Bug tracking is one of the most critical stages in the software development lifecycle. It is crucial for software organizations to be able to capture, attract, and resolve bugs throughout the entire development process to release bug-free software. With software quality being the top priority for IT organizations, using defect tracking tools has become the new norm.
So in this article, we will discuss the 9 best defect management tools in detail and how they stack up against each other.
Table Of Contents
Why Should You Use Defect Tracking Tools?
While defects are unavoidable, the ability to identify them early and resolve them in time can rescue you from customer churn. But how would you ensure the tracking and management of these defects early in the development stage?
With the help of an efficient defect tracking tool!
Let’s take a look at some of the key benefits of using a defect tracking tool:
- Helps in delivering high-quality software products on time within a given budget
- Improves Return on Investment (ROI) by significantly reducing the cost of development
- Detects issues earlier in the development cycle and helps deeply analyze defect trends
- Facilitates better team collaboration, effective communication, teamwork, and connectivity
- Users don’t need any special training to be able to use the tool
- Supports a repository for documentation that can support troubleshooters or support the department.
Key Features of Defect Tracking Tools
Amongst all the different stages in a software development process, developers are more concerned about delivering quality software. Hence, defect tracking is crucial to improve the effectiveness of your software. There are many tools in the market that can help you easily track and manage critical defects.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the key features you need to look at in a defect tracking tool:
- An intuitive and flexible dashboard that allows users to view and customize all the defects in a project
- Seamless integration with other tools or modules of the software development lifecycle.
- Robust defect reporting capabilities with an advanced filtering mechanism
- Ability to define custom attributes of defects such as priority, frequency, severity, environment, etc.
- Automated notifications to notify team members whenever a defect is submitted or updated
What Are Defect Tracking Tools in Software Testing?
Let us look at a comparison table for a few defect-tracking tools:
| Defect Tracking Tool | Description | Target Audience | Pricing |
| JIRA | A versatile issue and project tracking tool renowned for its flexibility and customization options. Widely used for agile development and defect management. | Small to large teams, diverse project types. | Commercial, cloud-based, and on-premises options are available. |
| Bugzilla | This is a defect tracking system developed by Mozilla. It’s known for its robustness and flexibility. | Small to large teams, open-source projects. | Free (Open Source) |
| MantisBT | An open-source bug-tracking tool with a user-friendly interface and strong community support. | Small to medium teams, less complex projects. | Free (Open Source) |
| Redmine | This project management and defect tracking tool supports multiple projects and flexible issue tracking. | Small to medium teams, open-source projects. | Free (Open Source) |
| Azure DevOps | A set of development tools by Microsoft that includes defect tracking as part of its integrated suite of services. | Large enterprises, Microsoft shops. | Freemium (Basic features free, paid plans for additional features) |
| YouTrack | An issue tracker by JetBrains designed for agile teams, supporting both bug tracking and project management. | Small to medium teams, agile development.Commercial | Commercial |
| Asana | A project management tool that can be used for defect tracking with customizable workflows and task management features. | Small to medium teams, less complex projects. | Freemium (Basic features free, paid plans for additional features) |
| Trello | A visual collaboration tool that can be adapted for defect tracking through customizable boards and cards. | Small teams, simple defect tracking. | Freemium (Basic features free, paid plans for additional features) |
Read here guide on – Defect Tracking in Software Testing
9 Best Defect Tracking Tools
Check out our list of the 9 best software defect tracking tools.
Logrocket
LogRocket is a cloud-based logging and session-replay platform to help developers recreate user-reported issues and understand why they have occurred in the first place. It empowers software teams to create the ideal web and mobile product experience with session replay, error tracking, and product analytics.
How it works: LogRocket gathers user experience data from the web and mobile applications, identifies the critical issues, and shares it with engineering, product, and marketing teams. LogRocket’s session replay captures the bugs, giving developers an insight into the application’s state when the bug occurs. It significantly reduces the time going back and forth with the user to figure out what happened and lets you jump right into debugging.
The developers or testers use the replay sessions, analyze the network activity, inspect actions and maintain console logs for errors.
Backlog
Backlog is a cloud-based defect tracking and project management tool that can help you build, improve, and maintain your software. It is an ideal tool for teams searching for higher productivity, greater visibility, and seamless project tracking. The developers can leverage Backlog to work with Design, Marketing, and IT teams to release high-quality projects quickly.
Below are some of the key features of Backlog:
- Seamless defect tracking and management
- Greater visibility and transparency
- Streamlined communication
- Centralized repository
- Real-time updates
Many software teams have been using Backlog since 2006 to manage every aspect of the software development lifecycle, including defect tracking and management.
Bugzilla
Bugzilla is an open-source defect tracking tool that helps you identify critical issues related to your product. It lets you plan, organize, and release software as per your own teams’ schedule.
Here are some of the key features of Bugzilla:
- Advanced search system
- Email notifications controlled by personal user preferences
- File or modify bugs by email
- Time tracking for timely bug resolution
- Robust security to security vulnerabilities at bay
- Easy customization for bug statuses and resolutions
- Localized content based on supported languages
Bugzilla is easily understandable even for non-technical professionals and can be used for mobile application, desktop, and web application testing.
Mantisbt
MantisBT (Mantis Bug Tracker) is an open-source, web-based bug tracking solution used by IT teams to track defects in their applications.
Below are some of the main features of MantisBT:
- Send email notifications related to updates, comments, resolutions, etc., to the concerned stakeholders
- Provides access control at a project level
- Easy customizations as per your requirements
- Extensive Mobile support (iPhone, Android, and Windows phone platforms)
- An ever-expanding library of plugins to help you add custom functionalities
The process of logging a bug in Mantis is pretty straightforward and user-friendly. It allows you to easily modify bug templates by adding the Custom Fields in the bug template according to the requirements.
Rollbar
Rollbar is a cloud-based defect tracking and monitoring solution that empowers developers and testers to release better-quality code in less time. Not only does it help you identify and track defects, but it also improves your error resolution time, release velocity, customer experience, and deployment confidence.
Here are some of the key features of Rollbar:
- Lets you see and get notified of errors instantly
- Boosts signal-to-noise ratio with automatic grouping of similar errors
- Allows you to prioritize and triage an issue efficiently
- Provides critical data such as users impacted, severity level, location, browser, operating system, etc., for each occurrence of an error
- Gives all the data and context you need to debug an error, including stack trace, local variable values, HTTP request parameter values, associated deploys, and more
- Supports features that help you see all events leading up to an error to replicate and debug faster
Zoho Bugtracker
Zoho BugTracker is a simple, fast and scalable bug tracking tool that helps you manage bugs easily and deliver bug-free software quickly. It helps developers to automate bug management with customized business rules.
Here are some of the key features of Zoho BugTracker:
- Provides easy customization and automation of bug tracking and management
- Helps you manage all files in one place
- Gives each development team its own space to create modules
- Offers seamless integration with GitHub and Bitbucket
- User Role and Permissions
- Lets you automate workflows and SLAs
You can easily monitor the bugs with Zoho BugTracker, trigger critical announcements, and set priorities automatically with the help of customized workflows.
Trac
Trac is an open-source, web-based defect tracking solution written in Python and used by various organizations to identify and track bugs in their software development projects. It supports a wide range of platforms, such as Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, Windows, etc.
Below are some of the main features of Trac:
- Integrates with Perforce, Hudson, Jenkins, Buildbot, Bitten, and TortoiseSVN
- Lets you export your files in PDF, HTML, CSV, DOC, and XLS formats
- Supports a robust team collaboration
- Offers instant email and ticket alerts
- Set Scans to run hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly
- Supports multiple programming languages, including C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, Perl, PHP, ASP, Ruby, SQL, and XML
- Provides an overview of where your time is being spent
Redmine
Redmine is an open source issue tracking and project management tool written in Ruby language. The tool allows software professionals to manage multiple projects and issues that may arise during any phase of development.
Some of the main features of Redmine include:
- Supports a lot of plugins, making it customizable, flexible, and easy to learn
- Keeps track of multiple projects
- Easily customizable with templates, dashboards, and advanced settings
- Allows you to set different roles and permissions
- Helps track the time that has been spent on the issues
- Supports visual reporting using graphs and charts
- Lets users publish news related to the project or any other topic of their choice
Bugnet
BugNET is a free issue tracking and project management solution written in C# and ASP.NET. It comes with a regular version that is free to use and a pro version that is licensed and commercial.
Below are some of the key features of BugNET:
- Provides access to custom properties and fields, attachments, email notifications, and comments
- Seamlessly track the project workflow
- Helps customize the type, status, priority, and other attributes of the logged errors
- Reports defects via email
- Facilitates informative comments and descriptions through a text HTML editor
The main objective of BugNet is to keep the codebase clear and simple to ensure it is easy to deploy, well-documented, and scalable.
Other Defect Tracking Tools
Here are some additional defect tracking tools that you can look at while selecting one for your organization:
- BugHerd: BugHerd is a bug tracking and feedback collection tool for websites that lets QA teams report website bugs in seconds.
- FogBugz: FogBugz is a web-based defect tracking system that lets the agile teams plan, track and release software in less time.
- Katalon TestOps: Katalon TestOps is a leading test orchestration and reporting platform that aids with test management, planning, execution, and much more.
- Lighthouse: Lighthouse is a web-based issue tracking tool that helps you keep track of project development with ease.
- Userback: Userback is a cloud-based bug tracking and customer feedback collection platform that collects real-time feedback directly from websites.
Which Defect Tracking Tool Should You Choose?
As a software organization, you would not want to invest in multiple tools. Investing in one tool that perfectly matches all your requirements is enough.
Previously, developers and testers used to work in isolation. But, as more organizations adopt agile approaches, you should choose a tool that supports effective team collaboration and project management, in addition to robust defect tracking and reporting.
To cut a long story short, it’s all about maximizing your tool utilization and not going crazy with purchasing too many licenses!
Summary
Defect tracking allows IT organizations to handle defects effectively by ensuring that each and every bug is timely reported and resolved. I hope you have a clear understanding of the different defect tracking tools that are ruling the world and the role they play in improving the quality of any software.
So, manage your defects in the early stages of a project by using the right tool and significantly enhance the quality of your software deliveries.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Defect Management Tool?
A defect management tool is an application that lets the software development teams report and track the defects that occur during the development phase of the software projects.
It plays a pivotal role in ensuring each software or application goes through a thorough testing process before the final release so that the end users get a quality, bug-free product.
A defect management tool helps the QA teams in various ways, such as:
- Investigating the root causes behind a defect
- Determining an appropriate plan of action
- Ensuring a smooth collaboration with cross-functional teams
- Resolving the defects promptly
Is JIRA a Defect Tracking Tool?
We all know that Jira software is popularly known as a project management tool and has been widely used by many IT companies. But do you know that it was released back in 2003 with the intention of tracking and managing defects? With time, it expanded its features, enabling greater collaboration among teams and helping them plan and track all the critical aspects of the software development lifecycle.
Jira’s ecosystem of tools not only allows the QA team to seamlessly track and resolve defects but also allows them to collaborate easily with other teams, leveraging its deeply integrated toolset. Defect management in Jira is easy and efficient with its intuitive dashboard and wide range of libraries that capture >99% of errors and bugs in the software.
What Are the Benefits of Tracking Tools?
Releasing bug-free software is a real challenge for IT companies and hence defect tracking tools help these companies to track all the bugs at one centralized location with all the key information such as—who reported the bugs, who fixed them, what the priority is, and the time taken to fix.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the key benefits of using tracking tools:
- Real-time visibility into bug identification and resolution/progress
- Greater visibility and transparency with a centralized repository
- Easy to adapt and scale across the organization
- Better management of task monitoring and workload sharing
- Improves Return on Investment (ROI) due to reduced development cost
Is QC a Defect Tracking Tool?
QC, or Quality Center, is a leading web-based system that helps testers perform all quality-related activities, such as defect tracking, test management, and business process testing. It helps implement a robust quality management process leading to effective and cost-efficient deliveries.
QC’s defect management abilities help identify, track, manage, and enforce defect resolution. With its integrated development environment, you can easily integrate with tools like Jira to facilitate smooth team collaboration.
What is the Purpose of Defect Reporting?
Defect reporting plays an important part in maximizing the effectiveness of testing process. It helps the developers find defects easily and fix them early in the SDLC.
Here are different aspects of defect reporting that a tester needs to keep in mind while preparing a defect report:
- The defect report must clearly communicate the defects to the developer to ensure timely resolution.
- It must provide enough information to do a good analysis.
- The report should be self-explanatory and factually correct.
- It should help management evaluate the business risk associated with the defect—in terms of cost, brand image, or maintenance issues.
