Jira vs OpenProject

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

OpenProject

• Organizations that want to self-host an open-source project tool
• Teams combining Gantt-based planning with Scrum or Kanban
• Organizations that need their project data hosted in the EU
• Construction teams working with BIM models, through the paid BIM add-on

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.

OpenProject

• The free Community edition is self-hosted only. The hosted cloud starts at the paid Basic plan with a 5-user minimum.
• Professional requires at least 25 users and Premium at least 100. On-premises Enterprise plans start at 25 users and a one-year term.
• Single sign-on needs Professional or higher, and SCIM provisioning is limited to the Corporate plan.
• The iOS and Android apps are in beta and described by the vendor as companions to the web application.

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.

OpenProject

Work packages and Gantt charts

Work is broken into work packages such as tasks, features, phases and milestones, then scheduled on Gantt charts with relations and automatic or manual scheduling.

Agile boards and Scrum

Kanban, team, version and subproject boards, a product backlog, sprint boards, story points and burndown charts are all part of the free Community edition.

Time tracking, costs and budgets

Time is logged on work packages, unit and labor costs are tracked against budgets, and reports break down spent time and costs.

Meetings, wiki and documents

Meeting agendas and minutes link to work packages, and a wiki, forums and collaboratively edited documents hold project information in one place.

Self-hosting or vendor cloud

The Community edition installs on your own Linux servers from DEB or RPM packages, Docker, Kubernetes or Helm charts. Enterprise cloud is hosted by OpenProject in the EU.

Tiered Enterprise add-ons

Paid plans unlock extra features by tier: the team planner on Basic, single sign-on on Professional, and portfolio and resource management on Premium.

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.

OpenProject

• CommunityFree

  Self-hosted open-source edition with no user minimum: Gantt charts, agile boards, Scrum backlogs, time tracking, wiki and meetings, with community support.

• Basic$7.25

  per user / month, billed yearly ($8.50 monthly, cloud only)

  From 5 users in the cloud or 25 on-premises. Adds the Basic Enterprise add-ons, such as the team planner, baseline comparisons and a custom theme, plus email support.

• Professional$13.50

  per user / month, billed yearly

  Minimum 25 users. Adds single sign-on, OneDrive and SharePoint integration, sharing work packages with external users, the MCP server and phone support.

• Premium$19.50

  per user / month, billed yearly

  Minimum 100 users. Adds portfolio management, resource management, LDAP user and group sync, and remote-hands support.

• CorporateCustom

  Priced on request and recommended from 250 users. Adds SCIM provisioning, XWiki and openDesk integrations, and a dedicated support engineer.

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.

OpenProject

• Annual discount

  Yearly billing is $1.25 per user cheaper

  Cloud Basic can be billed monthly for an extra $1.25 per user / month, so a one-year subscription costs $7.25 instead of $8.50 per user / month.

• Other savings

  Free months on multi-year subscriptions

  The pricing calculator lists 5 months free on a 2-year subscription, 8 on 3 years, 11 on 4 years and 15 on 5 years.

• Education

  Special rates for educational institutions

  OpenProject states that it offers discounted rates for educational institutions. No percentage is published; eligibility is checked by its sales team.

• Nonprofit

  Special rates for NGOs

  The same pricing page offers discounted rates for NGOs on request, again without a published percentage.