Bug tracking vs issue tracking: what is the difference?

Two definitions

A bug is a difference between how software behaves and how it is supposed to behave. A bug tracker exists to capture that difference well enough that someone can reproduce it, and to follow it until it is fixed and verified.

An issue is anything a team needs to deal with: a bug, a new feature, a chore, a design task, a question from a customer. An issue tracker exists to organise and prioritise all of that work, assign it and show progress.

Side by side

Where the line blurs

In practice, most teams track bugs inside their issue tracker as one issue type among several. That works when the people reporting bugs are developers and testers, who know how to write a good report and already use the tracker.

It works less well when reports come from outside the team. Clients, customers and support staff do not have accounts in the issue tracker, would not know which fields to fill in, and cannot attach console logs. Their reports arrive by email or chat and someone has to retype them.

Three common setups

• One issue tracker for everything. Simplest. Works for small, technical teams where everyone who reports bugs also uses the tracker.
• A bug capture tool feeding an issue tracker. Reporters use a feedback widget or extension; reports are then moved or synced into the tracker where planning happens. More tools, but each does its job well.
• A bug tool with its own board. Reports land in an inbox and become cards on a board in the same place, so capture and the fix workflow live together. Good for small teams that do not want a second system.

How to decide

1. 1

   Count who reports bugs

   If it is only your developers and testers, an issue tracker is probably enough.

2. 2

   Look at your last ten bug reports

   If several needed follow-up questions about the page, browser or what was clicked, you have a capture problem, not a tracking problem.

3. 3

   Check where reports arrive today

   Email, chat and calls mean reports are being lost or retyped. A capture tool with a public report button fixes that.

4. 4

   Decide where planning should live

   If you already plan in an established tracker, choose a capture tool that feeds it. If you do not, one tool with a board may be all you need.

Where Flawsnap sits

Flawsnap is the third setup: a bug capture tool with its own board. Reports arrive with the screenshot, console, network calls and device details. "Track on board" turns a report into a card in the Bugs list, and the report's status follows the card through the default lists: Backlog, Todo, Bugs, In Progress, QA and Done. A project setting can add every new report to Backlog automatically. Cards also carry labels, assignees, due dates and linked docs.

It has no sprints, epics or time tracking, and it does not sync with Jira, Linear or GitHub Issues. Teams that need those will want a capture tool that integrates with their existing tracker. See the Kanban board.

Questions

Is Jira a bug tracker or an issue tracker?

Jira is a general issue tracker. It can track bugs as one issue type, alongside stories, tasks and epics, but it does not capture screenshots, console logs or browser details from end users on its own.

Do small teams need a separate bug tracking tool?

Only if bug reports come from people outside the team or keep arriving without enough detail. If your developers report bugs to each other in a tracker they already use, adding a second tool may only add overhead.

What is the difference between a bug and an incident?

A bug is a defect in the software. An incident is a live event affecting users, such as an outage, which may be caused by a bug, by infrastructure or by something else. Incidents are usually handled in a separate, faster process.

Related

• A Kanban board where bug reports become work
• Project docs that live next to the bugs
• Bug reporting for SaaS product teams
• What is visual bug reporting?
• Install Flawsnap in a Vue app