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Bugzilla vs FogBugz
March 07, 2025 | Author: Michael Stromann
9★
Bugzilla is server software designed to help you manage software development. Bugzilla is a "Defect Tracking System" or "Bug-Tracking System". Defect Tracking Systems allow individual or groups of developers to keep track of outstanding bugs in their product effectively. Most alternative defect-tracking software vendors charge enormous licensing fees. Despite being "free", Bugzilla has many features its expensive counterparts lack. Consequently, Bugzilla has quickly become a favorite of thousands of organizations across the globe.
3★
FogBugz is the world's easiest bug tracking system, built for teams who are serious about shipping great software. FogBugz incorporates the lessons Joel Spolsky and the team at Fog Creek have learned over a decade of learning how to write software better.
See also:
Top 10 Issue-tracking systems
Top 10 Issue-tracking systems
Bugzilla and FogBugz are both tools designed to track the endless stream of bugs, issues and general software mayhem that developers swear they didn’t introduce. They both let you search for problems, filter them and receive email notifications about new catastrophes. They also allow you to assign blame—sorry, responsibilities—to specific team members and integrate with version control systems, because nothing says “efficiency” like an automated reminder of your own mistakes.
Bugzilla, being the noble and chaotic creation of Mozilla in 1998, is open-source, meaning it’s free, flexible and requires an intimate knowledge of system administration—or at least the ability to Google frantically. It’s widely used by software teams who appreciate power over polish and it comes with the distinct advantage of being from the USA, a country well-known for exporting software and regrettable fast-food decisions. Bugzilla works best if you enjoy configuring things manually and have an appreciation for minimalistic design—very minimalistic.
FogBugz, on the other hand, emerged in 2000 from the minds of Fog Creek Software (later Glitch), a Canadian operation known for building things that actually try to make life easier. Unlike Bugzilla, FogBugz is a paid, proprietary system that not only tracks bugs but also attempts to manage entire projects. It features something called Evidence-Based Scheduling, which claims to predict when work will be finished, though, like all predictions, it remains at the mercy of developers who believe they can “just fix one more thing.”
See also: Top 10 Issue Trackers
Bugzilla, being the noble and chaotic creation of Mozilla in 1998, is open-source, meaning it’s free, flexible and requires an intimate knowledge of system administration—or at least the ability to Google frantically. It’s widely used by software teams who appreciate power over polish and it comes with the distinct advantage of being from the USA, a country well-known for exporting software and regrettable fast-food decisions. Bugzilla works best if you enjoy configuring things manually and have an appreciation for minimalistic design—very minimalistic.
FogBugz, on the other hand, emerged in 2000 from the minds of Fog Creek Software (later Glitch), a Canadian operation known for building things that actually try to make life easier. Unlike Bugzilla, FogBugz is a paid, proprietary system that not only tracks bugs but also attempts to manage entire projects. It features something called Evidence-Based Scheduling, which claims to predict when work will be finished, though, like all predictions, it remains at the mercy of developers who believe they can “just fix one more thing.”
See also: Top 10 Issue Trackers
