Top 15 Issue Management Software of 2023

Issue Management is a process of identifying, reporting, and resolving all such issues and bugs that may otherwise impair the progress of a project.

The process of managing issues, however, is not always a smooth ride. You have to ensure each issue is adequately reported on time, prioritized, logged into the database, and appointed to a suitable person who has the optimum set of skills to fix it. This is why Project Managers employ the help of issue management software.

What is Issue Tracking Software?

Issue Tracking Software is a software application that helps professionals track and manage their work in an efficient and organized way. It is commonly used by product managers, developers, QA testers, and other individuals who are involved in the development or testing of products. Issue tracking allows users to easily identify issues as they occur, assign tasks to team members based on those issues, create contact links between related items for further investigation or collaboration, and keep track of progress made toward resolving them.

This information can be invaluable when it comes to identifying problems early on so that they can be fixed before they become more serious. Additionally, issue tracking software makes it easier for teams to brainstorm solutions together since everyone has access to the same data. And finally, because issue tracking software provides historical records detailing where all incidents have occurred within a product’s lifespan (and potentially beyond), it can help organizations prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

Benefits of Issue Tracking Tools

Issue tracking is a critical tool for any business, and it’s especially important for software companies. Why? Because issues can lead to missed deadlines, costly rework, and even total project failure.

Here are just some of the benefits of issue tracking:

• Improved communication. Issue tracking allows team members to easily communicate issues they’re experiencing with the project. This leads to faster resolution and less frustration on both sides.
• A better understanding of the problem domain. By logging every change, the issue tracker gives teams a clear picture of what’s going on within their software; this helps them identify problems earlier and prevent them from becoming bigger problems down the line. 
• Reduced development time and costs due to quick identification of issues early on in development projects – before they become too big or costly to fix.
• By monitoring customer feedback early on, companies can address any problems before they become major issues impacting customer satisfaction or sales volumes. 
• When issues are tracked properly, you can quickly identify problem areas and fix them before they become bigger problems. This will result in a more streamlined process, which saves time and money upfront

Here is our list of best issue management software tools that are on the rise in 2023:

1. nTask

nTask is an online project management tool designed to streamline team collaboration within a single platform. It was created to simplify issue management with easy-to-maneuver features such as issue updates, issue assignees, and change in issue status and priority.

In addition to Issue Management, nTask is an all-in-one tool that facilitates all necessary aspects of project management that include but are not limited to, meeting management, team management, and time management.

Key Features

• Easy to understand dashboard with issues assembled in a List view.
• A collection of filters to group and manage issues based on user preference
• Ability to link captured issues to relevant project or task.
• Allows users to define a status, priority and severity level for each issue
• Enables issue customization, so users can appoint and change the title of the issue, add details and attachments of any size and type.
• Assign multiple issues to multiple members for adequate issue tracking
• In-app notifications that arrive individually on each issue-pop up for immediate recognition
• Kanban boards for better workflow management
• Custom fields to personalize your issue board

Drawbacks

• No desktop app
• Issues can’t be deleted. They can only be switched to ‘Closed’ status.

Pricing

• Free Plan – 5 members. 100 MB Storage
• Starting at $4 per user/month – unlimited projects and Gantt Charts.

2. Bugzilla

Created way back in 1998 by the Mozilla Foundation, Bugzilla is practically the Godzilla of Issue tracking software. It is one of the most powerful platforms that help developers and teams alike, in bug tracking as well as project management. Bugzilla is a web-based tool whose expertise lies mainly in issue tracking and reporting. Even after decades, Bugzilla has not lost its charm, owing to its unparalleled features like advanced search capabilities and report charts that are automatically generated for scheduled reporting.

Key Features:

• Provides a display of complete bug/issue change history
• Enables users to attach and manage multiple issue related files on a given task
• Allows issues and bugs to be grouped into filters using various parameters.
• Provides a graphical representation of reports for a comprehensive analysis
• Contains email notifications that can be configured whenever there is a change in an issue
• Enables efficient time tracking of Issues and bugs
• Allows users to Save & Share Searches

Drawbacks:

• Limited ability to customize workflow and dashboard
• Limited visibility due to lack of scrum and Kanban boards
• Not a cloud-based server. Only a web-based server

Pricing:

• Open Source Tool. Completely Free!

3. Jira Software

Built for Agile teams and Agile management, Jira is a leading issue management software, that has acquired more than 75000 users across the globe. Jira’s extensive set of features allows teams of all sizes and nature to report, manage and track issues anywhere in a project’s lifecycle. It is because of this extensibility, that Jira renders itself ideal not just for the software development industry, but teams from all sorts of industries working to manage issues in their line of work.

Key Features

• Agile Issue tracking and reporting, to help add iterative value to the process of issue management
• Agile time tracking, that allows real-time insight to a team’s work and their performance on a sprint-to-sprint basis
• Maximum visibility with the help of Kanban boards and scrum boards that can be customized as per user convenience.
• Allows efficient transitioning and prioritization of issues via drag and drop feature across Kanban boards
• Robust APIs that facilitate numerous integrations with neighboring platforms and browsers.
• Provides unlimited bug fields with powerful advanced search and filters

Drawbacks

• Complex user-interface that complicates usability and often results in a long learning curve for teams
• The pricing plan is suitable for medium to large enterprises as opposed to small organizations
• Requires extensive configuration that makes it hard for users to make changes to workflows

Pricing

• Up to 10 Users – $10 monthly
• From 11-100 users – $7 per user/month

4. Backlog

Backlog is everything you need for development workflow. In addition to effortless issue tracking, it enables teams to track and manage tasks as well as projects. Tasks can be divided into sub-tasks, that can then be assigned to one or more team members. With Backlog, teams can flawlessly manage end-to-end development of their product by assigning suitable members to capture issues and work on resolving them as early as possible.

Key Features

• Easy and systemic documentation of issues with parameters such as title, description, and attachments that help define a bug for a quick assessment
• Facilitates Issue prioritization and issue assigning. Based on the level of urgency, teams can streamline their workload, change due dates for issues and stay in sync with which issues need immediate attention
• Targeted notifications and issue-specific commenting allow the right people to stay informed on instant alerts and changes made to the issues created.
• Git branch view, that facilitates issue updates, fix-releases, and pulls requests all on a single chart.
• Multiple integrations with a variety of other tools
• Drag and Drop feature for smooth accessibility

Drawbacks

• Majority of advanced features are only accessible in the Paid version

Pricing

• Free plan – up to 10 users. 100 MB online storage
• $20/month – up to 30 users. 1 GB storage

5. ReQtest

ReQtest is another cloud-based project management tool that is exemplary for quick and easy issue management. Although ReQtest is essentially a testing software designed to assist teams in overcoming testing obstacles, it is equally adept in facilitating project management as well as issue management. ReQtest is particularly popular among both small and big businesses for its ease of installation and configuration.

Key Features

• Contains Agile Boards that provide efficient visibility of tasks and issues alike
• Enables fast & easy searching, filtering, and categorization of bugs and issues during project management
• Generates issue reports in the form of charts for a more comprehensive analysis
• Contains filters to help users quickly locate issues without wasting any time
• Allows users to visualize a preview of issues without having to click on them separately
• Single-view of all issues without the hassle of switching between boards
• Drag & Drop feature to assist easy navigation
• Capture images and videos of bugs while tracking each issue

Drawbacks

• Limited integrations.
• The pricing plan is too costly for small businesses

Pricing

• Small Teams – $10 per user/month
• Professional Teams (up to 50 users) – $45 per user/month

6. Nuclino

Nuclino stands out among other issue management software thanks to its exceptionally lightweight and clean interface. It’s simple and user-friendly, yet it offers many powerful features.

Issues in Nuclino can be managed and organized in many different visual ways, including a nested list, a table, and a Kanban board. You can use custom fields to track additional information about each issue or bug, such as the assignee, priority, device type, operating system, and more. Each issue in Nuclino comes with its own long-form document, which allows users to summarize the issue, outline steps to reproduce it, embed files, create to-do lists, and more. You can also leave comments and mention your colleagues to exchange asynchronous feedback, preserving the context of every decision you make.

Key Features:

• Flexible data visualization options, including the Board, List, Table, and Graph view
• Real-time collaboration
• Task lists and assignments
• Custom fields for tracking assignees, due dates, tags, and more
• Auto-save of changes with version history
• Markdown commands and keyboard shortcuts
• Drag-and-drop editor
• Comments and @-mentions
• Quick search with advanced filters
• API
• Integrations with 40+ apps, including Slack, Google Drive, and Figma

Drawbacks:

• No offline access.
• The free plan only allows you to manage up to 50 issues.

Pricing:

• You can get started with Nuclino for free. Advanced features can be accessed with a Standard or Premium plan subscription starting at $5/user/month.

7. DoneDone

DoneDone is without a doubt, the simplest issue management software available on the market. As implied by the name of the tool, Done Done aims to assist all sorts of teams, be it marketing teams or software teams in getting things done! This includes tracking of issues to be specific. It provides a central hub where teams can log issues and manage them in the seamless possible way imaginable.

Key features

• A simplified workflow that allows users to quickly familiarize with the tool and manage their way around
• Flexible views, that allow users to visualize issues logged on a daily basis, as well as on a larger scale in the form of lists
• Provides real-time in-app notifications that keep you updated on your browser, so you don’t have to constantly refer back to the app for update alerts
• Divide issues into groups of testers, priority, status, and project.
• Release Build feature allows users to coordinate issue testing and issue reporting with relevant issue assignees
• Integrations with useful apps such as Slack, GitHub, Beanstalk, and Bitbucket.

Drawbacks

• No free version is available. Basic Plan is too costly

Pricing

• Starter Plan – Up to 15 users. 10 GB storage. $39/ month.
• Pro Plan – Up to 50 users. 25 GB storage. $49/month

8. MantisBT

Written in PHP, this top issue management software is cloud-based and is written under GNU protocol.  It is primarily designed for software development teams and offers features that help teams collaborate and share software development progress internally as well as with external clients especially regarding issues raised by end-users.

Through the email notification feature, users can send and receive automated emails with reference to information including project status, issue updates and group actions. Users also have the option of configuring the level of access to information based on team roles.

Key Features:

• Provides automated emails regarding project status and relevant issues.
• Offers role-based access to team members.
• View issues with relevant information including issue category, severity level, status, last updated and summary.
• Easy assignment of issues to relevant team members.
• Easily search for submitted issues by searching for a project through its project number or name.
• Gives the option for the full-text search for issues.
• Provides revision control system integration including for text fields and notes.
• Audit trails of changes made to issues.
• Allows creating and viewing roadmaps for projects.
• Offers graphing of relationships between issues.
• Provides sponsorship of issues.
• Caters to Wiki documentation integration.
• Project Management & TimeTracking are done with CodevTT

Drawbacks:

• The interface is not very intuitive.
• The child class/ parent class concept may come across a bit complicated in the start.
• The reporting features are limited. e.g. no report generation at the end of a project.
• No documentation is included in the installation files.
• Email configuration can be a little complicated.
• Search is not available with custom fields.

Pricing:

• MantisBT is free to use.

9. YouTrack

A product of JetBrains, YouTrack happens to be one of the top issue management software floating on the net for a variety of reasons. With YouTrack, you avail all the features for project management and issue tracking under one roof. It is a browser-based tool that provides numerous options to skillfully identify, list, view, manage, and share issues.

With a query-based issue search functionality laced with query completion (auto-completion for queries), search saving, and suggestions for similar issues, YouTrack provides capabilities to customize workflows as well as handle and manipulate issues in sets.  Also, it has a powerful project reporting tool that helps stay users on top of project progress helping teams stay productive and expediting project delivery.

Key Features:

• Simple query syntax for issue searching through a specific context e.g. by choosing a project, saved search or tag.
• Query completion in the search box to facilitate searching for keywords and values.
• Filter issues on the basis of the work item type, author and date.
• Multiple options for instant issue creation anywhere within YouTrack.
• Suggestions for similar issues when creating issues to avoid redundancy.
• Powerful REST API for automated issue submission from third-party applications.
• Report issues from emails.
• ‘Star’ issues that need constant monitoring and receive updates relevant to the Star Issue.
• Add members to the watcher’s list for team members to be in the loop for specific issues.
• Link issues with reference to multiple dependency types e.g. relate to, depends on and duplicates.
• Issues can be linked to multiple other issues.
• Vote by team members to set priority for more important issues.
• Share issue links with team members.

Drawbacks:

• The interface is not very intuitive for beginners.
• Giving access to rights to users is complicated.
• Time-tracking and time reports are not automated efficiently.
• TIme reports and general reports are not flexible enough.
• Lacks a project overview.
• Limited data assignment during project creation.
• Does not give an attachment option for files when creating a new card.

Pricing:

• YouTracker offers a free trial and multiple pricing plans starting from $20.

10. Zoho Projects’ IssueTracker

Another tool on this list of top issue management software is Zoho Project’s IssueTracker, which is a complete task and project management software that offers functionalities that cover small to organizational level projects.

It offers robust modules relevant to team collaboration with a news feed, forums, chats; task management feature set including tasks and dependencies and project management features comprising reports, Gantt charts, and resource utilization chart.

However, its issue tracking and workflow management feature set are one of its most prominent feats including issue logging, viewing, automation, customization with Kanban boards.

Key Features:

• Views for unresolved issues filter by issue severity, due date, and category.
• Organize and prioritize issues for team members according to customized workflow and business rules.
• Automated notifications and reminders for members assigned the charge of fixing issues through notification patterns.
• Structure for issue management through defining issue cycle on the basis of different stages.
• Offers swift access to issue resolutions by providing history and comments for each issue.
• Efficiently identifying reproducible issues and their corresponding levels to boost team productivity.
• E-mail notifications for various updates throughout the issue tracking life cycle in a project. The notifications can be configured when the issue is created, assigned to a team member, or when it is resolved as required.
• Business Rules definition to be able to organize the issues and perform relevant actions including prioritizing, setting severity levels, defining the module and issue type as well as assigning the issue to a user.

Drawbacks:

• Limited automation and notification rules.
• Lack of privacy between users and clients from users.
• Complicated features for adding employees simultaneously to several projects.
• Most useful features are included in their expensive plans.
• The interface is not very intuitive.

Pricing:

All pricing plans are billed annually:

• Standard – $20 per month
• Express – $40 per month
• Premium – $85 per month
• Enterprise – $125 per month

11. IssueTrak

If you are looking for a tool that fits an Agile workflow, is a complete issue tracking and management solution, has loads of customizable entities and is flexible enough to be implemented in various departments, look no further than IssueTrak.

Designed primarily for customer support and help desk, this tool makes it to the list of top issue management software due to a wide set of features that caters to knowledge management, field service, tracking, and support.

It comes both as a cloud-based and on-prem solution for multiple industries and teams. Some of the capabilities this tool extends to users include assigning issues (through the web, mobile, and email), monitoring ongoing activities, defining service level agreements and monitoring compliance.

Plus, it offers the facility to record, audit, and link assets to staff. Team members can also customize their dashboards according to the information they need to view.

Key Features:

• Offers options that cater to workflow and task management.
• Issues can be submitted via multiple channels including mobile, web and email.
• Email notifications for issue updates.
• Dashboards are customizable for users to focus on required work elements.
• Offers ‘My Issues’ to list issues specific to the user.
• Provides a knowledge base for teams to stay in sync.
• Customizable fields for issues, users and organizer.
• Customizable forms for issue tracking.
• Provides a report writer.
• Users can perform and save searches.

Drawbacks:

• Not very intuitive and has a high learning curve.
• Limited search options.
• Giving access rights to non-team members can be complicated.
• Customer support not very swift.
• Create new issues is a bit complex.

Pricing:

• $19/user per month for teams
• $59/user per month for support staff

12. HubSpot CRM’s Issue Management

HubSpot CRM was built from the ground up to be ready for the modern world. Intuitive and automatic where other systems are complicated and manual, HubSpot CRM takes care of all the little details – logging emails, recording calls, and managing your data – freeing up valuable selling time in the process. It regularly ranks as one of the best CRM software products for small businesses.

HubSpot CRM is 100% free forever and comes natively integrated with other free features that are essential for small businesses: email marketing (up to 2000 emails/month), meetings scheduler, forms, email tracking, live chat, chatbot builder, reporting dashboard, contacts, pipeline, and issue management.

Key Features:

• Manage your pipeline and never let an issue slip through the cracks.
• Pipeline customization to match your issue tracking process.
• Find and focus on closing the warmest leads.
• Use HubSpot proven email templates or create your own.
• Meeting Scheduling to deal with issues.
• Tracking dashboard to get an overview of issue management.

Drawbacks:

• Lack of flexibility for complex issue management.
• Limited depth in feature functionality.

Pricing:

• It’s Free forever for the entire team. Advanced features are in the PRO plan.

Also see:

HubSpot Project Management| Everything You Need To Get Started

13. ProProfs Help Desk

ProProfs Help Desk makes issue tracking easy and convenient for you and all your team members. Although it is primarily a help desk software, it comes with in-built issue tracking features that help in ensuring all issues are resolved in time.

Right from an issue being generated, everything is tracked on one dashboard alongside your team – making issue resolution a collaborative effort. This way, you can efficiently resolve issues with your team anytime, anywhere.

Features:

• Track all issues on a single dashboard and monitor their progress from start to finish easily.
• Prioritize issues and assign them to relevant teams & resolve them in time
• Collaborate with your team members and other departments using internal notes and labels
• Split issues into child tickets and assign them to relevant teams & close them with an accurate solution
• Enable self-search and reduce issue/ticket by up to 80%.
• Chat with your team members in real-time and come up with instant issue resolution ideas

Drawbacks:

• Limited integrations.

Pricing:

• Forever Free Plan – $0/month
• Team Plan – $39/month (billed annually)
• Business Plan –  $79/month (billed annually)
• Enterprise Plan –  $399/month (billed annually)

14. Freshdesk

With over 40,000 customers Freshdesk is next on our list.

The tool is a cloud-based helpdesk system. This software assists in resolving issues across channels by unifying conversations from different platforms including phone, web, email, chat, and social.

Apart from being a great customer service solution, Freshdesk can also automate workflow, manage SLAs, and generate detailed reports.

Features:

• Issue assignment management, to ensure each bug gets fixed swiftly and efficiently
• Issue escalation management
• Tracking of recurring issues
• Other project management and task management tools
• Reporting and analytics
• Ticket management
• Workflow configuration

Drawback:

• To get the most out of Freshdesk, you need to invest in the high-tier plans
• Freshdesk’s customer support has been said to be lacking, with delays stretching up to 2 – 4 days!

Pricing:

• Standard “Blossom” plan for $15/agent/month, billed annually
• “Garden” plan for $35/agent/month, billed annually
• “Estate” plan for $49/agent/month, billed annually
• “Forest” plan for $99/agent/month, billed annually

15. Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is a leading free social enterprise platform with issue management features.

The software was primarily developed for small businesses but is also a great tool for remote teams who want to collaborate efficiently.

Features:

• Issue scheduling
• Task and project management
• Dashboards for Issue tracking
• Knowledge Base management
• Client portal

Drawbacks:

• Can be confusing, to begin with, and can become hard to navigate
• Technical support takes a long time to respond
• Configurations aren’t very flexible

Pricing:

• Free option available
• Upgrade for the Start+ plan for $19/month
• CRM+ plan for $55/month
• Project+ plan for $55/month
• Standard plan for $79/month
• Professional plan for $159/month

Issues in any project are as inevitable as a bump on a 100-mile road trip. With solid issue management software, project managers and their teams alike can salvage a project’s lifeline from unforeseen hiccups that can dismantle the entire foundation of a project later down the road.

Likewise, Issues that are tracked on time can be obstructed from turning into bigger more precarious risks.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Conclusion

These were our top picks for the best issue management software that you can use in 2023. If you think that you have used another incredible software in this category and it should be included in the blog, write to us and we will get back to you as soon as possible.