You need your team to communicate efficiently and effectively. But not every team member can be in the same room at the same time. That’s where cloud-based project management software comes in with services like JIRA’s software. But if you want JIRA alternatives that can deliver the project management goods, there are plenty of options that can keep your project running smoothly as your team works in unison on a capable platform.

Why do people need cloud-based project management tools? The answers vary. Some teams require them because they’re working with remote workers across the world, and a project management platform is the only way to keep people on track. Others use them to simply organize a project’s mission and employ visual aids to track progress along the way. Whatever the needs, project management tools make very effective “hubs” for all activity and notes related to a central project, and that’s beneficial for everyone involved.

Atlassian JIRA software is an “issue and project management software” that has been seen a great tool for people who have large projects to work on. But as you can see in this Producteev Alternatives article, there’s more than one way to skin the proverbial cat. There are a number of software solutions that make project management much easier to handle for everyone involved—both managers and workers who handle their tasks on a remote basis.

You’ll notice that we’re using the “Small Teams” plans here to do a price comparison. Why is this? Because we want to make sure that there’s a consistent approach to each plan. Comparing a small team plan to a large team plan would show a completely different price, for example, when that might not be fair to the company providing a large team plan for what would otherwise look like a reasonable price. For the sake of consistency, we’re going to compare the plans as closely as those plans’ comparability allows.

The first comparison to be made is between JIRA and Craft.io, both of which are nimble and highly productive platforms. The key difference here is in price. Craft.io does have a “light” version, but at only three users available, many teams will find it’s difficult to swing this limitation. The problem? The next step up for Craft.io is to a $69/month version that allows only 10 users, which is somewhat less than the other comparable versions we found on other offerings here. There was not a satisfactory difference in the features of either program to justify this kind of price increase, so when it comes to this comparison, Cloud.io does indeed provide plenty of utility, but demands a lot when it comes down to the price.

Does that mean Cloud.io is worse? No. As an alternative to JIRA, especially for small teams, that entry version is actually quite powerful. The limitations on users are obvious, but for very small projects, Cloud.io remains a very strong alternative to JIRA that warrants consideration from anyone looking at limited alternatives for a lower cost.

Like Craft.io, Pipefy has a free version that’s available for up to five users, which makes it more attractive for small companies or freelancer types who have to use it on a limited basis. But that’s not the plan we’re concerned with here. The next highest plan, Professional, is just $9 per user monthly, recommended for 5 to 10 users. That’s about in line with what you’ll see everywhere else on this list, so there are no major surprises there.

And what do you get for all of that investment? You do get plenty of capability. There is advanced reporting and even guest users enabled on this platform, which means the ability of your business to stay nimble with its software will not be diminished in any way. There’s also regular chat support for using the program, which we often find helpful for new users who feel like they’re lost when using project management platforms for the first time. Though many users will undoubtedly be experienced at this point, it still is a nice safety blanket to have for the price.

Now let’s compare it to Blossom. Blossom’s software is professional and offers plenty of integrations—GitHub, Slack, etc.—that make it very enticing to anyone who already uses one of these services. If you are already “half” invested in a solution for your project management and simply want to upgrade your capabilities, Blossom is certainly a great JIRA Alternative worth checking out.

Next, let’s look at pricing. At $59/month billed annually for 15 members, it might seem like the “Company” plan is a little more expensive than the other options on this list. But that’s wrong. The truth is that Blossom isn’t charging on a per-user basis, which means those $59 will get you 15 members of capability. In turn, that means a much lower rate overall for the entire package, which should be enticing enough for anyone considering a lower-budget option to check out Blossom. (Side note: the “Startup” option is also very cheap, but for only 5 members, it might be worth checking out another one of the free options on this list for small amounts of users).

Mingle seeks to keep things simple by offering two basic services—Mingle and Mingle Plus. But you’d be surprised. There are definitely plenty of features to be had here, including configurable projects with easy to monitor workflow as well as chat conversations between team members that really makes remote working that much easier. One can see how Mingle would work to keep telecommuting employees in the loop. There is also GitHub integration here, which seems to be relatively standard across a range of platforms.

But good luck trying to find an accurate price on their site. Mingle seems so preoccupied with bringing people into its free trial that you would think there were better ways to find out about what they wanted to charge people long term. And with some reporting about $20 per user per month, you can see why they want to hook you in first—they have a higher price than other options on the market. Even so, it’s worth a free trial just to see if there is enough capability here to justify a higher price per user on the platform.

Active Collab also comes in on the better side of the price range, with $49/month for up to 15 users. That, in fact, may be one of the lowest prices on our list, which makes this a viable “budget” option for project managers who are working with about a dozen or so team members. And what do you get for that money? There is plenty of integration to keep tabs on everything in one place—invoicing, estimates, calendar, activity, user management, etc. Put it all together and you have a nimble piece of software that’s very easy to handle and wade through as you go about your daily work.

Is there anything glaring missing here? If there is, we can’t find it. This is one of those comparisons that really shows what’s possible out of a project management software—the prices are good, the features are healthy, and the overall utility is intuitive and simple. This makes a fantastic piece of software for anyone managing a remote team or even simply keeping people connect on the project of the day.