Do We Really Need Jira Inside Jira? Why Simpler Marketplace Apps Matter

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If you've ever installed a Marketplace app in Jira and felt like you now need another onboarding just to understand this tool, you're not alone. I'm there too. I’ve seen more teams struggle with the same thing.

In this post, I want to unpack something I've been thinking about for a while: why so many Jira apps feel unnecessarily complex and why I believe the future is in smaller, clearer, actually useful tools that work right out of the "box".

The Problem: Jira Inside Jira

There's a strange trend I've noticed in the Atlassian Marketplace: many apps essentially recreate Jira inside Jira. Custom workflows, dashboards, permission layers, complex config pages, onboarding modals...

This might sound like a smart approach in theory, especially when targeting big enterprise сompany. But for most users especially teams under 100 + people, this often leads to:

• Confusion about where to find things

• Fear of touching the config without breaking something

• Endless documentation and training

• Tools that sit unused because nobody understands how to use them fully

I've spoken with teams who tried 3 different time tracking apps and gave up because each one required a mini PhD to set up properly.

But... Isn’t Flexibility a Good Thing?

Sure, Jira is powerful because it's flexible. But when apps layer on even more complexity, that power turns into friction.

When an app promises to "solve" reporting, or time tracking, or sprint health, but requires the same level of configuration as Jira itself, it often becomes more of a blocker than a helper. And let’s be honest many teams install Marketplace apps because they don’t have time to reinvent wheels in Jira manually.

A Saturated Market of Heavy Solutions

The Atlassian Marketplace is growing. But so is its clutter. For almost every functional category, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of apps - often complex, expensive and designed with enterprise features first.

What’s rare? Apps that:

• Are ready to go after install

• Don’t require long docs or demo calls

• Focus on just a few valuable things

• Don’t pretend to be "the one tool to rule them all"

That simplicity is what I miss. And what, frankly, I’m trying to build in my own apps.

What Simplicity Actually Looks Like in a Jira App

Not just minimal UI. Not just fewer buttons.

Real simplicity means:

• Useful defaults (no 30-step setup)

• Clear feedback when something isn’t working

• No jargon or made-up terminology

• Real problems solved without meetings

It also means respecting the user’s time. A team lead shouldn’t need to schedule a vendor call just to get a pie chart working.

So What Do We Do With This?

If you're a user: speak up. Upvote simple tools. Ask "does this do what I need right now?" instead of "can this be configured to maybe do something in the future?"

If you're a developer (like me): resist the urge to build the entire operating system. Build a helpful tool. Maybe even one that does less, on purpose.

And if you're Atlassian: consider incentivizing simplicity. 

TL;DR

There are too many Jira apps trying to be Jira 2.0. What we need more of are tools that:

• Respect the user's time

• Work out of the box

• Solve specific problems well

Sometimes, less configuration = more value.

And no, you don’t always need to build Jira inside Jira.

If you've run into this same problem or found apps that do simplicity well, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Drop them below!

[Catalina Madrigal Gorbitz]

👏 Absolutely spot on. As someone who supports teams using Jira and Marketplace apps, I’ve seen firsthand how overwhelming it can get, especially when tools overpromise and underdeliver due to excessive configuration.

Education is key, yes, but so is clarity by design. Simpler, purpose-driven tools not only reduce onboarding time but also increase adoption and long-term value. Users shouldn’t need a crash course just to track time or generate a report.

Thanks for highlighting this, excited to see (and support) solutions that put usability first