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BetterBoard vs Company-managed Jira boards

Jira's company-managed board is powerful — but it still locks your columns to status. BetterBoard removes that ceiling without touching a single work item.

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BetterBoard board view Jira company-managed board Jira Board BetterBoard

Built-in Jira board

Company-managed board

The full-featured Scrum and Kanban board for company-managed spaces. More configurable than team-managed, but columns remain tied to status.

  • Advantage: Multiple boards per space
  • Advantage: Quick filters with JQL
  • Advantage: Swimlanes by epic or assignee
  • Limitation: Columns locked to status only
  • Advantage: Many standard and supported custom fields on cards
  • Limitation: Filters require admin setup and JQL knowledge
  • Limitation: Slows down past ~1,000 work items on the board

Forge app · one-click install

BetterBoard

A Forge-native board inside your existing Jira space — same work items, same permissions, no migration required.

  • Advantage: Group columns by any field, with swimlanes
  • Advantage: Configurable card fields, inline editable
  • Advantage: Bulk edit fields across multiple work items at once
  • Advantage: 25+ filter operators across every field
  • Advantage: Real-time sync — changes appear instantly
  • Advantage: Keyboard-first, full command palette

Everything side by side.

A complete breakdown of what each board supports — from basic columns to advanced power features. Hover any row to see details.

Supported Limited Not available

Supported means the capability is available, including through the named plan or integration. Limited indicates a specific constraint described in the row. These are capability labels, not product scores.

Feature Company-managed board Built-in Jira BetterBoard Jira board app
Board basics
Multiple boards per space Create more than one board view for the same space
Supported: Can create multiple boards through board settings.
Supported: Can create unlimited boards, each with its own settings.
Work from several spaces Pull work items from several spaces onto one board
Limited: Can combine spaces, but requires a board filter written in Jira’s query language, JQL.
Supported: Can select multiple spaces for one board without writing a query.
Private boards Boards visible only to you
Not available: Shares the board with the space by default.
Supported: Can make each board private or shared.
Live updates Board reflects Jira changes instantly across all open boards
Limited: Checks for changes about every 30 seconds, but you must click to refresh.
Supported: Can show changes live without refreshing.
Large board performance How well the board handles many work items
Not available: Atlassian reports slower boards above about 1,000 work items.
Supported: Designed to handle larger boards.
Columns & grouping
Column grouping field Choose which field creates the board columns
Not available: Can only create columns from statuses.
Supported: Can create columns from status, assignee, priority, sprint, or custom fields.
Map multiple values to one column Consolidate several statuses into a single column
Supported: Can combine several statuses in one column.
Supported: Can combine several field values in one column.
Rows within the board Group cards into rows, such as one row per assignee
Limited: Can add rows by epic, assignee, space, or a JQL query.
Supported: Can add rows grouped by any field.
Reorder columns Drag columns into your preferred order
Supported: Supported
Supported: Can drag columns into any order.
Cards & fields
Choose fields on cards Control which fields appear on each card face
Supported: Can show many standard and custom fields, depending on the board type.
Supported: Can show any standard or custom field, with no field-count limit.
Edit fields on cards Update a field without opening the work item
Not available: Must open the detail panel to edit fields; direct card editing is not planned.
Supported: Can edit any field directly on a card.
Bulk edit multiple work items Apply field changes to several cards at once
Limited: Can bulk edit through the right-click menu and Jira’s Bulk change screen.
Supported: Can select several cards and edit them together.
Time in status See how long each work item has been in its current status
Limited: Can show days in a column, but includes weekends and does not account for working hours.
Supported: Can show time in the current status on each card.
Sorting & ordering
Sort cards within columns Control work item order inside each column
Limited: Can sort by rank, but changing the query’s sort order disables drag-to-reorder.
Supported: Can sort by any field and add further sorting rules.
Drag to reorder cards Reorder work items within a column by dragging
Supported: Supported
Supported: Can drag cards to reorder them and save that order in Jira.
Filtering
Filter directly on the board Filter without leaving the board or changing its settings
Not available: Can only use quick filters configured by the board admin.
Supported: Can filter by any field with over 25 matching rules, without writing JQL queries.
Filters require writing queries Need to know Jira's query language to set up filters
Not available: Requires a JQL query for each quick filter.
Supported: Can build filters by choosing fields and matching rules, without writing queries.
Limits on tasks per column Set how many tasks should be in each column
Limited: Can show warnings, but cannot block moves. Warnings are hidden on wide boards.
Not available: Not currently supported.
Shortcuts and tools
Keyboard shortcuts Navigate and update work items without a mouse
Limited: Can use basic navigation shortcuts only.
Supported: Can navigate the board by keyboard and find actions with the ⌘K menu.
Setup and hosting
Works without installation
Supported: Included in Jira; no installation needed.
Limited: Requires a Marketplace app installation.
Data stays in your Jira environment
Supported: Runs on Atlassian hosting.
Supported: Runs on Atlassian Forge within your Jira environment.

Boards & columns

Company-managed boards added swimlanes and multiple board configurations — but columns are still tied to status. BetterBoard lets you group by priority, assignee, sprint, component, or any custom option field. Drag an work item between columns and the field updates in Jira automatically.

Unlimited boards per space

One board per team, per workflow, per stakeholder — each with its own column setup, card fields, filters, and sort order.

Multi-space boards

Combine work items from multiple Jira spaces on a single board with a simple UI — no JQL required. Useful for cross-functional teams spanning software, service management, and product discovery.

Status mapping

When grouping by status, merge multiple statuses into one column — combine In Review and Waiting for Feedback so your board stays readable.

Cards & editing

Jira boards can now show a broader set of standard and supported custom fields, depending on the board type. BetterBoard makes those fields actionable on the card and lets teams select multiple work items to update fields together.

Fields stay actionable

Surface the supported fields that matter on the card and use them throughout the BetterBoard experience.

Drag to update

Drag an work item to a different column and the underlying field updates automatically in Jira. No extra clicks, no confirmation dialogs.

Filters & sorting

Jira's quick filters look easy until you try to make one — every filter is a JQL snippet, set up in the board admin, by someone who knows the query language. BetterBoard lets anyone filter on any field with 25+ operators, right from the board, without writing a single line of JQL.

A board per view

Create a separate board for each filter configuration or team view. Each board keeps its own column setup, fields, and filters — so different workflows get their own dedicated space.

Time in status

See how long each work item has sat in its current status — not just days in column. Spot bottlenecks and ageing work at a glance, without leaving the board.

Sort by any field

Order work items within columns by due date, priority, story points, or any custom field. Stack multiple sort levels to get exactly the order your workflow needs.

Sources and verification

Documentation reviewed September 12, 2026. Documentation research informs this comparison. Product editions, permissions, and rollout availability can affect the experience.

Your Jira space, exactly as it is. BetterBoard is just a better window into it.

No migration. No duplicate data. No new process to learn. Your work items, your fields, your workflows — shown the way you want them.

Ready to see the difference?

Free for teams up to 10 users. Includes a 30-day free trial. Install in one click from the Atlassian Marketplace.

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