10 Most Popular Tools Used in Agile Software Development [2023]
The task of software development, even at its most basic, is complicated.
There are a ton of ways for a plan to go wrong, and it often does.
Luckily, Agile has been around for decades allowing developers to divide the workload into sprints, making the whole development process way faster and more efficient.
In software development, ‘Agile’ can be classified as a flexible customer-centric approach that is characterised by incremental, interactive delivery of value. To be precise, rather than attempting to deliver a single solution all at once, it focuses on delivering small and high-quality increments that can be quickly validated and improved upon.
Why go for Agile?
What separates Agile from other approaches to software development is that it prioritises the people doing the work and how they work together. It is based on a set of principles that focus on customer satisfaction, teamwork and continuous development.
This methodology is highly beneficial for complex projects that include uncertain requirements as:
- Testing is performed throughout the development.
- Adopt changing requirements.
- Maintain a relentless pace for completed work.
- Formulate approaches that facilitate sustainable practices.
- Ensure customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
Overviews of the Top 10 Popular agile tools
Tools that support Agile methodology can be defined as Agile tools. Here’s a shortlist of the top popular tools used in Agile software development.
1. Jira
Website: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira
Jira is one of the most popular Agile software development tools and is used primarily in the IT industry. Jira is an ideal solution for teams practising Agile methodologies. The software comes with an Agile-friendly user interface.
With its built-in Scrum and Kanban boards, teams can quickly get started with customisable workflows to map tasks. Additionally, the platform includes time tracking and real-time reporting features, making it effortless for Agile teams to monitor their progress over time.
Key features
- Scrum and Kanban boards
- Tasks and subtasks
- Agile reporting tool
- Gantt charts
- Collaboration tools
- Milestone tracking
- Bug tracking
- Roadmaps
- Dependency management
- Custom workflows
Pricing
Jira offers a free plan for up to 10 users, and the paid plan starts at $7.75 monthly per user.
2. ClickUp
Website: https://clickup.com/
ClickUp is one of the highest-rated Agile tools. You can manage everything from tasks to team collaboration as ClickUp offers team collaboration, document management, goal tracking and task management as well.
Agile workflow management is what ClickUp was built for. It provides multiple views, including board view, list view, box view, to calendar view, to adapt to your teams’ Agile frameworks.
Key features
- Pre-made project templates
- Client Portal
- Milestone tracking
- In-built time tracking tool
- Collaboration tool
- Sprints ClickApp
- Portfolio and resource management
- Gantt charts
- Custom task statuses
Pricing
The free plan is available for up to 100 MB of storage. Except that there are four other paid plans, and the pricing starts at $5/member/month.
3. Trello
Website: https://trello.com/
This web-based application is inspired by the Kanban system and smoothly accommodates Agile principles. With Trello, you can easily oversee team sprints through dedicated boards, ensuring constant real-time visibility of development projects.
Trello Enterprise elevates this to a higher level by providing additional features ideal for managing sprints across various departments. Trello offers an Agile sprint board template that you can use to keep code, specs and plan in a centralised location.
Key features
- Agile methodologies
- Kanban board
- Activity tracking
- Notification/ alerts
- Activity dashboard
- Billing and invoicing
- Drag and drop
- Customisable templates
- Gantt/timeline view
- Prioritisation
- Third-party integration
Pricing
You can get the free plan for your whole team. The Standard plan starts from $5/user/month, Premium at $10/user/month and Enterprise at $17.50/user/month.
4. Wrike
Website: https://www.wrike.com/
Wrike is another powerful tool with impressive automation and real-time monitoring capabilities. It empowers continuous delivery and offers loading-edge Agile features that ensure the quality of your team's work.
With Wrike’s Agile teamwork template, the team can easily manage sprints with boards, prioritise tasks in their backlog and track progress using reports. These are equipped with spaces, sub-folders, calendars, dashboards and all.
Key features
- Purpose-built template
- Board view and spreadsheet view
- Backlog management functionalities
- Custom request form
- Collaborative spaces
- Gantt charts
- Realtime activity stream
- Time tracking
- iOS and Android apps
Pricing
Wrike is free for teams that are just getting started, and the paid plan starts at $9.80/user/month.
5. Planbox
Website: https://www.planbox.com/
Planbox is a pioneering Agile innovation management platform software that can be used to create an unlimited number of projects and tasks. The structure of Planbox Work is divided into four levels, namely initiatives, projects, items, and tasks.
The user interface is customisable with options like filtering. Progress monitoring is made easy with real-time data available through burndown charts and progress reports, which display metrics like completed tasks, sprint points, and more.
Key features
- Effective dashboard with graphs
- Automated market research tool
- Integrations
- Progress assets
- Workflow customisation
- Detailed analytics
- Collaboration tools
- Data security
- Status tracking
Pricing
It offers pricing plans on request.
6. Proggio
Website: https://www.proggio.com/
Proggio is one of the best Agile tools. The software is specially designed to support project and portfolio management, aligned with the principles of Agile methodology. It offers advanced analytics and collaborative task management tools.
Alongside this, it offers integration with Jira to import and manage all tasks. More than for individuals or small teams, Proggio offers affordable pricing plans for a big company with several hundred people.
Key features
- Kanban and list view
- Jira integration
- Portfolio monitoring
- Visual tracking
- Third-party integration
- Timelines
- Project management
- Drag and drop
- Activity dashboard
Pricing
There is a free plan available with limited functionalities. The pain plan starts from $800/month.
7. Jenkins
Website: https://www.jenkins.io/
Jenkins is a tool used for continuous integration and continuous delivery tasks allowing seamless, ongoing development, testing and deployment of newly created code. This tool makes it easier for developers to integrate changes to the project and allow users to obtain a fresh build.
It helps deliver custom, quality applications in a timely fashion. Whether you're looking to automate your build, test, or deployment processes, Jenkins has got you covered.
Key features
- Huge plugin ecosystem
- Open source availability
- Access control/permission
- Server-based security
- Huge integration
- Simple installation and configuration
- Automated testing
- Continuous delivery
Pricing
As it is open-source, the cost of using Jenkins is free.
8. ActiveCollab
Website: https://activecollab.com/
ActiveCollab is one of the best Agile tools that comes with document management, budgeting and reporting features. It is made for the Agile approach as the sprint-based approach allows users to break down work into manageable chunks and track task completion through each iteration.
The software makes it simple to track time spent on a project alongside creating invoices for the projects. Also, the automation features allow you to generate repetitive tasks or specify intervals for recurring events.
Key features
- Agile methodologies
- Team collaboration features
- Client Portal
- Gantt charts
- Labels
- Kanban board
- Customisable templates
- Workload reports
- Time tracking
Pricing
Starting at $9.5 for 3 members per month.
9. GitHub
Website: https://github.com/
GitHub is ideal for Agile software development teams since the platform is designed for productivity and collaboration. Utilising this platform, teams can accelerate their delivery cycles, leading to cost savings and mitigating the dangers of application.
The software integrates with several tools allowing team members to work in the same code simultaneously. Also, the impressive automation features let you automate anything, including testing, labelling, onboarding and other steps.
Key features
- Issue tracking
- Codespaces
- Workflow management
- Labels
- Automation
- Reporting and analytics features
- Portfolio features
- Product roadmap
- Notifications
Pricing
GitHub offers a free plan with limited storage capacity. The pain plan starts from $3.65/user/month.
10. monday.com
Website: https://monday.com/
Monday.com, the Agile management tool, is great for teams following Agile methodologies. It allows you to manage all your work, processes and tools in this centralised platform.
With the set of customisable, ready-to-use templates, you can effortlessly fine-tune to specific needs and workflows. Also, you can get a detailed overview of the workflow through the customisable dashboard.
Key features
- List and Kanban views
- Colour code labels
- Pre-made templates
- Activity log
- Collaboration and communication features
- Variety of automation options
- Task priorities
- Real-time reporting
- Timesheet tracking
Pricing
The free forever plan is available for up to 2 seats. The paid plans start at $11/seat/month.
There you have it, the ten popular tools in Agile software development covered here are the most popular ones used by development teams.
Except for the mentioned one, there are a bunch of Agile software development tools available in the market as well.
The key is to find the one that works best for your team, considering all requirements.
