Using Commercial Scrum Tools for Free

If the development of open source Scrum tools was in vogue some years ago, a lot of these projects have now been abandoned. Some are still active, but this is because their development is sponsored by a commercial hosted option. There is however an alternative to manage your Agile software development projects if you have a low budget… and a small team. Some providers of commercial Scrum tools provide a free version of their software, often with some limitations.

Only Scrum tools that offer a long term free commercial product features are mentioned in this article, not the tools that have only a time-limited trial version. We also dot not include companies that claim to offer Scrum tools… with an interactive Gantt chart ;O) Free Scrum tools often come with some limitation, which are mainly the number of users or the number of projects that you can manage with the tools and naturally the support you can get. If you are however a small Agile team, mainly less than five developers, focused on the development of a single product, these limitations about the team or the product will not harm your Agile software development project. Be careful however in how much you invest in a “free” tool as we have noticed in our previous update (September 2018) the disappearance of many offers and a general trend toward limiting the number of users from the remaining vendors. This evolution continues (March 2019) as we have removed vendors that don’t offer free option anymore and updated several tools that mostly lower team size limits. For free tools that are not based on a commercial offer, please consult our article Free Online Scrum Tools. If you know a free tool that is missing from this list, please use the comments or the contact form to inform us.

Updates
November 20 2023:
* removed easyBacklog (service shut down on 30 September 2022, open source project still available), Herogami (not available anymore), Rally (pricing not available anymore)
* updated Rieter (now limited to 10 users), Taiga (now unlimited projects and users)
* added Orangescrum
May 23 2022:
* removed Agilefant (now Nektion, not available anymore), SprintGround (not available anymore), VersionOne (now Digital.ai, no pricing info available), Visual Studio/GitHub Codespaces
* updated ScrumFast (now to 15 users), Taiga (now to 15 users, 3 projects), YouTrack (now 10 users), Zoho Sprints (now only 3 users/projects)
* added GoodDay
April 6 2021:
* removed Scrumy (offline since at least October 2020)
* updated Flying Donut (now 10 users instead of 3), Riter (now 10 users instead of unlimited), YouTrack (now 10 users instead of 3)
* added PineStem, Planigle, Scrumfast
October 10 2020:
* removed ScrumHalf (no longer free and only in Portuguese), ScrumTool (no longer available), ScrumTotal (no longer available), Silver Catalyst (no longer available), VivifyScrum (no more free plan), TaskScrum (no longer available)
* updated Taiga (now only 3 users allowed), Visual Studio Online is now Visual Studio/GitHub Codespaces, Zoho Sprints (now 5 users, 5 projects versus 3 & 2)
* added Pivotal Tracker, Backlog.com
January 7 2020:
* removed Thoughtworks Mingle (no longer available)
* added Atlassian Jira, Broadcom Rally Software, TTB
March 19 2019:
* removed ScrumDo, TargetProcess, Z-Stream (Zamic)
* updated Herogami, Riter, VersionOne, YouTrack, Zoho
September 3 2018:
* added Riter (beta), Z-Stream
* removed TinyPM
* updated Hansoft, Herogami
April 3 2018:
* added Krosswall , ScrumTotal
November 13 2017:
* added Scrumdo, SprintGround, Taiga, Zoho Sprints
* removed ProjectCards, Rational Team Concert, ScrumDesk (desktop), AgileWrap, Bright Green Projects, QuickScrum, Rally, ScrumNinja, Sprint.ly, Uzility
* updated ScrumDesk (hosted), Agilefant, Hansoft (moved to desktop), Herogami, iceScrum, ScrumHalf, ScrumTool, VivifyScrum
October 12 2015: added Visual Studio Online
August 24 2015: added ScrumDesk
June 17 2015: updated IceScrum
June 9 2015: added VivifyScrum
January 5 2015: added Uzility, removed ScrumDo
August 26 2014: added Herogami, Mingle, YouTrack
May 23 2014: ScrumHalf
May 12 2014: added Agilefant
May 5 2014: added QuickScrum
February 4 2014: added Sprint.ly and easyBacklog
November 21 2013: added Flying Donut, Hansoft and Yodiz

This article presents a list of commercial tools for Scrum that are available for free. We have divided this list into two categories: the tools that you can install on your own hardware infrastructure and the tools that provides Scrum features as a hosted service that distributed teams can share. Tools that propose only a free trial limited in time are not included in this list. Although the information below has verified when the article was written, the free availability of the tools may vary according to vendor policy. Do not hesitate to contact us to add additional free commercial Scrum tools to this list or to communicate modifications in the information listed below. The tools are listed in alphabetical order. If you know a Scrum tool that is missing from this list, please use the contact form and we will add it in a next update.

Local / Desktop Tools

Hansoft

Hansoft is an Agile project management tool that has been aquired by Perforce. It supports both Scrum and Kanban. The feature set of Hansoft spans over agile ALM (Application Lifecycle Management), PPM (Product portfolio and program management) and Social collaboration. Hansoft has both on-premise and cloud deployment options. The desktop tool woks on Windows and Mac OS.
Limitations: 5 users
Web: https://www.perforce.com/products/hansoft

Hosted Tools

Acunote

Acunote is a project management and Scrum tool that provides powerful analytics for data-driven project management.
Limitations: 5 users
Web: https://www.acunote.com/

Backlog.com

Backlog.com is an Agile ALM solution that provides project management, bug tracking, version control and team collaboration features. You can visualize and prioritize work using Kanban-style boards and Gantt charts. You can use burndown charts to compare planned, completed, and remaining work. It offers Slack and Jenkins integration.
Limitations: 10 users, 1 project
Web: https://backlog.com/

Flying Donut

Flying Donut is a powerful, simple, effective, Scrum software. You don’t need to adapt your implementation of Scrum to use Flying Donut. Flying Donut can easily be used by any Scrum team, with no configuration.
Limitations: 10 users, 1 private project
Web: https://www.flying-donut.com/

GoodDay

GoodDay is an online work management platform that brings together the tools for high-level planning, project and product management, task organization and productivity growth based on transparency, agility, and motivation. GoodDay provides features to power the Agile development process, with features that support Scrum, Kanban, XP, Lean out of the box and limitless customization possibilities. From release planning to advanced features for effective backlog and sprint management, to analytics and reporting, GoodDay helps manage the entire Agile development lifecycle with full transparency.
Agile out of the box Advanced Kanban board Backlog Management Sprint Management
Limitations: 15 users, 1 GB storage
Web: https://www.goodday.work/

iceScrum

iceScrum Cloud is the commercial version of the standalone open source Scrum tool iceScrum. This agile project management tool allows to manage the product backlog, releases and sprints with a visual taskboard. It offers also integration with the Jenkins continuous tool and various bug trackers.
Limitations: 3 user, 1 project, 3 apps, limited storage
Web: https://www.icescrum.com/

Jira

Jira Software is an online Agile planning and tracking tool created by Atlassion. Jira allows to create user stories and issues, plan sprints, and distribute tasks across your software team. You can also prioritize and discuss your team’s work in full context with complete visibility with Scrum and Kanban boards.
Limitations: up to 10 users, limited features
Web: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira

Krosswall

Krosswall is an online Agile project management tool for all type of projects. Scrum and Kanban wall/board are an integral part of the tool. Krosswall handles the synchronization between story/task walls, all statistics are updated fully at all times.
Limitations: 1 project, limited features
Web: https://www.krosswall.com/

Orangescrum

Orangescrum is an open source scrum tool that you can also use from a cloud platform. It aims to elevate agile management with tools that encourage iterative development, constant feedback, and continuous improvement. Its backlog management solutions empower you to prioritise tasks, collaborate seamlessly, and keep your project backlog organised and optimised for maximum productivity. The tool provides also a Kanban board. You can get real-time updates on your project development and team, and a complete view of your projects to plan your project workflows more effectively.

Limitations: 3 users
Web: https://www.orangescrum.com/

PineStem

PineStem is a project management tool that claims also to be an analytical suggestive tool. PineStem will track your sprint progress, it’ll inform you of the work left and whether you are meeting your daily targets taking into consideration the remaining tasks and bugs. Experience from the past is used to analyze the sprint performance and indicate possible overshoot of the sprint. PineStem offers also a Kanban board. PineStem mobile app, vailable for both Android & iOS platforms, provides the ability for the teams to be in constant touch with the project to receive and give updates on various project components.

Limitations: 10 users, 2 projects
Web: https://pinestem.com/

Pivotal Tracker

Pivotal Tracker is a commercial Agile project management tool that allows to have a shared view of team priorities. it provides a process that fosters collaboration, and dynamic tools to analyze progress of Scrum teams.
Limitations: 5 users, 5 projects
Web: https://www.pivotaltracker.com/

Planigle

Planigle is an Agile project management tool that aims to help you manage your backlog, your iterations and your releases. It is aimed to be a tool that could easily be used in iteration or release planning and that would not distract from the problem at hand: planning just as much as you need to and working through the plan.Another goal was to make the tool available to as large a group as possible. To allow for that group to contribute back based on their own experiences. Planigle is based on an open source tool.

Limitations: limited features
Web: https://www.planigle.com/

Riter

Riter is an online project management tools that applies artificial intelligence (AI) to project management. It provides intelligent sprint planning by analyzing developers habitual schedule, previous experience and accuracy in tasks estimation. Then Riter compares the load for a sprint with the team expected productivity to predict probable failures and warn you about them. Riter aims to be equally suitable for all types of companies, regardless of their team size, development methodologies and projects scales.
Limitations: unlimited projects, 10 users, Full API, up to 10 free connected bots
Web: https://riter.co/

TTB

TTB is smart and flexible visual tool which helps to build true Agile process in your company. It provides the clear vision of each aspect of the project statuses. You can prioritize the project items, estimate and start your first Scrum sprint or work using a Kanban flow. If you prefer a more classical approach or if your organization follows a hybrid project management approach, TTB can also automatically build Gantt Charts based on your team size, priorities, and ticket estimation. This is a real-time process, and the chart is instantly reshaped when you make changes in the project backlog or apply a filter. This feature allows you to get a visual picture of the upcoming development process, estimate the duration and problem areas, choose the optimal size and structure of the team. Moreover, TTB automatically tracks all the tickets progress and displays it on the same chart! This allows team members to focus on the most important tasks, track real progress and make necessary adjustments on the fly.
Limitations: up to 10 users
Web: https://www.agilettb.com/

ScrumDesk

ScrumDesk is an online Scrum project management tools for onsite or distributed teams to manage agile projects simply with an interactive task board that allows you to manage your backlog and to implement the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) approach.
Limitations: 4 users
Web: https://www.scrumdesk.com/

Scrumfast

Scrumfast is a free project management and scrum tool for small businesses, start-ups and personal projects. It has almost no bells and whistles, but because it’s so lean, the user interface is extremely clean and no training is required to get up and running. Integrations are also currently limited to Google SSO and Github, but it still may be a fine scrum tool for startups. API integration is also available by request.
Limitations: up to 15 users
Web: https://www.scrumfast.com

Taiga

Taiga is a project management platform for Agile developers, designers and project managers who want a beautiful tool that makes work truly enjoyable. It has both a open source version and a commercial hosted offering.
Limitations: limited support
Web: https://taiga.io/

Yodiz – Starter Edition

Yodiz is Agile Scrum tool and issue tracker. Yodiz has a large set of features with nice user experience. There are boards for Sprint, Releases and issues management. Prioritized Product Backlog and Epics are also available.
Limitations: 3 users, unlimited projects
Web: https://www.yodiz.com/

YouTrack

YouTrack is a software development tools that implement bug tracking and agile project management with support for both Scrum and Lean methodologies. It helps to manage your backlogs, create a number of sprints, group your tasks in swimlanes, move your tasks around the board, track progress and detect bottlenecks early and more.
Limitations: 10 users
Web: https://www.jetbrains.com/youtrack/

Zoho Sprints

Zoho Sprints is an online Agile software development tools that provides features to create user stories, add estimation points, stay on track with personalized scrum boards, and schedule your review and retrospective meetings from one place.
Limitations: 3 users, 3 projects, 500MB storage space
Web: https://www.zoho.eu/sprints/