The 10 best idea management software tools of 2025: Your complete guide

Choosing idea management software can feel overwhelming with so many options out there.

The idea management software market is growing fast—expected to reach $3.6 billion by 2032. With new tools emerging, finding the right fit for your team can feel daunting. Onboarding, importing ideas, and integrating workflows take effort. Switching tools later is a hassle. That’s why researching features and aligning them with your team’s goals is critical.

The right tool does more than organize ideas. It will:

• centralize idea collection
• streamline workflows 
• promote collaboration and ideation
• help prioritize your most valuable ideas
• build a roadmap to coordinate your efforts

This guide helps you find the right idea management software for your team. We’ll also review the top ten tools.

What is idea management software?

Idea management software helps teams collect, organize, and prioritize ideas. It focuses on the first steps of ideation — gathering input and deciding which ideas to move forward.

These tools help capture ideas from teammates, customers, and stakeholders. Everyone can share their thoughts in one place, so great suggestions don’t get lost.

Common features include:

• Idea submission portals
• Voting tools to rank ideas
• Tagging and categorization
• Commenting for feedback and discussion

This software helps teams uncover the best ideas and take the next step with confidence.

The 10 best idea management tools in 2025

Picking the right idea management software can make a big difference for your team. To help you choose, we’ve looked at some of the best idea management software available. Each has its own strengths and challenges, based on what your team needs. Below, we’ll cover each tool’s pros and cons, pricing, key features, and best use cases to help you decide:

1. Canny

Canny is a customer feedback and idea management tool. It helps teams capture, organize, and prioritize employee ideas and user suggestions. Businesses can engage with users, understand their needs, and manage feature requests in one place. Canny’s voting system and roadmap tools help product managers turn feedback into improvements. It helps them align plans with customer needs.

Features include:

• Feedback collection — gather suggestions and ideas from employees, customers, and other stakeholders
• Voting system — let users vote on the ideas they care about most
• Prioritization — automatically score ideas based on a custom prioritization formula (metrics like revenue and customer segment)
• Roadmap — add ideas and feature requests to your product roadmap to show progress
• Customizable boards — organize ideas by categories, features, or teams
• Status updates — keep everyone informed about what’s planned, in progress, or completed
• Analytics — understand trends and prioritize ideas based on data
• Integration options — connect with tools like Slack, Intercom, and Jira to collaborate easily

These features make Canny essential for managing feedback. It will help you make informed product decisions.

One space for all ideas

Ideas come from many places—customers, teammates, and more. Canny helps you keep everything in one spot so you can stay organized and act on valuable ideas.

• Handle large-scale idea collection with ease
• Deduplicate ideas to keep things tidy
• Transform customer feedback into actionable product ideas
• Gather and organize employee ideas using an internal idea board
• Focus on top ideas with ranking tools based on impact

Assign ideas to the right person

Canny helps product managers triage and focus on ideas relevant to their responsibilities.

• Simplify collaboration between product managers and customers to refine ideas
• Use tags and segments to show teams the ideas that matter most to them
• Provide product teams with data to guide feature development
• Integrate with project management tools for idea tracking and execution

Set clear expectations for customers and teammates

Canny helps you share the reasoning behind product decisions to build transparency.

• Use a public roadmap to show the ideas currently in progress
• Automatically send updates to keep everyone informed about changes
• Foster collaboration on promising ideas to improve outcomes
• Publish release notes on your changelog to show how the new feature works

Collaborate on ideas 

Canny promotes ideation by letting users submit new ideas or upvote existing ones on your feedback board.

• Involve your team — invite unlimited contributors or assign custom roles to encourage participation
• Connect with your community — talk to users about the innovative ideas they care about most
• Co-create — quickly identify users interested in an idea and get their help building it
• Focus on ongoing improvement — use feedback to make consistent, incremental enhancements

Pricing 

Canny’s free plan includes unlimited users, private boards, a changelog, and one integration. Paid plans start at $79 per month and give you access to more advanced tools and integrations.

Here’s a quick guide to help you decide when Canny is the right fit for your needs — and when it’s not.

When Canny is the right choice:

• You need to manage feedback better — Canny helps collect and prioritize ideas easily.
• You want to keep customers updated — use status updates and roadmaps to share progress.
• You have trouble choosing ideas to focus on — Canny’s voting system and prioritization tools show what matters most.
• You need a simple way to organize ideas — customizable boards fit your team’s workflow.
• You rely on many tools — Canny works well with Jira, Slack, Intercom, and more.

When Canny might not be the best fit:

• You need visual brainstorming tools — Canny focuses on feedback, not creative idea generation.
• You’ll need a project management tool—Canny focuses on feedback, not full project management. However, it can sync tasks with most project management tools. 

2. FigJam by Figma

FigJam by Figma is an online whiteboard for teams to share ideas and plan projects. It has tools like sticky notes and markers to help teams work together. FigJam is great for brainstorming, solving problems, and mapping out ideas. It connects to Figma, so it’s perfect for designers and creative teams. With FigJam, teams can stay organized, have fun, and turn their ideas into real plans.

It includes lots of useful features to help teams work together. Some of the features are:

• Sticky notes — jot down ideas and move them around easily
• Markers and drawing tools — draw shapes, lines, or doodles to explain ideas visually
• Templates — use ready-made layouts for brainstorming or planning sessions
• Collaboration tools — work with your team in real-time on the same board
• Comments — share feedback or ask questions with simple notes
• Integration with Figma — bring in designs directly from Figma for easy collaboration

Pricing: 

FigJam’s free Starter plan has limited features, while paid plans start at $5 per user monthly, offering more features and unlimited files.

When FigJam is the right choice:

• You want a simple tool for brainstorming — FigJam’s easy-to-use tools make sharing ideas quick and fun.
• Your team works together often — real-time collaboration lets everyone contribute on the same board.
• Your team uses Figma — FigJam integrates seamlessly, making it perfect for design and creative projects.

When FigJam might not be the best fit:

• For complex projects, FigJam is less suited — it’s best for quick brainstorming, not detailed planning.
• Your team isn’t design-focused — FigJam is great for designers but less helpful for other teams.
• You need to track tasks — FigJam doesn’t have tools like timelines or task tracking for projects.
• You want help prioritizing — FigJam isn’t able to help you rank ideas
• You need user feedback — it’s not built to let users share ideas with you

3. Brightidea

Brightidea is a platform that helps enterprise companies gather and grow ideas. Teams can share their ideas, vote on them, and track how they turn into real projects. It’s a good option for businesses that want to inspire innovation and solve problems together. With Brightidea, companies can run challenges, collect feedback, and follow the journey of each idea, all in one place.

Features include:

• Idea sharing — teams can easily share and organize ideas
• Voting and feedback — people can vote on top ideas and share their thoughts
• Challenges — run contests to solve problems or spark new ideas
• Progress tracking — follow how ideas grow from a thought to a real project
• Reports — view data on shared ideas and their performance

These features make Brightidea great for enterprise teams. It will structure and streamline their innovation process.

Pricing:

Brightidea’s pricing is customized for enterprises, meaning you’ll need to contact them for a quote based on your needs.

When Brightidea is the right choice

• You have a large team — Brightidea is perfect for enterprise companies managing ideas from many people.
• You need structured workflows — it lets you create steps that fit how your team works.
• You want to encourage innovation — challenges and contests motivate teams to share creative ideas.
• You need to track progress — Brightidea shows how ideas grow and measures their success.

When Brightidea might not be the best fit

• Your team is small — Brightidea may feel too advanced for small teams.
• You’re on a budget — pricing can be high for small businesses or startups.
• You want a simple tool — it has a steep learning curve.
• You prefer visual brainstorming — Brightidea focuses on structure, not creative visuals.
• You want user feedback — Brightidea isn’t built to capture external feedback

4. Next

Next is a platform that gathers customer feedback from calls and other sources, and turns it into actionable insights. It brings feedback, research, and data together in one place, making it easy to understand user needs. Teams can analyze input, plan strategies, and track progress toward delivering value to their customers.

Features include:

• Centralized feedback collection — gather customer feedback, research, and data
• Insight analysis — identify patterns and trends to understand user needs better
• Progress tracking — monitor how feedback turns into actionable product updates
• Strategy planning — align feedback with team goals to guide decision-making

Pricing: 

Next has a limited free plan. Paid plans start at €499 per month (about $520 USD).

When Next is the right choice:

• You need to analyze insights — Next helps find patterns and trends in user feedback.
• You work with video and audio feedback — Next excels at organizing and analyzing video or audio input from customers.
• You prefer visual data — charts and dashboards make insights easier to understand and share.

When Next might not be the best fit:

• You need simple prioritization tools — Next focuses more on research than structured prioritization.
• You’re on a tight budget — the Starter plan is more than 5x more expensive than Canny
• You want a lightweight solution — it may feel overwhelming for teams needing a simpler feedback system.
• You want to include employee ideas — Next’s tools are focused on customers first, and little for internal ideas
• You want to discuss ideas — Next doesn’t offer a good way to chat about ideas with users

5. Medallia Ideas

Medallia Ideas helps teams collect and analyze ideas from employees, customers, and stakeholders. It’s built to boost engagement and innovation—making it easier to turn feedback into action.

Beyond collecting ideas, Medallia Ideas integrates with Medallia’s experience management tools. This makes it a strong option for teams looking to streamline feedback across departments.

Features include:

• Idea collection – Gather and organize ideas from employees, customers, and stakeholders in one place.
• Voting and ranking – Let teams vote on ideas to surface top priorities.
• Collaboration tools – Use comments, tagging, and discussions to refine suggestions.
• Progress tracking – Track ideas from submission to implementation.
• Advanced analytics & reporting – Measure engagement, idea adoption, and overall impact.

Pricing

Medallia Ideas offers custom pricing based on your needs. You’ll need to reach out for details.

When Medallia Ideas is the right choice:

• You want input from both employees and customers — Medallia Ideas encourages open idea-sharing.
• Your team values structured innovation — features help prioritize and refine suggestions.
• You need analytics — track trends and measure the impact of implemented ideas.
• You’re already using Medallia — seamless integration enhances existing feedback workflows.

When Medallia Ideas might not be the best fit:

• You have a small team — its feature set might be more than you need.
• You want a general brainstorming tool — it’s built for structured feedback, not freeform ideation.
• You need a plug-and-play solution — setup and customization may take time.

6. Exago Smart 

Exago Smart is an idea management platform for big companies. It helps teams share and develop ideas with employees, partners, and customers. Exago Smart uses workflows and gamification to turn creative ideas into solutions.

Features include:

• Idea collection — gather ideas from employees, customers, and partners in one place
• Custom workflows — create step-by-step processes to manage and track ideas
• Gamification — use points, challenges, and rewards to boost participation
• Evaluation tools — score and rank ideas based on their potential impact

Pricing:

Exago Smart has custom pricing tailored to the size and needs of each organization.

When Exago Smart is the right choice:

• You want to engage a variety of people — it’s great for gathering ideas from employees, customers, and partners.
• Your team needs flexible processes — customizable workflows adapt to your company’s unique needs.
• To boost participation — gamification features like points and rewards make idea sharing fun.

When Exago Smart might not be the best fit

• You have a small team — it works best for large organizations with many participants.
• You need a simple platform — the features may take time to learn and get used to.
• It needs dedicated resources—someone to manage workflows and maintain active participation.
• You’re on a tight budget — custom pricing without transparency might not suit smaller organizations.

7. Bluescape

Bluescape is a visual collaboration platform that makes teamwork easy and creative. With its virtual whiteboard, teams can brainstorm, plan, and organize ideas all in one place. It’s perfect for creating diagrams, working on presentations, and managing complex workflows in real time.

Features include:

• Virtual whiteboard — share ideas, draw, and brainstorm on a large, shared canvas
• Real-time collaboration — work with your team live, no matter where they are
• File integration — add images, videos, documents, and more to your workspace
• Presentation tools — create and present your work directly within Bluescape
• Organizational tools — use sticky notes, connectors, and templates to keep ideas organized

Pricing: 

Bluescape offers a free plan with limited features, while paid plans start at $10 per user per month.

When Bluescape is the right choice:

• Your team works visually — it’s ideal for teams that think and organize using a shared canvas.
• You need to collaborate in real-time — tools make it easy to work together, no matter the location.
• You want flexible workspaces — add files, images, and notes to organize projects visually and creatively.
• You need presentation tools — present ideas directly within Bluescape without using extra software.

When Bluescape might not be the best fit

• You value simplicity — its visual layout may feel cluttered for those not used to large, flexible designs.
• You focus on feedback — it lacks structured tools for collecting and prioritizing feedback.
• You don’t rely on visual workflows — teams that work less visually may find it less useful.

8. Ideanote

Ideanote is an idea management platform that simplifies innovation for teams. It helps you gather, organize, and act on ideas. It encourages employees, customers, and stakeholders to share solutions easily.

Features include:

• Idea collection — gather ideas from your team, customers, or stakeholders in one place
• Customizable workflows — create steps to organize and track ideas effectively
• Feedback tools — use comments and votes to improve and prioritize ideas
• Templates — get started quickly with pre-made templates for idea management
• Analytics — track the performance and impact of ideas over time

Pricing: 

Ideanote offers a free plan with basic features, while paid plans start at $6 per user per month.

When Ideanote is the right choice:

• You need an easy-to-use platform — simple setup and user-friendly design make it great for small teams.
• Your team needs tailored workflows — customizable processes help fit your specific needs.
• You value team collaboration — share, comment, and vote on ideas effortlessly to improve them.
• You’re on a budget — the free plan and affordable pricing work well for startups and small businesses.

When Ideanote might not be the best fit:

• You want to capture feedback from support tickets and sales tools — Ideanote lacks integrations with many product management and customer support tools (e.g., Intercom, Zendesk, Salesforce). That makes it harder to connect feedback collection with existing workflows.
• You want a built-in changelog — Ideanote doesn’t offer this feature. Teams need a separate tool or manual process to keep users informed about product improvements.
• You want to automate feedback collection — Ideanote does not automatically capture customer feedback from sources such as public review sites (G2, Capterra, etc.), support tools, and call transcripts.

9. Ideawake

Ideawake is a platform that helps you crowdsource ideas from customers, employees, and stakeholders. 

Features include:

• Idea submission — collect ideas from employees, customers, or stakeholders in one space
• Custom evaluation criteria — set scoring systems to rank and prioritize ideas
• Collaboration tools — discuss, refine, and improve ideas through comments and feedback
• Duplicate idea detection — Ideawake detects when similar ideas are submitted

Pricing:

Ideawake offers custom pricing based on company size and needs. Pricing starts at $500/mo.

When Ideawake is the right choice:

• You need custom scoring — set up evaluation criteria tailored to your organization.
• Your team prefers structured approval workflows — automate review processes for idea evaluation.
• You want engagement tracking — measure participation and innovation impact with analytics.

When Ideawake might not be the best fit:

• You want AI feedback capture — Ideawake can’t capture existing feedback in your support tickets, sales conversations, and public review sites (unlike Canny).
• You want seamless integrations with existing tools — Ideawake has limited direct integrations with major product management and support platforms.
• You want clear pricing that’s not too steep — Ideawake is fairly expensive for what you get. Pricing starts at $500/mo for just the basics.

10. Aha! Ideas

Aha! is a product development software that features an idea management tool called Aha! Ideas. Aha!’s product suite has tools for building roadmaps, capturing customer feedback, product documentation, and development workflows.

In the following section, we’ll focus specifically on Aha! Ideas, their tool for capturing and prioritizing feedback:

Features include:

• Idea collection — gather ideas from customers, employees, and teams in one place
• Voting and prioritization — allow users to vote on ideas to highlight what matters most
• Analytics and reporting — measure idea impact and make decisions based on data

Pricing: 

Aha! Ideas starts at $39 per user per month, with tiered plans based on additional features and team needs. There is a minimum requirement of three users, so the monthly price starts at $117 at minimum.

When Aha! Ideas is the right choice

• You already use Aha! Roadmaps — seamless integration makes it perfect for strategic planning and execution.
• You rely on data insights — analytics and reporting provide clear insights into idea impact and progress.

When Aha! Ideas might not be the best fit

• They don’t integrate with your current tools to capture feedback — Aha! Ideas integrates with a limited selection of support, CRM, and development tools. 
• You don’t want to pay more for every contributor — you pay for every person who you want to review and manage ideas. Canny’s pricing is more straightforward (and allows contributors to join without paying extra). 
• You want to automatically capture feedback from support tickets, public review sites, and call transcripts — you need to manually input feedback from outside sources. That’s time-consuming, needs excellent organization cross-functionally, and can leave valuable feedback behind. Canny Autopilot captures, deduplicates, and organizes this feedback for you.

What to look for when buying idea management software

To pick the right idea software for your team, first you need to understand what functionality you need in a software. Then, match those needs against key features of the software in this list. Consider if you need:

• Feedback collection
• Enterprise support
• Voting capabilities
• Weighted scoring for prioritization
• Strong reporting
• Integrations with tools you already use
• AI-powered feedback capture and tagging
• Collaboration tools including chat, comments, and whiteboards
• Visual ideation tools
• Changelog and release note tools to keep people updated

Then find the right idea management tool for you based on which ones meet your needs from that list. 

Tips for getting the most out of an idea management software

To make the most of your idea management software, set clear goals. Do you want to collect more feedback? Improve brainstorming sessions? Focus on promising ideas? Create simple rules for idea submission, review, and idea evaluation to keep the process organized.

Getting everyone involved is key. Show how the tool helps through training and examples. Explain how it makes teamwork easier, improves fairness, and lets everyone share their thoughts. Celebrate and reward those who contribute to keep them motivated.

Make it easy for people to join in. Ask teammates and stakeholders to share new ideas and feedback often. Use tools like voting or comments to keep interest high. By making the tool part of your daily workflow and linking it to your goals, you’ll help your team build better products.

Conclusion: why use an idea management tool?

Idea management software can change how teams approach idea collection and prioritization. It helps to organize and act on ideas in a streamlined way. This allows teams to work together and focus on solutions that make a difference.

The right tool improves teamwork, keeps things clear, and aligns with your goals. It helps businesses stay competitive by quickly adapting to changes and finding innovative ideas. When used well, this software doesn’t just simplify work—it builds a culture of innovation for long-term success.

Start improving your ideation process by thinking about your team’s needs. Look at the tools listed to find the best idea management software for your goals. If you want to include customer feedback in product planning, Canny is a great choice. It helps you focus on features users really want.

Ready to make managing feedback and ideas easier? Try Canny today for free: