IBM Rational ClearQuest vs Jira comparison

The compared IBM and Atlassian solutions aren't in the same category. IBM is ranked #1 in DT , and holds a 22.7% mindshare in the category. Atlassian is ranked #1 in ALM , with an average rating of 8.5, and holds a 11.2% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Atlassian users who would recommend it.

IBM Rational ClearQuest

Read 4 IBM Rational ClearQuest reviews

949 Views
190 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Jira

Read 281 Jira reviews

19,738 Views
9,672 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

IBM Rational ClearQuest

Jira

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

Ranking in other categories

Defect Tracking (1st), Software Configuration Management (5th)

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 22.7%, down 50.0% compared to last year.
Jira, on the other hand, focuses on Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites, holds 11.2% mindshare, down 21.4% since last year.

Defect Tracking Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
IBM Rational ClearQuest	22.7%
Adminitrack	14.6%
Assembla Workspaces	11.9%
Other	50.800000000000004%

Defect Tracking

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Jira	11.2%
Microsoft Azure DevOps	9.5%
OpenText Application Quality Management	6.5%
Other	72.8%

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

Featured Reviews

it_user808977

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…

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Akhil Viswam

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"This enabled us to completely migrate from paper-based forms to electronic forms for a number of business areas."

"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."

"It can be adapted to any process flow and easily be integrated with other in-house tools using the ClearQuest API."

"The workflow feature with stateful record types and the ability to implement these rapidly in our project have been of value to us."

"Transparency of development projects, as well as approval processes for some business projects, has improved massively."

"In terms of product management, Jira increases productivity and visibility into the product. Those are the top benefits this tool provides to the team. Also, it's accessible to the executives and whoever wants to sign on to Jira to see what's going on."

"The roadmap feature and the ability to integrate with Power BI are probably the most valuable features in it. It is a great solution. I absolutely love it. It is a tool that was designed for project management, and it has been awesome to work with it so far. I also love Confluence."

"The solution's most valuable features revolve around the dashboard view, which has a burndown chart indicating progress."

"The agile framework works well, and I pretty much live by that. Everything, such as sprint management, is laid out."

"You no longer need to email people. You can mention them right in Jira and have conversations there."

"Jira is user-friendly and offers many features."

"This solution assists us with being able to quickly and easily start sprints and keep accurate track of them, including billing using a time-tracking add-on."

More Jira pros

Cons

"The user interface could benefit from a more modern look and feel."

"Lack of a modern web interface compared to other systems might discourage customers."

"It’s very expensive, especially considering that there are much more economical options out there."

"However, the user interface seems very static and the user experience was not the best."

"Based on the feedback from my admin, it is sometimes difficult to find some of the features. It is not a big deal, but its configuration interface can be improved to make it easy to find things."

"This product or software still requires improvements, especially in its interface since its learning curve is somewhat high because it offers so many features that the user tends to get confused, or the software adaptation time is much longer than it should be."

"We'd like to use it with non-Agile projects in the future, however, right now, it is a very Agile-focused product."

"In terms of improvement, I think Jira (Jira Agile, specifically) can be made more user-friendly. Most of the time, when people are somewhat used to the process, they find it easy to work with. But the thing is, if I want to create a sprint, I'd like the ability for it to come out like a kind of board or something like that. For example, they could offer something like a wizard for users who want to quickly create a sprint on the spot with a few clicks. I think that could be useful."

"In JIRA, it's a bit complex in terms of what advanced search queries we use. Sharing them is also a problem. Because TFS is on the cloud, we can easily save that query and share it with our team members."

"In Jira, say on the team, no matter the methodology, it doesn't matter what I'm practicing, if I am using the tool for a while and I've compiled some sort of history. If I want to change my workflow, say my team is today using to-do in progress done, and tomorrow, I decide I want to use to-do in review and done, and I apply that new workflow, I have just now effectively lost all of my histories in terms of reporting."

"Something I would like to see improved is the traceability feature. When you have a user story, if you can see all the test cases, it would be an improvement if you could see any design documents or any change management."

"We have gone through several version changes and some of those changes have not been intuitive. There was a learning curve and we had some complaints internally about the changes, such as the new interface."

More Jira cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"If you are using just Jira, it is cheap, but if you start to use it and you feel you need some more services or more functions, then you have to buy add-ons, which can make it expensive."

"The price of Jira is reasonable."

"It is not too expensive. It is just comparative to other tools like Microsoft Teams."

"Jira is expensive and a lot of people are choosing DevOps because they are cheaper, open-source, easy to use, and have basic licenses. Jira should decrease its price to be more competitive."

"Compared to the value Jira provides, it’s not that expensive. It has an yearly licensing cost."

"The cost is about $10 per user, per month."

"As a company, we get a subsidized price, and it's lower than what's quoted on their website."

"I think the starter pack of three users, up to five users, is free. So you can try it out."

More Jira pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

33%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Insurance Company

Manufacturing Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	108
Midsize Enterprise	58
Large Enterprise	151

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

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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...

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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...

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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...

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Comparisons

IBM Rational ClearCase vs IBM Rational ClearQuest

Compared 18% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps Server vs IBM Rational ClearQuest

Compared 14% of the time

OpenText Solutions Business Manager vs IBM Rational ClearQuest

Compared 11% of the time

Panaya Test Dynamix vs IBM Rational ClearQuest

Compared 8% of the time

Raygun Crash Reporting vs IBM Rational ClearQuest

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM Rational ClearQuest Competitors

OpenText Software Delivery Management vs Jira

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs Jira

Compared 5% of the time

IBM DOORS vs Jira

Compared 4% of the time

Asana vs Jira

Compared 4% of the time

monday.com vs Jira

Compared 3% of the time

More Jira Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational ClearQuest vs. Panaya Test Dynamix

April 2026

Download IBM Rational ClearQuest product report

Buyer's Guide

Jira

April 2026

Download Jira product report

Also Known As

Rational ClearQuest

Jira Software

Overview

IBM Rational ClearQuest is a flexible change management tool designed to help in tracking, managing, and reporting changes in software development and engineering workflows.

Renowned for its adaptability, IBM Rational ClearQuest allows teams to streamline process control and change tracking. It aids in defect management and project management, offering comprehensive solutions for businesses aiming to enhance software quality. Its extensibility and integration capabilities serve varied industry needs, ensuring efficient workflows and enhanced collaboration. With its ability to manage and automate workflows, it enhances traceability and control over development phases.

What are IBM Rational ClearQuest's most valuable features?

Customizable Workflows: Tailor workflows to fit development processes and organizational requirements.
Defect Tracking: Efficiently tracks and manages defects across projects.
Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with other tools to enhance productivity.

What benefits or ROI should users look for in reviews?

Improved Traceability: Offers complete visibility over change requests and project updates.
Enhanced Team Collaboration: Facilitates better communication among team members.
Increased Efficiency: Automates processes to reduce manual workload and errors.

Industries such as telecom and finance implement IBM Rational ClearQuest to ensure rigorous process compliance and accurate change management. Its flexibility supports unique industry requirements, being a reliable tool for managing complex product development lifecycles and regulatory standards.

IBM

Jira is a comprehensive tool favored by teams for its ability to streamline project management and enhance Agile workflows. Its versatile features, such as customization options and integration capabilities, enable efficient task management and collaboration.

Jira supports Agile methodologies through its adaptability and robust functionalities. Teams benefit from its customizable workflows, enabling seamless integration with third-party applications. Despite its complexity in customization and interface challenges, Jira is invaluable for sprint planning, backlog management, and issue tracking. It provides strong reporting tools, though some users highlight areas for improvement in documentation and stability. It's especially useful for IT, development, and marketing teams to maintain productivity and effective collaboration.

What are the key features of Jira?

Customization: Allows crafting specific workflows and processes tailored to team needs.
Agile Compatibility: Supports Scrum and Kanban boards for efficient Agile practices.
API Integration: Offers robust integration options with numerous plugins and tools.
Reporting Tools: Provides detailed analytics for informed sprint planning and tracking.

What benefits should users expect from Jira?

Enhanced Collaboration: Facilitates communication and teamwork across departments.
Improved Task Management: Streamlines tracking of tasks and issues for projects.
Flexibility: Adapts to diverse team requirements through customizable features.
Efficiency: Boosts productivity with support for Agile methodologies.

Jira's implementation in software development and project management sectors underscores its suitability for managing complex projects. Its use extends to QA and marketing for organizing workflows and ensuring effective task distribution. Despite some areas needing refinement, Jira remains integral for teams aiming to boost collaboration and maintain streamlined project processes.

Atlassian

Sample Customers

Atos SE, STM, Regence BlueCross BlueShield

Square, Nasa, eBay, Cisco, SalesForce, Adobe, BNP Paribas, BMW and LinkedIn, Pfizer, Citi.

We monitor all Defect Tracking reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.