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JIRA vs ZenHub: What are the differences?

Introduction

JIRA and ZenHub are both popular project management tools used by software development teams to track and manage their projects. While they have similarities, there are key differences that set them apart. This article will highlight the main differences between JIRA and ZenHub.

  1. Pricing Model: JIRA offers both self-hosted and cloud-based options for its pricing model. Users can choose to either pay a monthly subscription fee or have a one-time payment for a self-hosted license. On the other hand, ZenHub is exclusively a browser extension for GitHub and is available for free, making it a cost-effective option for teams already using GitHub.

  2. Integration with GitHub: ZenHub is tightly integrated with GitHub and essentially acts as an extension to GitHub's interface, providing project management features directly within the GitHub environment. In contrast, while JIRA offers some integration capabilities with GitHub, it is a separate platform that requires additional setup and configuration.

  3. Workflow Management: JIRA provides extensive workflow customization capabilities, allowing teams to define and adapt their workflows to suit their specific needs. It offers a wide range of built-in workflow templates and allows for the creation of custom workflows. ZenHub, on the other hand, has a more streamlined workflow management approach, with predefined workflow stages that can be customized within those constraints.

  4. Project Scope: JIRA is not limited to software development projects and can be used for various types of projects across different industries. It provides a wide range of features and can be highly customizable to accommodate different project requirements. ZenHub, in contrast, is specifically designed for software development projects and is tightly integrated with GitHub, making it ideal for teams focused on software development.

  5. Burndown Charts and Reports: JIRA offers robust reporting and analytics capabilities, including various charts and reports that help teams track progress, identify bottlenecks, and make data-driven decisions. These reports include burndown charts, velocity charts, and control charts. ZenHub, on the other hand, has a more simplified reporting functionality, mainly focusing on tracking issues and providing basic metrics such as cycle time and lead time.

  6. Collaboration and Communication: JIRA provides built-in collaboration and communication features, such as commenting, mentioning users, and attaching files directly to issues. It also integrates with various communication tools like Slack. ZenHub, while providing basic commenting functionality, relies primarily on GitHub's existing collaboration and communication features, such as issue comments and pull requests.

In summary, JIRA offers a more comprehensive project management solution with extensive customization options, broader project scope, and advanced reporting features. ZenHub, on the other hand, is a more lightweight and cost-effective option tightly integrated with GitHub, making it suitable for software development teams already using GitHub.

Decisions about Jira and ZenHub
Jakub Olan
Node.js Software Engineer · | 17 upvotes · 444.9K views
Migrated
from
JiraJiraYouTrackYouTrack
to
LinearLinear
at

Last time we shared there information about our decision about using YouTrack over Jira actually we found much better solution that our team have loved. Linear is a minimalistic issue tracker that integrates well with Sentry, GitHub, Slack and Figma which are our basic tools. I would like to recommend checking out Linear as a potential alternative to "heavy" issue trackers, maybe at enterprises that may not work but when we're a startup that works awesome!

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Jakub Olan
Node.js Software Engineer · | 4 upvotes · 315.1K views

YouTrack feels much more lightweight than Jira and additionally have all of features that Jira have, of course lacks at some analytics features, but it's more powerful at permission management and agile workflow. Additionally YouTrack have awesome integration with other JetBrains products such as incoming JetBrains Space and all other IDEs such as GoLand.

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Pros of Jira
Pros of ZenHub
  • 310
    Powerful
  • 254
    Flexible
  • 149
    Easy separation of projects
  • 113
    Run in the cloud
  • 105
    Code integration
  • 58
    Easy to use
  • 53
    Run on your own
  • 39
    Great customization
  • 39
    Easy Workflow Configuration
  • 27
    REST API
  • 12
    Great Agile Management tool
  • 7
    Integrates with virtually everything
  • 6
    Confluence
  • 6
    Complicated
  • 3
    Sentry Issues Integration
  • 2
    It's awesome
  • 74
    Don't have to leave github
  • 53
    No context switching, use github for everything
  • 38
    Fast and effective team support
  • 36
    Github integration
  • 33
    The board makes easier to prioritize
  • 30
    It's all about that +1
  • 20
    Fair pricing model
  • 14
    Burndown charts right in github
  • 5
    Intuitive
  • 4
    Slack integration
  • 1
    Guidelines about Agile

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Cons of Jira
Cons of ZenHub
  • 8
    Rather expensive
  • 5
    Large memory requirement
  • 2
    Slow
  • 1
    Cloud or Datacenter only
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    What is Jira?

    Jira's secret sauce is the way it simplifies the complexities of software development into manageable units of work. Jira comes out-of-the-box with everything agile teams need to ship value to customers faster.

    What is ZenHub?

    ZenHub powers agile development and product roadmapping for some of the world's most innovative teams. It's a better way to manage your GitHub Issues, Multi-repo Boards, Epics, and reports -- all without ever leaving GitHub. Experience data

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    What are some alternatives to Jira and ZenHub?
    Trello
    Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. In one glance, Trello tells you what's being worked on, who's working on what, and where something is in a process.
    Asana
    Asana is the easiest way for teams to track their work. From tasks and projects to conversations and dashboards, Asana enables teams to move work from start to finish--and get results. Available at asana.com and on iOS & Android.
    Confluence
    Capture the knowledge that's too often lost in email inboxes and shared network drives in Confluence instead – where it's easy to find, use, and update.
    Redmine
    Redmine is a flexible project management web application. Written using the Ruby on Rails framework, it is cross-platform and cross-database.
    Bugzilla
    Bugzilla is a "Defect Tracking System" or "Bug-Tracking System". Defect Tracking Systems allow individual or groups of developers to keep track of outstanding bugs in their product effectively. Most commercial defect-tracking software vendors charge enormous licensing fees. Despite being "free", Bugzilla has many features its expensive counterparts lack.
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