Linear vs YouTrack

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

YouTrack

• Software teams that want issue tracking linked to their IDE and build server
• Teams of up to 10, who can use the Cloud or Server version free
• Organizations that need to keep project data on their own servers

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.

YouTrack

• From 11 users every user is paid: Cloud starts at $4.50 per user / month billed annually, or $5.40 billed monthly.
• YouTrack Server is sold as an annual subscription in fixed user packs; licenses bought since June 23, 2026 are no longer perpetual.
• With 4 or more helpdesk agents, every agent is charged and each one also needs a user license.
• Cloud storage is tied to seats: 30 GB on the free plan and 3 GB per user on paid plans, with no way to buy more separately.

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.

YouTrack

Agile boards

Boards support Kanban, Scrum and mixed approaches, for planning at any level from an individual backlog to an enterprise portfolio.

Gantt charts and time tracking

An interactive Gantt timeline schedules tasks with estimates and dependencies. Time is tracked automatically or by hand and reviewed on timesheets.

Knowledge base and whiteboards

Articles hold internal notes and plans or a public knowledge base. Whiteboards gather issues, tickets and notes that can be turned into tasks and articles.

Workflows and apps

Workflows are rules that automate the life cycle of tasks, such as deadline reminders, field updates and recurring tasks. Apps add further features and integrations.

Helpdesk

Helpdesk projects give support agents ticket handling with service-level agreements and unlimited reporters. 3 agents are free; on larger teams each costs $5.50 a month, billed annually.

AI Assistant

JetBrains AI summarizes tasks, articles and tickets, suggests replies and turns text into issues. Free credits, refilled weekly, come with Cloud and with paid Server subscriptions.

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.

YouTrack

• Cloud: 1–10 users$0

  Hosted by JetBrains. All features except a custom logo, 30 GB of storage, 3 helpdesk agents and free AI Assistant credits.

• Server: 10 users$0

  Installed on your own server from a Linux or Windows Docker image. Free for up to 10 users and 3 agents, including updates.

• Cloud: 11+ users$4.50

  per user / month, billed annually ($5.40 billed monthly)

  The per-user price falls as the team grows, down to $1.53 at 10,000 users on annual billing. 3 GB of storage per user and a custom logo.

• Server: 15-user pack$900

  per year, annual subscription

  Self-hosted instance with a year of updates and technical support. Larger packs include 25 users for $1,500, 50 for $3,000 and 100 for $6,000.

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.

YouTrack

• Annual discount

  Two months free on annual Cloud billing

  Annual Cloud subscriptions start at $4.50 per user / month against $5.40 billed monthly, which JetBrains describes as saving 2 months' worth of costs.

• Startups

  50% off for startup companies

  Private software development companies in business for less than five years may qualify for 50% off up to 10 commercial licenses for JetBrains products, including YouTrack.

• Nonprofit

  50% off for non-profit organizations

  Registered non-profit organizations can apply for a 50% discount on commercial pricing, depending on their business model, by requesting a quote from sales.

• Education

  50% off for universities, free for classrooms

  Universities and accredited educational institutions can get 50% off commercial subscriptions for internal projects, and free classroom licenses for teaching.

• Other savings

  Free licenses for open source projects

  Non-commercial open source projects can qualify for free YouTrack licenses if they meet the requirements of JetBrains' support program.

• Other savings

  25% off when migrating from another tool

  Customers who currently hold a commercial license for a competing tool qualify for a 25% discount on commercial YouTrack subscriptions.