Choosing the right issue and feature tracking tools to manage your software development lifecycle is important. It can be the difference between speed to market, budget savings and even boosting DevOps team morale. Whilst there are plenty of tools in the market, in this blog, we are going to focus on the two many companies prefer and two of the main products our customers ask for. We’ll also focus on the cost in this blog given many companies are looking to get the most bang for their buck. So, let’s dive into Atlassian Jira vs Azure DevOps tools, and discover if you are paying too much. Keep in mind that this research was done in November 2022, and each provider does change their offering from time to time. That includes both Azure and Jira pricing.
Jira Software Cloud vs Azure DevOps (ADO) Comparison
Is Jira Cloud Better Than Azure DevOps?
The comparison table above doesn’t really show the differences, or where one is better than the other. In short, they both have perks but they also have drawbacks. In fact, Azure DevOps is built specifically for software development teams to manage the end-to-end process. Comparatively, Atlassian Jira has a broader adoption meaning non-technical, or non-IT people can be more involved in day-to-day project management.
Jira Software Cloud vs Azure DevOps Cost
Both Jira and Azure are subscription-based models. Adopters can choose the best Jira vs Azure paid plan, or trial a free plan for initial capability testing. The costs for each depend upon the capabilities you’re looking for. The table below shows some of the details related to costs.
You can also add and remove users in Jira as your team changes. At the end of each monthly billing cycle, you will be billed for the following month’s subscription based on the exact number of Jira Software users you have.
Potential Hidden Jira Pricing And Costs
Within the free, standard and premium Jira pricing models, there are a few other additional cost considerations. For example, the below are additional costs you would need to account for:
1. Atlassian Access (SSO, SCIM, Active Directory Sync)
An Atlassian Access subscription enables centralized security and governance across all your Atlassian cloud products. Gain peace of mind with enterprise-grade security controls, including SAML single sign-on (SSO, User provisioning (SCIM), Active Directory sync, Organization audit log and Organization insights
2. Number of sites
Unless you have an enterprise subscription, you are limited to one site only. This may not be a huge issue for some organizations, but for large organizations that may have multiple cloud sites in use today, combining all of them into one solution can be an extra migration cost that was not expected. Storage
On the free plan, you receive 2GB of storage on Atlassian Jira Cloud. Comparatively, on the standard plan, you receive 250GB. Both the premium and enterprise solutions have unlimited storage.
3. Automatic Upgrade
When you exceed the user limit on the free plan, Atlassian will automatically upgrade you to a free trial of the standard plan. While no payment information is required for this to happen, it does mean you’ll have 7 days to make a decision on whether you need to recommit the budget or reduce user access to maintain your plan.
Potential Hidden Azure Pricing And Costs
While Azure does have a pricing calculator to help you identify your estimated costs, you do also need a thorough understanding of your needs because the service is usage-based. This will help you also estimate the additional charges you can expect from your Azure DevOps plan.
Additionally, if you are a “Microsoft shop” where you utilize other Microsoft software and services, ADO could be thrown in for free. This is obviously limited by the amount you already spend with Microsoft, but we have seen situations recently where ADO is provided at no costs. Here are some other areas to keep in mind when looking at ADO.
1. Determine/Audit ADO License Needs
Because Azure DevOps also has a “Stakeholder” license tier that’s free, you’ll want to ensure you know what features your team and others will need. The Stakeholder license tier can be a game changer when it comes to the costs of the system.
2. Visual Studio Subscriber
Ranging from $45 to $250/month for visual studio IDE, you’ll want to ensure you select the right type as licenses can become VERY expensive VERY quickly. As an active Visual Studio subscriber, you can use a range of features in Azure DevOps that are included with your subscription, but this means whoever is involved in the acquisition of ADO for you will need to have a full understanding of who is a developer and will be using Visual Studio, and who is not.
You can learn more about Visual Studio Subscriber license information with ADO here. You can learn more about Pricing for Azure DevOps here.
Conclusion
When it comes to deciding whether you should choose Jira vs DevOps, firstly, you need to have a deep understanding of your target team users. Are they specifically software developers? Or non-technical people too? Additionally, you need to consider the importance of accessing previous iterations. Also how you will manage unexpected costs and how many users or storage you need.
At SPK, we partner with both Atlassian and Microsoft. So, if you are struggling to decide which could be the best option for your business, we can provide you with impartial advice through a free, and no-obligation chat. Challenge our team today to find your team the right project management and DevOps tools.
