9 Tools for Remote Software Development Teams

Although remote workers may provide higher productivity, effectively managing a dispersed team still presents some difficulties. Managing developers across time zones may be logistically challenging. For remote development teams to effectively share work and get the whole benefits of remote labor, they need the appropriate platforms and tools. These are the top tools for remote software development teams for facilitating coordination and various works.

It has been shown that teams operating remotely are more productive than those in an office setting. As per the poll, 77% of employees reported higher productivity while working remotely. According to another study, 76% of employees reported being less distracted at work than they were at an office.

Remote Software Development Teams May Benefit From These Tools

1. Jira

Jira Software can be one of the ideal tools for remote software development teams if you’re searching for a comprehensive remote solution for managing software development projects.

With its collaborative features, roadmaps, Scrum and Kanban boards, reporting, intelligent dashboards, bug tracking, customized workflows, drag-and-drop automation, integrations with over 3,000 applications, and more, this well-known project management tool may help your team increase productivity to a whole new level.

Features:

• @mentions.
• API.
• Access Controls/Permissions.
• Activity Dashboard.
• Activity Tracking.
• Ad hoc Reporting.
• Agile Methodologies.
• Alerts/Notifications.
• Application Management.
• Approval Process Control.
• Approval Workflow.
• Assignment Management.
• Audit Trail.
• Backlog Management.
• Bar Chart.
• Budgeting/Forecasting.
• Bug Tracking.
• Bug/Issue Capture and many more.

Price:

• Free version available.
• Growing teams: $7 per user/month.

2. Slack

Slack is your new workplace if your firm is entirely remote. It’s a platform for corporate communication that offers topic-based chat groups and direct texting. Slack is available via a web browser, desktop client, and mobile applications.

Slack gives you the freedom to express yourself creatively while communicating with coworkers. For instance, each member of the X-Team keeps a Slack log in which they record the tasks they are working on. In addition, we have channels dedicated to music, movies, pets, parenting, and the many programming languages that X-Teamers are skilled in. We also have unique channels for each of the several games that we host.

Features:

• Activity/News Feed.
• Alerts/Notifications.
• Archiving & Retention.
• Audio Calls.
• Audio Capture.
• Authentication.
• Brainstorming.
• Calendar Management.
• Call Conferencing.
• Call Recording.
• Call Routing.
• Chat/Messaging.
• Collaboration Tools.
• Commenting/Notes.
• Communication Management.
• Compliance Management.
• Contact Management.
• Content Management.
• Discussions/Forums.
• Document Management.
• Drag & Drop.
• Employee Directory.
• Feedback Management.
• File Sharing and many more.

Price:

• Free plan available.
• Pro: $7.25/user/month.
• Business Plus: $12.50/user/month.
• Enterprise Grid: contact Slack.

3. Todoist

Use a to-do app to organize your mental chores. Getting Things Done is a key principle that includes this. This one of the best tools for remote software development teams is excellent software for rapidly adding new tasks, properly organizing them, and beginning to cross them off one by one.

Tasks with recurring deadlines may be created using Todoist. You can also prioritize, tag, and create subtasks for each task. By bringing your coworkers into your Todoist environment, you may assign tasks as well. It’s a fantastic to-do app overall, lightweight, and adaptable.

Features:

• API.
• Activity Tracking.
• Activity/News Feed.
• Alerts/Notifications.
• Assignment Management.
• Calendar Management.
• Collaboration Tools.
• Commenting/Notes.
• Communication Management.
• Customizable Templates.
• Deadline Management.
• Drag & Drop.
• File Management.
• File Sharing.
• For Small Businesses.
• Gantt/Timeline View.
• Goal Management.
• Goal Setting/Tracking.
• Kanban Board.
• Milestone Tracking and many more.

Price:

• Free plan and free trial available.
• Todoist Pro: $4/month.
• Todoist Business: $6/user/month.

4. Evernote

The forefather of productivity applications. Evernote is now the most well-known note-taking program. It was first created in the year 2000 as marketing software. Some of its notable features include the capacity to search text in handwritten photographs and photos, recognize handwritten languages, and cut anything from the Internet into a note.

Evernote remains the best program for capturing notes on any device and organizing them simply and intuitively, despite some people claiming that it hasn’t improved much in recent years.

Features:

• Commenting/Notes.
• Communication Management.
• Content Management.
• Content Scan.
• Customizable Templates.
• Dashboard.
• Data Import/Export.
• Document Classification.
• Document Management.
• Document Storage.
• File Sharing.
• Full Text Search.
• Handwriting Recognition.
• Idea Management.
• Meeting Notes.
• Mobile Access.
• Multi-Device Support.
• Notes Management.
• Offline Access.
• Productivity Tools and many more.

Price:

• Free version available.
• Personal: $7.99/month.
• Professional: $10.99/month.
• Teams: $14.99/month.

5. Visual Studio Code

As a preferred tool for remote software development teams, Visual Studio Code is the most used code editor. It features built-in Git commands, is free, compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux, and has so many extensions that you may configure it to your heart’s content.

It is important to distinguish between Visual Studio Code and Microsoft’s Visual Studio IDE since the former offers more advanced features than the latter. Additionally, Visual Studio is free for individuals, open-source contributors, and students.

Features:

• API.
• Application Management.
• Bug Tracking.
• Change Management.
• Code Review.
• Custom Development.
• Search/Filter.
• Third-Party Integrations.
• Version Control.

Price: Free.

6. Canva

Canva is a platform for graphic design that makes it simple and intuitive to produce graphics. Ideal for producing visual material such as presentations, posters, blog post photos, social media graphics, and so on.

You may create the vision you have in mind with hundreds of free templates and visuals available on Canva. Although you may also select unique measurements, they also assist you with each image’s dimensions. Canva is available for free to both individuals and small teams to utilize.

Features:

• Access Controls/Permissions.
• Animation.
• Approval Process Control.
• Artwork Management.
• Asset Categorization.
• Asset Library.
• Asset Sharing.
• Audio File Management.
• Barcode/Label Management.
• Brand Guidelines.
• CAD Tools.
• CMS Integration.
• Change Management.
• Collaboration Tools.
• Content Import/Export.
• Content Library.
• Content Management.
• Content Sharing.
• Custom Fonts.
• Customizable Branding and may more.

Price:

• Free version available.
• Pro: from $12.99 per month.
• Enterprise: from $30 per month.

7. NordVPN

Working remotely offers flexibility. Anywhere is a good place to work! This implies, nevertheless, that you must protect your laptop and smartphone from thieves. Thus, a VPN is required. Currently, one of the most reliable VPNs out there is NordVPN.

There is a valid reason why it isn’t free. Free VPNs either sell your data or offer less robust security, leaving you open to attack. To effectively protect yourself from the weird man who has been spying on everyone who is insecurely connected to the network while sitting at your favorite Starbucks for five hours, it is worth investing some money in a reliable VPN.

Features:

• Access Controls/Permissions.
• Activity Monitoring.
• Application Security.
• Data Security.
• Financial Data Protection.
• Firewalls.
• Monitoring.
• Network Provisioning.
• Policy Management.
• Real-Time Monitoring.
• Reporting/Analytics.
• SSL Security.
• Threat Intelligence.
• Threat Response.
• VPN.

Price: $4.92 per month.

8. FreshBooks

Nobody likes to pay an accountant exorbitant fees. This is especially true if you run a small company or are a freelancer with few invoices. Thankfully, managing the administrative side of your company is rather simple and stress-free with a remote work solution like this, one of the best tools for remote software development teams.

You may send follow-up emails and invoices automatically using FreshBooks. It also creates reports that provide you with a summary of your company’s financial situation and accepts payments in several methods. A complete program for handling company administration is FreshBooks.

Features:

• ACH Payment Processing.
• Accounting.
• Accounting Integration.
• Accounts Payable.
• Accounts Receivable.
• Activity Dashboard.
• Activity Tracking.
• Alerts/Notifications.
• Attendance Tracking.
• Automatic Billing.
• Automatic Time Capture.
• Bank Reconciliation.
• Billable & Non-Billable Hours.
• Billable Items Tracking.
• Billing & Invoicing.
• Billing Portal.
• Billing Rate Management.
• CRM.
• Client Management.
• Client Portal and many more.

Price:

• Free trial available.
• Pro: Starts from $19 per month.

9. Zapier

The best tool for remote work automation of tedious tasks. “Simple automation for busy people” is Zapier’s tagline, and it definitely lives up to it. Zapier is an adaptable program that facilitates the establishment of connections between two distinct software applications.

Would you want each time a FreshBooks invoice is paid to have a new entry made in a Google Sheet? Do you want Dropbox to automatically import every Gmail attachment? Zapier assists you with that. The options are countless!

Features:

• API.
• Access Controls/Permissions.
• Accounting Integration.
• Activity Dashboard.
• Application Management.
• Business Process Automation.
• CRM.
• Collaboration Tools.
• Compliance Management.
• Configurable Workflow.
• Dashboard.
• Data Import/Export.
• Database Support.
• Deployment Management.
• Drag & Drop.
• ERP integration.
• ETL.
• Email Management.
• For No-Code Development.
• Forms Automation and many more.

Price:

• Free plan available.
• Premium: $19.99 per month.
• Multi-user accounts: Start at $299 per month.

Remote Software Development Collaboration: What Is It?

Collaborating on a software project across teams is known as software development collaboration. This suggests that to produce the ideal outcome, developers must be fully involved in the process and use tools for remote software development teams.

Productivity is increased by 30% using online collaboration tools. The greatest method to handle cloud-based schedules, boost team member flexibility, and optimize processes is using a software development collaboration solution.

The market for software development is enormous and provides a wide range of tools. Given that software engineers often operate from a distance, these solutions enhance cooperation by giving users access to all the necessary updates for a job at the moment they check in and enabling them to complete project tasks concurrently. Employees who work remotely benefit from an increase in global productivity as a result.

FAQ

Q: How can a remote bespoke software development team be effectively built?

A: The capacity to oversee their task and operate autonomously. Strong coding abilities, including familiarity with the language of programming you’re utilizing. Familiarity with development tools, including bug-tracking software and source control systems. Strong communication abilities since they will be communicating virtually with your team.

Q: What program is used while working remotely?

A: One of the most widely utilized productivity and communication solutions for small organizations is Slack. When everyone is working remotely, it’s one of the greatest methods to keep in contact with your staff. Partner-specific Slack groups are available so you may interact and work together with customers.

Q: How do developers who work remotely operate?

A: Your typical day will involve either solo coding or participating in online meetings where you will likely talk about code reviews and provide or receive updates on your progress. Tools like Trello, Asana, Notion, or Jira are typically used for project management.