Linear vs monday.com

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

monday.com

• Teams that want boards, dashboards and automations in one tool
• Companies that also want CRM, dev or service products from one vendor
• Eligible nonprofits, which get their first 10 seats free

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.

monday.com

• The Free plan is limited to 2 seats, 3 boards and 3 docs.
• Paid plans start at 3 seats, and the price is set by the team size selected rather than by individual seats.
• Timeline, Gantt and calendar views, automations and integrations start on Standard; time tracking and private boards need Pro.
• Plan totals itemize the bundled AI credits at $10 per 1,000 a month, currently cancelled out by a "special offer" discount of the same amount.

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.

monday.com

Boards and views

Work is tracked on boards made of items and typed columns. Timeline, Gantt and calendar views start on the Standard plan.

Automations and integrations

Both are metered by monthly actions: 250 each on Standard and 25,000 each on Pro. The integrations page lists 850+ integrations and apps.

Dashboards

Dashboards bring data from boards together into charts and summaries for reporting on progress.

Docs and forms

Built-in documents and forms sit next to boards. The Free plan allows up to 3 docs, and private boards and docs need Pro.

AI credits and agents

The Sidekick assistant, AI agents and a notetaker draw on a monthly credit pool: 1,000 credits on Basic, 2,000 on Standard and 3,000 on Pro.

Portfolio and resource management

The Enterprise plan adds portfolio management, resource management and multi-level permissions.

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.

monday.com

• Free$0

  Up to 2 seats with up to 3 boards and 3 docs, 200+ templates and 8 column types.

• Basic$9

  per seat / month, billed annually

  Unlimited items and unlimited free viewers, with 1,000 AI credits a month. Paid plans start at 3 seats.

• Standard$12

  per seat / month, billed annually

  Adds timeline, Gantt and calendar views, guest access, and 250 automation and 250 integration actions a month.

• Pro$19

  per seat / month, billed annually

  Adds private boards and docs, time tracking, advanced columns, and 25,000 automation and 25,000 integration actions a month.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Portfolio and resource management, multi-level permissions, enterprise security and governance, and 250 workflows.

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.

monday.com

• Annual discount

  18% discount with yearly billing

  monday.com's pricing FAQ says choosing a yearly plan instead of paying monthly gives an 18% discount.

• Nonprofit

  First 10 seats free for eligible nonprofits

  Eligible nonprofits get their first 10 seats free and 70% off each seat from the 11th, sold in lots of 5, or 33% off per user on Enterprise.