jira-software-vs-microsoft-365

Jira and Microsoft 365, formerly Microsoft Office 365, are very distinct products with some overlapping capabilities. Jira and Microsoft 365 both offer some project management and collaboration capabilities, and each is used across company sizes. Microsoft 365’s Sharepoint, and intranet product, is the closest comparison with Jira itself. 

Beyond these areas, Jira and Microsoft 365 are entirely different products. Jira is a software development tool for agile developments. It’s designed to help manage product development cycles, as well as other agile projects. Microsoft 365 is a suite of office programs. In addition to the core Office programs like Word and PowerPoint, 365 offers email, online storage, and collaboration tools. 

Features

Jira and Microsoft 365 have distinct feature sets that buyers should keep in mind. 

Jira’s focus on support agile development has led to more specific features for that particular use case. For instance, it offers better tools for tracking software development, such as labelling, ticket tracking,  and specialized reporting. These features are designed to allow individual developers and project managers alike to organize and manage their projects from within the single platform. 

Microsoft 365 serves a broader range of use cases. For developers and project managers, it offers robust file management via Sharepoint, and more collaboration capabilities with Teams. It also includes more products to meet other teams’ needs, such as word processing, email hosting, and online storage capabilities. This full suite makes Microsoft 365 more broadly applicable than Jira. 

Limitations 

There are also limitations to what Jira and Microsoft 365 offer worth considering. 

For developer use cases specifically, Jira is more focused on documentation management than actual file management, which limits how much flexibility users have showing some demos or other content. It also lacks many of the extended features of Microsoft 365, notably the collaboration capabilities of Teams. Jira has also received some criticism for its reporting capabilities. 

In contrast, Microsoft 365 is not ideal for agile development teams. It lacks the agile project management capabilities around scrum or kanban boards, among other features. Its existing capabilities are also more general use and not tailored for software development. 

Pricing 

Jira Software offers a free version that can be used by up to ten users and has a storage capacity of 250 GB. The Standard pricing tier starts at $7.00 per user per month and can be used by up to 5,000 users. This tier includes 250 GB of storage and 9-5 support. The Premium pricing tier starts at $14.00 per user per month and includes unlimited storage and 24/7 support.

Microsoft 365 is available in 4 pricing tiers. The Business Basic package, at $5/user/month, includes the online versions Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and cloud storage. Business Standard, at $12.50/user/month, includes desktop versions of the core Office apps, Publisher and Access, and the cloud services found in the Basic plan. Business Premium, at $20/user/month, adds on more security and device management capabilities. Business Apps are also available for $8.25/user/month for just the premium apps.