# GitHub Issues

> Issue tracking and project planning built into GitHub

GitHub Issues is the issue tracker built into every GitHub repository, used to plan, discuss and track bugs, features and other work next to the code. Issues can be broken into sub-issues, linked through dependencies and organized with labels, milestones and issue types. GitHub Projects adds table, board and roadmap views with custom fields, charts and built-in automations. Issues and Projects are included in every GitHub plan, including Free.

- **Category:** Project Management
- **Made by:** GitHub, Inc.
- **Website:** https://github.com/features/issues
- **Runs on:** Web, iOS, Android
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 5, 2026

## Pricing

GitHub Issues has a free plan. Paid plans start at $4 per user / month (GitHub Team).

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** GitHub Free includes Issues and Projects for individuals and organizations, with unlimited public and private repositories and community support.
- **Free trial:** 30-day free trial of GitHub Enterprise.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0 | GitHub plan for individuals and organizations. Includes Issues and Projects, unlimited public and private repositories and community support. |
| Team | $4 per user / month | GitHub plan that adds repository rules, required reviewers, code owners, 3,000 CI/CD minutes a month and web-based support. Includes Issues and Projects. |
| Enterprise | $21 per user / month, starting price | Adds SAML single sign-on, SCIM provisioning, enterprise accounts, data residency and the self-hosted Enterprise Server option. |

Read from https://github.com/pricing on Oct 5, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with GitHub Issues before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **Free Team plan for verified nonprofits** (Nonprofit): GitHub for Nonprofits gives verified 501(c)(3) or equivalent organizations a free GitHub Team plan with unlimited users, or 25% off GitHub Enterprise Cloud. Source: https://github.com/solutions/industry/nonprofits
- **$10,000 in credits for eligible startups** (Startups): GitHub for Startups gives partner-affiliated startups with outside funding up to Series B, and new to GitHub Enterprise, $10,000 in credits valid for up to 12 months. Source: https://github.com/enterprise/startups
- **Free developer tools for students and teachers** (Education): GitHub's pricing page says students and teachers get free access to developer tools through GitHub Education, for the school year and beyond. Source: https://github.com/pricing

## Key features

- **Issues and sub-issues:** Issues track bugs, features and ideas. Sub-issues break larger work into a hierarchy with progress indicators, and dependencies mark which issues block others.
- **Tables, boards and roadmaps:** GitHub Projects shows issues and pull requests as a table, a kanban board or a timeline-style roadmap, with saved views that filter, sort, slice and group.
- **Custom fields and iterations:** A project takes up to 50 fields, including date, number, single-select and text fields and an iteration field for planning work week by week.
- **Built-in automations:** Built-in workflows set fields, archive items and add issues from a repository automatically. The GraphQL API and GitHub Actions allow further automation.
- **Insights and charts:** Current and historical charts are built from the items in a project, including a default burn-up chart that shows completed work against what is left.
- **Mobile, CLI and keyboard access:** Issues can be created and managed in the iOS and Android apps and from the GitHub CLI, and every mouse action has a keyboard shortcut or command.

## Good for

- Software teams that already host their code on GitHub
- Open source projects taking bug reports and feature requests in public
- Developers who like to plan from the terminal or the keyboard

## Worth knowing

- Issues is not sold on its own: it is part of every GitHub plan, and paid plans are priced per user for the whole platform.
- Every issue lives in a repository, so planning across repositories and teams runs through GitHub Projects.
- A project is limited to 50 fields, counting built-in metadata and custom fields.
- SAML single sign-on, SCIM provisioning and self-hosted Enterprise Server need the Enterprise plan, from $21 per user / month.

## Works with

GitHub Projects, GitHub Actions, GitHub Copilot, GitHub CLI, GitHub Discussions

**Tags:** Issue tracking, Kanban boards, Gantt & timelines, Markdown, Keyboard-first, Public API, Workflow automation

## Alternatives

- [Jira](https://toolgpa.com/tools/jira): Issue and project tracking for software and business teams. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/github-issues-vs-jira)
- [Linear](https://toolgpa.com/tools/linear): Issue tracking and product planning for software teams. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/github-issues-vs-linear)
- [Shortcut](https://toolgpa.com/tools/shortcut): Issue tracking, sprints and roadmaps for software teams. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/github-issues-vs-shortcut)
- [YouTrack](https://toolgpa.com/tools/youtrack): Issue tracker and project management tool from JetBrains. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/github-issues-vs-youtrack)
- [Zenhub](https://toolgpa.com/tools/zenhub): Agile project management built on top of GitHub issues. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/github-issues-vs-zenhub)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 5, 2026:

- https://github.com/pricing
- https://github.com/features/issues
- https://docs.github.com/en/issues/tracking-your-work-with-issues/learning-about-issues/about-issues
- https://docs.github.com/en/issues/planning-and-tracking-with-projects/learning-about-projects/about-projects
- https://docs.github.com/en/issues/planning-and-tracking-with-projects/viewing-insights-from-your-project/about-insights-for-projects
- https://github.com/solutions/industry/nonprofits
- https://github.com/enterprise/startups

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/github-issues
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).