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Project management software · head to head

Linear vs Jira

Mateus Rocha Written by Mateus Rocha · Edited by Sebastiaan Smits · Fact-checked by Priya Nandakumar · Published September 30, 2026 · Updated September 30, 2026

Linear is a fast, opinionated issue tracker that software teams keep current because it stays out of their way. Jira is a configurable system whose workflows, issue types and fields can be bent to almost any process, at the cost of ongoing administration. Smaller engineering groups tend to land on Linear; multi-team organizations with compliance duties end up on Jira.

Side by side

LinearJira
What it isKeyboard-first issue tracking for software teamsConfigurable issue and project tracking at scale
Best forProduct and engineering teamsMulti-team engineering organizations
HeadquartersUnited StatesUnited States
Pricing modelPer user / monthPer user / month
PricingFree plan capped at 250 issues and 2 teams with unlimited members, then per-user Basic and Business tiers billed yearly and a quoted Enterprise tier.Free for up to ten users, then per-user Standard, Premium and Enterprise tiers; marketplace apps add their own per-user fees.
Free optionFree planFree plan
List price
as listed on September 30, 2026		$10 per user per month, billed yearly (Basic)$7.91 per user per month (Standard, as listed on the pricing page for a 300-user site)
Place in our project management software ranking#8 of 12#9 of 12
Websitelinear.appatlassian.com

Both are reviewed in full in Best Project Management Software in 2026. Position in that ranking can be paid for; the wording of a review or of this comparison cannot. Placement disclosure.

Which one to choose

Choose Linear if

you run a software team of up to a few hundred engineers, want cycles and triage that work as shipped, and would rather accept the tool's opinions than staff an administrator.

Linear, #8 in the ranking · Visit Linear →

Choose Jira if

several engineering teams need shared reporting, custom workflows, permission schemes and an audit trail into Confluence and the code, and you can give someone part of their week to administer it.

Jira, #9 in the ranking · Visit Jira →

Where they differ

Opinions versus configuration

Linear ships one way of working: issues, triage and cycles. Each team can rename, add or remove statuses, but only inside fixed categories from backlog to canceled, whose order cannot change. Jira lets you define workflows, issue types and fields for nearly any process, and pays for it in sprawl as fields multiply and workflows drift apart. Which of those is the defect depends on how standard your process is.

Edge: even

Speed and whether engineers update it

A tracker is only as good as the data people bother to enter. Linear is keyboard-first and quick in a way few web apps manage, and engineers keep it current as a result; pull request links close issues on their own. Jira feels slow and cluttered by comparison, which matters every day to the people filing and moving tickets.

Edge: Linear

Reporting across many teams

Once several teams need one view of releases and backlog, Jira has the deeper toolkit: JQL for precise queries, cross-team planning and dependency management on Premium, and links to Confluence and repositories that give auditors a trail. Linear includes progress reports on every plan but reserves Insights and dashboards for Business and the audit log for Enterprise, and its reporting is thinner for large organizations.

Edge: Jira

What makes the bill grow

Linear's free plan allows unlimited members but only 250 issues and 2 teams; Basic is $10 and Business $16 per user per month, billed yearly. Jira is free up to 10 users and lists Standard at $7.91 and Premium at $14.54. Linear bills every unsuspended user, guests included, so occasional requesters add seats. Jira's growth comes from marketplace apps with their own fees.

Edge: even

Tally: Linear 1, Jira 1, even 2.

When neither fits

Neither fits when the work is not software. Both are issue trackers shaped around engineering, and marketing, operations or client-services teams find them foreign. Asana suits cross-functional coordination at mid-sized companies, and Teamwork.com covers agencies that need budgets, billable time and client access.

See Asana and Teamwork.com among the 12 products in Best Project Management Software in 2026.

Questions and answers

Is Linear or Jira the better choice for a small startup?

Usually Linear. It is quicker for a small engineering group and asks for almost no setup. Jira is free for up to ten users, so cost is not the obstacle; the weight of configuring and administering it is, and a ten-person team rarely needs what that configuration buys.

Can Linear replace Jira in a large engineering organization?

Up to a few hundred engineers, Linear is often the better experience. Past that, the limits show: reporting is thinner for multi-team organizations with compliance needs, and complex permission schemes or custom hierarchies run into walls. Jira remains the conservative pick at that size.

Do Linear and Jira both connect to code repositories?

Yes. Linear's GitHub integration moves an issue through its statuses as a pull request is opened, reviewed and merged, and links commits that mention the issue ID. Jira connects to GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket and shows branches, commits, pull requests, builds and deployments on the work item.

What do Linear and Jira cost per user?

Linear lists Basic at $10 and Business at $16 per user per month, billed yearly, with Enterprise on quote and annual billing only. Jira lists Standard at $7.91 and Premium at $14.54 per user per month, with Enterprise on quote. Both have a free plan: Linear's caps issues at 250, Jira's caps users at 10.

Does Linear charge for guests?

Yes. Guest accounts exist only on Linear's Business and Enterprise plans and are billed as regular members, and billing counts every unsuspended user in the workspace. Jira's Standard plan lists external collaboration as a feature, and its free plan is capped at 10 users in total.

Sources

Prices, plan limits and product facts on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on September 30, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.