10 Best Bug Tracking Tools Shortlist
The best bug tracking tools are vital for any QA team's success. It enables software testers and developers to identify and fix bugs before they reach users, ensuring the best possible customer experience.
Bug tracking tools offer a centralized location to record bugs, prioritize severity, and schedule resolution within a test management period. With a single view of all defects, QA teams can track bug trends and reference this information to improve the quality of future products.
With so many different bug trackers on the market, it can be difficult to know which one is right for you. This article will provide an overview of the best bug tracking tools available today. I'll cover features, pricing and usability to help you decide what suits your needs best.
What are Bug Tracking Tools?
Bug tracking software is a tool used by software development teams to identify, track, and manage bugs and issues in their software. It provides a systematic approach to bug management, allowing developers to prioritize and resolve issues efficiently.
Bug tracking software typically includes features such as bug reporting, issue tracking, collaboration, metrics and reporting, and integration with other tools in the software development process. It helps to improve collaboration, speed up bug resolution, enhance quality assurance, increase transparency, and provide better reporting.
How I Selected the Best Bug Tracking Tools
If you're wondering how I selected the best bug tracking tools, here's where I'll break it all down for you. First of all, I started with bug tracking tools that have high user reviews and satisfaction ratings. Then, using my experience in QA, I discerned what key criteria were most important for bug tracking tools and compared how each of them stacked up against the rest.
I empathize with how long it takes to source the right software for a job. I do this work so that you don't have to. I've been using and reviewing QA software for years so you can trust me to do the heavy lifting and compile all the facts you need to make your final decision.
If you have more general questions about bug tracking strategy, you can skip to our FAQ at the bottom of the page. Or, you can jump right to the best bug tracking tool overviews if you're ready to start comparing.
Selection Criteria
After careful consideration, I've determined that these are the most important criteria when selecting the best bug tracking tools. Here's a brief list outlining the whats and whys of my selection.
User Interface (UI):
The best bug tracking tools offer a clean, user-friendly interface that enables users to navigate comfortably. High-quality UI reduces the time it takes to onboard new users and track issues affecting your product.
Usability:
The QA process involves stakeholders with different levels of technical skill. Good usability helps everyone involved in software development collaborate within a bug tracking system easily.
Integrations:
An effective bug tracking system integrates with your existing software ecosystem. The platforms included on this list can integrate with widely-used project management apps, testing frameworks, and CI/CD tools.
Pricing:
The range of functionality offered by a bug tracking tool should reflect its cost. Ensure your software is worth the expense.
Overviews of The 10 Best Bug Tracking Tool Solutions
Here's a brief description of each bug tracking app to showcase their best use cases, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the user interface.
Jira Software
Best bug tracking software for Agile development
Jira is an issue-tracking and agile project management tool that helps software teams capture, assign, and prioritize bugs. QA teams can build custom workflows to keep track of status changes. Jira workflows are displayed in digital boards that capture the status and transitions of each task within a project.
Bug and development tasks can live in a single backlog in Jira, providing one source of truth for all issue types. Automated email notifications can help your team stay informed of each bug’s status changes.
Jira integrates with source code management tools like Bitbucket, enabling software engineers to fix bugs directly from a Jira ticket. GitHub, Jenkins, Slack, Asana, and Trello are a few of the more than 3,000 Jira integrations that help software teams manage the QA process.
Jira has a free plan for up to 10 users, with enterprise-level pricing available upon request. Businesses can try Jira with a 7-day free trial.
BugHerd
Best bug tracking software for website testing
BugHerd simplifies QA for everyone involved in the web development process. Whether an expert tester or a non-technical stakeholder, users can easily mark up web page elements with a simple point and click. Feedback is sent directly to Kanban-style task boards where developers can quickly act on bugs.
Visual feedback is the central feature of BugHerd. Users can pinpoint the exact location of bugs with the software’s drawing and tagging tools. QA and UAT feedback includes a screenshot or video, annotation, and metadata.
BugHerd supports integrations with Slack, GitHub, and WordPress. With the help of integration platforms like Zapier and Integromat, you can connect BugHerd to thousands of other tools.
Subscriptions start at $39 per month. Businesses can try BugHerd free for 14 days.
GitHub
Best free, lightweight bug tracking software
GitHub Issues is a bug tracking system available in all GitHub source code repositories. In addition to issue management, development teams can use GitHub to host discussions, process internal customer support requests, and submit documentation feedback. The tool’s template builder is a valuable feature for QA teams to set up standard forms for bug reporting and product feature requests.
QA teams can also share contributing guidelines that communicate their bug reporting workflow to stakeholders. You can easily share contributing guidelines by creating a document called CONTRIBUTING.md in the root of your GitHub repository. When a reporter creates a new issue, the system will deploy a pop-up message that directs them to the workflow document.
GitHub integrates with desktop graphical user interface (GUI) tools, including Atom and GitKraken, and project management systems.
A free basic plan is available for individuals and businesses. Users can subscribe to paid plans that start at $4/user/month to access advanced features.
zipBoard
Best bug tracking software for digital product teams
zipBoard is an easy-to-use bug tracking tool that helps you produce visual bug reports, collect user feedback, and measure how well you’re responding to bug reports over time. It's great for digital product agencies and software development teams, but it can be used on a variety of digital products—for example, you can use it in eLearning to get feedback from users taking your courses.
zipBoard’s core feature is the visual bug reporting feature, which helps capture bugs with screenshots and contextual information like browser, device (etc) where the bug was found. This feature also supports video feedback and gives users the ability to annotate with additional context. There's a user feedback (user testing) feature to allow users to flag problems, plus features to help you manage the work—track performance and time, and view bugs in Kanban or list views.
zipBoard has 3 main pricing plans: Team, Agency and Enterprise. Team is ideal for smaller teams that need quality software for quick reviews. Agency is best suited for agencies handling multiple projects, while Enterprise is perfect for those looking optimize their entire product testing and review processes.
LogRocket
Best for tracking bugs affecting front-end software development
LogRocket specializes in tracking defects that occur on the front-end. QA teams can review stack traces, Javascript errors, and console logs alongside session replays to pinpoint the root cause of defects and understand how they affect end-users. LogRocket reports quantify various aspects of customer engagement, like conversions and event interactions, enabling you to prioritize issues hindering product usage.
The platform’s front-end performance monitoring features track CPU and memory usage, page load times, and network speeds. Monitoring can take place at the individual user level or holistically. LogRocket also offers custom metrics that you can tailor to your product’s specific KPIs.
Integrations with Airbrake, Bugsnag, Google Analytics, and other product support and analytics tools are supported.
Pricing varies based on the number of monthly sessions your website receives. Paid subscriptions start at $99/month. Businesses can also start with a free 14-day trial.
The Bug Genie
Best enterprise-level bug tracking & project management
The Bug Genie is an open source tool designed to provide efficient and effective project management and issue tracking functionality. It comes with an easy-to-use web interface and is free for small teams.The Bug Genie comes with amazing features like search functionality that allows quick and efficient filtering, thus saving you the time of writing complex queries to retrieve information. In addition to filters and custom fields, Bug Genie provides powerful workflows with custom transition views. It also seamlessly supports agile processes like Scrum or Kanban.The Bug Genie is equipped to connect easily with existing source control systems, ranging from Github to private company repositories, to provide vital feedback activity like issue notifications and updates.Users can sign up for a free trial. However, Bug Genie is not free when self-hosted; users will have to pay for the paid version in those instances.
Bugzilla
Best open source bug tracking software
World leaders in technology, including Mozilla, trust Bugzilla to provide defect tracking, security, and workflow management for highly complex software environments. Installation isn’t complicated and can be performed on various operating systems, including Windows, Mac, and Linux. Administrators can also implement access controls for different departments within an organization.
Bugzilla is able to offer a large number of features and remain free of cost for all users. Its bug search capabilities range from a basic Google-like search to a more advanced system able to run time-based searches and other precise queries. Users can receive bug lists in multiple formats when searching, including CSV for importing into spreadsheets and printable reports containing each bug’s information.
Bugzilla integrates with Bonsai, CVS, Subversion, and Tinderbox.
BugHost
Best bug tracking software with auditing
BugHost is an easy-to-use bug tracking and project management company that operates globally, servicing thousands of companies in all major industrial sectors. This fully-featured bug software is designed for organizations of all sizes, ranging from SMBs to large-scale enterprises. Its online bug system features workflow management amongst other functionality like issue tracking, ticket management, backlog, and release management.
BugHost is equipped with an audit trail feature capable of marking project-wide defects instantaneously, along with providing reports on assigned bugs.BugHost provides real-time visibility with its dashboard for a comprehensive overview of both past and ongoing projects. Report and export features are available to extract data in CSV and XML formats. Pre-defined reports are also available with customizable search functionality. However, the end-to-end solution it offers is only compatible with the Windows operating system.
BugHost offers a 30-day free trial. It has five pricing plans, namely, Startup ($29 per month), Team ($59 per month), Syndicate ($99 per month), Corporate ($159 per month), and Enterprise (starting from $229 per month).
Bird Eats Bug
Best Chrome browser extension for bug tracking
Bird Eats Bug makes it easy for software development teams to screen record defects with minimal effort from a Chrome browser. The tool is a self-serve codeless solution perfect for non-technical stakeholders. Once you spot a bug, hit record, and the system will capture technical information in the background.
QA testers can auto-include supporting information like steps to reproduce bugs and technical logs in all defect reports. Equipped with this information, developers can get to the root of issues and debug faster.
Bird Eats Bug supports integrations with various tools, including Jira, Slack, GitHub, and Linear.
Paid plans start at $8/user/month, with custom pricing available upon request.
Katalon TestOps
Best bug tracking software with out-of-box CI/CD pipeline reports
Katalon TestOps is a cloud-based test planning, management, and execution tool with robust analytics capabilities. TestOps enables teams to minimize manual processes in test deployment, tool integration, and maintenance, making debugging and product delivery more efficient. Features like automatic load balancing and parallel execution help eliminate redundancies in test execution, leaving more time to fine-tune product quality.
Development teams can make informed product decisions based on AI-powered test reports and data visualizations. Real-time data tracking helps QA testers quickly detect bugs and provide instant feedback on code and test scripts. To maintain complete control of the CI/CD pipeline, stakeholders can receive custom email alerts based on predefined data thresholds.
TestOps easily integrates with testing frameworks like Mocha and JUnit with no coding required. QA teams can also sync with test environments like CircleCI and Kubernetes.
TestOps is free for up to 2,000 test executions per month. Paid subscriptions start at $102/month with a free trial available.
Need expert help selecting the right Bug Tracking Software?
We’ve joined up with Crozdesk.com to give all our readers (yes, you!) access to Crozdesk’s software advisors. Just use the form below to share your needs, and they will contact you at no cost or commitment. You will then be matched and connected to a shortlist of vendors that best fit your company, and you can access exclusive software discounts!
10 Best Bug Tracking Software In 2023 Summary
Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jira Software Best bug tracking software for Agile development | 7-day free trial | $10/user/month | Visit Website |
2 | BugHerd Best bug tracking software for website testing | 14 Days Free Trial | $39/month | Visit Website |
3 | GitHub Best free, lightweight bug tracking software | Free plan available | $4/user/month | Visit Website |
4 | zipBoard Best bug tracking software for digital product teams | A free 15-day trial for all plans is available, with no credit card required. | Contact zipBoard’s sales team directly for pricing of their three subscription packages. | Visit Website |
5 | LogRocket Best for tracking bugs affecting front-end software development | 14 Days Free Trial | $99/month | Visit Website |
6 | The Bug Genie Best enterprise-level bug tracking & project management | Not available | Visit Website | |
7 | Bugzilla Best open source bug tracking software | Not available | Free to use | Visit Website |
8 | BugHost Best bug tracking software with auditing | 30 Days Free Trial | $29/month | Visit Website |
9 | Bird Eats Bug Best Chrome browser extension for bug tracking | Not available | $8/user/month | Visit Website |
10 | Katalon TestOps Best bug tracking software with out-of-box CI/CD pipeline reports | Free Trial | $102/month | Visit Website |
Other Bug Tracking Software
Here are a few more bug tracking tools that didn't make the top list.
- monday.com
Best bug tracking templates & tracking
- ClickUp
Best bug tracking software for customizability
- Kualitee
Best bug tracking software for ease-of-use
- aqua ALM
Best bug tracking software with scalable test coverage
- QA Wolf
Best bug tracking outsourcing option
- Backlog
Issue tracker with a sleek user interface that makes implementation and daily bug tracking straightforward
- Marker.io
Visual defect tracking tool that allows users to identify, annotate, and report bugs with just a few clicks
- Redmine
Open-source project management software tool with cross-platform and cross-database support for its bugs tracking tool
- Trac
Wiki and issue tracking system offering minimalist approach to software project managemen
- Userback
Delivers bug reports with detailed client-side errors and log information captured in real-time
- Mantis Bug Tracker
open source bug tracking solution Built on PHP and supports Linux, Windows, and macOS
- SpiraTeam
End-to-end bugs tracking tool that manages the entire software testing lifecycle
- Mantis
Free and open-source bug tracking tool with additional generic issue tracking and project management configurations
- Airbrake
Bug reporting solution for small to mid-sized teams
- Zoho Bug Tracker
Submit, track, and fix bugs with the help of automation and numerous software customizations
People Also Ask
I wanted to get a jump on a few common questions that are top of mind as I write this article. Here are the most frequently asked questions related to bug tracking tools to help get you oriented:
What is a Bug in Software?
What are the Benefits of Bug Tracking Tools?
What are Key Features of Bug Tracking Tools?
What Other Bug and Issue Management Resources Do You Need to have?
Don't Let the Bugs Fester
Effective bug tracking software helps development teams build better products, which leads to more satisfied customers. With the top ten list, you can find a tool that fits your team's skill level and workflow needs.
Dive into more defect tracking tools on our website and sign up for The QA Lead newsletter to stay up to date on the latest software testing tools and practices.
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