Jira vs Linear

Jira

• Software teams tracking bugs and development work
• Teams of up to 10 that can stay on the Free plan
• Organizations that already use other Atlassian tools
• Nonprofits and open source projects that qualify for free licenses

Linear

• Software teams planning work in issues, cycles and projects
• Small teams: the free plan has no member limit
• Teams that hand issues to coding agents

Jira

• New list prices take effect October 13, 2026: Standard rises to $9.70 and Premium to $19.60 per user / month on monthly billing.
• The Free plan stops at 10 users and 2 GB of file storage.
• Annual billing is sold in fixed user tiers such as 10, 15, 25, 50 and 100 users rather than per individual seat.
• Sandbox, release tracks, advanced planning and an uptime SLA are only on Premium and Enterprise.

Linear

• The Free plan stops at 250 issues and 2 teams.
• Private teams, guests, Linear Insights and Linear Asks need the Business plan at $16 per user / month.
• SAML and SCIM are limited to Enterprise, which is billed annually only.
• The download page lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps but no Linux app.

Jira

Boards, lists, timeline and calendar

Projects are broken down into work items that can be tracked on boards, in lists, on a timeline or on a calendar.

Customizable workflows

Each team can define its own workflow of statuses and steps and connect it to the other tools in its stack.

Bug and issue tracking

Teams log bugs as work items and follow them through to resolution, with connections to code hosts such as Bitbucket and GitHub.

Automation

Rule-based automation is metered in steps: 150 per subscription on Free, 400 per user a month on Standard and 750 on Premium.

Plans and goals

Plans connect work across several teams, and goals tie work items to wider priorities. Advanced planning is part of Premium and Enterprise.

Rovo AI and Marketplace apps

Rovo AI helps with reporting, automations and routine project work. The Atlassian Marketplace lists more than 3,000 integrations.

Linear

Issues and cycles

Every piece of work is tracked as an issue. Cycles are recurring, fixed-length periods that a team plans a set of issues into.

Projects and initiatives

Projects collect the issues behind one deliverable, and initiatives group several projects under a larger company objective.

List and board layouts

Nearly every issue view can switch between a list and a kanban-style board, with optional swimlanes for an extra grouping.

Triage and Asks

Triage is a review step for new work before a team takes it on. Linear Asks, on the Business plan, turns workplace requests into issues.

Insights

Built-in analytics for whichever set of work a team wants to examine. Linear Insights is part of the Business plan.

Linear Agent and coding agents

Linear Agent is included on every plan, and the integration directory lists coding agents such as Codex, Cursor and GitHub Copilot.

Jira

• Free$0

  Up to 10 users, 2 GB of file storage, 150 automation steps per subscription and community support.

• Standard$9.05

  per user / month, billed monthly (1 to 100 users)

  250 GB of file storage, 400 automation steps per user a month and support during local business hours.

• Premium$18.30

  per user / month, billed monthly (1 to 100 users)

  Unlimited storage, advanced planning, sandbox and release tracks, 750 automation steps per user a month and a 99.9% uptime SLA.

• Enterprise$166,000

  per year for 1,000 users, annual contract only

  Up to 150 sites, a 99.95% uptime SLA, Atlassian Guard Standard included and 24/7 Enterprise support.

Linear

• Free$0

  Unlimited members, 2 teams and 250 issues, with the agent platform and Linear Agent.

• Basic$10

  per user / month, billed yearly

  5 teams, unlimited issues, unlimited file uploads and admin roles.

• Business$16

  per user / month, billed yearly

  Unlimited teams, private teams and guests, Linear Insights, Linear Asks, Triage Intelligence, and Zendesk and Intercom integrations.

• EnterpriseCustom

  SAML and SCIM, granular admin controls, invoice or PO billing, and migration and onboarding support. Annual billing only.

Jira

• Annual discount

  About 17% less on annual billing

  Standard is listed at $900 a year for 10 users, against $9.05 per user / month on monthly billing. Annual plans are sold in fixed user tiers.

• Nonprofit

  Free Jira for nonprofits with up to 25 users

  Atlassian's nonprofit page offers eligible nonprofits 100% off Jira, Confluence and Loom for up to 25 users, and 50-100% off its apps more broadly.

• Education

  50% off for academic institutions

  Atlassian's licensing page lists academic licenses at 50% off Jira Standard, Premium and Enterprise, and classroom licenses for students and teachers at 75% off Standard and Premium.

• Other savings

  Free Standard plan for open source projects

  Atlassian's licensing page lists Jira Standard at 100% off for qualifying open source projects.

Linear

• Nonprofit

  75% off for eligible charities

  Linear's billing docs offer eligible charities 75% off the Basic and Business plans on request by email. Enterprise is excluded.

• Education

  Free year for students, 75% off for staff

  The Education Program gives full-time students free access for one year and university staff a 75% discount, requested from a .edu address.

• Startups

  Up to 6 months of Business free for startups

  Startups with fewer than 50 employees that are not yet paying and belong to a Linear partner program can get up to 6 months of the Business plan free.