Bug tracking software is a must for any software development companies. Software with bugs is not useful and will frustrate users. A bug tracking tool allows organizations to record defects against the software in an efficient manner and report these bugs to developers in order to get them fixed. There are many bug tracking tools which you can learn about in our article.
You are not alone who is confused about software testing. Whether you are a newbie in the industry of software testing or someone already registered, finding the most appropriate bug tracking tools will be something that interests you. You can never go wrong with free bug tracking tools .
Backlog
Backlog is the all-in-one online project management tool for task management, version control, and bug tracking. Bringing together the organizational benefits of project management with the power and convenience of code management, Backlog enhances team collaboration across organizations large and small. Plan work, track progress, and release code updates right in Backlog. Core features include subtasking, custom statuses, kanban-style boards, Gantt charts, burndown charts, Git & SVN, and wikis.
Backlog is the all-in-one online project management tool for task management, version control, and bug tracking. Bringing together the organizational benefits of project management with the power and convenience of code management, Backlog enhances team collaboration across organizations large and small. Plan work, track progress, and release code updates right in Backlog. Core features include subtasking, custom statuses, kanban-style boards, Gantt charts, burndown charts, Git & SVN, and wikis.
Best For
With project management, bug tracking, wikis, and Git rolled into one, easy-to-use platform, Backlog provides the powerful features development teams need under a clean UI that anyone can use.
Backlog Pricing Overview
Backlog pricing starts at $35.00 per feature, per month. There is a free version. Backlog offers a free trial.
trac
Trac is more than just a bug tracking tool. It’s an open source project management tool, wiki, and issue tracking system. Specifically designed for software development projects.
Trac describes itself as a minimalistic approach for web-based project management systems. It is minimalistic from a design perspective. Yes. But it definitely doesn’t lack any key features.
With Trac you can enable to create project roadmaps, milestones and you can even fully modify the issue reporting area to your needs. Since we’ve used trac over the last few years, we have an extensive experience with trac and it’s deep integration possibilities enable you to do a lot of great things.
However, I have to say that it probably takes quite some time to get a deep understanding of trac’s feature-rich interface.
Redmine
Similar to trac, Redmine is a web-based, open source bug tracking & project management tool. It also offers other project management related tools, such as time-tracking, wikis, calendars, and other reporting tools.
Therefore, Redmine is definitely more than just a bug tracking tool. Redmine is used by many web development teams around the world for managing their projects. With its features, it can easily be used for agile or scrum workflows.
From my perspective, it can also be an alternative to JIRA or to Microsoft Project, because it offers similar benefits.
If you want to take an in-depth look at Redmine, I’d recommend this article on how to get more out of your Redmine projects.
Bugfender
Bugfender is a bug tracking system. It helps you capture error logs in real-time even from remote users. This offers you a complete view of your application’s performance and helps you simulate the bug to see how it would affect different devices.
The tool also generates real-time crash reports so you can compare the bugs and the crashes they led to, side-by-side. This gives insight into the way in which the bug is impacting your software. Moreover, the tool allows for bug reporting from software users. This means that users of your mobile or desktop app can directly report a bug from within the app, helping you stay on top of the latest bugs.
The paid plans of Bugfender start at $34.8 per month billed yearly.
Bugzilla
Bugzilla is an open source bug tracking system and defect tracking tool. It assists with bug issue tracking, software issues, and any improvements that need to be made in the tool. The bug tracker keeps you updated on the status of bugs in your tool by generating a periodic or real-time bug report.
When you add a bug in the logs of Bugzilla, the system automatically scans your software for duplicate or similar bugs. This allows you to track more bugs in less time. You can also assign bugs to be fixed and keep track of the time it takes to fix a bug with the help of the time tracking feature.
Bugzilla is a completely free bug tracking tool and provides no upgrade options. However, since it’s open source, you can download the latest version of the tool when the latest updates are available online.
Zoho BugTracker
Zoho BugTracker is a free bug tracking solution. It helps you capture a comprehensive set of details required for defect management such as the status of the bug (whether it’s active or has been fixed), a description of the software bug, the team responsible for it, and the severity of its impact. Operating like an issue tracking system, you can also share these details with others by exporting them in a file format of your choice such as XLS or CSV.
Moreover, this bug reporting tool allows you to create a view of the bug based on the specific details you want to capture in your order of priority. For example, if you only want to capture the level of severity, name of the bug, and the timeline for fixing it, you can customize the fields and capture only these details. This allows you to record each bug differently based on the details required in each case.
The paid plans for Zoho BugTracker start at $3.34 (based on INR to USD exchange rate as of 19th July, 2021).
SpiraTeam
SpiraTeam is a turn-key Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) solution with completely integrated bug tracking functionality. SpiraTeam lets you manage your entire testing process from requirements to tests, bugs, and issues, with end-to-end traceability built in. SpiraTeam’s come with the following features out of the box:
- Automatic creation of new incidents during the test script execution.
- Fully customizable incident fields including statuses, priorities, defect types, and severities.
- Ability to link incidents (bugs) to other artifacts and incidents.
- Robust reporting, searching, and sorting, plus an Audit log tracking changes.
- Email notifications triggered by the customized workflow status changes.
- Ability to report issues and bugs via email.
OpenProject – Open-source Bug Tracking and Project Management
OpenProject Community is a free, open-source project management tool that can serve as a fantastic bug tracking software for your organization. Best of all, it offers unlimited users and unlimited projects.
Like Bugzilla it offers issue tracking and task management features to help programmers keep track of crucial bugs. These can be viewed in a Gantt chart view for better visualization. Time visualization can be color-coded and given different statues. Managers can see what is on time and what is in the correct development stage. They can also easily see what is coming up, allowing for better project planning.
Time-tracking features are also available, like in Bugzilla. In combination with the Gantt charts, this becomes more useful. Users and managers can allocate time more accurately. This prevents bottlenecks and improves efficiency in project development.
Cost tracking and product roadmaps allow developers to better manage both their time and money. This will allow them to more effectively keep track of many projects at once. Those using freelancer developers and consultants will appreciate this feature.
The user interface is far more friendly than an older tool like Bugzilla, though not as polished as a SaaS product from a vendor like Zoho. In summary, this software offers a strong host of project management and bug tracking features. OpenProject uses the benefits of open-source software to its advantage while staying accessible to more inexperienced users.
Jira – Reliable Bug Management From a PMS
Jira is definitely not a dedicated bug-tracking software but does the job well enough to earn a spot on this list. This software is for those with less tech experience, who want a trusted, easy-to-use system for a small team.
This software will offer a level of professional polish and user-friendliness to your bug tracking. The Jira engine offers a powerful way to organize the bug tracking and repair process. This is done through its issue creation system. Users fill out a ticket, with a description, severity level, images, and other important information.
Once created, these can be assigned to various team members based on urgency and user skill sets. Where Jira really shines is in the organization of this process. Both Kanban and Gantt chart views are available in the free version. There is a user cap of 10 users, and a file storage limitation of 2GB.
Jira also offers strong security and compliance features. SSO and active directory sync are included in the free version. Mobile device management works with dedicated app support for both iOS and Android devices. Management can require verification after a certain session time, further maximizing security.
Overall, Jira will probably offer a more organized project management experience, with the bug-tracking feature enabled, than many software on this list. It is less suited to real-time software collaboration. This is software if your bug-tracking is more of an organizational issue than a collaborative and programing one.
Conclusion:
Bug tracking is an essential part of any development cycle. Though most projects do not require a dedicated bug tracking software, without one your development can be hampered with unnecessary hassles. However, with so many bug monitoring tools available, it becomes practically impossible to pick the best one for your project.