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IBM Rational ClearQuest vs Jira comparison

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Rational ClearQuest
Average Rating
7.2
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Defect Tracking (1st), Software Configuration Management (7th)
Jira
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
281
Ranking in other categories
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites (1st), Application Requirements Management (2nd), Project Management Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Application Lifecycle Management solutions, they serve different purposes. IBM Rational ClearQuest is designed for Defect Tracking and holds a mindshare of 21.7%, down 41.7% compared to last year.
Jira, on the other hand, focuses on Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites, holds 12.3% mindshare, down 22.2% since last year.
Defect Tracking Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Rational ClearQuest21.7%
Adminitrack14.3%
Assembla Workspaces12.4%
Other51.6%
Defect Tracking
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Jira12.3%
Microsoft Azure DevOps10.3%
Codebeamer7.0%
Other70.4%
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
 

Featured Reviews

it_user808977 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Developer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
It can be adapted to any process flow
ClearQuest is a Defect Tracking system with a highly adaptable state machine together with an easy to use API, which can do all of the functions available in the GUI. This simplifies integration and automation of many steps is why the organization still uses a much older version, as there are no…
Akhil Viswam - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Agile workflows have streamlined sprint planning and tracking for faster feature delivery
Jira has a very good interface and it is very easy to manage sprints, tasks, and epics. The main feature is the hierarchy, as features can be converted into epics and topics, allowing bigger tasks to be partitioned into smaller ones. The hierarchy feature in Jira helps the team significantly compared to other tools that have been used, such as Trello, which is mainly useful only for a waterfall model. For modern Agile practices, Jira is the most adapted tool in the industry. Another valuable feature is that Jira APIs have been used for data science projects to analyze tasks and get insights. This has also been very helpful in the project.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The workflow feature with stateful record types and the ability to implement these rapidly in our project have been of value to us."
"The combination of a highly flexible state machine together with a platform independent API enables possibilities to automate many steps that in many systems are manual."
"This enabled us to completely migrate from paper-based forms to electronic forms for a number of business areas."
"It can be adapted to any process flow and easily be integrated with other in-house tools using the ClearQuest API."
"Customization level of the tool to meet client’s requirements, you can do almost all of the customizations for a project or ticket management system, and notification, hooks, and UI customization are very stable."
"In combination with a good Configuration Management plan, an organization can create an optimal level of administration and automation creating good traceability in your tasks."
"I have found Jira to be scalable."
"The ability to change and rewrite tasks is valuable. You can add a lot of columns, change the owners and the change the components."
"It was easy to use. The consultants that we had on board were familiar with it. So, obviously, having a community that had used it before or was familiar with it was a positive thing."
"Jira is an amazing tool, there is no doubt about it, and we have no thoughts of using any other tool."
"Kanban boards are most valuable"
"The most valuable feature of Jira is that it's a well-known tool that many people are familiar with."
"Reports, analytics, and a ton of widgets, they are great and intuitive."
"If you really want to do agile software project management Jira definitely should be a top choice for you."
 

Cons

"However, the user interface seems very static and the user experience was not the best."
"The user interface could benefit from a more modern look and feel."
"It’s very expensive, especially considering that there are much more economical options out there."
"Lack of a modern web interface compared to other systems might discourage customers."
"Lack of a modern web interface compared to other systems might discourage customers."
"I think that there is some ease of use that could be brought in to improve certain things."
"Workflows can be improved. We don't use workflows because we can't handle that much complexity. Its interface could be more intuitive for workflows."
"What I don't like is that perhaps there are not so many different apps that can add value over the management side of the product."
"It can have a more high-level view of portfolios. It has quite detailed views, but I would like a high-level view of portfolios. We want to integrate Jira with Microsoft Active Directory, and I don't know how easy or hard it is going to be. I don't know if Jira supports this. We are starting that integration in the last quarter of this year. I hope to find all the required tools for this integration."
"Not very intuitive for project admins."
"The main area for improvement is the high cost of the product."
"Better JIRA Agile integration and more functionality related to JIRA Agile plugin"
"From a testing point of view, I would rate it at a six out of ten. I use it as a defect management tool, and for me, it's not easy to use."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The price is quite competitive."
"We make use of the solution free of charge."
"If I compare Jira's licensing model with that of other products, I think that the other products have a much better licensing model."
"The license is yearly. It is a large, long-running program."
"Its price is fine, but we would like it to be less expensive. We are paying on a yearly basis."
"We had a perpetual license but have changed to a subscription."
"For very small companies, if you have less than 10 individuals, it is $10 a year for each of the products. When we were a part of the enterprise and had more than 10 people using it, or before they came up with this solution for small companies, it was $2,500 a year for the license for Jira and Confluence, and I believe something like $600 a year to perpetuate the license. I can't remember if it was $600 or $2,500 annually. It was for up to 25 people at the time, and this was in the early 2000s and mid 2000s."
"We are on an annual license to use Jira."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
34%
Government
6%
University
4%
Transportation Company
4%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business107
Midsize Enterprise58
Large Enterprise151
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
Is Jira better or would you go with Micro Focus ALM Octane?
Hi Netanya, Basically , it all depends on the use cases for your environment and the business needs. Hope the below data may be relevant to you for identifying your needs and deciding on the approp...
Which is better - Jira or Microsoft Azure DevOps?
Jira is a great centralized tool for just about everything, from local team management to keeping track of products and work logs. It is easy to implement and navigate, and it is stable and scalabl...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Jira?
Jira itself is fairly priced for the features it provides, but pricing is a bit higher than some alternatives, mostly because many plugins and add-ons are paid and licensed per user. So even if onl...
 

Also Known As

Rational ClearQuest
Jira Software
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Atos SE, STM, Regence BlueCross BlueShield
Square, Nasa, eBay, Cisco, SalesForce, Adobe, BNP Paribas, BMW and LinkedIn, Pfizer, Citi.