A good tracker shows what every developer is working on, what is blocked, and how close a release is, so nobody has to ask in a status meeting. This guide compares nine software development tracking tools, from boards built into GitHub and GitLab to dedicated trackers such as Jira, Linear, and YouTrack. For each one you get list prices for teams of 10 and 50 developers, the limits of the free plan, and, where available, what users praise or criticize.
The tools here track tasks and progress. If you need to track hours for billing or estimates, see our list of the best time tracking software for developers.
- What software development tracking covers
- Why development teams need a tracker
- What to look for in software development tracking software
- 9 best software development tracking tools
- How to choose a software development tracker
- How to set up developer task tracking
- How to move to a new tracker
- How to track software development progress
- Task management for developers: your list and the team tracker
- FAQ
What software development tracking covers
Software development tracking means following each piece of work, such as a feature, a bug, or a chore, from the moment someone asks for it until it is running in production. A tracker holds the queue of work, shows its status, and connects it to the code that delivers it. The tools that do this fall into four groups:
| Type | Examples | Works best when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boards built into the code platform | GitHub Projects, GitLab | Your code already lives there and the team is mostly developers | Basic reporting and cross-project planning |
| Dedicated issue trackers for software teams | Jira, Linear, YouTrack, Azure Boards, Shortcut | Several teams, sprints, or formal workflows | Setup effort and per-seat cost |
| Open-source, self-hosted trackers | Plane | You need to self-host or want no license fees | You run updates, backups, and security yourself |
| Work trackers with estimates and effort | actiTIME | You plan in hours, report to clients, or compare estimates with actual effort | Fewer code-level automations |
General task apps such as Trello, Asana, or Todoist often appear in lists of project management tools for developers, but they lack links to commits and pull requests. We cover them in our guide to task tracking software.
Why development teams need a tracker
Friction outside coding eats a large share of a developer’s week. In Atlassian’s 2025 State of Developer Experience survey of 3,500 developers and managers, half said they lose 10 or more hours a week to inefficiencies, and 90% lose at least 6 hours. The top causes were finding information, adapting to new technology, and switching between tools. Atlassian also notes that developers spend only 16% of their time coding.
A shared tracker answers the questions behind much of that lost time: who owns this, what is the status, which pull request fixed it. Google’s DORA research program lists visibility of work in the value stream among the capabilities that predict both software delivery performance and organizational performance.
What to look for in software development tracking software
Every tool on this list covers tasks, assignees, and a board. The differences that matter for developers are elsewhere:
- Work item hierarchy: epics, stories, bugs, and subtasks, so a large feature can be split without losing the big picture.
- Scrum and Kanban support: sprints or cycles with a backlog for Scrum teams, and boards with work-in-progress limits for Kanban teams.
- Links to the repository: branches, commits, and pull requests that show up on the work item and can move its status automatically.
- Automation: rules that assign, label, or close items, so the board stays current without manual updates.
- Progress reporting: burndown or burn-up charts, cycle time, and throughput, which show whether a sprint or release is on track.
- Estimates and actual effort: useful for teams that bill clients or need to improve their estimates. Repo-native trackers usually stop at story points, so these teams often add a time tracker.
- Hosting and security: a self-hosted edition, single sign-on, and audit logs if you work with sensitive code or in a regulated industry.
- AI features: summaries, duplicate detection, and triage suggestions are now common on paid tiers. Check which plan includes them, since free plans usually leave them out.
- Price at scale: per-seat prices that look small for five people can change the decision at 50.
9 best software development tracking tools
We picked tools built for software work: each software project tracking tool here links tasks to code or to the effort behind them. Prices are list prices from the vendors’ pricing pages, checked in November 2026.
At a glance
| Tool | Best for | Links to code | Hosting | Free plan | Paid from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| actiTIME | Tasks with estimates and tracked effort | No native link; Zapier or API | Cloud or self-hosted | Up to 3 users | $6/user/month |
| Jira | Several teams with formal workflows | Bitbucket, GitHub, GitLab | Cloud | Up to 10 users | $8.48/user/month |
| Linear | Fast-moving product teams | GitHub, GitLab | Cloud | Unlimited users, 250 issues | $10/user/month |
| GitHub Projects | Teams whose code is on GitHub | Native | Cloud or Enterprise Server | Included in GitHub Free | $4/user/month (Team) |
| GitLab | Teams on GitLab, self-hosting | Native | Cloud or self-managed | Up to 5 users on GitLab.com; no user limit self-managed | $29/user/month |
| YouTrack | Deep customization on a budget | GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket | Cloud or Server | Up to 10 users | $4.50/user/month |
| Azure Boards | Microsoft-based teams | Azure Repos, GitHub | Cloud or Azure DevOps Server | First 5 users | $6/user/month |
| Shortcut | Teams outgrowing simple boards | GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket | Cloud | Up to 10 users | $8.50/user/month |
| Plane | Open-source, self-hosted tracking | GitHub, GitLab | Cloud or self-hosted | Up to 12 users; self-hosted Community Edition | $6/seat/month |
What a team of 10 or 50 developers pays
Per-seat prices hide two things: free plans that end at a certain team size, and features that sit on a higher tier. The monthly totals below use each vendor’s list price; actiTIME, Linear, GitLab, and Shortcut quote annual billing, and YouTrack shows both.
| Tool | 10 developers | 50 developers | What changes the bill |
|---|---|---|---|
| actiTIME | $60 | $250 | Free for 1–3 users; the per-user price drops from 41 users |
| Jira | $0 on Free, $84.80 on Standard | $424 on Standard | AI features and agents start on Standard; cross-team plans need Premium |
| Linear | $0 on Free under 250 issues, $100 on Basic | $500 on Basic, $800 on Business | Free stops at 250 issues and 2 teams |
| GitHub Projects | $0, or $40 on Team | $0, or $200 on Team | Projects work on Free; Team adds repository rules, code owners, and required reviewers |
| GitLab | $290 on Premium | $1,450 on Premium | GitLab.com Free covers 5 users per group; self-managed Free has no seat cap |
| YouTrack | $0 | $225 billed annually, $270 billed monthly | Free covers 10 users with all features |
| Azure Boards | $30 | $270 | First 5 users are free |
| Shortcut | $0 | $425 on Team | Free covers up to 10 users; WIP limits start on Team |
| Plane | $0 | $300 on Pro | Free covers 12 seats; the self-hosted Community Edition is also free |
1. actiTIME
Key features:
- Task estimates and deadlines
- Kanban view by status
- Estimate vs. actual reports
- Time budgets and overrun tracking
Why it works: actiTIME tracks tasks together with the effort behind them. Each task carries an estimate, a deadline, and a status, and the task list switches to a Kanban view with a column for each workflow status. Because time is logged against the same tasks, estimate vs. actual reports show where a project drifts, and time budgets on tasks and projects show overruns while work is still underway.
Best for: Teams that need task progress, estimates, and effort in one place, such as agencies and in-house teams that report to clients or management
Pricing: $6/user/month for 1–40 users; $5/user/month for 41–200 users; billed annually
Free plan or trial: Free for 1–3 users; 30-day trial, no credit card required
Hosting: Cloud or self-hosted
Integrations and apps: Zapier with 2,000+ apps, API, mobile app, and a Chrome extension that records time spent in online tools
Pros:
- Estimate, logged effort, and status sit on the same task
- Reports grouped by project, task, or any custom field
Cons:
- Commits and pull requests don’t update task status automatically
- No sprint or story-point fields, which strict Scrum teams rely on
We can generate any report we need
One of the greatest features actiTIME offers is customizable reporting. We can generate virtually any report we need, grouped in different ways and only for the people assigned to each project. And if the report is not there, well, it’s really easy to create a new one and save it for future use.
Go for actiTIME! It’s simple, but also very powerful! You won’t regret the decision. The software + support combination makes actiTIME the best tracking solution in the market.
2. Jira
Key features:
- Scrum and Kanban boards
- Custom workflows and fields
- Branches and pull requests on each issue
- Rovo AI and agents
Why it works: Jira is the default issue tracker in many software companies, and its depth is a big part of why. Workflows, issue types, fields, and permissions can be shaped around almost any process, Scrum and Kanban boards are built in, and connected Bitbucket, GitHub, or GitLab repositories show branches, commits, and pull requests on each issue. Paid plans add Rovo AI features and agents, and Premium adds cross-team plans with dependencies and capacity.
Best for: Mid-size and large engineering organizations with several teams, formal workflows, or compliance requirements
Pricing: Standard $8.48/user/month; Premium $15.56/user/month; Enterprise on request
Free plan or trial: Free for up to 10 users, with 2 GB of storage and no AI features
Hosting: Cloud
Automation: 150 automation steps per month on Free, 400 per user on Standard, 750 per user on Premium
Pros:
- Adapts to almost any workflow, from one Kanban team to many Scrum teams with dependencies
- Large ecosystem of add-ons and integrations
Cons:
- Setup and administration take time, and larger companies often need a dedicated admin
- Large instances with many custom fields can feel cluttered and slow
What users like
“I like how Jira keeps tasks, bugs, and project work organized in one place. It makes it easy to see what needs to be done, track progress, and keep everyone on the same page. The boards and issue tracking are especially useful for managing development work.”
What users would improve
“It is heavy for a small team. Under ten people the ceremony costs you more than it gives back, and you feel it every day.”
3. Linear
Key features:
- Cycles and triage
- Keyboard-first interface
- Pull request sync with GitHub and GitLab
- Triage Intelligence (Business)
Why it works: Linear trades configuration for speed. Issues move through a sensible default workflow, cycles replace heavier sprint rituals, and the GitHub and GitLab integrations link pull requests to issues and update their status as code is merged. The Business plan adds Triage Intelligence, which suggests labels, owners, and duplicates for incoming issues, plus Insights for reporting.
Best for: Startups and product teams that want a fast tracker with little setup
Pricing: Basic $10/user/month; Business $16/user/month; both billed yearly; Enterprise on request
Free plan or trial: Free for unlimited members, with 2 teams and 250 issues
Hosting: Cloud
Pros:
- Fast, keyboard-driven interface
- Works well with almost no configuration
Cons:
- Permissions and cross-team planning are simpler than in Jira
- The 250-issue cap means most active teams need a paid plan soon
What users like
“Very easy way to gather and manage information relating to our product roadmap and backlog. Allows the entire team to see the status of work.”
What users would improve
“Its roadmaps start to struggle once you have complex cross-team dependencies that need Gantt-style visualization.”
4. GitHub Projects
Key features:
- Issues next to the code
- Table, board, and roadmap views
- Custom fields and iterations
- Built-in workflows
Why it works: If your code already lives on GitHub, Projects puts planning in the same place. Issues and pull requests appear in tables, boards, and roadmaps with custom fields, an iteration field covers sprints, and built-in workflows can set an item’s status when an issue closes or a pull request merges. Charts show progress over time.
Best for: Small and mid-size teams that work on GitHub and want planning without another tool
Pricing: Projects are included in every plan; Team $4/user/month; Enterprise $21/user/month
Free plan or trial: Included in GitHub Free with unlimited public and private repositories
Hosting: Cloud, or GitHub Enterprise Server for self-hosting
Pros:
- No extra tool, sync, or license for planning
- Pull requests and issues link without any setup
Cons:
- Reporting and planning across many projects are basic compared with dedicated trackers
- Non-developers need some time to get used to issues and Markdown
5. GitLab
Key features:
- Issue boards
- Milestones
- Merge requests linked to issues
- Epics and iterations (Premium)
Why it works: In GitLab, an issue, the merge request that closes it, and the pipeline that ships it are linked by default. The Free tier includes issues, boards, and milestones, while Premium adds planning features such as epics and iterations. AI features, including GitLab Duo, run on GitLab Credits that come with paid plans or as an add-on.
Best for: Teams already on GitLab, especially those that need to host everything themselves
Pricing: Premium $29/user/month billed annually; Ultimate on request
Free plan or trial: Free for up to 5 users per top-level group on GitLab.com; self-managed Free has no user limit
Hosting: GitLab.com or self-managed
Pros:
- Planning, code review, and CI/CD in one tool
- Self-managed option for teams with strict data rules
Cons:
- Costly per seat if you only need planning
- Boards and planning views are less flexible than in dedicated trackers
6. YouTrack
Key features:
- Scrum and Kanban boards
- Workflows in JavaScript
- Query-based issue search
- Gantt charts and knowledge base
Why it works: YouTrack from JetBrains combines agile boards, Gantt charts, a knowledge base, and time tracking. Workflows can be scripted in JavaScript, and a query language makes search fast.
Best for: Teams that want Jira-level customization at a lower price, and teams in the JetBrains ecosystem
Pricing: From $4.50/user/month billed annually or $5.40 billed monthly for 11+ users, with lower rates for larger teams
Free plan or trial: Free for up to 10 users with all features except a custom logo
Hosting: Cloud or Server (free license for up to 10 users)
Pros:
- Generous free plan and low price at scale
- Deep customization of workflows and fields
Cons:
- Permissions and workflow scripting take time to learn
- The mobile app does less than the desktop version
What users like
“You can customize workflow according to your team’s requirement. Jira also has customizable workflows, but with YouTrack, you can customize the workflow using JavaScript.”
What users would improve
“It is difficult to set up user permission. Sometimes I was not sure on which user had access to what”
7. Azure Boards
Key features:
- Backlogs and sprints
- Kanban boards
- Work item queries and dashboards
- GitHub integration
Why it works: Azure Boards is the planning part of Azure DevOps. It covers work items, product backlogs, sprint planning, Kanban boards, and dashboards built from saved queries, and it links work items to commits and pull requests in Azure Repos or GitHub. The rest of Azure DevOps, including Repos and Pipelines, comes in the same Basic license.
Best for: Teams that build on Microsoft technology or already use Azure DevOps
Pricing: Basic plan $6/user/month after the first 5 users; Basic + Test Plans $52/user/month
Free plan or trial: First 5 users free
Hosting: Cloud (Azure DevOps Services) or on premises (Azure DevOps Server)
Pros:
- Low price for teams of any size
- Mature backlog and sprint tooling for Scrum teams
Cons:
- The interface feels dated next to newer trackers
- Customizing processes takes admin knowledge
8. Shortcut
Key features:
- Stories, epics, and iterations
- Work-in-progress limits
- GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket integrations
- Roadmap and reports
Why it works: Shortcut sits between Linear’s simplicity and Jira’s depth. Stories roll up into epics and, on the Business plan, objectives; iterations cover sprints, and the Team plan adds work-in-progress limits. Git integrations link branches and pull requests to stories.
Best for: Product and engineering teams that have outgrown simple boards but don’t want to run Jira
Pricing: Team $8.50/user/month; Business $12/user/month; both billed yearly; Enterprise on request
Free plan or trial: Free for up to 10 users; 14-day trial of all features; startups under 50 employees can get 12 months free
Hosting: Cloud
Pros:
- Quick to learn for developers and non-developers
- Epics, iterations, and reports cover most planning without extra setup
Cons:
- Fewer custom fields and workflow options than Jira
- Strategic objectives, advanced custom fields, and advanced reports need the Business plan
What users like
“Shortcut is easy to use but very powerful, and has a clean, intuitive interface.”
What users would improve
“The beauty of it – it’s simplicity – can also be its downfall. It doesn’t offer as much customization as other competitors do – such as release management, custom fields, complex workflows, etc.”
9. Plane
Key features:
- Open source (AGPL-3.0)
- Cycles and modules
- Built-in wiki pages
- GitHub and GitLab sync
Why it works: Plane is an open-source tracker that you can run on your own servers for free. The Community Edition is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and matches the features of the cloud Free plan; paid plans add more AI credits, and Enterprise adds custom roles and an air-gapped edition. Work items are grouped into cycles, which work like sprints, and into modules for larger features. Pages give each project a wiki.
Best for: Teams that need a self-hosted tracker without license fees, or an open-source alternative to Jira
Pricing: Pro $6/seat/month; Business $13/seat/month; Enterprise Grid on request
Free plan or trial: Free cloud plan for up to 12 users; self-hosted Community Edition free
Hosting: Cloud, self-hosted, or air-gapped
Pros:
- AGPL license lets you inspect and modify the code
- Clean, modern interface
Cons:
- Younger product with fewer integrations than Jira
- Importers are not available in the free Community Edition
How to choose a software development tracker
Start from where your team already works, then rule tools in or out by the few constraints you can’t change:
- Your code is on GitHub or GitLab and one or two teams share the work: try GitHub Projects or GitLab’s boards first.
- Several teams with dependencies, audits, or formal approvals: Jira, YouTrack, or Azure Boards, which work as full software development project management tools.
- A small product team that values speed: Linear or Shortcut, with Linear lighter and Shortcut more configurable.
- Data must stay on your servers: GitLab self-managed, GitHub Enterprise Server, YouTrack Server, Azure DevOps Server, actiTIME self-hosted, or Plane’s free Community Edition.
- Scrum with story points and velocity: Jira, YouTrack, Azure Boards, and Shortcut have the most complete sprint tooling.
- Work for clients or with fixed budgets: actiTIME keeps estimates and logged effort on the same tasks.
Before you commit, import a few dozen open issues from one active project, connect its repository, and check that a merged pull request moves the item on the board.
How to set up developer task tracking
Software development task tracking only shows reality if the team agrees on some ground rules. Six agreements cover most of it:
- Keep the statuses few. Match them to handoffs, for example Backlog, Ready, In progress, In review, and Done.
- Agree on work item types. Feature or story, bug, and chore cover most teams, with epics for anything that spans several weeks.
- Write a definition of done. For example: merged, tests pass, deployed to staging, and documentation updated. Without it, each person decides alone when an item is finished.
- Connect the repository. Put the issue key in branch names and commit messages, such as
PAY-142-refund-retry, so pull requests link to the issue and a merge can move it to Done. - Limit work in progress. A cap of one or two items per developer in the In progress and In review columns keeps work moving.
- Triage once a week. Every new bug or request gets a type, a priority, and an owner, or it gets closed. A simple issue tracking template works for teams that are not ready for a tool yet.
Example: one ticket from backlog to done
A single story about retrying failed refunds moves through a well-set-up tracker like this, with the usual places where tickets get stuck:
| Stage | What happens | What gets linked | Where it often stalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backlog | The product manager writes the story with acceptance criteria | Spec, designs, related bugs | Vague criteria lead to questions later |
| Ready | The team estimates it and confirms nothing blocks it | Estimate, dependencies | Open questions to another team |
| In progress | A developer creates the branch PAY-142-refund-retry |
Branch and commits, shown on the issue | The developer is pulled onto a second task |
| In review | A pull request is opened and CI runs | Pull request, test results | Waiting for a reviewer, often the longest wait of all |
| Done | The change is merged and deployed under the definition of done | Merge commit, deployment | Marked Done in the tracker but not yet released |
Common tracker pitfalls
- Tickets too big to move. An item that stays in the In progress column for two weeks hides what is done and what is stuck. Split work until each item can reach Done in a few days.
- Statuses nobody updates. If the board lags behind the code, people return to asking in chat. Automations from the repository and a quick look at the board in stand-up keep it honest.
How to move to a new tracker
Importers make a move from Jira or GitHub Issues easier, but none of them carries everything across:
- Linear has dedicated importers for Jira, GitHub Issues, Asana, and Shortcut, and warns that concepts with no match in Linear may not be imported.
- Shortcut imports Jira projects, issues, history, and users, and offers Jira Sync if you need both tools for a while.
- YouTrack can import from Jira, GitHub, and GitLab continuously, checking for changes every 10 minutes during the transition.
- GitLab’s Jira importer brings titles, descriptions, and labels, but not assignees or comments, and Jira formatting isn’t converted.
- Plane imports from Jira, Linear, Asana, ClickUp, Notion, and Confluence on its cloud plans and paid self-hosted edition.
Whatever the tool, the same order works:
- Map statuses, work item types, and users before the first import.
- Import one project as a test and check comments, attachments, and links.
- Move the rest, then keep the old tracker read-only for a few months.
- Update links in your docs, runbooks, and commit templates to the new issue keys.
How to track software development progress
Once the tracker is current, a handful of signals tell you whether delivery is healthy:
- Cycle time: how long an item takes from In progress to Done. When it rises, look at reviews and handoffs first.
- Work in progress: how many items are open at once. Too many means the team starts more than it finishes.
- Blocked items: how many are flagged and for how long.
- Throughput: how many items reach Done each week, compared with how many arrive.
- Estimate vs. actual: how far real effort lands from the plan, which only works if effort is recorded somewhere.
For the full list of measures engineering teams use and how to read them fairly, see our guide to developer productivity metrics.
Task management for developers: your list and the team tracker
Good task tracking for developers has two layers. The team tracker is the source of truth for anything other people depend on. But a developer’s day also holds work that never becomes a ticket: review requests, a question to answer, a library to try, an expense report. That is where a personal list helps.
For most people, the best task manager for programmers is the simplest one they will keep using. Three things cover most needs, so a separate developer task manager rarely adds much:
- The tracker’s own view of issues assigned to you, as the main list.
- A plain notes file or a to-do app for small items that would clutter the board.
- An end-of-day note: finished work, next steps, and blockers.
One rule keeps the two lists from drifting apart: if someone else is waiting for it, it goes in the team tracker. For more habits that help individual developers, see our developer productivity tips.
FAQ
What is the difference between a project management tool and a software development tracking tool?
A general project management tool organizes tasks, deadlines, and owners for any kind of team. A software development tracking tool adds what code work needs: bugs and features as separate work item types, sprints or cycles, and links to branches, commits, and pull requests that can change an item’s status when code is merged. Many teams use both: software development task management in the tracker, and company-wide planning in a project management tool.
When is GitHub Issues enough for a development team, and when do you need a dedicated tracker like Jira?
GitHub Issues with GitHub Projects covers most teams whose members are mainly developers working in a few repositories. A dedicated tracker starts to pay off when several teams depend on each other’s work, when managers need reports across many projects, or when the process needs approvals and fine-grained permissions. A common sign is a team building spreadsheets next to GitHub to answer questions the board can’t.
Can developers and non-technical teams use the same tracker?
Yes, as long as each group gets its own view. Product managers usually work in the same tracker as developers, while design, support, or marketing do better with separate projects or boards that link to engineering work only where it matters, such as a bug reported by support. Forcing everyone into one developer-style board tends to fill it with items nobody on the engineering team owns.
How many statuses should a development workflow have?
Usually four to six. You have too many if items regularly skip columns or sit in states nobody can explain, and too few if In progress hides work that is actually waiting for review or for another team. Add a status only when a real handoff happens there, and track blockers with a flag rather than a column.
Do you still need time tracking if you have an issue tracker?
Not always. Story points and cycle time are enough for many product teams. Time tracking becomes necessary when you bill clients by the hour, manage a fixed budget, or want to compare estimates with real effort. In that case, choose a tracker that records effort on each task, or connect a dedicated time tracker to your issues, so hours land on the same work items.
