Lightweight tracker for software teams
Shortcut
Built for product and engineering teams who want a fast, developer-friendly tracker, now with the Korey AI agent.
COMPARE Project Simple vs Shortcut
Shortcut tracks stories. Project Simple runs the product.
Shortcut is a fast, friendly tracker for software teams. Project Simple adds the operating model around it — goals, quality, team health and AI forecasting — so the whole organization can see delivery.
Product Operating Model for AI-DLC
Project Simple
Built to run the whole lifecycle — goals, delivery, quality and forecasting — for every team on the project, out of the box.
The short version
Different tools for different jobs. Here’s the honest answer.
Choose Shortcut if…
you’re a small product and engineering team that wants a light, fast tracker and an AI agent to draft stories.
Choose Project Simple if…
you’re scaling past a few teams and need leadership analytics, quality discipline, forecasting and timesheets in one place.
Teams switch when…
the team grows, leaders want delivery forecasts and quality trends, and a lightweight tracker stops being enough.
Where Shortcut shines
- Fast, developer-friendly tracker
- Free for teams of up to 10 people
- Korey turns rough ideas into development-ready stories and hands off to coding agents
Where teams hit a wall
- Lightweight by design — thin analytics for leadership
- No built-in quality discipline, retros or timesheets
- Korey is a separate sign-up from Shortcut itself
- No on-prem or self-hosted version yet
Feature by feature
What you get out of the box — and what you’d have to add.
| Capability | Shortcut | Project Simple |
|---|---|---|
| Operating model |
Shortcut Lightweight
Lightweight tracker you shape to fit |
Project Simple Built in
A proven Product Operating Model, ready on day one |
| Roadmaps & goals |
Shortcut Native
Roadmaps, objectives and epics |
Project Simple Built in
Now / Next / Later roadmap tied to goals and milestones |
| Delivery forecasting |
Shortcut Limited
Delivery forecasting isn’t a core feature |
Project Simple Built in
AI forecasts release dates and flags delivery risks |
| Quality discipline |
Shortcut Not built in
No quality gates or root-cause workflow |
Project Simple Built in
Quality gates, bug waterlines and 5 Whys root-cause analysis |
| Sprint analytics & reviews |
Shortcut Basic
Iteration reports |
Project Simple Built in
Sprint, backlog, item and project analytics with automated sprint reviews |
| Retros & team health |
Shortcut Not built in
No built-in retrospectives or health checks |
Project Simple Built in
Built-in retrospectives and team health-check surveys |
| Timesheets |
Shortcut Not built in
No built-in time tracking |
Project Simple Built in
Built-in time tracking for CapEx / OpEx with financial reporting |
| Cross-functional teams |
Shortcut Limited
Built for product and engineering |
Project Simple Built in
Dev, QA, UI/UX, DevOps and Marketing working one way in one project |
| AI pricing |
Shortcut Separate
Korey AI agent is a separate sign-up |
Project Simple Built in
Bring your own LLM keys — no per-token markup |
| Deployment |
Shortcut Cloud only
No self-hosted version yet |
Project Simple Built in
Cloud, isolated tenant, your own cloud, or on-prem |
Based on Shortcut’s public product and pricing pages as of October 2026. Plans and features change — check the vendor’s site for the latest.
The real cost
Light on price — and light on what leaders need.
| What you pay for | Shortcut | Project Simple |
|---|---|---|
| Base license | Shortcut Free up to 10 users; $8.50 – $12 per user / month | Project Simple $1,000 – $1,500 / month per 100-person team |
| AI | Shortcut Korey signed up separately | Project Simple Your own LLM keys, no markup |
| Leadership analytics | Shortcut Thin — often a separate BI tool | Project Simple Full analytics suite included |
| The rest of the stack | Shortcut Retros, timesheets and quality tools bought separately | Project Simple All included in one platform |
| Total per month | Shortcut ≈ $10,000 – $10,650+ | Project Simple $1,000 – $1,500 |
Shortcut prices are annual list prices as published in 2026.
Switching from Shortcut
Up and running by your next sprint.
-
Step 1
Bring your backlog
Export your work and we’ll help you import it and set up the integrations you rely on.
-
Step 2
Set goals and teams
Define your roadmap goals and add your teams. The operating model, dashboards and analytics are already there.
-
Step 3
Start the next sprint
Run your next sprint in Project Simple. Forecasts and insights build from day one.
“Our team was up and running in a few days, with almost zero learning curve — something I’ve never been able to say about any project management tool before.”
Rajiv Kasera
VP of Engineering, Luckpay Solutions
FAQ
Questions teams ask before switching
We’re a small team. Is Project Simple overkill?
No. The Team plan covers one project and one team with unlimited members, and startups get the same proven model that scales as they grow — with no setup.
How does AI pricing work?
We don’t charge per token or per AI action. AI capabilities come with the Enterprise plan, and you connect your own provider’s API keys — OpenAI, Anthropic or another — and pay them directly.
Can Project Simple run in our own environment?
Yes. Choose an isolated multi-tenant setup, a dedicated instance in your own AWS or GCP account, or an on-prem deployment in your private cloud or data center.
Ready to move past Shortcut?
See the Product Operating Model for AI-DLC running on real delivery data. Zero setup required.
