Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Helix ALM VS Phabricator

Compare Helix ALM VS Phabricator and see what are their differences

Helix ALM logo Helix ALM

Helix ALM is the single, integrated application that lets you centralize and manage requirements, test cases, issues, and other development artifacts and their relationships.

Phabricator logo Phabricator

Phacility - Phabricator
  • Helix ALM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-17
  • Phabricator Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-13

Helix ALM features and specs

  • Comprehensive ALM Solution
    Helix ALM offers a full range of application lifecycle management tools, including requirements management, test case management, and issue tracking, which provide an integrated environment for managing software development projects.
  • Traceability
    The platform provides excellent traceability features, enabling users to link requirements, test cases, and issues. This ensures that all project components are aligned and can be tracked throughout the development lifecycle.
  • Customizable Workflows
    Helix ALM allows for extensive customization of workflows to fit the specific needs of different projects. This flexibility makes it adaptable to various development methodologies and processes.
  • Advanced Reporting
    The tool includes robust reporting and analytics capabilities, allowing users to create custom reports and dashboards that offer insights into project progress, quality, and productivity.
  • Integration Capability
    Helix ALM integrates well with other development tools, including version control systems like Helix Core, as well as third-party tools such as JIRA and Microsoft Visual Studio.

Possible disadvantages of Helix ALM

  • Learning Curve
    Due to its comprehensive feature set and customization options, new users may face a steeper learning curve to fully utilize all aspects of Helix ALM.
  • Cost
    Helix ALM can be relatively expensive, particularly for smaller organizations or teams that might have budget constraints.
  • Complex Setup
    The initial setup and configuration of Helix ALM can be complex and time-consuming, requiring dedicated effort to get everything up and running smoothly.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users have reported performance issues, particularly when dealing with very large projects or extensive datasets, which can impact productivity.
  • Interface Usability
    While powerful, the user interface may appear dated and complex to some users, which could negatively impact user experience, especially for those accustomed to more modern UI/UX designs.

Phabricator features and specs

  • Comprehensive Toolset
    Phabricator offers a wide range of tools including code review, repository hosting, bug tracking, project management, and more, all integrated into one platform.
  • Customizability
    Users can customize workflows, forms, and other aspects to fit the specific needs of their projects.
  • Powerful Code Review
    Phabricator provides advanced code review features like inline comments, custom fields, and audit trails, making it a robust tool for maintaining code quality.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, Phabricator allows organizations to host their instance, providing control over data and customizations without licensing fees.
  • Multi-repository Support
    It supports multiple version control systems (Git, Mercurial, and Subversion) and allows managing multiple repositories within the same project.

Possible disadvantages of Phabricator

  • Complex Setup
    Phabricator can be challenging to install and configure, requiring a good level of technical knowledge and infrastructure.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    New users might find it difficult to navigate and use all the features due to its extensive functionalities and less intuitive user interface.
  • Limited Third-Party Integrations
    Compared to other platforms, Phabricator has fewer integrations with third-party tools, which might be a limitation for some teams.
  • Dependency on Phacility's Future
    Phacility announced that they will cease operations, which means the future maintenance and updates of Phabricator could be uncertain.
  • Performance Issues
    For large-scale projects with many users and repositories, Phabricator may experience performance issues and could require significant resources to run smoothly.

Analysis of Helix ALM

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Helix ALM is considered a good tool for organizations that need a robust and integrated ALM solution. It's especially beneficial for teams that require strict compliance, detailed traceability, and efficient project management capabilities.

Why this product is good

  • Helix ALM by Perforce is a comprehensive application lifecycle management tool that integrates various aspects of development such as requirements management, test case management, and issue tracking. It is known for its robust features that help teams manage projects effectively and ensures traceability and compliance. Users often appreciate its flexibility, scalability, and ability to integrate with other tools, making it suitable for complex and regulated environments.

Recommended for

    Helix ALM is recommended for medium to large-sized enterprises, particularly those in industries like aerospace, defense, medical devices, or any regulated industry where compliance and traceability are essential. It's also suitable for teams that require a flexible, customized workflow and integration with other development tools and processes.

Helix ALM videos

Jira Intergration with Helix ALM

More videos:

  • Review - What's New Helix ALM 2018 4
  • Tutorial - How to Improve Collaboration With Helix ALM and Slack

Phabricator videos

Phabricator code review session at Wikimedia Hackathon Zurich

More videos:

  • Review - Phabricator and Lando Brownbag July 2 2018
  • Review - Nizameddin Ordulu - Phabricator: An all-in-one tool for code review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Helix ALM and Phabricator)
Project Management
69 69%
31% 31
Git
0 0%
100% 100
Website Testing
100 100%
0% 0
Code Collaboration
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Phabricator seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 3 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Helix ALM mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Helix ALM yet. Tracking of Helix ALM recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Phabricator mentions (3)

  • Migrating from Phabricator to Azure Devops. Have some questions.
    My company has used Phabricator, which is an alternative to Azure Devops, for about 5 years. A few days ago they announced that the project won't be maintained anymore, so we are looking into alternatives. We have around 50 devs+product folks that use Phabricator at the moment. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Is there any "Unified HUB SOlution" in this Microservices era?
    You also mention Gitlab is close to what you would like - maybe Phabricator is even closer: https://phacility.com/phabricator/. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Is there an alternative to open project with the next characteristics ?
    Https://phacility.com/phabricator/ I think checks most of those boxes, maybe all. Source: over 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Helix ALM and Phabricator, you can also consider the following products

Azure DevOps - Visual Studio dev tools & services make app development easy for any platform & language. Try our Mac & Windows code editor, IDE, or Azure DevOps for free.

GitLab - Create, review and deploy code together with GitLab open source git repo management software | GitLab

PractiTest - PractiTest is a cloud based Innovative test management tool.

GitHub - Originally founded as a project to simplify sharing code, GitHub has grown into an application used by over a million people to store over two million code repositories, making GitHub the largest code host in the world.

Micro Focus ALM - Learn how Micro Focusโ€™ Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) software tools provide the agility, visibility, and collaboration solutions you need to optimize app development and testing, foster innovation, and improve the user experience.

BitBucket - Bitbucket is a free code hosting site for Mercurial and Git. Manage your development with a hosted wiki, issue tracker and source code.