Jira vs Rally Software comparison

Atlassian and Broadcom are both solutions in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category. Atlassian is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.5, while Broadcom is ranked #7 with an average rating of 7.0. Atlassian holds a 11.2% mindshare in ALM, compared to Broadcom’s 5.3% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Atlassian users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Jira

Read 281 Jira reviews

19,738 Views
9,672 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Rally Software

Read 120 Rally Software reviews

6,174 Views
5,433 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Jira

Rally Software

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

Jira and Rally Software both compete in the Agile project management category. Jira appears to have the upper hand due to its flexibility afforded by a robust plugin ecosystem.

Features: Jira is known for its comprehensive API integration, extensive customization options, and support for a wide range of plugins. Its versatility allows it to handle various technical needs effectively. Rally Software, on the other hand, is proficient in progress tracking and integrates well with other project management aspects. Both support Agile methodologies, but Jira offers broader flexibility through its plugins. Rally's strong reporting capabilities provide detailed and clear insights valued by project managers.

Room for Improvement: Jira's complexity can be challenging, particularly for new users, and its reliance on plugins can increase complexity and cost. Users also report issues with search functionality and scalability for larger enterprises. Rally Software could benefit from improving its integration with other tools and expanding its customization options. Enhancements in user interface and portfolio management would also be beneficial.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Jira offers deployment flexibility with cloud, hybrid, and on-premises options, meeting various business needs. While its documentation supports self-service, direct technical support can sometimes lack responsiveness. Rally Software is primarily cloud-based, offering hybrid options and robust support, though improvements in technical responsiveness are desired by users.

Pricing and ROI: Jira is generally seen as cost-effective, especially its cloud offering. However, additional plugin costs can add up. Its licensing is considered affordable, providing good ROI for Agile and technical teams. Rally Software is often more expensive, impacting its cost-effectiveness compared to Jira. Nevertheless, the comprehensive integration and reporting tools can justify the cost for certain organizations, adding value for specific needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Jira vs. Rally Software Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Jira vs. Rally Software

April 2026

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Helped 893,164 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score

6.7

Jira enhances team efficiency and productivity, offering cost-effectiveness and features, outweighing initial costs through significant time and error reduction.

Sentiment score

7.5

Rally Software boosts efficiency by 10%, offers 15X ROI, saves time, and is cost-effective despite some user challenges.

A return on investment has been seen with Jira, as a lot of time has been saved in arranging tasks, converting software features into epics, tasks, and milestones, making it easy to track progress and plan future roadmaps.

Akhil Viswam

Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

We implement it and track it with the help of the time tracking feature, which makes it quite easy to manage everything in a single platform.

Amar-Kumar

Technical Lead at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

Tracking has helped people see productivity measures and different observability metrics and traceability metrics of different tools.

reviewer2650416

Integration Supervisor Lead at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Jira report

The ROI is visible, as that's why we are investing in these tools and running our projects successfully through them, despite a few challenges such as role-based access being somewhat difficult.

Rakhee Srivastava

Sr. Information Architect and Principal Consultant UX at Tech Mahindra Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the Rally Software report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.6

Jira's support receives mixed reviews, with Premier Support praised, but suggestions for improved efficiency and localized service remain.

Sentiment score

6.8

Rally Software's customer service is responsive, with quick, knowledgeable support and proactive communication, generally satisfying users despite occasional delays.

Jira's customer support is one of the best I have ever dealt with because they respond quickly.

Nathan Akimoff

CEO at 2Help

They usually reach out within one to two business days and give specific answers.

Yervand Akelyan

Senior Technical Support Engineer I at Krisp

I did not face any issues with stability or upgrades.

Gadi Perets

Senior Director, Head of Information Systems Division at Israel Innovation Authority

For more quotes and insights, download the Jira report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Rally Software report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.2

Jira is generally praised for scalability, accommodating growth, but some users face challenges without customization.

Sentiment score

7.2

Rally Software offers strong scalability supporting large enterprises, despite occasional performance issues, effectively handling significant user volumes globally.

As the number of users, projects, and work items grows, Jira can scale effectively.

reviewer2650416

Integration Supervisor Lead at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Scalability for Jira is great, and it handles growth easily from 100 to thousands.

Nathan Akimoff

CEO at 2Help

For more quotes and insights, download the Jira report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Rally Software report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.6

Jira is generally stable and reliable, with occasional slowdowns; most users appreciate its consistency and robust functionality.

Sentiment score

7.4

Rally Software is generally stable and reliable, with occasional slowness and downtime, but users appreciate the responsive support.

In my experience, Jira is stable, with around 99% uptime.

Akhil Viswam

Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Jira report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Rally Software report

Room For Improvement

Jira's usability is hindered by outdated documentation, complex customization, limited search, stability issues, and difficult third-party integration.

Rally Software struggles with navigation, integration, user-friendliness, and requires improvements in reporting, customization, and workflow efficiency.

Focus more on improving API integration and automation tools, not just the design.

Nathan Akimoff

CEO at 2Help

One feature that could improve Jira is the integration of AI capabilities, such as organizing Jira tasks autonomously with minimum human intervention and executing aggregations and clustering of these tasks.

Akhil Viswam

Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

A simpler user experience for new users is necessary.

Vyas Shubham

Product Analyst at a consultancy with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Jira report

One area for improvement might be the rigidity in role and access configurations, which require many process changes to fit the tool.

Rakhee Srivastava

Sr. Information Architect and Principal Consultant UX at Tech Mahindra Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the Rally Software report

Setup Cost

Jira's pricing ranges from affordable to costly, depending on users, plugins, and transitioning to cloud options.

Enterprise users find Rally Software pricing high but valuable for large-scale agile projects, suggesting a more flexible model.

Even if only five people from your team use a financial plugin, you still pay for all 100 seats.

Nathan Akimoff

CEO at 2Help

For more quotes and insights, download the Jira report

Rally Software is affordable because our customers also prefer it.

Rakhee Srivastava

Sr. Information Architect and Principal Consultant UX at Tech Mahindra Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the Rally Software report

Valuable Features

Jira's customization, Agile compatibility, and integrations enhance project management with user-friendly interfaces, reporting, and collaboration tools.

Rally Software offers user-friendly Agile project management with real-time dashboards, customizable reporting, and robust integration capabilities.

You can build your own workflows and make it work exactly the way your team needs and integrate it with almost every third-party software.

Nathan Akimoff

CEO at 2Help

Agile boards give instant visibility into what is in progress, blocked, or completed. It provides clear status and ownership, which helps the team stay aligned without constant follow-ups.

Vyas Shubham

Product Analyst at a consultancy with 51-200 employees

Jira has helped not only our organization but many organizations to be very focused and understand what needs to be done and to prioritize things effectively.

Yervand Akelyan

Senior Technical Support Engineer I at Krisp

For more quotes and insights, download the Jira report

Rally Software provides real-time dashboards for different kinds of stakeholders and governance, giving clear insights into project progress, team velocity, and potential risks.

Rakhee Srivastava

Sr. Information Architect and Principal Consultant UX at Tech Mahindra Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the Rally Software report

Categories and Ranking

Jira

Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

281

Ranking in other categories

Application Requirements Management (2nd), Project Management Software (1st)

Rally Software

Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

7th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

120

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category, the mindshare of Jira is 11.2%, down from 21.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rally Software is 5.3%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Jira	11.2%
Rally Software	5.3%
Other	83.5%

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

Featured Reviews

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.

Read full review

Rakhee Srivastava

Sr. Information Architect and Principal Consultant UX at Tech Mahindra Limited

Real-time dashboards provide clear insights into project progress and team velocity

Rally Software is easy to use for Agile project methodology because it follows Scrum and Kanban, helping with sprint planning and backlog management. Rally Software provides real-time dashboards for different kinds of stakeholders and governance, giving clear insights into project progress, team velocity, and potential risks. Backlog management is present in the product, allowing prioritization of tasks. The dashboards provide all types of insights through analytics. Capacity planning helps optimize resource allocation, ensuring balanced workload and realistic sprint commitments for our projects. The solution integrates with GitHub, and we can also integrate with Excel and CI/CD pipelines.

Read full review

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Comparison Review

it_user355629

Director Corporate Systems and Emerging Business at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Nov 19, 2015

JIRA can do incident management, work configuration, and a lot of other different things. But we haven't found anything as compelling as CA Agile.

The tools are not overly complex for Agile. It appears that CA has recognized that. They're not just building the connector for Rally, but they are also allowing other groups to build connectors from JIRA into CA PPM and from other tools to CA PPM. If you are looking at open source products, why…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Healthcare Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	110

Questions from the Community

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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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What do you like most about Rally Software?

Rally offers many features that help the management of activities, coordination, alignment and reports, which applies agility across the organization. If I were to highlight a particular feature, i...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rally Software?

Rally Software is affordable because our customers also prefer it, and I have never heard concerns about pricing preventing us from using this tool.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Rally Software?

While I'm not heavily involved in project management tools, I am familiar with these tools. One area for improvement might be the rigidity in role and access configurations, which require many proc...

See all answers

Comparisons

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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

Jama Connect vs Jira

Compared 2% of the time

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Microsoft Azure DevOps vs Rally Software

Compared 20% of the time

OpenText Software Delivery Management vs Rally Software

Compared 7% of the time

OpenText Application Quality Management vs Rally Software

Compared 6% of the time

Jira Align vs Rally Software

Compared 5% of the time

Digital.ai Agility vs Rally Software

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Jira

April 2026

Download Jira product report

Buyer's Guide

Rally Software

April 2026

Download Rally Software product report

Also Known As

Jira Software

CA Agile Central, Rally Enterprise, CA Agile Training, CA Agile Coaching, CA Agile Academy, CA Agile Management , CA ALM

Overview

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

Rally Software is an agile project management platform designed to support development teams with portfolio management, resource scheduling, and user story tracking, providing robust integrations with other tools and supporting Agile frameworks like Scrum and Kanban.

Rally Software enhances agile project management by supporting development teams with features like sprint planning, backlog management, and tracking user stories. It effectively organizes tasks and manages portfolios while enabling integration with other tools. The platform supports Agile methodologies, offering real-time dashboards for stakeholders and advanced reporting capabilities while providing an intuitive UI for improved user experience. However, users have noted areas for improvement in customization, report generation, and performance speed. Expansion of features and enhanced mobile capabilities are also desired, along with better dependency management and security controls.

What are the key features of Rally Software?

Portfolio Management: Efficiently manage and prioritize projects across multiple teams.
Resource Scheduling: Allocate and schedule resources effectively to ensure project success.
Team Planning: Organize team efforts and synchronize project activities.
User Story Tracking: Monitor user stories and ensure alignment with goals.
Sprint Tracking: Track sprint progress and analyze outcomes comprehensively.
Backlog Organization: Streamline the backlog management process for optimal project flow.
Real-Time Dashboards: Provide stakeholders with up-to-date project insights.
Integration Support: Seamlessly integrate with other tools to enhance workflow.

What benefits should users seek in reviews?

Improved Collaboration: Enhances team communication and collaborative efforts.
Increased Efficiency: Streamlines project management tasks for quicker completion.
Flexible Agile Support: Provides comprehensive support for Scrum and Kanban methodologies.
Enhanced Reporting: Offers detailed analytics and insights for informed decision-making.
Customization Options: Allows adaptation of features to fit specific requirements.

Rally Software is commonly implemented in industries focusing on agile project management, enabling development teams to enhance project workflows and integration processes. This tool assists in managing portfolios and supporting Scrum and Kanban methodologies, especially during global communication in quarterly PI meetings.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

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

Physicians Mutual, Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare, Editora Abril, Tata Communications, Level 3 Communications, Seagate, TomTom, Philips, Hiscox, Physicians Mutual, MYOB

Buyer's Guide

Jira vs. Rally Software

April 2026

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Find out what your peers are saying about Jira vs. Rally Software and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

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