Top 10 Agile Project Management Tools (Paid and Free) in 2025

Agile project management is a flexible and iterative approach to delivering projects that focuses on collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement.

In this post, we’ll talk about the top 10 agile project management software tools – their key features, pros/cons, use cases and user reviews.

As a bonus, we’ll share tips on choosing and implementing Agile tools. We’ll also discuss future trends.

Productive solves real-world challenges IT project managers face in Agile environments, such as managing evolving workflows, tracking project progress, and lack of effective collaboration.

Agile teams often struggle with staying aligned across sprints and maintaining task visibility while accurately tracking time —particularly when priorities shift frequently. Productive provides a centralized platform that keeps teams organized, informed, and on track throughout the Agile lifecycle.

It combines customizable project management tools, project planning, collaboration features, financial tracking, forecasting and automations into one seamless platform.

Productive is here to help Agile teams stay focused on delivery without losing sight of their budgets or resources.

Let’s talk about the features and how they boost Agile project management.

Productive has customizable project views (like Gantt, List, Table, Kanban Board, Calendar, Timeline, and Workload) so managers and team leads can choose a visual representation that best suits their workflow.

These views visualize tasks and timelines. For example, you can use folders as sprints and task lists as statuses.

Whether you’re tracking tasks with Kanban boards or managing dependencies with Gantt charts, these views adapt to the specific needs of Agile sprints.

Sprint progress management is straightforward in Productive; users can break down individual tasks into subtasks, assign statuses, and change colors to indicate progress.


In Productive, you can structure your teams’ work to mimic sprint workflows and maintain transparency throughout the project.

This approach to sprint management keeps the project milestones on track. No complexity added.

Good team collaboration reduces delays caused by miscommunication or lack of access to key information. Productive makes collaboration among team members easy.

Project collaboration features like shared documents, team task assignments, and a client portal ensure seamless communication between the team and external stakeholders.

Users can share real-time updates and keep everyone informed of changes without additional tools. Productive’s Docs feature now includes AI capabilities that improve writing, simplify language, generate summaries, and create action items.


Managers can use the new AI features in task summaries to generate concise overviews of tasks.

Productive’s advanced reporting capabilities help managers get detailed insights tailored to their team’s performance.

The platform’s customizable reports allow managers to create dashboards that track project progress, budget spend, and workload metrics.

These reporting features give project managers the essential data needed for iterative improvement of their agile approaches.

Productive forecasts anticipate resource needs, workload distribution, and future profits. This forecasting data is key to planning future sprints and identifying potential bottlenecks early on.

The forecasts generate predictive insights, ensuring teams operate efficiently throughout the project lifecycle.

Financial management is what makes Productive truly stand out in the tool list. Project managers can monitor budget spending, track project costs in real-time, and assess project profitability directly in the platform.

Productive’s billing features allow managers to generate invoices for specific tasks, expenses, projects, or work logs.  

This link between task management and financial oversight aligns project costs with Agile goals. Use Productive if you want your team to deliver value iteratively while staying within budget.

Productive’s automation capabilities allow teams to automate repetitive tasks, ensuring consistent and timely process execution.

For example, you can set up automations to assign default assignees to new tasks, set due dates on resolved tasks lacking them, or move tasks based on activity status.

The tool has customizable templates for various aspects of project management, including documents and budgets. You can also create templates from your projects and tasks to make your workflows more predictable and efficient.

Productive’s additional features like resource planning, task time estimates, and a built-in CRM are here to boost your Agile projects.


Resource planning will help you allocate work efficiently across sprints, while time estimates allow for more accurate workload planning and prioritization.  


The built-in CRM is particularly handy for maintaining relationships, aligning deliverables with client expectations, and gathering customer feedback.

Productive supports a wide range of integrations that streamline agile project management processes.


Productive integrates with Jira, enabling synchronized time tracking across both platforms. You can connect Jira projects with Productive, so the time logged in Jira is automatically reflected in Productive’s Time section.

Beyond Jira, Productive connects with tools like Slack, QuickBooks, Xero, and Zapier, facilitating smooth collaboration, efficient financial tracking, and workflow automation.


These integrations eliminate data silos, allowing teams to stay focused on iterative development while maintaining a unified system for communication, task management, and reporting.

Jira by Atlassian is the most popular project management tool designed specifically for large software development teams, offering robust features for Agile methodologies.

Integrations: Development Tools (such as Confluence, Bitbucket, GitHub, Slack, and more)

Pros: You can tailor workflows to fit methodologies like Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid approaches, ensuring the tool aligns perfectly with your team’s needs.

Cons: Some users state that Jira can be overly complex to set up and manage for smaller teams. Its extensive feature set, while powerful, often requires significant setup and management, which may overwhelm non-technical users.

Asana is a versatile popular tool suitable for teams of all sizes looking to efficiently manage tasks, projects, and workflows within an Agile framework. Asana helps teams organize, track, and manage work, focusing on improving collaboration and productivity.

Integrations: Jira, Slack, GitHub, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, Zoom, Zapier, and more.

Pros: Asana’s intuitive interface makes it an excellent choice for teams looking for a straightforward tool that manages tasks and workflows. The free version (available for up to 10 users) is a budget-friendly option for smaller Agile teams to get started.

Cons: Like some users stated – while the free plan is a great entry point, it lacks advanced reporting features that larger or more data-driven Agile teams might require. Compared to Jira, Asana doesn’t offer as many agile features.

SOURCE: Chris Stones, Strategic and Operations Director at Mitchell & Stones

Zoho Sprints is an agile management tool for small to medium-sized teams implementing Scrum or Agile methodologies (like detailed sprint planning).

Integrations: Zoho ecosystem tools, Slack, and GitHub.

Pros: Zoho Sprints has an intuitive interface ideal for Agile beginners, allowing teams to adopt the platform quickly without a steep learning curve. It’s particularly well-suited to provide the tools to manage backlogs, plan sprints, and track progress.

Cons: Zoho Sprints doesn’t scale well for larger organizations or enterprise-level Agile workflows. Additionally, some users on G2 mentioned that the tool has limited integration capabilities, which could be a drawback for teams relying on various software platforms to manage their projects.

ClickUp is a highly customizable project management tool with many views and features that users can adapt to Agile workflows.

Integrations: Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub, and more.

Pros: ClickUp is highly flexible and allows extensive customization. Agile teams can create custom workflows tailored to their preferences. The free version has solid basic features, making it very accessible for small teams on a budget.

Cons: The platform has a steeper learning curve for new users. Some users mentioned how the wide range of features can feel overwhelming. The automation features are also not that flexible.

SOURCE: CAPTERRA

Pivotal Tracker is an Agile project management tool tailored for software development teams. The tool focuses on collaborative development, sprint management, and real-time tracking.

Integrations: GitHub, Slack, Jenkins, and more.

Pros: Pivotal Tracker is a great fit for technical teams. Its user-friendly interface simplifies task and backlog management. Pivotal Tracker has a free plan that’s a great option for smaller teams or startups looking to adopt Agile methodologies.

Cons: The tool lacks advanced features, which may limit its appeal for larger or more complex projects. Some users state that the software lacks automation features and a non user-friendly UX.

Wrike is a versatile project management solution that combines tools for task management, collaboration, and reporting. Users often adapt to Agile workflows.

Integrations: Slack, Salesforce, Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, and more.

Pros: Wrike is very scalable, which makes it suitable for teams of any size or complexity. The tool has advanced analytics and reporting that provide managers with actionable insights. Wrike also has a free plan for small teams.

Cons: The platform can feel overwhelming for smaller teams due to its extensive feature set. Most advanced features are only available in paid plans, which may limit access for teams on a budget. Some users stated that the tool lacks the basics (eg. limited capability to format tables in a task, late notifications, etc.).

GitLab is a DevOps platform with built-in project management tools that integrate closely with version control and CI/CD pipelines. It is mainly used by DevOps teams, which require tight integration between project management and development workflows.

Integrations: Jira, Slack, GitHub, Jenkins, and more.

Pros: GitLab seamlessly integrates with DevOps pipelines, so it’s a natural fit for Agile development teams. Its most significant strength is managing codes and sprints in one platform. GitLab also has open-source options.

Cons: The platform is best suited for technical teams familiar with DevOps workflows. Some users stated that GitLab lacks fundamental features when comparing them with competitors.

Azure Boards is a powerful tool within Microsoft’s DevOps suite, offering Agile planning and tracking features tailored for large-scale projects. Azure Boards is a great choice for enterprises and teams already using Microsoft’s ecosystem.

Integrations: Microsoft Teams, GitHub, Slack, Jenkins, and more.

Pros: Microsoft Azure Boards has enterprise-grade scalability; it’s the best choice for large teams using Microsoft tools like Azure DevOps, Teams, and Office 365.

SOURCE: G2

Cons: The platform is best suited for teams already using Microsoft products, limiting its appeal to those outside the ecosystem. Smaller organizations may find the setup process complex and less intuitive.

Trello is a simple and visual project management tool that uses Kanban boards to help teams manage tasks and workflows efficiently. Trello is ideal for small teams or individuals seeking an easy-to-use Agile task management solution.

Integrations: Slack, Google Drive, Jira, Zapier, and more.

Pros: Trello offers a great free plan. Its highly visual interface, centered around Kanban boards, is intuitive and easy to use, even for teams new to Agile. Trello is particularly great for managing smaller Agile projects, where simplicity and quick task tracking are the primary goals.

Cons: Trello lacks comprehensive tools, analytics features, project discussions, and pre-built workflows. It’s not scalable and doesn’t work well when managing large-scale projects.

The ideal software should address your specific needs while offering flexibility for growth and scalability. Here’s a detailed checklist to guide your evaluation:

Agile tools must excel in core functionalities such as project task creation, backlog prioritization, sprint planning, and progress tracking. Reporting features should provide actionable insights into metrics like velocity and workload distribution.

Productive stands out with its customizable views, task management capabilities, and robust reporting tools, allowing teams to effectively tailor workflows and track project progress.

Your chosen software should include tools for team communication, document sharing, and external stakeholder involvement.

Productive enhances collaboration through shared documents, real-time task updates, and a client portal, ensuring that internal teams and clients remain aligned throughout the project lifecycle.

The software must be intuitive enough for team members to adopt quickly yet customizable to fit your unique workflows. Productive balances ease of use with extensive customization options, including Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and automated workflows. This adaptability makes it suitable for diverse teams and projects.

The ideal tool should align with your workflows, adapt to your project team’s evolving needs, and provide a strong return on investment.

Here’s a short list of the most important questions to keep in mind when you’re evaluating Agile PM software:

Is the Tool Scalable for Team Size and Project Complexity?

Your software should grow with your team. As your projects scale in size and complexity, the tool must accommodate increasing workloads, team members, and project dependencies.

Productive has features like resource planning and workload views that make managing projects of any size easy.

Does it Integrate Well with Existing Workflows?

Your tool of choice should seamlessly integrate with your team’s other tools. Keep your workflows connected. For example, Productive can sync its time tracking with Jira, Communication with Slack, billing with Xero, etc.

How Well Does it Support Agile Methodologies?

Your chosen software has to have features that support Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid methodology workflows. Besides the basics, like customizable views or task management, the software should incorporate reporting, time tracking, and billing.

What’s the Tool’s Cost and Value Proposition?

Look for tools combining project management, financial tracking, and collaboration in a single platform.

This all-in-one approach will get you the best value for money, not just in terms of the toolbox size but efficiency, data accuracy, and team utilization.

Implementing Agile project management software starts with setting up workflows and views. After this, you should show your team how to properly use the software to track project progress and actively collaborate. After the integration, start monitoring and (don’t stop) continuously adapting your framework.

Let’s break down each step:

Step 1: Set Up Workflows and Sprints

Configure your software to match your Agile framework. If you’re using Scrum, create backlogs and plan sprints; if Kanban, set up task boards to track work progress.

Productive simplifies this step with user-friendly templates and customizable views.

In Productive, it’s easy to structure tasks in folders and assign subtasks with statuses and priorities.

Step 2: Train the Team

Introduce your team to the new software through hands-on training. Show your team how each feature works and how to use it so everyone’s on the same page.

Productive has amazing support resources, including detailed help articles and guides, to ensure a smooth onboarding process for teams transitioning to Agile workflows. New customers can also get onboarding help or pay for a migration service.

Step 3: Monitor and Iterate

Once the software is live, watch its impact on team performance and project delivery. Gather actionable insights and adjust workflows to improve efficiency and alignment with Agile principles.

Agile methodologies prioritize iterative workflows and flexibility so teams can deliver faster, collaborate better, and adapt to workflow changes.

Agile frameworks break work into smaller parts called sprints, allowing teams to release functional deliverables faster. This workflow results in quicker time-to-market and early client feedback.

Agile encourages frequent communication among team members, stakeholders, and clients to align everyone with project goals. This approach uses daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives to open dialogues and project feedback loops.

Traditional project management often struggles with unexpected changes, Agile doesn’t. Agile frameworks are built to welcome evolving requirements, ensuring teams can pivot quickly to meet shifting priorities or market demands.

Tools like Productive simplify implementing Agile by centralizing workflows, automating repetitive tasks, and having customizable views like Kanban and Gantt charts.

These features align with Agile principles by keeping teams focused on what matters most—delivering value quickly and efficiently.

The biggest future trends shaping agile project management software are AI-powered project tracking, enhanced automation, more advanced analytics, and the development of better remote collaboration tools.

AI-Powered Project Tracking

AI tools can predict task delays, optimize resource allocation, and provide actionable insights into project performance. Productive already uses AI features that reduce manual effort by automating routine tasks like generating reports or updating stakeholders.

Enhanced Automation

Automated tools will handle repetitive tasks (like task assignments, notifications, and updating statuses). Productive already has automations that users can easily set up.

Advanced Analytics and Reporting

Data-driven decision-making is essential for Agile teams, and the demand for sophisticated analytics and reporting tools continues to grow. Future Agile software will offer deeper insights into team performance, sprint velocity, and workload balancing.

Productive’s customizable reporting features allow teams to track key metrics and adapt strategies based on real-time data.

Remote Collaboration Features

Remote work is the norm now, Agile tools will focus on improving collaboration across distributed teams. Enhanced communication platforms, shared task management, and integrated file-sharing capabilities will be vital.

Productive’s collaboration tools, such as shared documents and client portals, ensure seamless communication and alignment, making it a reliable solution for remote Agile teams.

Your top project management software solution depends on your team’s specific needs, size, and goals.

Each agile project tool on this list offers unique features tailored to different workflows. Before choosing the software, you need to evaluate what tool has features that align best with your Agile practices.

All tools discussed in the article have their strong sides, so the best choice depends on your team’s workflow, scalability needs, and budget.

If you’re looking for a tool that combines flexibility, advanced reporting, and financial management all in one, book a demo with Productive.

What are the 5 C’s of agile management?
The 5 C’s of Agile management are Communication, Collaboration, Commitment, Competence, and Continuous Improvement.

What is the best tool for agile?
The best tool for Agile depends on your needs. Jira stands out for its comprehensive tools, while Productive stands out for its centralized platform, financial tracking, and customizable views.

Is agile a project management tool?
No, Agile is a methodology, not a tool; it provides a framework for managing projects flexibly and iteratively.

Is Jira agile project management?
Yes, Jira is a tool designed for Agile project management, offering features like Scrum and Kanban boards, backlog management, and reporting.

What are the key features of Agile project management software?
The key features of Agile project management software are task and backlog management, sprint planning tools, processes, and project views that support Kanban and Scurm boards.

What are the Agile project management techniques?
The main Agile project management techniques include Scrum, Kanban, Lean, Extreme Programming (XP), and hybrid models.