At some point, every web agency makes the same decision.
You're managing a handful of client sites on retainer. Bugs are arriving by email, Slack, WhatsApp — wherever clients can reach you. Someone on the team says "we should get organised about this" and looks around at the tools already in use. Trello board. Notion database. ClickUp list. It's right there. It's free (or already paid for). It's flexible enough to hold a bug tracker if you squint at it right.
So you build the system. Three columns in Trello, or a Reported/Fixed database in Notion, or a Bug Tracking space in ClickUp. It feels like progress.
Then you try to get clients to use it.
Why PM Tools Seem Like the Right Answer
The logic is sound at first glance. You need somewhere to collect and track bugs. Project management tools collect and track things. You already have them. Why add another tool?
There are real advantages:
- Familiarity — your team already knows how to use them
- Flexibility — you can model almost any workflow with boards, lists, or databases
- Cost — you're often already paying, so it feels like zero marginal cost
- Integration — they connect to the rest of your stack
For internal bug tracking — where your developers log issues, assign them, and move them through a workflow — PM tools hold up reasonably well. The cracks appear the moment clients are involved.
The Fundamental Mismatch
Project management tools are built for teams. The people using them are staff members: onboarded, trained, incentivised to follow the workflow. They create accounts because it's part of their job. They learn the interface because they use it every day.
Clients are none of these things. They're non-technical contacts at other companies who occasionally notice something wrong with their website. They have no reason to create a Trello account, no reason to learn your Notion structure, and no patience for an interface that wasn't designed with them in mind. They will do what's easiest — which is send an email — and your carefully built bug-tracking system becomes something only your team uses.
This is the fundamental mismatch: PM tools are designed for internal collaboration. Bug tracking, for agencies, is a client-facing problem.
The tool that solves it needs to make bug submission effortless for non-technical clients — not just manageable for technical teams.
How PM Tools Compare as Bug Trackers
| Notion | Trello | ClickUp | Asana | Basecamp | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No client account needed | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ⚠️ Limited |
| Embedded CMS widget | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Video bug reports | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Auto browser/OS/URL capture | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Per-client scoped view | ❌ | ⚠️ Workaround | ❌ | ❌ | ⚠️ Per project |
| Bug-specific triage workflow | ❌ | ❌ | ⚠️ Custom setup | ⚠️ Custom setup | ❌ |
| Client status visibility | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ⚠️ Via messages |
| Flat pricing for unlimited clients | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Every tool scores the same on the criteria that matter most for client-facing bug tracking: none of them have it built in. That's not a coincidence — it's because these tools weren't designed for this job.
The Individual Tools
Notion
Notion's database model makes it easy to set up a bug log with custom fields, filters, and views. For internal use it works well. For client-facing bug intake, it requires clients to create Notion accounts, navigate an unfamiliar interface, and remember to go there instead of emailing you.
The deeper issue: Notion is a blank canvas. Without enforced structure, every bug report looks different. No automatic browser detection, no video, no embedded widget in the client's CMS.
→ Full comparison: Notion as a Bug Tracker
Trello
The "Reported / In Progress / Fixed" Trello board is a rite of passage for web agencies. It's satisfying to build and intuitive to use — for your team. Clients need a Trello account to submit cards, have no way to report bugs from inside their CMS, and get no automatic context capture (browser, device, URL) when they do manage to submit something.
Trello is a strong Kanban tool for internal workflows. It's not a bug tracker once clients are involved.
→ Full comparison: Trello vs Lantern
ClickUp
ClickUp markets itself as one app to replace everything, and for internal team management it often earns that. The problem is that ClickUp's power — the density of views, fields, automations, and hierarchies — becomes the problem when clients are on the other end. Non-technical clients logging into ClickUp to report a single bug face an interface that wasn't built for them.
ClickUp also has no CMS widget, no Loom integration, and per-seat pricing that compounds when you add client access across many retainer accounts.
→ Full comparison: ClickUp vs Lantern
Asana
Asana handles project delivery well — timelines, milestones, task dependencies, workload management. Agencies that use it for bug tracking typically set up an intake form linked to a project. The form collects what clients remember to include (rarely enough), produces a task that looks like every other task, and leaves clients with no visibility into what happens next unless they log into Asana to check.
Asana is the right tool for structured project management. It's the wrong tool for unstructured bug intake from non-technical clients.
→ Full comparison: Asana vs Lantern
Basecamp
Basecamp is different from the others: it was genuinely designed for clients. Agencies use it for client communication, and clients actually log in. The bug tracking problem isn't client adoption — it's structure. A Basecamp message or to-do item has no required fields, no automatic context capture, no video, and no bug-specific status workflow. "The website looks weird" is a valid Basecamp message, and there's no mechanism to require anything more.
Basecamp is excellent for client collaboration. Bug tracking requires structure it deliberately doesn't impose.
→ Full comparison: Basecamp vs Lantern
What Purpose-Built Bug Tracking Looks Like
A tool built specifically for client-facing agency bug tracking solves problems that PM tools can't patch around:
Clients submit without friction. No account creation, no onboarding, no interface to learn. A unique link or an embedded button — they click it, record a video, and submit.
The widget lives in their CMS. The reporting button sits inside the client's WordPress admin or Umbraco backoffice, visible only to logged-in users. Clients report bugs from exactly where they encountered them, without opening another tab.
Context is captured automatically. Browser, OS, URL, screen size — all captured at submission. Clients don't need to know what to include; the tool collects it for them.
Video replaces text descriptions. A 30-second Loom walkthrough shows a developer exactly what the client saw. No ambiguity, no follow-up questions, no email chain before anyone touches the bug.
All clients, one dashboard. Agencies managing fifteen client sites don't jump between boards or databases. One view shows all open bugs across all clients, sortable by urgency, client, and age.
Clients see status without asking. Each client has a scoped portal showing their issues and current status. They don't email to ask if you've seen their report — they check the portal.
The Right Tool for the Right Job
There's nothing wrong with Notion, Trello, ClickUp, Asana, or Basecamp. They're the right tools for the jobs they were designed for: internal knowledge management, team task tracking, project delivery, client communication.
Bug tracking for web agencies is a different job. It's client-facing by definition, which means the tool has to work for non-technical people who have no incentive to learn it. PM tools weren't designed for this. Purpose-built bug trackers are.
Lantern is built specifically for agencies managing client websites on retainer — with a CMS-embedded widget, Loom video integration, automatic context capture, and flat pricing for unlimited clients.
Try Lantern free for 14 days →
No credit card required on the Individual plan (up to 5 clients). The Team plan is £30/month for unlimited clients and unlimited team members.
Simple bug tracking for agencies. No credit card required.