What is an Agile project management tool?
Agile project management tools are specially designed software that facilitate the principles of Agile methodology for conducting projects. Agile projects are flexible, iterative, adaptive in nature and require a specific set of features that help deliver on those qualities. An Agile project management tool or agile software is equipped with components like task boards, backlog management, sprint planning and various dashboards to achieve that objective.
The core mechanism of an Agile project management tool is to enable continuous, incremental delivery while integrating feedback across the product development cycle. They support extensive collaboration and transparent workflows that allow teams to communicate actively and adapt to dynamic requirements. These tools help deliver value in a progressive manner, which improves the overall product quality and ensures that the final product is coherent with end user requirements at the time of delivery.
Why should your Agile team adopt a Project Management tool?
Agile teams are inherently progressive and fast-paced owing to the very fundamental principles they abide by. When they don't use a purpose-built tool to manage projects, their work gets scattered across a myriad of disconnected documents, spreadsheets, and charts. Incorporating a dedicated Agile Project Management tool brings everything together and gives your Agile team a unified platform to plan, execute and deliver effectively. Listed below are the key benefits of using a specialized tool for Agile Project Management.
- Real-time visibility into overall workloads and blockers for enabling faster decision-making.
- Centralized backlog management to keep user stories, acceptance criteria, and priorities organized.
- Streamlined team communication, with updates, comments, and easily accessible files associated with project entities.
- More reliable planning thanks to Agile reports like velocity tracking, burndown charts, and insights into components like Sprints and Epics.
- Stronger accountability through clear ownership of tasks and transparent progress tracking.
Top 6 Agile project management tools
We conducted a deeper analysis of what we consider are the top Agile project management tools in the industry. The Agile project management tools comparison table below shows what makes each tool stand out and the ideal team types or scenarios where they would shine.
| Tool | Stand-out features | Ideal for | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Sprints | Pure Agile design, release tracking, pre-configured OKR suite, budget and test case management | Any Agile-focused team | $0 to $7.5/user/month |
| Monday.com | Color-coded boards, automations, integrations, real-time dashboards. | Cross-functional teams needing visual workflows | $0 to $19/user/month and custom enterprise plan |
| Jira | Highly customizable workflows, vast marketplace and integration ecosystem | Enterprise or software oriented dev teams | Tiered pricing from $0 to $17.27/user/month (minimum 801 users for top plan) |
| Click-Up | All-in-one workspace, advanced automation capabilities | Growing teams looking for a flexible platform | $0 to $12/user/month and custom enterprise plan |
| Asana | Clean interface, timeline and goal tracking | Cross-functional SMB or mid-size teams | $0 to $24.99/user/month and custom enterprise plan |
| Trello | Simple Kanban boards, quick setup, easy to use power-ups (integrations) | Small teams or lightweight projects | $0 to $17.50/user/month (minimum 50 users for top plan) |
1. Zoho Sprints: Streamlined Agile for teams of any size
Zoho Sprints is built from the ground up with teams that live and breathe Agile in mind. Unlike a lot of other tools in the market that are general project management tools with certain Agile implementations, Zoho Sprints is completely built around core Agile features and processes. For starters, Sprints is equipped with both Scrum and Kanban setups that covers both of the most widely adopted Agile methodologies. It comes built in with all the Agile essential modules and extended components as well like release management, budget management and OKRs without the necessity of purchasing or enabling additional extensions.
Another strong differentiator for Zoho Sprints that makes it one of the best Agile project management tools in the market is its dashboards and reporting capabilities. Beyond the usual burndown, burnup, CFD charts, etc., Sprints offers in-depth progress dashboards at the artifact level as well. You get dedicated dashboards for tracking the progress of sprints, epics, releases, projects and even for users belonging to a particular project. Keeping up with current times, Sprints is also an AI powered Agile Project Management tool with a plethora of agile-centric AI features built into the platform.
What really sets Zoho Sprints apart is its simplicity and freedom of operation. While other tools tend to over complicate things by adding too many implementations, Sprints focuses on the fundamentals and does so extremely well. This enables Zoho Sprints to be used as a versatile and effective Agile project management tool irrespective of the size or scale of the organization.
Pricing Plans (billed annually)
- Free: $0
- Starter: $1/user/month
- Elite: $2.5/user/month
- Premier: $5/user/month
- Enterprise: $7.5/user/month
"I've been using Zoho Sprints for managing my agile projects, and it has significantly improved my team's workflow. I especially appreciate the backlog management feature, which helps us prioritize tasks effectively. Real-time collaboration tools like comments and notifications keep everyone in the loop, ensuring smooth communication. Overall, Zoho Sprints has made project management more streamlined and efficient for my team."
-Santosh S.on G2
Experience Agile in its purest form
Access Zoho Sprints2. Monday.com: Visually rich Agile management for hybrid teams
Monday.com is a highly visual-oriented Agile project management software that blends Agile features with high degrees of customizability. Its interface consists of unique color-coded boards, timelines and charts that provide teams with an easy-to-understand real-time picture of progress across multiple projects. Monday.com supports Scrum, Kanban and even hybrid Agile frameworks.
The notable strength of Monday.com is its broad level of configurability. Teams can configure boards to mirror Agile workflows and integrate with connected tools such as Slack, GitHub, and Google Drive to sync data and trigger automated actions. Its dashboards consolidate data from multiple boards for a crystal clear overview of project progress.
Monday.com's flexibility certainly makes it an appealing choice for larger teams with cross-departmental dependencies but its out-of-the box Agile depth is still quite limited. But for teams that value a high degree of visual organization and being able to shape their own workflows, Monday.com still offers a very strong value proposition.
Pricing Plans (billed annually)
- Free: $0
- Basic: $9/user/month
- Standard: $12/user/month
- Pro: $19/user/month
- Enterprise: Customized pricing
"Overall, I have enjoyed my experience with Monday.com. As I am still getting used to the platform, I am noticing new features and ways to integrate the platform into my workspace. I like the customizable features that I am able to use. I wish there was a way to be more collaborative, specifically on a calendar. My role requires travel, and conferences. I would like for my team to be able to see what I am doing while I am on the road."
- Taylor O. on Capterra
3. Jira: Advanced dev-focused Agile for Enterprise level
Jira is a comprehensive and advanced Agile project management tool that is widely regarded as the go-to solution for software development teams operating on an enterprise scale. It is highly customizable in nature, allowing teams to define elements like workflows, issue types, and permissions that are unique to their specific processes.
Jira is the top Agile project management tool in the industry when it comes to external integrations. Atlassian, Jira's parent organization has over 8000 different applications in its marketplace that let you enhance Jira's prowess even further. It also seamlessly connects with tools like BitBucket and Confluence that are inherent within the Atlassian ecosystem itself.
While Jira is immensely powerful, its extensibility can prove to be quite overwhelming for smaller teams or non-technical users. Jira does depend on extensions for its versatility and those extensions can often be quite complicated and time-consuming to integrate. As a result, it works best for large scale projects with complex requirements where its deep configurability can be properly utilized.
Pricing Plans (billed annually)
- Free: $0
- Standard: Tiered pricing from $4.45/user/month (10000 users) to $7.5/user/month (10 users)
- Premium: Tiered pricing from $7.27/user/month (10000 users) to $15.41/user/month (10 users)
- Enterprise: Tiered pricing from $11.05/user/month (10000 users) to $17.27/user/month (801 users)
Also read: Jira vs Zoho Sprints
"Jira excels in project and task management, offering customizable workflows, robust reporting, and agile board functionality. It’s highly effective for team collaboration, keeping everyone aligned on deadlines and progress. The interface can feel overly complex for new users, and some features require a steep learning curve. Occasional performance lags occur with very large projects."
-Abraham E. on Capterra
4. ClickUp: Flexible all-in-one workspace
ClickUp is a more versatile project management platform that amalgamates Agile features with broad-scope work management. It is ideal for growing teams and mid-sized organizations that work on both Agile and non-Agile workflows. ClickUp supports both Scrum and Kanban boards, task lists, timelines, goal tracking and collaborative documents.
ClickUp's defining strength is the high degree of customization and automation that it offers. Teams can tailor task hierarchies, dashboards, and UI layouts to match their preferences. It allows the creation of multiple views, rule-based automations to handle repetitive actions, and management of complex task dependencies without relying on external tools.
The high level of adaptability that ClickUp offers makes it a great choice for organizations that forecast quick growth in the immediate future. While it may not be as development team focused as a tool like Jira, it makes up by offering a good balance between flexibility and structure.
Pricing Plans (billed annually)
- Free Forever: $0
- Unlimited: $7/user/month
- Business: $12/user/month
- Enterprise: Customized pricing
Also read: ClickUp vs Zoho Sprints
"I like the multitude of features, available even in the free version. The application directly on the desktop is also appreciable. The ability to create different spaces is handy if you manage different teams. The design of the application is sometimes old-school on some functions. Not everything is intuitive, and you need to be interested in the features to understand them."
-François M. on Capterra
5. Asana: Collaborative Agile for cross-functional teams
Asana is a project management tool that is best suited for cross-functional teams looking for extensive collaboration, visibility and alignment. Its visual boards, timelines and workflow features are constructed with a focus on making it really easy to track tasks, milestones and objectives.
Asana stands out with its goal and portfolio tracking capabilities. Teams can link tasks to their predefined goals, monitor their progress and make sure that everything is aligned with the broader organizational priorities. Customizable fields, task dependencies and automation rules further help maintain the consistency in workflow. Asana also has a workload management feature that lets scrum masters and managers balance resources effectively to prevent bottlenecks.
In terms of pure Agile functionality, Asana isn't up there with Zoho Sprints or Jira but its polished and clean interface makes it a very easily adoptable tool. It is well suited for SMBs and mid-sized organizations looking for a clear, visual, and structured Agile process without adding too many complexities.
Pricing Plans (billed annually)
- Personal: $0
- Starter: $10.99/user/month
- Advanced: $24.99/user/month
- Enterprise: Customized pricing
"Flexible, lightweight. It's quick to build a task and run through different screens. It's very easy to figure out. I like that it can connect with Slack. Sometimes it is not functional enough to accomplish my needs. Recurring tasks with subtasks in them never work properly. It can be a mix between too rigid vs too flexible."
-Megan L. on G2
4. ClickUp
ClickUp offers a flexible and highly customizable platform with AI-powered resource management and task automation. It uses AI for streamlined productivity across Agile boards, docs, and workflows. It’s built for flexibility, and supporting scrum, kanban, and hybrid teams in one unified platform.
- Drafts stories, tasks, and documentation with AI writing support.
- Summarizes stand-ups and sprint discussions automatically.
- Creates no-code automations for Agile workflows.
- Provides velocity forecasts and workload balancing insights.
6. Trello: Lightweight Agile for small teams and projects
Trello is a visual-focused, Kanban oriented Agile project management tool, often regarded as Jira's lightweight cousin. Its drag-and-drop boards, visual cards and list views allow teams to organize tasks quickly, track progress and maintain clarity.
Trello's most sought after feature is its effortlessly simplified Power-ups mechanism. Adding components like time tracking, reporting, file management and automation to a project can be done without a hint of complexity. Trello also has quite a few collaboration features as well such as comment threads, file attachments and alert notifications to keep participating members in alignment.
The major caveat when it comes to using Trello is also its biggest advantage, which is simplicity. It is definitely not a tool that will appease the requirements of enterprise level operations but in terms of startups, small businesses and teams that are new to Agile, Trello is a solid choice to consider.
Pricing Plans (billed annually)
- Free: $0
- Standard: $5/user/month
- Premium: $10/user/month
- Enterprise: From $7.38/user/month (5000 users) to $17.50/user/month (50 users) with customized pricing beyond 5000 users
"It is a nice and simple project management tool, dashboard visuals are nice and easy to understand. Board set up dont take too long and you can start working with team quite fast. Trello has its limits and not a good fit for the big projects. When you generate performance reports for the project, it doesnt go much in details also automations are not advanced if you're not paying for premium."
-Ravi V. on Software Advice
Top 5 features to look out for in Agile project management tools
1. Backlog Grooming and Sprint Management
Backlogs and Sprints lie at the very center of Agile execution. A well-structured backlog is the paramount first step of an Agile project. It is necessary to help teams capture, refine and prioritize the work items they'll be focusing on. Sprint management is the natural next step to ensure that these work items are executed in structured, time-boxed cycles. Together they form the dynamic duo that enables teams to maintain a continuous rhythm of delivery while adapting quickly to changing requirements.
Zoho Sprints comes equipped with a dedicated module for backlog and sprint management. It is the only tool in the market that allows for horizontal movement of work items from the product backlog to the sprint backlog for effective planning. Work items can be classified into three default categories (task, user story and bug) and you can also create custom work item types corresponding to your requirements.
2. Task Boards
A task board is the visual engine of an Agile workflow. Be it in a Scrum setup or Kanban, it gives teams a clear and comprehensible view of the work in progress. These boards display tasks across their lifecycle stages such as "To Do", "In Progress" and "Done," making identification of bottlenecks a breeze. Scrum boards are focused towards iterative delivery while Kanban boards prioritize continuous delivery. But the objective of both is to maintain focus by visualizing the movement of work.
Every team has their unique preference of working style and so, Zoho Sprints supports both, Scrum and Kanban projects each with their corresponding board layout. In the Scrum view, you can add custom work item statuses for better organization and clarity for your sprints. Both boards also support informative real-time dashboards for an in-depth analysis of progress.
3. Reporting and Analytics
Data is the new world's currency and this holds absolutely true in the context of Agile project management as well. Reporting and analytics features help teams track productivity, measure velocity and measure progress across work cycles. The most common Agile metrics include burnup charts, burndown charts, velocity charts and cumulative flow diagrams. These reports inculcate the crucial characteristic of transparency into the process and make Agile ceremonies like sprint retrospectives more fruitful.
Zoho Sprints comes equipped with a wide array of agile reporting tools. Analytics on Zoho Sprints is divided into two categories. The dedicated Reports module offers the conventional charts like the burnup-burndown, velocity and CFD. In addition, there are in-depth dashboards at the project level, module level (epics, releases, sprints, timesheets) and also at the user level for the highest levels of visibility and precision.
4. Collaboration and Communication
Healthy collaboration is the cornerstone of Agile. Effective communication is what facilitates this and it is crucial for teams to stay properly connected without getting pushed into silos. Features like comments, mentions, file sharing and activity feed keeps everyone on the same page while fostering transparency across participating departments. This cohesion boosts work efficiency and also strengthens the overall alignment of the team.
Agile-centric collaboration is also one of Zoho Sprints' strong suites. It has all the essentials such as comment sections on work items, dedicated sections for file uploads and a global view to monitor the activity stream and project feed. Sprints also comes with a dedicated Meetings module that lets you conduct both offline and online meetings (via the Zoho Meeting extension) for all the Agile ceremonies: stand-ups, reviews and retrospectives.
5. Integrations and Extensibility
Modern-day Agile teams require multiple tools for aspects like code management, documentation, communication and so on. This is where integrations come into the picture. A strong Agile project management tool should offer seamless and uncomplicated connections with these external systems for smooth flow of information across them. When implemented correctly, integrations contribute a great deal to amplify both productivity and consistency across the project lifecycle.
Unlike tools that rely heavily on external integrations, Zoho Sprints focuses on delivering a tightly-knit interconnected ecosystem covering everything from meetings to documentation. Sprints boasts of seamless and effortless native connectivity within the Zoho ecosystem with relevant tools like Zoho Projects, Zoho Analytics and Zoho WorkDrive. It also offers integrations with popular 3rd party applications in the Agile environment like GitHub, Jenkins, BitBucket, Zapier and more.
Zoho Sprints: The quintessential Agile project management tool
Agility is a lot more than just a framework, and an agile tool is the crucial catalyst that converts your ambitious efforts into tangible results.
That is the core philosophy behind Zoho Sprints: a lightweight, flexible tool that can be used equally well by teams large and small, industries IT and non-IT, and seasoned agilists as well as beginners.
Zoho Sprints ticks all the boxes when it comes to Agile essentials with dedicated modules all the way from backlog management and sprint planning to epics and release tracking in one cohesive platform. It functions as a scrum software as well as a kanban software so that you have the freedom to choose your approach based on your intricate preferences for each project you undertake. Beyond the fundamentals, Zoho Sprints also includes advanced capabilities like built-in OKR tracking tool, budget management, and robust collaboration features.
Change is the essence of agile and we've built Zoho Sprints in a way that it evolves with your team, your workflows and pace of growth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Agile project management tools are specialized software that help teams plan, execute, and track projects using the principles of Agile methodologies. They typically offer backlog management, sprint planning, task boards, reporting, and collaboration features.
Some of the best Agile project management tools include Zoho Sprints, Jira, Monday.com, ClickUp, Asana, and Trello. Each tool excels in different areas depending on team size, project complexity, and workflow needs
Key features include sprint and backlog management, visual task boards, reporting and analytics, team collaboration tools, and integrations with development and communication platforms.
Yes, Zoho Sprints is designed to support teams of all sizes, offering simplicity for small teams and startups while delivering advanced modules like OKRs, release tracking, and dashboards for enterprise needs.
Scrum uses time-boxed sprints and ceremonies such as standups and retrospectives, while Kanban focuses on continuous delivery using WIP limits and visual boards. Many tools, including Zoho Sprints, support both approaches.