Jira runs the work. Unblockd gets the answer.
Keep planning and tracking in Jira. Unblockd is where the person you’re waiting on decides, and it reads from Jira, so nobody types anything twice.
- What it is
- JiraIssue and project tracking from Atlassian. Jira Service Management adds a help center where customers raise and follow requests.
- UnblockdA page for the person your project waits on: the decisions you need from them, and progress on each deliverable with its proof.
- Someone outside your team
- JiraCustomers raise, comment on, and follow requests through a Jira Service Management portal, without a Jira license.
- UnblockdThey open a private link from their email and answer each question in a tap, on any phone or laptop.
- Best for
- JiraSoftware teams tracking issues and sprints, and service teams handling requests through a customer portal.
- UnblockdTeams whose work waits on someone outside it: a sponsor, an exec, or a client who has to decide, approve, or open access.
| Jira | Unblockd | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Issue and project tracking from Atlassian. Jira Service Management adds a help center where customers raise and follow requests. | A page for the person your project waits on: the decisions you need from them, and progress on each deliverable with its proof. |
| Someone outside your team | Customers raise, comment on, and follow requests through a Jira Service Management portal, without a Jira license. | They open a private link from their email and answer each question in a tap, on any phone or laptop. |
| Best for | Software teams tracking issues and sprints, and service teams handling requests through a customer portal. | Teams whose work waits on someone outside it: a sponsor, an exec, or a client who has to decide, approve, or open access. |
Use them together.
Engineers stay in Jira. The executive backing the project sees progress on each deliverable, with the merged work behind it, and decides what’s blocked from one page.
- Questions they can answer
- Each blocker becomes one question with the options written out, your recommendation marked, and the day you need it.
- Follow-ups that send themselves
- If an ask waits 3 days, a reminder goes out for you, and another before the deadline. Nudge or escalate in one tap.
- Progress with proof
- Your sponsor sees each deliverable’s progress with the doc, PR, or demo behind it. A task can only be marked done with its proof attached.
- Your AI drafts, you approve
- Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, or Cursor can draft asks and updates through MCP. A person on your team approves what goes out.
When to use both
Keep Jira as it is. Adding Unblockd pays off when any of these sound familiar.
- Engineering tracks the work in Jira, and an executive outside it has to decide or approve.
- Status meetings exist mainly to turn issues into progress the sponsor understands.
- Merged work should count as proof that a deliverable moved.
See how it works: Stakeholder and executive updates
Questions
- Does Unblockd replace Jira?
- Keep Jira. Unblockd reads from it and shows only what you choose to share.
- Does my sponsor need a Jira seat?
- They answer from a private link Unblockd emails them, on any phone or laptop. Sponsors, approvers, and viewers are free on every plan.
- Can we try it without switching anything?
- Unblockd is free for 1 project and up to 3 teammates, so you can try it beside Jira on your most stuck project.
Sources
What this page says about Jira comes from its own pages, checked October 4, 2026. Products change; if something here is out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it.