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YouTrack is Agile-friendly project management, bug tracking, and issue tracking software from JetBrains that can help project managers and software development teams collaborate, streamline work, tackle tasks, increase productivity, and more, thanks to a long list of features.
Is YouTrack the right fit for you? We will help you answer that question by discussing YouTrack’s features, pricing, advantages, and disadvantages. We will also share some of the top YouTrack alternatives to give you some flexibility when searching for the ideal developer tool to fit your team’s needs for staying organized, in sync, and as productive as possible.
Overview of YouTrack
JetBrains created YouTrack to help with issue tracking and managing its own software development projects. The developer tool was officially released to the public in 2009, offering features for Agile project management, issue tracking, customized workflows, and more.
YouTrack can help manage projects of all sizes and is highly scalable. It is ideal for Agile software development teams seeking a bug tracking and issue tracking solution that can streamline their processes, promote collaboration, offer insights, etc., and allow them to focus on code.
Features of YouTrack
YouTrack is project management software with a lengthy list of features. Some of its highlights include:
- Issue tracking
- Task management
- Collaboration
- Agile boards
- Helpdesk Projects
- Workflows
- Dashboards
- Gantt charts
- Time tracking
- Reporting
- Integrations
YouTrack offers several ways to manage issues quickly. Developers can create, edit, and navigate between issues using keyboard shortcuts and use commands to change assignees, issue states, and other values. The smart search with auto-completion helps you find issues fast, while the integration plugin lets you stay in your preferred IDE to interact with issues.
Issue tracking is just one of YouTrack’s top features. Task management is another. The advanced editor lets you create detailed issue descriptions to define tasks clearly and saves drafts as you type. There are custom fields with configurable input validation, shareable saved filters, bulk editing, and advanced support for keyboard shortcuts and commands.
Team collaboration in YouTrack comes via versatile Agile boards, mentions, automated update subscriptions, reactions, and the Knowledge Base, which acts like a wiki-style repository for creating, sharing, and discussing content.
The Helpdesk Projects feature lets developers establish a service desk for internal users or support for external customers via tickets, emails, or website forms. YouTrack’s pre-built and custom workflows offer code-free automation for recurring tasks, and the programming tool also offers dashboards and interactive Gantt charts for enhanced visualization and insights.
Other YouTrack features include built-in time tracking, 20 reports in four categories to analyze performance and progress, and integrations with other JetBrains and third-party developer tools.
YouTrack Pricing
JetBrains keeps YouTrack’s pricing relatively simple compared to many other PM software solutions. Opt for the cloud version, and you have the following options:
- Free: No cost for up to 10 users.
- Paid: $3.67 per user, per month (annual billing price) for software development teams of 11-plus users.
Surprisingly, JetBrains packs YouTrack’s Free version with all of the PM software’s features. This includes task management, collaboration, Agile boards, Gantt charts, dashboards, workflows, planning, reporting, time tracking, Helpdesk Projects, the Knowledge Base, integrations, and mobile app access. The only thing it lacks compared to the paid plan is the use of a custom logo.
The paid plan’s pricing also comes with all of YouTrack’s features. Its price can decrease per user as the size of your team grows.
JetBrains also lets you install YouTrack on your server. Pricing for a new license of the server version, which includes a year of free updates and tech support, is as follows:
- 10 users:Free, without tech support
- 15 users: $600
- 25 users: $1,100
- 50 users: $2,000
- 100 users: $4,000
- 250 users: $9,000
- 500 users: $12,000
- 1,000 users: $16,000
- 2,000 users: $20,000
- Over 2,000 users: Custom pricing
Advantages of YouTrack
YouTrack has several advantages that make it a solid choice as a project management tool for software development teams looking to increase productivity:
- User-friendly
- Agile-friendly
- Superb task management
- Free plan
- Fair pricing
Many should find YouTrack easy to use right out of the gate. Since JetBrains designed the PM tool with Scrum and Kanban teams in mind, those seeking an Agile-friendly solution should be pleased with its customizable Agile boards, burndown charts, and related features.
Another area where YouTrack excels is task management, as the PM tool can easily handle many tasks, issues, and attachments. While your software development team can take advantage of YouTrack’s robust task management, other departments in your organization, such as HR and marketing, can as well.
The fact that YouTrack offers a Free plan for up to 10 users is another plus. Teams on limited budgets may find the Free plan right up their alley with its complete list of features. And if you need to upgrade to a paid plan, you will likely find YouTrack to be reasonably priced compared to similar project management software on the market.
Disadvantages of YouTrack
While YouTrack has many advantages as a project management tool, it does have some disadvantages to be aware of:
- Clunky UI
- Sluggish performance
- Search function
- Limited integrations
YouTrack is user-friendly enough for beginners to adapt to with minimal time investment. It could be even more user-friendly, though, if it had a more intuitive interface. The UI can seem clunky and confusing to some. Do not be surprised if it takes you a while to navigate to where you want to be, at least initially.
Some users complain of the developer tool’s slow loading at times, and this sluggish performance can negatively impact productivity while producing frustration. Another area of improvement for the PM software is the integrations department. While you can use YouTrack to connect to popular third-party programmer tools, its options are lacking when compared to some of the more prominent names in the business, such as Jira.
Alternatives to YouTrack
YouTrack is user-friendly, Agile-friendly, and budget-friendly and offers superb task management and other features. However, its reportedly clunky interface and search function, sometimes sluggish performance, and limited integrations may have you seeking an alternative. Here are some of the top YouTrack alternatives.
Jira
Jira claims to be the best tool for Agile development teams. It is an excellent YouTrack alternative due to its time-saving templates (bug tracking, Scrum, Kanban, etc.), thousands of third-party integrations, bug and issue tracking capabilities, robust reporting, customization, and Open DevOps. Jira has a Free plan for up to 10 users. Its Standard plan starts at $7.75 per user, per month.
You can learn more about Jira in our Jira Project Management Software Review.
Codegiant
Codegiant is another Agile-friendly project management and issue tracking tool. Choose it over YouTrack for its modern, user-friendly interface, solid collaboration, and drag-and-drop task management. Codegiant has a Free version. Its Team plan starts at $19 per user, per month.
GitHub Issues
Software development teams that already use GitHub to host their code may find GitHub Issues the ideal YouTrack alternative. Like YouTrack, GitHub issues offers project management, issue tracking, collaboration, workflow automation, and more. GitHub Issues has a Free plan. Its Team plan starts at $3.67 per user, per month.
You can learn more by checking out our GitHub Issues Review.
Final Thoughts on YouTrack
Is YouTrack the perfect tool for project management and bug and issue tracking? No, but if you are part of an Agile software development organization seeking a scalable and customizable solution with a robust free plan, affordable pricing for larger teams, excellent task management, and a complete set of features, YouTrack is tough to beat. If you find that YouTrack’s integrations, UI, search, and performance are lacking, try one of the PM software’s alternatives listed above, as all are highly regarded as programmer tools.