Best Jira epic progress apps (2026)
If you want to see epic or parent-issue progress in Jira — how many sub-tasks are done, story points completed, percent complete — the apps that do it differ in two big ways: where they show progress (issue view, board, or dashboard) and whether you configure a formula or it just works. This guide compares the options on those lines, so you match one to where your team looks for progress and how much setup you want.
What Jira shows natively (and what it doesn’t)
Jira has a crude board-level progress stat, but nothing on the issue view that rolls child status, story points, or percent-complete up to a parent or epic. So teams either eyeball it or add an app. The apps split into two shapes: formula/calculated-field engines (you write an expression) and purpose-built rollup tools (progress appears with no setup) — and they show it on different surfaces.
The main Jira epic progress & rollup apps, compared
Ratings and installs are from a 2026 research pass and drift over time — read them as relative scale.
| App | Vendor | Rating | Installs | Shape |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structure | Tempo | 4.6★ | ~13k | Full PPM suite (progress is one part) |
| JMCF (custom fields) | Appfire | 4.8★ | ~3.3k | Formula / calculated-field engine |
| Great Gadgets | StonikByte | 4.4★ | ~3.7k | Dashboard-gadget suite |
| sumUp for Jira | Decadis | 4.8★ | ~2.6k | Calculated fields |
| ESU (formerly Epic Sum Up) | APTIS | ~4★ (Lite ~3★) | ~1.8k | Progress bars + budget + hierarchy, multi-surface |
| Tally | Datum | New | — | Zero-config rollup on the issue view |
The honest read: the biggest players win on breadth, not rollup purity — Structure is a full portfolio-management suite and Great Gadgets a dashboard bundle, where epic progress is one feature among many. The formula engines (JMCF, sumUp — both 4.8★) are flexible but ask you to configure expressions. Epic Sum Up is the closest “progress on the issue” analog with a proven base. Tally is a new, 0-review entrant in the zero-config, issue-view lane.
At a glance: which one actually fits
| Decision | Tally | Structure (Tempo) | ESU (APTIS) | JMCF (Appfire) | sumUp (Decadis) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier, genuinely usable | ✓ free, any site size | ✗ paid from the first user | ⚠ free only ≤10 users | ⚠ free only ≤10 users | ⚠ free only ≤10 users |
| Zero-config — no formula to write | ✓ | ✗ build the hierarchy first | ⚠ some setup | ⚠ configure a calculated field | ✓ no-code gadgets |
| Progress on the epic/parent issue itself | ✓ | ✗ lives in its own grid, not the issue screen | ✓ | ✓ | ⚠ built for dashboards, not the issue screen |
| Dashboard or board rollup | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Story-point / percent-complete rollup | ⚠ paid tier | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-level hierarchy | ⚠ paid tier | ✓ | ✓ | ⚠ possible, not purpose-built | ⚠ possible, not purpose-built |
| Budget / KPI tracking | ✗ | ⚠ OKR tracking only, no $ budget | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Runs on Atlassian (Forge-native) | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Proven track record (Marketplace rating) | ✗ new, 0 reviews | ✓ 4.6★ | ✓ ~4★ (Lite ~3★) | ✓ 4.8★ | ✓ 4.8★ |
Tally’s single ✗ — dashboard/board rollup — is deliberate, not a gap it’s racing to close: it’s the line that separates “I want a number on the epic” from “I want portfolio reporting.” And the “free ≤10 users” apps use Atlassian’s standard small-team pricing — free while your whole site has 10 or fewer users, then priced for everyone once you grow past that. Tally’s free sub-task/child status rollup has no such ceiling; only its paid story-point and multi-level tier is priced per user like the rest.
Pick Tally if you want free, zero-config progress on the epic itself; pick Structure/ESU if you need dashboards, boards, or budget/KPI reporting across the portfolio.
The two questions that decide it
- Which surface? The suites (Structure, Great Gadgets, Epic Sum Up) show rollups across dashboards, boards and bulk-edit views. If you report portfolio-wide, that breadth matters. A lighter app may show progress only on the issue panel — great if that’s where your team looks, limiting if you need a dashboard gadget.
- Formula or zero-config? A calculated-field engine (JMCF, sumUp) is powerful but is a small build-and-maintain project. A purpose-built rollup app shows progress with no expression to write. Pick based on whether you want flexibility or no setup.
One technical caution for any of them: if you roll up more than one level, test it on your actual project type — team-managed and company-managed projects handle parent links differently, and multi-level rollup is where these apps most often disagree with each other.
Where Tally fits (and where it doesn’t)
Tally is Datum’s entry, and it’s deliberately narrow: zero-config progress rollup on the issue you’re already looking at — sub-task and child status (free), with story points, estimate and percent-complete on the paid tier. No formula to configure; it works the moment you install it.
Two honest limits worth stating plainly:
- It’s issue-view-only. Tally shows rollup on the parent/epic issue — not as a board column or dashboard gadget. If you need progress on a dashboard or board, the suites above do that and Tally (today) doesn’t.
- It’s new. No review history yet, versus Structure’s or Epic Sum Up’s track record.
Where Tally fits is the team that wants an accurate progress number on the epic itself, with no setup and no formula — and values that it’s part of the Datum family (Prefab builds the epic→story→sub-task hierarchy; Tally measures it). If you need multi-surface portfolio reporting, pick a suite.
For the concepts, see how to show sub-task progress on the parent issue and how to get an accurate epic progress bar in Jira.
How to decide, quickly
- Need progress on dashboards/boards? A suite — Structure, Great Gadgets, or Epic Sum Up.
- Want flexibility and happy to configure a formula? JMCF or sumUp (both 4.8★).
- Just want progress on the epic, no setup? A zero-config issue-view app like Tally.
- Rolling up multiple levels? Test it on your project type before committing — that’s where rollups break.
Match the app to the surface you report on and how much setup you’ll tolerate. The most-installed app isn’t automatically right — it may be a whole PPM suite when all you wanted was a number on the epic.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Jira show epic progress natively?
- Only crudely. Jira has a basic board-level progress stat, but nothing on the issue view that rolls sub-task or child status, story points or percent-complete up to the parent or epic. Apps fill that gap, on different surfaces.
- What's the difference between a rollup app and a formula app?
- A formula app (like JMCF or sumUp) gives you a calculated custom field you configure with an expression. A purpose-built rollup app shows progress with no formula to write. If you don't want to build and maintain expressions, the zero-config kind is simpler.
- Where do these apps show progress — issue, board, or dashboard?
- This is the main difference. The big suites show rollups across dashboards, boards and bulk-edit views. Lighter, purpose-built apps may show it only on the issue panel. Pick based on where your team actually looks for progress.
- Which is best for a small team?
- A small team usually wants progress on the issue they're already looking at, with no field to configure. The enterprise suites are powerful but are priced and built for portfolio-wide reporting across many surfaces.