Our performance depends on the way we manage tasks and projects.
And even though you can have all the right people and all the right goals, you need tools to support you.
Atlassian’s Jira has been the go-to project management tool for numerous agile companies. However, there are new players on the market.
Heycollab is the first tool to combine team messaging, task management and a complete media and design hub.
In this post, we’ll compare the features of the two tools to help you make the right decision for your team.
Overview
Before we get into the thick of it, let’s take a look at both Jira and Heycollab.
Jira
When Atlassian originally launched Jira in 2002, it was revolutionary.
It reinforced the concept of agility (which wasn’t as popular in development as it is today) and allowed numerous companies to finally start tracking different issues and projects.
Atlassian as a company has always been focused on satisfying the needs of software and other developers, so it doesn’t surprise that they offer a variety of products to serve that particular niche; from Confluence and Trello that offer visual collaboration, to Bitbucket and Bamboo for tracking code and managing integrations.
All in all, they offer sturdy project management tools. That hasn’t changed with Jira. According to Atlassian, Jira allows teams to focus on delivering iterative and incremental value through scrum boards.
Jira is all about agility: it’s team and project management the dev way.
Heycollab
Heycollab-Task Management, Chat and Project Feedback app
Heycollab approaches team communication differently. It keeps the needs of every team in mind. The tool is successfully used by different types of users:
- Creative agencies
- Agile developers
- Teams who need to manage clients, tasks, and/or projects
It’s an ambitious, award-winning tool that strives to provide teams with central hubs instead of incomplete solutions that require them to switch between tools.
And since using several tools reduces teams’ efficiency by as much as 40%, Heycollab’s full-stack solution is the right fit for the 21st century teams that frequently consist of both remote and co-located team members.
Improved efficiency is possible through a combination of three features that teams usually need separate tools for:
- Team messaging
- Task management
- Collaboration and feedback
Even though it offers robust functionalities, Heycollab is simple and has an intuitive user interface for both beginner and advanced users.
Which Software Is Better for Team Messaging: Jira or Heycollab?
While Jira’s target audience are project managers (primarily, software project managers), it doesn’t offer an integrated chat feature.
Teammates can leave comments on Kanban boards, but that’s about it.
If you want a full-fledged team messaging feature, you can use Jira’s Slack integration.
In general, Jira offers plenty of integrations. However, you’ll still need to use more than one tool if you want your team to seamlessly communicate and get that project done before the deadline.
Heycollab, on the other hand, has a completely integrated chat feature.
Your team can stay in constant touch through the virtual workspace, connected to task boards and the resource hub.
Teams that use Heycollab can choose between one-on-one, private and public chats.
This is a great solution if you want to break down data silos in your organization, while also making sure that teams aren’t inundated with irrelevant information.
A team member can access everything pertinent to the project from their virtual workspace. They’ll see a list of channels they participate in, tasks and shared files.
They can even attach files to their messages if they need to elaborate on the comments they’ve made, or want to discuss feedback with their teammates.
Which Software Is Better for Task Management: Jira or Heycollab?
Communication is only half of success. The other half is great organization.
And when it comes to task management, both Jira and Heycollab have great features.
As a product from the company that created Trello, it’s no surprise that Jira uses visual task management principles with Kanban and Scrum boards.
Again, Jira’s target audience are software development project managers so the phrasing and the methodology can take some time to get used to.
The scrum boards are focused on delivering iterations through the sprint timeframe (2 weeks). If your team has a different style, Jira may not be the best fit. You can create a custom workflow but it comes with a steep learning curve.
Another potentially problematic aspect is that Jira doesn’t offer storage of its own. Instead, you’re prompted to use a Dropbox or Drive integration for all your project-related files.
Jira’s roadmaps allow users to map out their project journey. This is handy for stakeholder communication but not so much for team communication. The feature is not integrated enough with the rest of the software.
Finally, Jira reporting also follows the agile methodology. Everything is monitored based on sprints; from the burnup chart to the sprint backlog report.
Sounds like a lot of dev talk, right?
Heycollab brings simple and powerful task management to the table.
Since Heycollab is an all-in-one solution, the task management features are accessed from and completely integrated with virtual workspaces.
Heycollab also offers visual task management with Kanban boards. You can create multiple boards with many tasks and sub-tasks.
From there, you can:
- Assign tasks to specific team members
- Move tasks through stages
- Set deadlines
- Add labels
- Add notes
- Add images
- @ mention team members
You get all the flexibility with zero complications so you and your team can focus on doing your best work.
Which Software Is Better for Project Collaboration: Heycollab or Jira?
Finally, Heycollab is the first to combine messaging, collaboration and design feedback in one platform.
All of this means that your team members don’t have to get separate integrations and switch between tabs if they want to get their work done.
Instead, they can access everything they need from their Heycollab virtual workspace.
And since Heycollab comes with a storage of its own, you don’t have to navigate to Dropbox or Google Drive, pull up files, attach them, and then try to figure out where you need to message your team members about it.
Giving feedback with Heycollab is similar to InVision: you upload a file, and other team members are free to leave their comments.
However, where Heycollab absolutely excels is the integration of all of its complex features.
It’s just like being at the office (without a boss hanging over your head).
Heycollab’s storage is called the Media Hub and as soon as you upload a file or leave a comment on one, it’ll be linked back to the project.
From there, you can discuss it with your team in the notes or in the chat, resolve the task in your Kanban board, and keep moving forward.
How does Jira compare?
Jira is a solid project management solution but it doesn’t offer independent file storage and the collaborative features that Heycollab offers.
You can get apps and integrations with other tools but that’s about it.
Pricing
Using multiple tools to collaborate effectively can add up.
Jira alone will set you back for $10/month for up to 10 users. If you have more than 10 and less than 100 users, you’ll pay $7 per user per month.
Keep in mind that the pricing differs based on whether you want a cloud-hosted or an on premise solution. It’s so complicated that they have a chart to help you understand it.
And this doesn’t even factor in that you’ll need Slack for communication and Dropbox for storage, at the very least. That kind of stack would cost you at least $50/month.
When it comes to Heycollab, the pricing is simple: $12.99 per month. Unlimited users. Unlimited functionality.
No need to get any other apps.
The Verdict
If you want a complete solution so your team stops multitasking and starts doing great work, Heycollab is the right choice.
It offers integrated team messaging, task management, and collaboration. Everything happens within a single workspace.
Improve your efficiency and reduce your costs: