Aha!

Pros

The comprehensiveness of this software is incredible. It has almost everything you can possibly conceive of when building nearly any type of product or service. It helps you organize, plan, communicate, rate, rank, document, and create everything you need, except the actual software code (but you can just assign the stories to your dev team, and/or sync to another product). It also empowers you to have the conversations with stakeholders to figure out truly what's important (as opposed to the endless chorus of "it's all important"). I wish I would have known about this years ago.

Cons

The single largest missing feature is OKR support. There are goals and metrics, but not a structured way to do OKRs for products/teams. But there is also plenty of other software in the world that does it. We did struggle a bit with the integration with Jira, but that's largely because of Jira deficiencies.

Pros

Very powerful software, and almost no learning curve compared to Jira. So much more intuitive despite having a ton of advanced capabilities. I especially love how easy it is to share information with non-users, without having to manually update spreadsheets or slide decks.

Cons

The Roadmaps pricing is a bit steep, but the Develop pricing is affordable enough that it makes up for it.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Aha!

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Aha!

Pros

Cool logo. Good space to house personas and competitor analysis.

Cons

In the initial onboarding process I would contact customer support for clarity, seeing as how I've never used such a software. I had one phone call, fairly short. I was later tasked with sole responsibility for the software - evangelizing and coaching others on how to use it. When I reached out to support for more clarity, the reps did EVERY possible not to get on a call with me. They would email me back every other day - directing me to instructional videos - refusing to get on the phone. I needed to integrate with Jira, "Please HELP!!??"- guess what? "We have some videos that can help you.

Awful support.

As well, not very user friendly, not customizable, and just down right inferior cosmetically.

Pros

The best thing about this product is the huge flexibility resulting from the degree of customisation that is available. This is dangerous if mishandled, obviously, but in a company where processes are evolving, it has allowed me to accommodate all manner of requests and requirements.

Cons

The UI can be a little inconsistent. Many features are paywalled; I'm constantly being upsold as if I'm on a freemium version. Some of the tools are a little unloved (text editing is clunky and unreliable, some presentation tools lack flexibility). And navigation isn't the smoothest.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Aha!

Pros

Any organization that wants to be thoughtful, deliberate, and wants to link everything they build to the reason WHY they are building it should use this tool. It takes energy and effort to adopt, but the results are amazing. Every feature and release can be linked to a strategic element. In fact, what you are getting with AHA is not only a tool, but a best-practices thought model for product management (this can be challenging to implement but the rewards are high if you get through it. A key benefit is that once created, roadmaps and reports stay FRESH, meaning all changes to dates of features and releases are instantly reflected in your roadmaps and reports. No more updating Excel rows where cells are months!! Last but not least, their support is second-to-none!

Cons

While I really like AHA overall, the UI has many challenges. There are many inconsistencies (some places have a save, other autosave, some screens have a URL, others don't, some settings can be applied to everything at once, others have to be set manually one-by-one). Also for a single page app, it often struggles with refresh after edit more than it should in 2021.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Aha!