customizable fields, allowing users to create a workspace that fits their workflow. Users can create fields for many data types such as text, numbers, dates and more. This flexibility allows teams to structure their work in a way that makes sense to them, making Airtable a versatile tool for a wide range of projects.

Jira Service Management vs. Airtable: Time tracking

Jira Service Management has built-in time tracking, but it doesn’t offer extensive time tracking features. However, it does have fields for logging work where users can manually enter the time spent on issues. For more advanced time tracking, Jira Service Management can integrate with a variety of time tracking apps available in the Atlassian Marketplace, such as Tempo Timesheets, Work Log Pro and more.

Airtable doesn’t offer a native time-tracking feature. Users can manually create date and time fields to record when work is done, but for automatic time tracking, integration with external apps like Harvest, Toggl or others would be required.

Jira Service Management vs. Airtable: Reporting and analytics

Jira Service Management provides robust reporting and analytics features. It offers a variety of built-in reports for tracking project progress, forecasting and more. These include burndown (Figure C) and burnup charts, sprint reports, velocity charts and others. Jira Service Management’s reports can be customized to meet the team’s needs and its dashboard provides a high-level overview of the project at a glance. For more advanced analytics, Jira Service Management can integrate with tools like eazyBI.

Figure C

On the other hand, Airtable offers basic reporting features. Users can create views to filter and sort records based on various criteria, and summary fields can be used to perform calculations on numeric fields. However, for more advanced reporting and analytics, users may need to use Airtable’s integration with external tools like Google Sheets or Tableau.

Jira Service Management pros and cons

Pros of Jira Service Management

• A robust platform that provides comprehensive project management features, enabling teams to track, manage and report on their work with ease.
• Highly flexible tool, allowing it to be customized to fit a variety of workflows and making it suitable for teams of different sizes and from different industries.
• Jira Service Management’s integration capabilities with other tools, such as Confluence and Bitbucket, enhance its functionality.

Cons of Jira Service Management

• Complexity of Jira Service Management’s interface can be overwhelming for new users, leading to a steep learning curve.
• Strong customization options can lead to confusion and inconsistency.
• Can be prohibitive for smaller teams or startups, especially when considering the additional expenses for plugins and integrations.

Airtable pros and cons

Pros of Airtable

• Highly customizable and flexible, making it usable for a wide variety of applications.
• User-friendly interface is easy to navigate.
• Provides a variety of templates that can be used to quickly set up a new project.

Cons of Airtable

• There is a learning curve to fully understand and utilize all of Airtable’s features.
• The pricing can be high for small businesses or individuals in particular.
• Some users report that the desktop app is more robust and more user-friendly than the mobile app.

Methodology

We used the product features listed on their websites and Checked user reviews of the two products to understand what the products offer and how users interact with Jira Service Management and Airtable. We then tested both products to form an objective comparison.

Should your organization use Jira Service Management or Airtable?

Jira Service Management is a powerful tool for teams that use Agile methodologies. However, its complexity and steep learning curve may not be ideal for teams looking for a simple, easy-to-use tool. On the other hand, Airtable is a versatile and user-friendly platform whose flexibility and customization options make it a great option for teams that need to manage diverse types of information and workflows. It also offers a more visual and intuitive interface compared to Jira Service Management, which can make it more appealing to teams whose members have less technical expertise.

In terms of pricing, both Jira Service Management and Airtable offer a range of plans to suit different budgets and needs. Jira Service Management’s pricing is based on the number of users and can be more cost-effective for small teams, while Airtable’s pricing is based on the features and level of support you need.

Though, as much as both Jira Service Management and Airtable have their appeal, the best choice for your organization will depend on your specific needs, budget and the nature of your projects. Take advantage of the free trials or plans offered by both platforms to test them and see which one best fits your team.