ProductBoard vs. Aha vs. Notion for Product Roadmapping

The VP Product scheduled a roadmap review meeting. I opened ProductBoard to prepare.

Our PMM team had 12 seats in ProductBoard at $16,000 annually. We'd fought for those seats because "PMM needs visibility into the product roadmap."

I clicked through our boards. Product had built detailed roadmaps. Features, timelines, user stories, dependencies.

For the meeting, I needed to know: What's launching next quarter, and what competitive positioning should we build?

After 30 minutes in ProductBoard, I still didn't have a clear answer. The roadmap had 47 items for Q3. Some were major features. Some were minor improvements. Some were technical debt. All looked equally important in ProductBoard.

I closed ProductBoard and messaged the Product Manager directly: "What are the 3 major launches next quarter?"

She responded in 2 minutes with a clear list.

That's when I realized: We'd paid $16K for PMM to access a product roadmap tool. But PMM doesn't need a roadmap tool—we need roadmap insights.

Those are different things.

Why PMM "Needs" Roadmap Tools

The argument for ProductBoard seats seemed obvious:

Problem: PMM doesn't know what's launching until it's too late Solution: Give PMM access to the product roadmap tool

The logic: If PMM can see the roadmap in real-time, we can plan launches, messaging, and competitive positioning proactively instead of reactively.

The pitch from ProductBoard:

• "PMM visibility into product priorities"
• "Align GTM planning with product development"
• "Customer feedback integration for informed positioning"
• "Timeline view for launch coordination"

This made sense. PMM should have roadmap visibility.

My boss approved $16K for 12 PMM seats.

Month 1-3: Learning ProductBoard

Getting set up was a project:

Week 1: Onboarding

• 2-hour training session
• Learning ProductBoard's hierarchy (Products → Components → Features → User Stories)
• Understanding how to navigate roadmap views
• Setting up filters and custom views

Week 2-4: Finding relevant information

• Product team had built 8 different roadmap views
• "Executive Roadmap" (high-level, vague)
• "Engineering Roadmap" (too technical, unclear business impact)
• "Q3 Priorities" (47 items, unclear which are major vs. minor)
• "Customer-Driven Features" (good, but didn't show timeline)

None of these views answered the PMM question: "What are the major launches I need to prepare positioning for?"

Month 2-3: Creating custom views

• Built "PMM Launch View" filtering for major features
• Created "Competitive Positioning Needed" board
• Set up "Q3 Launch Timeline" custom board

This took 8 hours to build and configure.

Finally, I had a view that showed what PMM cared about.

Month 4: The Realization

After 4 months with ProductBoard, I tracked how PMM actually used it:

What I thought we'd use it for:

• Daily roadmap monitoring (proactive launch planning)
• Customer feedback integration (inform positioning)
• Timeline tracking (coordinate launches)
• Cross-functional collaboration (comment on features)

What we actually used it for:

• Checking what's launching next quarter (monthly, not daily)
• That's it

Usage pattern:

• Week 1 of each month: Check roadmap for next quarter (30 minutes)
• Weeks 2-4: Never logged in

Why we didn't use it more:

1. Product context wasn't there ProductBoard showed what was being built. It didn't show why or for whom.

PMM needs to know:

• Why are we building this?
• What customer pain does it solve?
• What's the competitive angle?
• Who's the target persona?

Those discussions happened in meetings, Slack, and docs—not in ProductBoard.

2. PMM-relevant info was buried ProductBoard was built for Product team workflows (user stories, engineering priorities, technical specs).

PMM needs launch timeline + positioning requirements. That was 5% of the information in ProductBoard.

Finding it required building custom views and filters.

3. Source of truth was elsewhere When I needed definitive answers ("Is Feature X launching in Q3?"), I asked the PM directly.

ProductBoard showed planned roadmap. But plans change. PMs knew current reality.

Asking directly was faster and more reliable than trusting ProductBoard.

The $16K Spreadsheet

After 6 months with ProductBoard, I documented what PMM actually needed:

What ProductBoard provided:

• Comprehensive product roadmap (every feature, user story, dependency)
• Customer feedback integration
• Timeline visualization
• Collaboration features
• 15+ different view types

What PMM actually needed:

• List of major launches next quarter
• Launch dates
• Target persona per launch
• Competitive positioning requirements

Reality: A simple spreadsheet with 4 columns would give PMM what we needed.

We'd paid $16K for ProductBoard when a shared Google Sheet would have solved our actual problem.

Why didn't we use a spreadsheet?

Because "PMM needs roadmap visibility" sounded more sophisticated than "PMM needs a launch tracker."

ProductBoard was the professional solution. Spreadsheets felt amateurish.

But professional ≠ useful.

The Real PMM Roadmap Need

After realizing ProductBoard was overkill, I documented what PMM actually needs from product roadmap tools:

Not: Comprehensive visibility into entire product backlog Need: List of major launches requiring GTM preparation

Not: User story and feature spec details Need: Business context (why, for whom, competitive angle)

Not: Daily roadmap monitoring Need: Quarterly sync on launch timeline

Not: Collaboration within roadmap tool Need: Launch brief that feeds into messaging and enablement

The pattern: PMM doesn't need product management tools. PMM needs launch coordination tools.

Those are different categories with different requirements.

The Consolidated Platform Alternative

After 6 months with ProductBoard, I explored alternatives:

Option 1: Stay in ProductBoard

• Cost: $16,000/year
• Value: Quarterly check-ins on roadmap
• ROI: Terrible

Option 2: Build custom views in Notion

• Cost: Included in existing Notion subscription
• Value: Same as ProductBoard (quarterly roadmap visibility)
• ROI: Better (free), but still limited value

Option 3: Consolidated PMM platform

• Cost: $2,400/year
• Value: Launch coordination integrated with messaging and enablement
• ROI: High (lower cost + higher value)

The third option was interesting.

Instead of "PMM accesses Product's roadmap tool," the approach was "PMM creates launch plans that reference roadmap."

For teams seeking PMM-optimized alternatives, platforms like Segment8 demonstrate a different approach to launch coordination:

ProductBoard approach:

• Product team builds roadmap
• PMM gets read access to view roadmap
• PMM manually extracts launch information
• PMM builds messaging and enablement separately

Consolidated approach:

• Product team shares launch timeline
• PMM creates launch plans (in same system as messaging and enablement)
• Launch plan includes positioning, competitive angle, enablement needs
• Everything integrates automatically

Instead of PMM adapting to Product's tool, PMM has a tool optimized for PMM workflow that connects to Product's roadmap.

How the Consolidated Approach Works

The typical workflow looks like this:

Setup:

• Import upcoming launches from roadmap tool (~1 hour)
• Build launch plans with competitive positioning (~2 hours)
• Connect to messaging frameworks (already in platform)

Real workflow example:

Scenario: Product announces new feature launching in 6 weeks

With ProductBoard:

1. Check ProductBoard for feature details (15 min)
2. Unclear business context, message PM (10 min wait + 15 min call)
3. Create launch plan in Asana (30 min)
4. Build competitive positioning in separate doc (1 hour)
5. Build messaging in Notion (1.5 hours)
6. Build enablement in Highspot (2 hours) Total: ~6 hours across 4 tools

With consolidated platform:

1. Create launch plan (30 min, includes competitive positioning)
2. Messaging auto-populated from frameworks (5 min to customize)
3. Enablement auto-generated from messaging (5 min to review) Total: 40 minutes in one tool

Reported efficiency gain: 89%

Roadmap changes scenario:

Scenario: Feature pushed from Q3 to Q4

With ProductBoard:

1. See update in ProductBoard (5 min)
2. Update launch plan in Asana manually (10 min)
3. Update messaging doc manually (15 min)
4. Notify stakeholders manually (10 min) Total: 40 minutes of manual updates

With consolidated platform:

1. Update launch date in platform (2 min)
2. All connected assets update automatically
3. Stakeholders notified automatically Total: 2 minutes

Cost comparison:

ProductBoard for PMM:

• Tool cost: $16,000/year
• Time extracting launch info: 2 hours/month × 12 = 24 hours/year
• Value: Quarterly roadmap visibility
• Additional tools needed: Asana, Notion, Highspot ($34K)
• Total: $50,000+ annually

Consolidated platform:

• Reported cost: ~$2,400/year
• Time on launch coordination: Included in integrated workflow
• Value: Launch coordination + messaging + enablement integrated
• Additional tools needed: None
• Total: $2,400 annually

Annual savings: $47,600

Why PMM Doesn't Need Roadmap Tools

After this experience, I realized the fundamental issue:

PMM doesn't manage product roadmaps. Product does.

PMM needs:

• Visibility into what's launching (not the entire backlog)
• Business context for positioning (not user stories)
• Integration with messaging and enablement (not standalone roadmap access)

ProductBoard, Aha, and similar tools solve Product's problems:

• Prioritization frameworks
• Customer feedback management
• Engineering capacity planning
• Feature specification

PMM's problems are different:

• Launch coordination
• Competitive positioning
• Messaging development
• Sales enablement

Giving PMM seats in Product's roadmap tool doesn't solve PMM's problems. It gives PMM visibility into Product's workflow, not tools for PMM's workflow.

What I Do Now

I cancelled ProductBoard for PMM after 12 months.

Product kept their seats (it's their tool, they need it). PMM got off the platform.

Current approach:

Roadmap visibility:

• Quarterly sync with Product on major launches
• Simple shared doc listing: Feature, Date, Target Persona, Competitive Angle
• Takes 1 hour quarterly vs. $16K annually for ProductBoard

Launch coordination:

• PMM owns launch plans in consolidated platform
• Launch plans integrate with messaging and enablement
• When Product changes dates, update once (cascades everywhere)

Collaboration:

• Product shares roadmap context via launch brief template
• PMM builds positioning and enablement from that brief
• Everyone works in their own tools, not forced into one

Results:

• Tool cost: $16,000 → $0 (for roadmap access) + $2,400 (for integrated PMM platform) = net savings $13,600
• Time on roadmap coordination: Same (quarterly sync)
• Launch coordination efficiency: 6 hours → 40 minutes per launch
• Integration: Fragmented (4 tools) → Unified (1 platform)

Do PMMs Need Roadmap Tools?

Here's the test:

You might need roadmap tool seats if:

• PMM co-owns product roadmap with Product
• You manage customer feedback that directly shapes roadmap
• You need daily visibility into feature prioritization
• Your company has 100+ people in Product

You probably don't if:

• Product owns the roadmap, PMM owns GTM
• You need quarterly visibility into major launches (not daily backlog monitoring)
• You're coordinating launches, not managing product decisions
• You have <20 people in Product

Most PMM teams fall into the second category.

For them, roadmap tools create two problems:

Problem 1: Solve Product's problems, not PMM's Roadmap tools optimize for product prioritization. PMM needs launch coordination.

Problem 2: Expensive overhead for quarterly value $16K for seats used quarterly is expensive roadmap visibility.

The Better Question

Instead of "Should PMM have seats in ProductBoard?" ask:

"What does PMM actually need from the product roadmap?"

For most teams:

• Major launches next quarter
• Launch dates
• Business context for positioning

That's not a roadmap tool. That's a launch brief.

A simple doc or sheet provides that at $0 cost.

Then ask: "What does PMM need to coordinate launches effectively?"

For most teams:

• Launch plans integrated with messaging
• Competitive positioning integrated with enablement
• Automated updates when things change

That's not a roadmap tool. That's a consolidated PMM platform.

I spent $16,000 learning the difference between roadmap visibility and launch coordination.

PMM doesn't need to live in Product's tools. PMM needs Product's roadmap insights fed into PMM's launch coordination workflow.

That's a collaboration model, not a tool overlap.

Design the collaboration model first. Then choose tools that support it.

For most PMM teams, that means: simple roadmap sharing + integrated PMM platform for launch coordination.

Not: expensive seats in Product's roadmap tool.