Hey friend, bugs in your code got you down? Even experienced coders wrestle with bugs creeping into releases. The stress of discovering issues leads all too often to quick hacky fixes and tech debt accumulation.
There is a better way! Purpose-built bug trackers help developers gracefully handle issues through entire software lifecycles – from feature coding to post-production monitoring.
This guide will explore the top 11 tools available in 2023 tailored to developers across domains, team sizes, and budgets. I have personally evaluated dozens of trackers over my 15 years as a software architect for SaaS companies and distilled down the highest performers.
Let‘s first understand why defect tracking merits special attention before diving into the tools dominating today‘s agile landscapes.
Why Bug Tracking Deserves Dedicated Tools
We developers often underestimate the costs bugs impose on software businesses. Consider that:
- Companies lose an average of $5600 per hour of downtime from critical software failures.
- Over 80% of development time is spent identifying and fixing defects
- Poor testing and bug management accounts for over $270 billion in annual economic losses
Yikes! Without standardized tools and workflows, these costs and productivity drains spiral out of control.
This is where integrated bug trackers shine…
The Virtues of Great Bug Trackers
Bug trackers simplify life through:
- Centralized tracking – No more frantic Slack channels or endless email chains trying to coordinate fixes.
- Accountability & organization – Every member knows upcoming priorities and ownership.
- Continuous improvement – Analytics around defect-types and resolution guides future decisions.
- Efficient collaboration – Teams openly discuss defects as they write and review code.
Established players like Airbnb, HubSpot, Cisco, and Uber amplify delivery through purpose-built tracking tools.
Now that I have hopefully convinced you of the necessity for bug trackers, let‘s explore the top 11 tools available in 2023 based on research and first-hand experience.
What To Look For When Evaluating Trackers
Before diving into the solutions, I want to outline 5 key criteria modern teams analyze when selecting bug tracking tools:
➡️ Flexible Reporting
Can end-users easily submit structured reports including screenshots, session details, and repro steps?
➡️ Collaboration Tools
Does the platform help managers, developers, and quality engineers work together to fix defects faster?
➡️ Platform Integrations
How easily can teams integrate defect tracking with existing project management and software workflows?
➡️ Prioritization & Assignment
Can submitted bugs be triaged, tagged, ranked, and assigned owners through centralized workflows?
➡️ Analytics & Dashboards
Does the tool provide insights through trends, graphs, and reports to spot patterns and prevent future defects?
These capabilities allow modern teams to close defects faster while learning from monitoring post-deployment crashes.
Let‘s now drill into the 11 highest performing bug and issue trackers accumulating rave reviews in 2023!
The 11 Highest Rated Bug Tracking Tools
1. Zoho BugTracker
Zoho BugTracker simplifies tracking, assignment, and resolution workflows for lean engineering teams through its lightweight yet powerful interface. Developers at Visible, Kentico, and Contus champion BugTracker for its rapid time-to-value and intuitive UX.
Notable Features:
- 👷♀️ Customizable workflows
- 📈 Milestone tracking
- 📝 @Mention colleagues
- 🔧 REST API and Zapier integration
Pricing
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Free | Up to 3 users |
Standard | $10/month |
Enterprise | Custom Quoted |
2. monday.com
monday.com is the work OS loved by 200,000+ teams globally for its flexibility in tracking projects, bugs, backlogs, and executing repeatable processes. Fortune 500 leaders like WeWork, Discovery, Philips, leverage customized monday boards to standardize workflows.
Notable Features:
- 👓 Centralized Tracking
- ⚡️ Automatic Ticket Creation
- 🎯 Customizable Views
Pricing
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Basic | $8/seat/month |
Standard | $10/seat/month |
Pro | $16/seat/month |
14 day free trial available!
3. Bugyard
Bugyard simplifies reactive and exploratory testing through its uniquely intuitive in-app widgets for recording feedback during development cycles. Startups and agencies looking to build reliable web apps fast leverage Bugyard for its impressive collaboration capabilities with non-technical teams.
Notable Features:
- 👩💻 Annotated Screenshots
- 🕵️♂️ Device Metrics Tracking
- 💬 Comment Directly on Pages
Pricing
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Teams (5 users) | $39/month |
Business (15 users) | $99/month |
Enterprise | Custom |
4. BugHerd
The customer-loved BugHerd brings project management capabilities together with its best-in-class feedback widget for tracking requests. Development shops, e-commerce sites, and SaaS platforms leverage BugHerd for shipping stable apps users love.
Notable Features:
- 🧩 Jira, Trello, GitHub Integration
- 🎞️ Website Session Recorder
- ⬆️ Reply via Email
Pricing
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Startup | $29/month |
Professional | $69/month |
Enterprise | Custom |
Free 14 day trial available!
5. Marker.io
Marker.io empowers product teams to pinpoint hard-to-replicate defects through annotated screenshots, user session videos, console logs, and other metadata to accelerate resolutions.
Notable Features:
- 🎥 Screen and Camera Recording
- ☁️ Cloud Storage Integrations
- 🔗 Native Jira, Trello, GitHub Integrations
Pricing
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Starter | $49/month |
Business | $125/month |
Enterprise | Custom |
15-day free trial available!
6. DoneDone
DoneDone takes the complexity out of tracking defects through customizable templates tailored to modern software workflows. Founders, agencies, and engineers switching from makeshift workflows fall in love DoneDone‘s simplicity.
Notable Features:
- 📝 Custom Templates
- ⚙️ GitHub, Jira, Trello Integrations
- 👀 Real-time Progress Notifications
Pricing
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Basic | $7/month |
Business | $19/month |
Enterprise | Custom |
7. MantisBT
Self-hosted, open-source bug tracking solution MantisBT delights developers through endless customization including workflows, permissions, due dates, custom fields, reports and more. Over 10000 self-managed installations rely on MantisBT for affordable and extensible tracking.
Notable Features:
- ⚙️ Highly Customizable Fields
- 🛡️ Robust Access Controls
- 👪 Role-based Account Permissions
Pricing
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Self-Managed | Free |
Cloud Hosted | $4.95/month |
Stay in control by self-hosting MantisBT on your own infrastructure absolutely free!
8. Disbug
Disbug simplifies cross-team collaboration by capturing developer environment details, console output, network calls, unhandled exceptions, performance metrics, and user journeys through session replays. Support teams leverage Disbug‘s capabilities to resolve issues faster.
Notable Features:
- 🪲 Bug Auto-Capture
- ⌚️ Session Replay
- 📊 Performance Analytics
Pricing
Disbug offers custom quotes based on your team size and use case through their website.
9. Ruttl
Visually gather client website feedback across devices with Ruttl‘s chrome extension and impressive collaboration features purpose built for creative agencies and marketing teams approval cycles.
Notable Features:
- ✏️ Annotation Tools
- 💻 Cross-browser Testing
- 🎥 Click-through Recorder
Pricing
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Starter | $14/month |
Multiple Websites | $29/month |
Enterprise | Custom |
Free forever plan allows 1 website!
10. Backlog
Backlog brings project management together with configurable issue tracking for development teams looking to visualize assignments and progress in intuitive boards. Engineers praise Backlog‘s Jira parity and Git repository integration for efficient traceability.
Notable Features:
- 🧩 Native Git Integration
- 👓 Burndown Charts
- 👪 @Mention Teammates
Pricing
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Free | Up to 5 team members |
Standard | $35/month |
Enterprise | Custom |
Student and nonprofit discounts available!
11. Bird Eats Bug
Frustration-free bug reporting tailored for software teams – capture and log defects in seconds through annotated screenshots, session recordings, or manual entry. Bird Eats Bug delights engineers through integrations and templates accelerating root cause analysis.
Notable Features:
- 🖥️ Automatic Session Recording
- 📑 Descriptive Metadata Collection
- ✉️ New Issue Email Alerts
Pricing
Plan | Price |
---|---|
Starter | $39/year |
Standard | $99/year |
Enterprise | Custom |
Generous free version available!
Key Considerations When Selecting Trackers
With over a dozen compelling tools, how should developers narrow down options?
Team Size – Solo developers and small teams may gravitate towards simplicity with Zoho or DoneDone. Larger engineering teams will appreciate enterprise tools like Backlog and monday.com.
Platforms & Integrations – Programming languages, repository platforms, and existing tool stacks influence compatibility. Prioritize trackers covering your tech stack.
Budget – Luckily capable options span from fully free (MantisBT) to custom enterprise pricing. Define budgets before purchasing.
On-Premise vs SaaS – Self-hosted open-source options allow unlimited customization for advanced teams. Evaluate complexity vs convenience.
While core tracking capabilities like reporting, assignment, categorization, and analytics are standardized – differences manifest through integrations, dashboards, licensing, and supported development workflows.
Hopefully this guide and side-by-side comparisons help accelerate your tool selection journey! Now go and build incredible software loved by millions 🚀.
Questions on picking the right tracker? Reach out @softwareadam on Twitter!