ProductBeat is a modern Jira alternative for lean product teams. No messy Trello boards or custom Jira workflows. Streamlined, intuitive backlog flow, release timeline, lightning-fast search, native desktop apps. Best practices only.
I really like using ProductBeat, it really simple and intuitive to use.
I don't really compare it to Jira, due to the huge amount of features the latter can offer, but for a small team could do the work.