Bugzilla
Shortcut
| Feature | Bugzilla | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free only | Free / from $8.5/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 3.7 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | open-source-projects, enterprise-it, developers, large-organizations | software-teams, startups, engineering-managers, product-teams |
| Founded | 1998 | 2016 |
| Bug Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Advanced Search | ✓ | ✗ |
| Email Integration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Workflows | ✓ | ✗ |
| Patch Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reporting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Stories | ✗ | ✓ |
| Epics | ✗ | ✓ |
| Iterations | ✗ | ✓ |
| Milestones | ✗ | ✓ |
| Api | ✗ | ✓ |
| Integrations | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Bugzilla Pros
- Completely free
- Battle-tested
- Advanced search
- Highly customizable
✗ Bugzilla Cons
- Very dated interface
- Difficult to set up
- No modern UX
✓ Shortcut Pros
- Intuitive UI for engineering teams
- Great API and integrations
- Flexible iteration planning
- Excellent GitHub integration
✗ Shortcut Cons
- Limited reporting on free plan
- No time tracking built-in
- Smaller ecosystem than Jira
The Verdict
Bugzilla is built for open source projects and enterprise it, with a focus on bug-tracking and advanced-search. Shortcut targets software teams and startups and leads with stories and epics.
Bugzilla uses custom enterprise pricing, while Shortcut starts at $8.5/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Shortcut edges out on user ratings (4.4 vs 3.7). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Bottom line: Shortcut has a slight overall edge — but if completely free matters most to you, Bugzilla may still be the right call.