Agile vs Waterfall Project Management: What to Pick in 2025

What is the Agile Development Method?

Agile development is a project management approach which stresses on adaptability, teamwork and customer satisfaction. Agile teams work in iterative time cycles, the length of which differs from team to team. This is generally referred to as sprints to deliver small, functional parts of a project with complete confidence. Continuous feedback and adaptation to evolving requirements is possible through this.

Agile methodologies have been generally adopted as of 2025. In terms of Agile use, 61 percent of users affirm that they have been using Agile practices for more than five years. This highlights its enduring success against other approaches such as Waterfall, which are definitely losing steam.

87% of organizations prefer using Scrum, as a result it is still the most popular Agile framework. This framework is a fixed length framework, which means it divides the work into fixed length iteration. These iterations generally exist in the form of sprints of two weeks.

The second widely used Agile methodology is Kanban. It is about visualizing the task so that tasks could be accomplished more efficiently. When working with a Kanban team, boards are often used to chart progress and identify bottlenecks.

Feature-Driven Development (FDD) is also an Agile. The principle involves building features in quick iterative cycles to ensure they are delivered on time and to the satisfaction of client (s).

Real-world examples highlight Agile’s effectiveness. For example, Spotify improved processes by making more use of Agile practices for their product developmen. By utilizing such an approach, Spotify can create faster and more innovative releases.

Agile development methods can be summarized as being adaptable, constantly improving, and utilizing stakeholder collaboration. Since they are iterative, they respond easily to changes, making Agile a preferred method in today’s project environment.

Pros of Agile Project Management

Agile project management provides plenty perks which intensify project results and the capacity of teams.

1. Increased Project Success Rates

Agile adopting organizations have improved project success rates. Specifically, Agile users that use Agile and Scrum methods achieve a 39% and a 75.4% project success rate respectively.

2. Enhanced Flexibility and Adaptability

The team can now respond instantly to the changing requirements that are a part of an agile iterative process. Being versatile is essential for project teams working in changing customer setting and market conditions.

3. Improved Collaboration and Communication

One of the main things in Agile is that it encourages team members and stakeholders to communicate regularly. Being focused on this helps build up a collaborative environment where solutions are better and more innovative are being produced. For example, Obeya rooms have been implemented by companies such as Nike to enhance team collaboration.

4. Faster Time-to-Market

Agile learns by delivering work in small, manageable increments thus going for quicker releasing of products or features. It allows organizations to respond in time to customer demands, thus allowing the organisation to remain competitive. As an example, increased efficiency, and faster time-to-market of Cisco’s products was a result of their adoption of Agile practices.

5. Higher Customer Satisfaction

The final product of the customer is aligned to his expectations because of continuous involvement of the customer into the development process. The engagement also results in higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

6. Increased Team Morale and Productivity

Agile gives teams the freedom to act based on what they feel is the best for the organisation. And this is done through allowing the team to self organize and independently make decisions. This empowerment inspires the team in good feelings and enhances morale and productivity.

Simply put, Agile project management provides us with faster delivery, improved collaboration, higher success rates, to name a few. These advantages make Agile a compelling choice in the agile vs waterfall project management debate.

Cons of Agile Project Management

While agile project management provides flexibility and adaptability, there are some challenges organizations have to take into mind.

1. Poor Resource Planning

Due to its iterative nature, it can be hard to predict resources, time and cost. This unpredictability could result in shortages of resources or overrunning of the budget.

2. Limited Documentation

Working software over comprehensive documentation can cause lacking documentation. Not providing detailed documentation can confuse the team members and the stakeholders.

3. Fragmented Output

A fragmented production will result if work is delivered in small increments. The problem with this approach is that there may be inconsistencies, as well as integration challenges.

4. No Finite End

For example, Agile projects do not normally have a predefined endpoint as the release iterations can go on for as long as possible. This process may result in scope creep and tracking success.

5. Difficult Measurement

Because Agile is an iterative process, this makes the challenge of tracking progress in Agile challenging. A downside is that the performance assessment is complicated by a lack of clear initial Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

6. Resistance to Change

An organization adopting Agile needs to go through a shift in culture, which it may resist. This resistance alone makes it difficult to adopt and be effective at Agile.

Agile initiatives without strong support from the leadership may be facing a challenge. Insufficient backing can result in limited progress and failure of the project.

8. Case Study: FBI’s Virtual Case File (VCF) Project

The VCF project of the FBI is an example of Agile challenges. The value of the investment was nearly $170 million when the project was abandoned due to poor planning.

In the agile vs waterfall project management debate, it’s crucial to weigh these Agile challenges against its benefits to determine the best approach for each project.

What is the Waterfall Development Method?

It is also known as the linear and the sequential project management approach. Each phase has to be finished prior to the initial of the next and guarantee a continual process of the project lifecycle.

In simple words, the Waterfall model should be used for the project with the well defined requirements, during which the functional requirements are to maintain in limits where the changes are almost impossible. It is very successful for industries that need to follow a systematic way to go about it, for example construction, manufacturing. For example, in construction projects the Waterfall methodology allows all phases of construction to be carried out. These phases include design, building etc until the work from the previous phase is complete so that the structural integrity and safety of the product is maintained.

What is the Waterfall Development Method

Even with the growth of Agile methodologies, the Waterfall model continues to be in use, especially in projects with stable, understood requirements. Nevertheless, the studies have had different success rates in using these two methods. For instance, according to a study, Agile projects succeed at the rate of 88.2% while Waterfall projects have 47% success rate.

When making a decision on choosing Agile vs. Waterfall project management, the features of the project should be considered. A waterfall method is good for projects with fixed requirements and clearly defined objectives; the approach is straightforward and disciplined. But its inflexibility is a drawback in flexible and adaptable projects. Because of that, it is necessary to know what methodology to choose specifically to the project.

Pros of Waterfall Project Management

There are several advantages to using waterfall project management for a project.

1. Clear Structure and Milestones

Waterfall methodology is a linear, sequential methodology. A clear roadmap of the project is offered to each phase as they must be completed before moving forward to the next. Having this structure in place allows the team members to understand their part of responsibilities in each stage and avoids unnecessary confusion and accountability.

2. Well-Defined Scope and Requirements

All requirements are gathered and documented at the time of the project start. Through this, the planning is thorough and mitigates the possibility of scope changes during development. Therefore, teams can focus on performing the plan with less rework and predictability of outcomes.

3. Easy Transfer of Information

Due to its structured phases, the Waterfall model facilitates straightforward knowledge transfer. Each phase generates specific deliverables that can serve as inputs for the following phase, all the while keeping continuity of team members.

4. Stability and Predictability

When the project plan is established then the Waterfall approach remains stable. The predictability, however, is good for projects where the requirements are fixed and the objective is clearly defined such that the teams can follow schedules and budgets.

5. Effective for Projects with Fixed Requirements

A good example of such projects, which the Waterfall methodology excels at, is the projects for which requirements are not likely to change. This approach is widely utilized in industries like construction and manufacturing because it was designed and implemented well to systematically handle well defined tasks.

6. Thorough Documentation

One hallmark of the Waterfall model is that it has comprehensive documentation. This is an aspect that ensures that all participants involved in the project know where the project stands and can refer to this detailed history if there are ever issues.

7. Case Study: Construction of the Burj Khalifa

An example of success of Waterfall project management can be the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world. The planners of the project put structured approach, following the predetermined phases and the deadlines, leading to its successful completion.

The waterfall methodology is a strong contender in the debate of agile vs waterfall project management because it has a definite structure, scope, and is predictable which suits projects with non changing requirements and thorough documentation is a necessity.

Cons of Waterfall Project Management

Although Waterfall project management is a structured and systematic approach, there are a number of challenges that can threaten any project.

1. Inflexibility to Changes

Waterfall is a linear sequence where it is not easy to handle changes after completing one phase. This rigidity can cause more costs and more delays when accommodating ever changing project requirements.

2. Delayed Testing and Issue Detection

In Waterfall methodology, testing takes place after development only, and this can lead to the discovery of critical issues after which the application has been made to the prospect. These problems are addressed later in the development and are more costly and take longer to resolve.

3. Limited Client Involvement

Usually, clients only come in at the beginning of the requirements and at the end of delivery, without many feedback opportunities. Such lack of continuous client interaction can lead one to produce a final product that does not match the user’s needs perfectly.

4. Risk of Project Failure

Project failures caused by waterfall’s sequential nature are possible in the event that the project requirements upon which the entire project hangs are misunderstood or incomplete. For instance, California’s Judicial Council abandoned a major software project to update California’s trial courts case management system calling it unfeasible and financially constrained.

5. Challenges in Complex Projects

The Waterfall model may find it difficult to work on complex projects that have uncertain requirements. Project stagnation or failure can occur when there is unable to cope with changes.

6. Longer Time-to-Market

Since the Waterfall phases occur sequentially, project timelines can get lengthened and the product makes way into the market only after a long time. However, this time delay is an issue in fast pace industries, where timely delivery matters.

When facing the agile vs. waterfall project management debate, these types of challenges emphasize the need to choose the methodology which will best fit your project in terms of complexity, flexibility and stakeholder engagement requirements.

Comparison Between Agile vs. Waterfall Project Management

Above all, the summary table below will give you an adequate understanding of the major differences between Agile vs Waterfall project management.

Comparison Factors	Agile methodology	Waterfall methodology
Approach	Iterative	Linear
Scope	Any size with a well-defined scope	Small to medium scope
Planning	Low-level	High-level
Preferred organizational structure	Multi-disciplinary, self-organizing team	Hierarchical structure
Project Timeline	Flexible because Agile teams can frequently produce improved releases of working software	Fixed
Approach to identifying need-doing tasks	Critical Path Analysis (CPA)	Review and retrospective
Progress control	Burndown chart	Earned value management
Involvement of Stakeholders	Stakeholders (e.g. business people and customers) get involved in different iterations to provide feedback.	User feedback or the product owner’s involvement is excluded from the process until the work is completed.
Communications	Frequent communications through daily meetings and communication tools. Accordingly, stakeholders can contribute their ideas whereas other members can understand requirements and track their progress.	Fewer communications are required in the Waterfall methodology because it involves a low level of collaboration with stakeholders.
Project manager (PM) roles	PMs set up plans, manage progress and follow up on tasks throughout the project.	PMs, mostly called Scrum masters, act as facilitators who clear impediments and ensure all requirements are understood to get the work done well.
Flexibility	High	Low
Budget	Flexible because it depends much on changes of direction and adaptation	Fixed because parameters and goals are clear at the beginning of the project and no extra requirements can interfere halfway

Factors to Consider When Choosing between Agile vs. Waterfall Project Management

Although Agile is on an accelerating trend, it doesn’t mean your company should adopt the method. Leaning towards any method without careful thought can result in bad outcomes. Therefore, you should ponder several major factors to find the best option for your business:

Are projects bound by strict requirements? In Waterfall, deliverables are required to carry out the next phase while team members need to follow a strict procedure to get jobs done on time. Meanwhile, plans and input parameters in Agile are likely to change based on stakeholders’ feedback.
Are projects susceptible to changes? The waterfall is best suited for projects in which requirements are fixed and no significant changes can interfere. Meanwhile, Agile is mainly designed for ongoing projects or projects going through predictable changes.
Can product owners and other stakeholders engage in the process? Agile is a customer-centric, adapt-to-change approach, so it allows frequent conversations with stakeholders. Meanwhile, Waterfall shows opposite patterns.
Do projects require high-level or low-level team coordination? Waterfall is a more methodical form of project management that determines every requirement in the beginning. So low-level team collaboration is required. Meanwhile, Agile teams need regular communications to respond faster to new situations.

In addition, Hybrid has recently emerged as a new candidate in the battle between Agile vs Waterfall project management. But Hybrid PM itself has different pros and cons you factor in before deciding whether it’s the best bet for your company.

Hybrid, the Perfect Combination of Agile and Waterfall

Project Management Institute first mentioned the term “Hybrid” when learning about how companies selected Agile vs Waterfall project management in 2015.

Hybrid project management is a blend of more than one approach to plan, monitor, and execute projects. But on most occasions, Hybrid is understood as the combination of Agile and Waterfall approaches. That is, it’s the process of using Waterfall to conduct different project phases in which tasks will be carried out in Agile ways.

Hybrid, the Perfect Combination of Agile and Waterfall

The 2019 HP online survey concluded that 24% of development and IT experts were using Hybrid for their projects. Over the past 5 years, Hybrid project management (Hybrid PM) has been also developing and becoming one of the top trends in the software segment. According to the 2024 Project Management Interview of Teamhood, this method continues to be a common norm for some following benefits:

Hybrid PM can be applied in projects with any scope or size;
A project manager builds and monitors tasks. But that PM still gives team members space to be self-organized and collaborative to get jobs done during an iteration;
Internal and external stakeholders engage in the workflow but not daily.

Real-World Implementation: IBM’s ‘Agile with Discipline’

A good example of successful implementation of hybrid project management can be IBM. Agile with Discipline is a term coined by IBM that combined Agile practices with traditional development techniques at its Center of Excellence in Illinois. Through this hybrid technique, the company could use the documentation detail but kept the freedom to define timelines and development sprints. Current programs and practices are already improved and the project managers demonstrated the effectiveness of the hybrid model.

Considerations for Implementing Hybrid Methodologies

Even though the hybrid project management approach provides several advantages, it is important to determine whether it would be fit for each project. Large scale projects have the best results if both methodologies are integrated. Organizations should evaluate the size, complexity, and team readiness for implementation of the project prior to implementation to ensure that the hybrid model suits the objectives of the organization.

Designveloper’s Project Management Methodologies

At Designveloper, we recognize that selecting the appropriate project management methodology is crucial for delivering successful outcomes. After working on myriad of projects we have embraced hybrid model that includes both the advantages of both Agile and Waterfall methodologies according to the needs of the project.

Our Hybrid Approach

Designveloper's Project Management Methodologies

To start with, we explore what the project scope is, how complex it is, and what the client expects from it. We will apply the Waterfall model to projects having well defined requirements for a structured advancement of each development phase. Additionally, we apply Agile practices for projects having the need for flexibility and iterative feedback. This tailored process is one that allows us to optimize the efficiency of the process as well as deliver high quality solutions.

Case Study: Lumin PDF

Our collaboration with Lumin PDF is a prime example of our hybrid methodology at work. With this platform, users can view, edit and share PDF documents beautifully. By combining Agile’s adaptability with Waterfall’s structured planning, we successfully developed a user-friendly interface while ensuring robust functionality. This approach resulted in a product that met both the client’s specifications and end-users’ expectations.

Commitment to Excellence

From the time of our inception in 2013, we have executed more than 100 projects in various sectors. We have more than 50 developers and designers to bring top services of web development, mobile applications, design solutions like VOIP systems and more. Our vast experience in the world of project management has given us the knack to choose and put in place appropriate project management strategies which guarantee client satisfaction and successful projects.

This constantly changing agile vs. waterfall landscape of project management is well represented in our hybrid agile/waterfall strategy that embodies flexibility and excellence. We customize methodologies as per project specific requirements to deliver business growth through innovations

Conclusion

Selecting the appropriate project management methodology is crucial for achieving project success in 2025. The advantages and challenges of Agile and Waterfall approaches are quite different. The flexibility and adaptability of Agile make for great projects where there is the need for ongoing customer feedback and iterative process of development. On the other hand, the Waterfall project model, where each phase is linear and leads to the next one, makes it suitable for projects with well defined requirements and stable scope.

The decision of either using Agile or Waterfall should depend on the project’s requirements. For instance, if the requirements may change or if you need to gather the feedback of the customers during the development process, Agile is the best option. On the other hand, Waterfall is commonly used in industries such as construction and manufacturing wherein the processes can be known and in many cases require a good element of precision.

In the changing environment of project management, it seems that the tide is turning to a hybrid process bringing in the best of both worlds i.e. Agile and Waterfall methodologies. Through this approach, organizations can adjust their project management practice according to the needs of projects.

In conclusion, knowing how to differentiate Agile and Waterfall methodologies is necessary in order to choose the development methodology that will be the best suit for a specific project. When selecting a chosen approach, teams can make it fit to project goals and organizational culture which will help to increase efficiency, adaptability and general project success.