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Pivotal Tracker

Pivotal Tracker

Overview

What is Pivotal Tracker?

Pivotal Tracker is a project management program primarily for software developers. It is built from the ground up to facilitate the agile development cycle, and is optimized for structuring projects in sprints, or “stories.” The solution is now owned and supported…

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Pivotal Tracker is a versatile project management tool that has found a wide range of use cases across various departments and …
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Pricing

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What is Pivotal Tracker?

Pivotal Tracker is a project management program primarily for software developers. It is built from the ground up to facilitate the agile development cycle, and is optimized for structuring projects in sprints, or “stories.” The solution is now owned and supported by VMware, and is part of the…

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttp://www.pivotaltracker.com/why…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Product Demos

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Product Details

What is Pivotal Tracker?

Pivotal Tracker is an agile project management program primarily for software developers. The software organizes projects into “stories,” the goal being to maintain momentum within and between “sprints” of a project within an agile development style. Pivotal Tracker is built to support the Agile development cycle from the ground up, enabling mid-project analysis and feedback based on current progress and development speeds. It also provides a shared priority system so everyone on a given project has visibility on progress and team members’ statuses. It also includes file sharing, project obstacle visibility, and a REST API for customizable integrations.

Pivotal Tracker Competitors

Pivotal Tracker Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Pivotal Tracker is a project management program primarily for software developers. It is built from the ground up to facilitate the agile development cycle, and is optimized for structuring projects in sprints, or “stories.” The solution is now owned and supported by VMware, and is part of the Pivotal / Tanzu product line up.

Jira Software and Asana are common alternatives for Pivotal Tracker.

Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 8.

The most common users of Pivotal Tracker are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(80)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Pivotal Tracker is a versatile project management tool that has found a wide range of use cases across various departments and organizations. Moffitt's Collaborative Data Services Core, for example, uses Pivotal Tracker to form realistic expectations about work completion based on the team's ongoing performance. Other departments at Moffitt employ this tool for bug tracking and as a shared team-level 'to-do' list. The graphics and technology department utilizes Pivotal Tracker to track their work tasks and ensure that no items are dropped or missed. Moreover, the support service team is exploring the expansion of Pivotal Tracker's usage to track additional client work.

In addition to its adoption within Moffitt, Pivotal Tracker is also utilized by agencies and software development teams to manage various projects. It facilitates the implementation of agile methodologies, such as scrum, and effectively manages backlogs and feature roadmaps. Integration with other applications like Slack, Git, Bugzilla, and Usersnap further enhance its functionality. By utilizing Pivotal Tracker, engineers, product managers, testers, and marketing teams collaborate seamlessly. The tool allows for task prioritization, backlog maintenance, progress tracking, and facilitates file sharing among marketing teams. Overall, Pivotal Tracker serves as an invaluable asset in project management for organizations of diverse sizes and industries.

Intuitive and Easy to Use User Interface: Reviewers have consistently praised Pivotal Tracker's user interface, with many stating that it is intuitive and easy to use. Some users have mentioned that they were able to quickly understand how to navigate the platform and create/manage projects efficiently.

Multi-User Assignment for Collaboration: Users highly value the multi-user assignment feature in Pivotal Tracker, as it allows them to assign tasks to multiple team members simultaneously. This functionality has been commended by reviewers for facilitating collaboration among team members and keeping everyone informed of progress.

Exporting Notes into Readable Excel Format: The history tracking and exporting feature in Pivotal Tracker has received praise from users who appreciate being able to easily export notes into a readable Excel format. This functionality helps streamline documentation submission and makes auditing time more efficient.

In-Story Task Management: Some users have expressed dissatisfaction with the in-story task management capabilities of Pivotal Tracker, stating that it is a weak point. They believe that the functionality could be greatly improved by adding features such as the ability to mention other users in tasks and mark tasks as 'in-progress'.

Lack of Epic Spanning and Parent-Child Story Relationship: Many reviewers have raised concerns about the fact that epics do not span projects in Pivotal Tracker, particularly when scaling agile methodology to multiple teams. This limitation also leads to confusion due to the lack of a concept of a 'parent' story with child stories that have split off from it.

Limited Customization Options for Categorization: Users desire more flexibility in categorizing stories beyond the default sections like backlog, ice box, and my work. They wish for the ability to create custom categories for better organization and classification of their stories.

Users commonly recommend the following for Pivotal Tracker:

  1. Users should take advantage of the free trial to ensure that it meets the organization's needs before making a purchasing decision. This allows them to fully explore the features and capabilities of the software and determine if it aligns with their project management requirements.

  2. It is recommended to utilize tools and tutorials provided by Pivotal Tracker to learn the software effectively. The platform offers resources such as user guides and documentation, which help users understand how to navigate the interface, set up projects, assign tasks, and track progress.

  3. Many users find Pivotal Tracker useful for managing complicated tasks with multiple people involved. The platform offers features that facilitate collaboration and coordination among team members, such as task assignment, progress tracking, and communication channels. This ensures that everyone stays on the same page and contributes effectively to project success.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-8 of 8)
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Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Pivotal tracker tool is Very easy to use and can be used for smaller and medium projects . In pivotal tracker the best is detailed tracking which is really helpful for me when i need to cross verify my work from previous months. Pivotal tracker allows us to keep track of every tasks, add notes anytime and update their status on time. Pivotal tracker is mainly Used for Agile project management.
  • It allows us to keep track of every tasks.
  • Pivotal tracker is very easy to use .
  • In pivotal tracker you can add the points to a task anytime.
  • Pivotal tracker is not a flexible tool.
  • In pivotal tracker doing Customisation is bit difficult.
  • In Pivotal tracker there is lack of Configurability.
The UI of the Pivotal tracker is really beautiful and amazing, which looks trivial, but we have it open all the time, so it's nice for us. In Pivotal tracker for me its very Easy to create tasks or stories anytime without facing any problems. Pivotal tracker provides us a ton of features to track the tasks and manage a team and the projects. Pivotal tracker allows for a entire team to be on the same page of the tool in regards to where is the project right now, right status of every task, what is being worked on and by whom.
Angela Goldsmith, PMP | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Pivotal Tracker to track the development and MIS teams' work and ongoing support of software and infrastructure they have built for the company across about a dozen projects/solutions. These solutions range from infrastructure, eCommerce, internal custom software, and mobile applications. We use it to track features, chores, and bugs for each of these areas. We have from time-to-time exposed it to external vendors for project collaboration and centralized project management of those projects. It is an excellent tool for keeping track of the work and being able to quickly prioritize work, check the status, and re-prioritize tasks based on changing requirements.
  • Project task tracking
  • Visibility of work
  • More project management features like Gantt Charts
  • More reporting
Pivotal Tracker is extremely easy to use. New users are able to learn the system and start using it on the same day. I could not manage the number of projects here without this system that gives me a great view of what is happening in each project. Features, chores (maintenance type tasks), and bugs are clearly identified so I can work with Product Owners to prioritize the work according to internal and external customer needs.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We used Pivotal Tracker in our company to maintain our product backlog as an agile project management tool. It was primarily used by our Product Development and IT team. It really helped us keep things organized and plan out our weekly sprints with a prioritized backlog.
  • It's great for tracking milestones and reporting team velocity per sprint.
  • Maintaining a prioritized backlog that is sharable with different members of your team is relatively simple.
  • There's a free version of the product for up to 3 collaborators working on 2 projects and the starting price for larger packages is relatively low.
  • Trackability of related stories is a little difficult and unclear unless they're in an epic. Establishing a hierarchical relationship between stories isn't an easy process.
  • Customization is difficult. Changing up/personalizing the milestones for projects isn't easy to achieve.
  • Reporting is still a little minimalistic and it would help to be able to take a deeper dive into our team's performance.
Pivotal Tracker is a great value for the money. If you're strapped for cash and have to work with smaller budgets, this is the right app for you. The support team is great and responsive and the product is easy to pick up and use for your team. It's great to have visibility on your product backlog.
January 17, 2018

Fun Scrum Software

Jeffrey Schneider | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We primarily use Pivotal Tracker (PT) for development of iOS, Android and web applications for our company. We work in regular sprints and each major application uses their own board for epics, icebox, stories and task management. It is maintained by our product lead.
  • Tasks are very easy to view and update. Adding descriptions, attachments and notes are very good for difficult tasks.
  • Subtasks are especially useful for our engineers as each task can be broken down into smaller steps.
  • Assigning and sharing tasks and the approval process is very good as each area QA's their specific task.
  • Prioritizing larger initiatives is very simple as they are constantly changing based on customers needs
  • I think it could use a bit more customization. It seems to want you to work in a very specific way and that does not work for all teams.
  • Approvals are great, but can use more of a QA process that can be implemented if needed.
  • Bugs are not counted as points, and sometimes we feel we are not getting a true velocity of our teams performance.
We have used JIRA in the past and switched to PT. We felt it was an easier setup and quicker learning curve for our engineers to start using immediately. We have a team of 12 devs and it is very simple to keep track of multiple teams and projects.
Andrew Barnett | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
It was used to track sprint progress in our development department. It seemed to serve its basic purpose for our needs but had some limitations in how we were able to break out our stories and progress.
  • It gives you a ton of features to track and manage a team and the projects
  • Having native apps for different devices make it much easier to track your project and keep up to date with your team
  • Notifications and color coding each task is very helpful when trying to quickly the state of the project tasks
  • The board does not seem to have an intuitive flow which can become strange
  • The learning curve is a little bit high for some one who does not have a lot of experience with boards like these
  • The flexibility can be great if you need it but confusing and cumbersome if you do not need it or have not used it
It is a great tool for a highly managed large team because of the high flexibility and number of tools available. If you are managing a small team that is very effective at communicating with each other it can be overkill.
January 11, 2016

Pivotal Tracker Review

Roy Maultasch | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Pivotal Tracker as a tool when building websites, applications, and mobile games for outside clients. It's used by our project managers to keep projects organized, and keep tabs on bugs and features. It's essential for QA since it allows for one streamlined process of registering, discussing, and ultimately, fixing the problem.
  • Clearly displays the status of a story, and clears up lines of communication on that front.
  • Allows for prioritization of features and bugs.
  • Allows for developers to estimate the difficulty and time needed for a story, so that project managers can adequately plan out sprints.
  • Used to have a newsfeed-type feature with all the updates from the previous day. They removed it. I liked getting a snapchat of what changed from before.
  • When signing up for email alerts, can be inundated with emails for every change to the status of a story.
  • Communication on stories through the comment section can be a little difficult, and not very organized.
I've enjoyed using Pivotal Tracker, and found it's great for QA and bug finding/fixing. When building something and implementing features, it's good at keeping track of the stories, but a lot of it's functionality isn't as useful. Overall, it's definitely a worthwhile addition to the building of many assorted projects.
Megan Kakitsubo | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
At my startup accelerator called rhubarb studios, I actively used Pivotal Tracker as a web developer. My team consisted of six people where four were developers including myself, one was a UX designer, and the last was our project manager. We had daily standups where the project manager would ask the team what stories can be up on deck. He would then formulate the story so the team could assign story points to them. Our project manage would further groom them and after they are ready, we would start picking them up. Pivotal Tracker was a favorite agile tool advocated by our CEO and as a result the entire company used it. Since the accelerator worked somewhat as a staffing firm where the company would assign developers to startup projects that come through our doors, multiple projects were going on at the same time where Pivotal Tracker was used. This tool was simple enough and had all the necessary functions to run each project using agile methodology. By everyone using the same tool, if a developer or a designer had to be pulled from one project to another they already knew exactly how to use the agile tools.
  • The use of columns makes it easier to see which stories belong to what place. I also like that you can customize which columns to display so that the it is easier to see what's important to you (e.g. current, backlog, icebox, my work etc.)
  • I like the colors the board used (grey, blue).
  • It is easy to upload pictures onto stories.
  • You do not have to change the page to make stories or update the descriptions. It can be done without proceeding to the next page.
  • This is good for a startup or small groups but if a bigger corporation has to use it, it is more difficult to keep all the data organized. I've seen organizations migrate their pivotal tracker data to JIRA because they are more used to handling bigger amounts of data.
It is more suited for a smaller company or a small group. it is super easy to see and track everything and I've used it for personal projects I've done with other people. It might be less appropriate for a larger company to use as I've heard JIRA is better at handling more volume of data and users.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Pivotal Tracker is being used to manage software development projects for our clients. We manage web, mobile, and special projects in Pivotal Tracker. The problems that this addresses is where are we in the development process. If you are following an agile process you still need to be able to report metrics to your senior management and your clients on where you are in the process. We use Pivotal to track user stories (features) and bugs and also scope of work.
  • Extremely easy to pick up. I have used many different traditional and agile systems and this was the easiest to pick up by the teams I have used it with.
  • Tagging structure is great. Rather than strict hierarchies, Pivotal Tracker allows your teams to create a group of tags and use multiple tags with one story or bug.
  • Powerful searching. Pivotal Tracker's search is definitely a huge strength. It allows you to search by date, words, authors, owners, and tags.
  • Visual Design. This is directly related to the first item but it bears breaking it out as a separate item. This is a well thought out application.
  • If you are looking for configurability, this application would not excel there. You can add users and tags.
  • As a web application, you are at the mercy of your Internet provider.
  • There are no built-in or user-created workflows. You have to assign items to the next person yourself.
If you are just starting with agile, then Pivotal Tracker is perfect. It contains everything you need to begin your process. You could stick with Pivotal Tracker forever if it suits your needs. If you or your organization desires a highly configurable platform with defined workflows, this would be a terrible product. It is what you get out of the box.
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