10 Software Release Management Tools Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 20 tools reviewed.
With so many different software release solutions available, figuring out which is right for you is tough. You know you want to coordinate among development, testing, and operations teams, to ensure a systematic and controlled release cycle but need to figure out which tool is best for it. I've got you! In this post I'll help make your choice easy, sharing my personal experiences using dozens of different tools with large teams and diverse products, with my picks of the best software release management tools.
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Best Software Release Management Tools Summary
This comparison chart summarizes pricing details for my top software release management tool selections to help you find the best one for your budget and business needs.
| Tool | Best For | Trial Info | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ITSM software with a help desk, self service portal, & ticketing features | 7-day free trial | From $20/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 2 | Best for outsourcing test covereage to speed up software releases | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 3 | Best for centralized release notes | 14-day free trial available | From $249/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 4 | Best for product-driven release management | 30-day free trial | From $19/month for 5 seats | Website | |
| 5 | Best solution with built-in user data security features | 14-day free trial + free demo available | From $80/month for 5 users | Website | |
| 6 | Release management with automation features | Free trial available | From $59/node/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 7 | Plan and manage software releases | 7-day free trial + free plan available | From $7.16/user/month (billed annually, min 5 seats) | Website | |
| 8 | Requirements management and traceability tool | 30-day free trial | Pricing Upon Request | Website | |
| 9 | Test management solution with collaboration features | 30-day free trial | From $38/month | Website | |
| 10 | Powerful software release analytics | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website |
Best Software Release Management Tool Reviews
Below are my detailed summaries of the best software release management tools that made it onto my shortlist. My reviews offer a detailed look at the key features, pros & cons, integrations, and ideal use cases of each tool to help you find the best one for you.
ITSM software with a help desk, self service portal, & ticketing features
Jira Service Management is a powerful IT service management software that enables organizations to streamline and automate their service desk operations.
Jira Service Management can be used for software release management by providing a powerful platform for planning, tracking, and executing release activities. With Jira Service Management, users can create custom workflows and issue types to track release-related tasks, such as creating release notes, performing code reviews, and conducting user acceptance testing. Jira Service Management also supports version control, allowing users to track changes to code and documentation throughout the release process. Teams can collaborate and coordinate release activities using Agile boards, sprint planning tools, and collaboration features like commenting and @mentions. Jira Service Management also offers powerful automation features, such as rule-based workflows and automated notifications, that can help streamline the release management process and reduce the administrative burden on teams.
Additional key features include incident management, problem management, change management, and service request management, all of which are fully customizable to fit the unique needs of each organization. Other features include a self-service portal for end-users to submit requests and track their status, SLA tracking and reporting, automation rules for ticket routing and escalation, and integration with other tools and services such as Confluence and Slack.
Jira Service Management costs from $21/agent/month and comes with a 7-day free trial.
New Product Updates from Jira Service Management
Jira Service Management Enables On-Call Notifications in Slack
Jira Service Management now supports on-call schedule change notifications via Slack through the ChatOps app, allowing teams to receive real-time updates about on-call status changes. More details can be found at Atlassian.
QA Wolf
Best for outsourcing test covereage to speed up software releases
QA Wolf is an easy-to-use, end-to-end software release management solution that outsources test coverage to free up internal time and resources. How it works is you will demo your app to their team, they will help you develop a test plan that suites your needs (with a goal to reach at least 80%+ test coverage), and then they will code and run your end-to-end tests. For you, it's all automated. Tests write, run, and repeat without your intervention.
You will have access to a dashboard to survey tests run and bugs detected. All bug reports come with repro steps, a video recording, and logs to help you get a clear understanding of what needs to be done. If it's merely a test code problem, QA Wolf fixes it themselves. They will preemptively clear out any flaky tests and false positives so that you don't waste your time with them.
QA Wolf is designed to take common in-house tasks off your plate, like hiring and managing an internal QA team, developing a test plan, writing and maintaining CI/CD integrations, building test infrastructure, investigating every test failure, and creating reports and analytics. By streamlining all of this for you, there is a very good chance that QA Wolf can save you significant time and money.
QA Wolf allows you to re-run specific lines of code, instead of re-running an entire test when all you need is to fix just a few lines of code. They also run every test 100% in parallel to speed up results.
QA Wolf integrates with Netlify and Vercel. For test alerts and notifications, it integrates with email and Slack.
LaunchNotes is a product communication platform that helps you keep everyone on the same page with your product updates. It centralizes release notes, changelogs, and feedback tools to ensure your team and customers are always in the loop.
One reason I picked LaunchNotes is its ability to create and maintain release notes and changelogs. This feature ensures that your team and customers are always informed about the latest updates, fostering transparency and trust. With LaunchNotes, you can also plan and visualize future releases with its roadmap tools, which helps align your team's efforts with your development goals.
In addition, LaunchNotes offers feedback management tools that allow you to collect user feedback directly. This feature ensures that your product development aligns with customer needs, making your updates more relevant and impactful. By facilitating a two-way dialogue, LaunchNotes helps you engage more effectively with your users.
Features include the ability to personalize announcements across multiple channels, which ensures your updates reach the right audience. The platform also provides analytics to track the engagement and effectiveness of your product updates. Additionally, LaunchNotes emphasizes enterprise-grade security, offering certifications and various security features to protect your data.
Integrations include Jira, Confluence, Loom, Slack, Microsoft Teams, RSS, LinkedIn, Intercom, Notion, Gmail, Google Chrome, and Google Sheets.
Tggl is a product-driven feature flagging and release management tool designed for cross-team collaboration. It empowers product managers to control releases with ease and provides the flexibility to roll back instantly if necessary. Tech teams can deploy code when it's ready, reducing merge conflicts, while product teams manage the release process afterward.
With Tggl, product managers and developers can safely test new features in production without impacting end users. PMs can control feature visibility, schedule releases in advance, and implement progressive rollouts over days or weeks.
Tggl also supports A/B testing and integrates with analytics tools like Amplitude, allowing teams to track feature performance without disrupting their existing workflows. With added Slack integration, Tggl keeps everyone aligned, making team communication smoother and more efficient.
Pricing starts at $19 per month for 5 users, and a 30-day free trial is available.
Unleash is a software release management tool that enables developers to automate deploying new features while significantly reducing the time and effort it takes to push updates across multiple environments. This intuitive platform provides a centralized, streamlined way to manage releases, offering essential features such as feature flagging, A/B testing, and performance monitoring. Team members can test new features in a live environment without affecting critical systems. This helps ensure that new features are thoroughly tested before being released into production, reducing the risk of system failure.
The platform offers a rollout plan feature that allows teams to plan and manage software releases in a structured and streamlined way. By taking a gradual approach, developers can mitigate the risks of releasing new features simultaneously, such as potential bugs or performance issues that might disrupt the entire system. This feature ensures a smooth and seamless software release experience for developers and end users while minimizing any potential negative impact on end users. Unleash provides an interactive dashboard with real-time insights into feature releases, performance metrics, and feature adoption.
Unleash provides an analytics feature that gives developers in-depth insights into their features' performance. This can help the team make informed decisions about which features to keep, which ones to prioritize, and which ones to cut out. The software integrates seamlessly with tools like GitHub, GitLab, and Jenkins, making it a comprehensive and versatile release management solution. This integration ensures that software projects can be seamlessly managed and delivered without switching between different tools in the development process.
Pricing starts at $80 per month for 5 users, and a 14-day free trial is available.
Chef is a software release management tool with features to help teams scale continuous delivery.Dev teams can use the tool to deliver applications to almost any environment on any OS or deployment platform. The automation stack helps teams automate key release processes, while the infrastructure management features ensure consistency across all environments.
The tool also has robust compliance features to ensure updates process according to your rules, thus preventing security incidents. You just have to define infrastructure, application, and security policy requirements as code.
Together, these features mean the release process is simplified and more consistent. You’ll release products faster and save potentially thousands of hours depending on the size of your teams.
Chef doesn’t promote pricing. But you can contact the sales team for a quote based on your exact needs.
Jira is a release and update management software for Agile teams. It helps with the entire release process, from planning and prioritizing tasks to reporting on team performance.Start by breaking your project into smaller tasks and then assign them to team members so everyone knows what to work on. Team leaders get an overview of all work and they can see estimated timelines as well as all the task status.
The tool comes with a variety of ready-made templates including those for teams that use Scrum and Kanban methodologies to organize their work. This ensures the tool fits your team’s style of working. There’s also a bug tracking template so you can see issues and assign people to make fixes.
Jira integrates with a ton of tools including Slack, Figma, and Tempo Timesheets via the Atlassian Marketplace.
Jira has a free plan for up to 10 users. Paid plans start at $75 per month and provide advanced features and more file storage.
Jama Connect is requirements management software that helps guarantee releases are compliant and high-quality.Use the tool to create compliance frameworks to ensure design, development, and testing is done in a way that minimizes risk. The tool also increases process efficiency by letting teams create reusable versions of software for testing and validation.Change management features ensure all edits are stored so you get complete live traceability across the development cycle. And you can use the review center to invite relevant stakeholders to manage feedback and the review process.Jama Connect integrates with plenty of tools including task management, design and simulation, DevOps, and risk management. The tool doesn’t promote pricing, but you can sign up for a demo or a free 30-day trial on the website.
Aqua is a software release management tool with features that cover all areas of software development, including project management, test management, and reporting.The tool enables easy collaboration between developers. It’s easy for anyone to log in and then assign tasks, start discussions, or send notifications.
The tool integrates with plenty of other tools such as Jenkins, Ranorex, and Jira so you can automate test cases. You can also create your own scripts using the Aqua API. All tests can be run in Aqua so anyone in your team can view and analyze the results. If there’s an issue with the test, it’s easy to create a new defect and the tool will export information from the test.
The tool has in-depth requirements management which allows you to specify requirements in each task so everyone is aware of them. And any changes are tracked in the tool’s history, ensuring revision safety and easier audits.You can also create a dashboard highlighting the information you deem to be most important. For example, you can see the status of defects and tests, as well as view cases by creation date. This information can then be exported into reports.
Aqua pricing starts at $35 per month. You can sign up for a free 30-day trial on the website.
Plutora is a software release management tool that helps you understand the entire software release process across your organization. It lets you see how different teams perform and ensures that independent teams are aligned with the business.The idea is that it connects with all the technology used by each of your organization’s teams. This gives your organization’s leaders unparalleled insight into the production process of each team.
The tool comes with powerful analytics and visualization features that show information about your entire software delivery process. You can see data on factors like completed items and item throughput. And the tool will visualize trends or potential bottlenecks so you can take action early.
The tool integrates with plenty of other software in many categories, which is essential for organizations where different teams rely on different types of software.
The tool doesn’t advertise pricing but you can contact the team to schedule a consultation.
Other Software Release Management Tools
Here are some additional software release management tools options that didn’t make it onto my shortlist, but are still worth checking out:
- Digital.ai
For robust analytics and reporting features
- Darkly
Feature release management tool
- CloudBees
DevOps tool for large and compliance-first organizations
- Prodly
Release management tool for Salesforce
- Freshservice
ITSM tool with release management features
- PathPro
For public roadmap management
- Octopus Deploy
Powerful release management and automation
- Jenkins
Open source automation server
- Azure Pipelines
Pipeline tool to manage development
- Ansible
Automation platform on Microsoft Azure
SRM Tool Selection Criteria
When selecting the best software release management tools to include in this list, I considered common buyer needs and pain points like reducing release errors and improving deployment efficiency. I also used the following framework to keep my evaluation structured and fair:
Core Functionality (25% of total score)
To be considered for inclusion in this list, each solution had to fulfill these common use cases:
- Manage release schedules
- Track deployment progress
- Automate release processes
- Integrate with version control systems
- Monitor release performance
Additional Standout Features (25% of total score)
To help further narrow down the competition, I also looked for unique features, such as:
- Customizable dashboards
- Advanced analytics and reporting
- Multi-environment support
- Integration with third-party tools
- Role-based access control
Usability (10% of total score)
To get a sense of the usability of each system, I considered the following:
- Intuitive user interface
- Easy navigation
- Minimal learning curve
- Responsive design
- Customizable user settings
Onboarding (10% of total score)
To evaluate the onboarding experience for each platform, I considered the following:
- Availability of training videos
- Access to interactive product tours
- Comprehensive documentation
- Supportive chatbots
- Regular webinars for guidance
Customer Support (10% of total score)
To assess each software provider’s customer support services, I considered the following:
- 24/7 support availability
- Multiple support channels
- Quick response times
- Access to a knowledge base
- Personalized support options
Value For Money (10% of total score)
To evaluate the value for money of each platform, I considered the following:
- Competitive pricing
- Flexible pricing plans
- Free trial availability
- Clear pricing structure
- Cost-benefit ratio
Customer Reviews (10% of total score)
To get a sense of overall customer satisfaction, I considered the following when reading customer reviews:
- User satisfaction ratings
- Feedback on customer service
- Comments on feature effectiveness
- Notes on system reliability
- Insights on ease of integration
How to Choose a Software Release Management Tool
It’s easy to get bogged down in long feature lists and complex pricing structures. To help you stay focused as you work through your unique software selection process, here’s a checklist of factors to keep in mind:
| Factor | What to Consider |
|---|---|
| Scalability | Will the tool grow with your team? Consider tools that support more users and projects as your needs expand. Avoid tools with rigid user limits. |
| Integrations | Does the tool work with your existing systems? Check for compatibility with your version control, CI/CD, and other tools you rely on. |
| Customizability | Can you tailor the tool to fit your workflows? Look for options to customize dashboards, reports, and notifications to match your process. |
| Ease of use | Is the tool intuitive? Choose tools with straightforward interfaces to minimize training time and reduce adoption hurdles. |
| Implementation and onboarding | How quickly can you get started? Assess the setup time, available resources like tutorials, and the support provided during onboarding. |
| Cost | Does the pricing fit your budget? Compare the cost against your budget and the features offered. Look for hidden fees or scaling costs. |
| Security safeguards | Are your data and processes secure? Ensure the tool meets your security standards, offers encryption, and complies with regulations. |
| Support availability | Will you get help when needed? Check the provider's support hours, channels available, and response times to ensure timely assistance. |
What Are Software Release Management Tools?
Software release management tools are solutions that help coordinate, track, and automate the process of releasing software updates and new versions. Product managers, developers, and IT operations teams generally use these tools to improve efficiency and reduce errors during deployment. Features like release scheduling, deployment tracking, and integration with version control systems help manage releases effectively. Overall, these tools help teams deliver software updates more reliably and efficiently.
Features
When selecting software release management tools, keep an eye out for the following key features:
- Release scheduling: Automates the timing of software releases to ensure timely and coordinated deployments.
- Deployment tracking: Monitors the progress of releases, providing insights into each stage of the deployment process.
- Version control integration: Connects with version control systems to manage code changes and maintain consistency across releases.
- Customizable dashboards: Offers personalized views and reports to track metrics and monitor the release pipeline.
- Role-based access control: Restricts access to features and data based on user roles, enhancing security and compliance.
- Advanced analytics and reporting: Provides detailed insights into release performance and helps identify areas for improvement.
- Multi-environment support: Manages deployments across different environments such as development, testing, and production.
- Interactive onboarding tools: Includes tutorials, product tours, and guides to help users quickly understand and use the tool.
- Security safeguards: Ensures data protection through encryption and compliance with industry standards.
- 24/7 support availability: Provides continuous support through various channels to resolve issues promptly and efficiently.
Benefits
Implementing software release management tools provides several benefits for your team and your business. Here are a few you can look forward to:
- Improved deployment efficiency: Automating release scheduling and tracking helps teams deploy updates faster and with fewer errors.
- Enhanced collaboration: Integration with version control and customizable dashboards facilitates better communication among team members.
- Greater visibility: Advanced analytics and reporting offer insights into release performance, helping teams make informed decisions.
- Increased security: Role-based access control and security safeguards ensure that sensitive data is protected and compliance is maintained.
- Scalability: Multi-environment support allows teams to manage releases across various stages, accommodating growing project needs.
- Reduced training time: Interactive onboarding tools enable new users to quickly get up to speed, minimizing disruptions during implementation.
Costs & Pricing
Selecting software release management tools requires an understanding of the various pricing models and plans available. Costs vary based on features, team size, add-ons, and more. The table below summarizes common plans, their average prices, and typical features included in software release management tools solutions:
Plan Comparison Table for Software Release Management Tools
| Plan Type | Average Price | Common Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | $0 | Basic release scheduling, limited deployment tracking, and community support. |
| Personal Plan | $5-$25/user/month | Release scheduling, deployment tracking, basic analytics, and email support. |
| Business Plan | $30-$75/user/month | Advanced analytics, version control integration, customizable dashboards, and priority support. |
| Enterprise Plan | $100+/user/month | Multi-environment support, role-based access control, dedicated account manager, and 24/7 support. |
Software Release Management Tools FAQs
Here are some answers to common questions about software release management tools:
How do software release management tools support rollback during failed releases?
Most software release management tools offer version control and snapshot features that let you roll back to a stable release. You can tag releases and automate fallback steps when something breaks. This reduces downtime and avoids manual intervention. Make sure your rollback strategy is tested in staging before going live.
Can software release management tools integrate with CI/CD pipelines?
Yes, many tools support direct integration with CI/CD platforms like Jenkins, GitLab, and GitHub Actions. This means you can trigger deployments automatically after successful builds or tests. It also helps you track release history and audit changes. You’ll need to configure credentials and permissions carefully to avoid delays.
How do software release management tools handle multi-environment deployments?
You can define different deployment workflows for dev, staging, and production environments. Most tools let you use environment-specific variables and approvals. This helps your team push updates in a controlled way. Use environment tags or branches to avoid confusion between versions.
Are software release management tools suitable for small teams?
Yes, software release management tools can benefit small teams. They help manage releases efficiently, even with limited resources. Many tools offer scalable plans that fit the budget of smaller teams. Start with a free or personal plan to test the waters, and upgrade as your team grows. The key is to choose a tool that matches your team’s specific needs without overwhelming them with unnecessary features.
How often do software release management tools get updated?
Software release management tools typically get updated regularly. Updates can range from minor bug fixes to major feature enhancements. Staying up-to-date with these updates ensures you have the latest functionalities and security patches. Check the vendor’s update policy and release notes to understand how often updates occur and what they include. This information helps you plan for any necessary training or adjustments your team might need
What’s Next:
If you're in the process of researching software release management tools, connect with a SoftwareSelect advisor for free recommendations.
You fill out a form and have a quick chat where they get into the specifics of your needs. Then you'll get a shortlist of software to review. They'll even support you through the entire buying process, including price negotiations.
