What do you use as a good alternative to Team System?

Question

I would like to gauge what solutions other people put in place to get Team System functionality. We all know that Team System can be pricey for some of us. I know they offer a small team edition with five licenses with a MSDN subscription, but what if your team is bigger than five or you don't want to use Team System?

Answer 1

I'm stunned that nobody has mentioned the free and excellent TeamCity product from JetBrains. It includes:

• Continous Integration
• Software Build management
• Project Management, Monitoring and Statistical Reports
• Integration with many IDEs, Sourcecode control systems, and Testing Frameworks

For project management / bug tracking / Git or Subversion repository I also use Unfuddle (free for small personal projects!)

Answer 2

I'll second Trac + Subversion. While nothing is perfect, this combination works quite well for me, and the price is right.

Even for projects I work solo on, it's nice to have both of these integrated.

Answer 3

I've had a lot of success with the nice integration between SourceGear vault and FogBugz.

MS Build for build automation meets my needs.

Answer 4

Took my answer out of the question and posted it as one of the answers per the StackOverflow FAQ.

Here is the solution that I use and it works great:

• Subversion for source control
• Warehouse for my Subversion web browser
• FogBugz for feature and bug tracking with it integrated with Subversion, Visual Studio, and Warehouse
• VisualSVN for integrating Subversion into Visual Studio
• CruiseControl.Net with nAnt for my automated build system for .Net projects
• CruiseControl.rb with Capistrano for my automated build system for Ruby on Rails projects

Answer 5

Sourcegear's suite of products are a very nice alternative. Vault + Dragnet + Fortress are nice, however if you can't afford all of those, Vault + FogBugz is a pretty decent alternative.

Answer 6

Trac

It seems targeted for Open Source / Community type projects but it's working just find as an internal Developer intranet. It integrates a Wiki, Bug tracker and SVN Source browser into one nice package and it's very easy to configure.

Answer 7

I use SourceGear's Fortress on my home computer for personal development. Its free for a single user.

Answer 8

I use VisualSVN Server for source control, Mingle for project management and bug tracking, and Team City for continous integration. I'm still getting used to it, but it's working great so far. This is a good free setup for small teams. Licensing Mingle and Team City will cost money for larger teams.

Answer 9

Seapine CM - Cross platform issue management and version control

http://www.seapine.com

Answer 10

For a lightweight & completely free option, you can use Springloops integrated with Basecamp (+ an SVN client).

• Hosted SVN: SpringLoops: http://www.springloops.com/ (free for a single project & user)
• Basecamp: http://basecamphq.com/ (also free for a single project)

Note: SpringLoops integration with Basecamp is not available in their free setup.

Answer 11

I develop on Linux also, which is one reason I came up with the solution I have. I was wondering how the SourceGear options work in this respect? I have used Vault before, which in my experience wasn't too bad, but I know it is mostly Windows based. I think I read at one point that they have a client that can work on Linux, but I have never used it. I just want to open the conversation up a little more, so people who come to this question can hopefully find the best answer for them, based on their wants.

If the Vault client can run on Linux and Mac and run well, then using Vault and Fortress will definitely be the accepted answer as a good low cost alternative to Team System.

Answer 12

SVN with the TortoiseSVN add-on makes for a solid and easy to use interface. WinMerge is a great tool to thrown in that mix as well.

Answer 13

If you're looking for cost-effective alternatives to Microsoft Team System or if you prefer not to use it, there are several solutions that people have implemented to achieve similar functionality. Here are a few options to consider:

Open-source tools: Many open-source tools offer functionalities comparable to Microsoft Team System components. For version control, you can consider Git with platforms like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket. For issue tracking and project management, you can explore tools like Jira (open-source version), Redmine, or Bugzilla. These open-source options can provide similar capabilities at a lower cost.

Agile project management tools: There are numerous agile project management tools available that can help you manage your software development processes. Tools like Atlassian Jira (cloud version), Trello, Asana, or Monday.com offer features for task management, sprint planning, and collaboration. These tools can provide a streamlined workflow and facilitate team communication.

Cloud-based collaboration platforms: Platforms like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Discord can help teams collaborate, communicate, and share information effectively. They offer chat functionality, video conferencing, file sharing, and integration with other tools, enabling teams to work together seamlessly.

Integrated development environments (IDEs): IDEs like Visual Studio Code, IntelliJ IDEA, or Eclipse provide powerful code editing and debugging capabilities. They can be used in combination with version control systems and project management tools to facilitate team collaboration and development workflows.

Custom tooling: Depending on your specific needs, you can consider building custom tooling using open-source libraries, frameworks, or languages. This allows you to tailor the tooling to fit your team's requirements while keeping costs under control.

Remember that the best solution for your team depends on factors like team size, budget, project complexity, and specific needs. It's crucial to evaluate different options, consider the features they offer, and assess how well they align with your team's workflows and processes. Additionally, seeking input from your team members and considering their preferences can help ensure a smooth transition to a new solution.