The Best Agile Tools for Product Management (2024)
As we’re approaching the end of the year, it’s the perfect time to reflect on your dev team's processes, successes, and opportunities from 2024. It's also a good time to start evaluating new and tools to help your teams work and collaborate more efficiently.
Whether you're looking to streamline workflows or improve tracking, software is worth considering.
To help you sift through the wealth of Agile product management tools on the market, we've compiled a list featuring the most popular this year. These Agile tools have emerged in 2024 as the best solutions, each with its unique capabilities, to transform your team's productivity in 2025.
Why use Agile methodologies in product management?
Agile product management software and methodologies are must-haves in any environment. They help teams break down stages and processes into manageable tasks, ensuring the final deliverable meets the core objectives.
Agile methodologies bring accountability and transparency to the process. They can:
- Reduce risks, thanks to early problem-solving
- Make it easy to adapt to changes
- Enable daily collaboration
Without Agile methodologies, you can easily lose sight of the stages, elements, and issues within your lifecycle. They will help you keep to deadlines, communicate critical project details, and troubleshoot in real time.
Teams love Agile product management tools because they can tackle "eating the whale" one bite at a time. Companies appreciate the improved quality of the end product and controllable budgeting these tools provide.
Types of Agile product management methodologies
There are different kinds of Agile product management tools. Explore these to find the right-fit for your team and project.
Scrum
is a framework that follows certain principles with a set of tools that allow teams to self-organize to move product development forward.
This is the most popular methodology in Agile product management, and it’s ideal for helping teams spot issues and early development threats. It's the best strategy for product development projects that call for flexibility.
Kanban
The ultimate task management method, breaks down projects into itemized to-do lists for your teams. Enjoy full transparency with "to do," "doing," and "done" workstreams to document every stage of development.
Extreme programming (XP)
When your project calls for simplicity and speed, is the way to go. It’s a highly disciplined framework that focuses on smaller deliverables with minimal overhead.
This method allows for shorter development cycles and far less documentation.
Adaptive project framework (APF)
APF focuses on adapting to changing environments and continuous learning as the project evolves. Software development teams often lean into this Agile methodology because it helps to validate ideas in a continuously flexible process.
Since software development typically requires ongoing validation and testing, APF is a winning method to manage the process.
Best 11 Agile tools for product management in 2024
If you want your product management teams to be as efficient as possible, empower them with the best . This year, these 11 Agile products have emerged as top picks.
1. Jira
Jira is a popular Agile product management tool because it offers backlog management templates, tools, and roadmap prioritization. Jira is also efficient in task management and collaboration.
Jira is free for up to ten users and is a great tool for scaling business models.
Best for: Large teams; scalable for growing teams.
2. ClickUp
ClickUp is a product manager's dream with more than 1,000 templates, file sharing, project budgeting, and time-tracking capabilities. Use whiteboards to collaborate, manage workflows with Kanban boards, and share documents across various platforms.
The “Free Forever” plan includes unlimited tasks and sprint planning.
Best for: Small and medium teams, with flexibility for larger projects.
3. Mural
Mural is another popular Agile product management tool with its flexible visual platform, free online whiteboards, and mind-mapping templates.
Teams appreciate Mural for its integrations, including capabilities to work with:
- Jira
- GitHub
- Dropbox
- Google Drive
- Microsoft Teams
Sprint reviews are very collaborative, and sprint retrospectives allow for mapped-out feedback.
The free plan offers three murals and unlimited team users.
Best for: Small teams and cross-functional collaboration.
4. Businessmap (formerly Kanbanize)
Kanbanize, now Businessmap, is a unique portfolio management software and Agile tool based on the Kanban methodology. Explore product management dashboards, Kanban functions, workflow analytics, and various integrations.
Try the free trial before upgrading to various licensed plans.
Best for: Medium to large teams, especially those managing multiple portfolios.
5. GitHub
Imagine having an Agile tool that allows your teams to create, manage, share, and store their software coding developments. GitHub provides these functions and is also popular for its increased control, bug tracking, and continually adapting integrations.
Best for: Small to large development teams, especially those focused on code management.
6. Monday.com
Monday.com is another favorite, especially due to its proprietary board system, perfect for scrum planning, sprints, task management, and bug detection. It's fully customizable with automations and whiteboards. It's free for individuals using its dashboard for tasks and projects.
Best for: Small teams; scalable for medium teams with customizable options.
7. Trello
If you love Kanban boards and have card-based task lists, Trello is your best Agile tool for product management. It's great for remote product management teams and small-scale projects. Explore the free plan before diving in further to choose from its suite of paid plans.
Best for: Small teams and individual projects.
8. Asana
Asana is a popular Agile solution, in part because of its broad menu of features. Your teams can:
- Use customizable boards
- Manage project timelines
- Establish custom fields
- Track launches
- Monitor
Enjoy automations and reporting with affordable monthly service plans.
Best for: Small to medium teams, with tools that can support larger organizations.
9. Smartsheet
Smartsheet offers various templates for Agile methodologies, including Agile backlog and sprint planning. It's a collaborator's dream tool with simplified task management, project planning, and resource management capabilities. It's free for single users and offers affordable monthly plans.
Best for: Small to medium teams, especially those requiring templates and resource management.
10. Wrike
Stay flexible and adaptable with Wrike as your Agile product management tool. Use available Kanban boards or Gantt charts, browse the library of templates for various use cases, and tap into its robust automation engine with commands like "when-then" to trigger actions.
Try it for free if your team is just getting started.
Best for: Medium to large teams, offering flexible options for Agile workflows.
11. Azure DevOps
Support a host of Agile methodologies with Azure DevOps. The Azure boards, Kanban boards, and sprint backlog allow for streamlined visualization of a project.
Customize your workflows, monitor team capacity, and integrate these processes with your Azure Active Directory.
If you have Microsoft's Visual Studio, you have free access to Azure DevOps.
Best for: Large teams, especially those already using Microsoft products.
Criteria for choosing Agile tools
It can be challenging to know which Agile methodologies to subscribe to and which tools to use.
If you're already using an Agile tool, evaluate its effectiveness and shortcomings to create a must-have features list in your search for a new Agile solution.
If you're not using an Agile tool, audit your needs now and anticipate what your requirements might be in the future.
Every project or product is unique, but here is a litmus test of criteria to consider before choosing your next suite of Agile tools:
- Your team size
- Team preferences and pain points in the process
- Workflow support you'll need
- Your ecosystem and integration requirements
- Ease of use
- Reporting and metrics capabilities
- Budget and price points (ROI)
In summary
When it comes to choosing Agile product management software, make an informed choice. Use this list to help you research and find the best for your teams and projects.
Recognize your needs, whether it's better tracking, streamlined workflows, transparent , or improved collaboration, and choose the ideal Agile tool based on these requirements.
Following these guidelines, you'll enjoy all the benefits of meeting deadlines, open communication, and delivering top-notch product management results in 2025.
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