Jira vs Linear
Compare Jira and Linear on starting price, seat minimums, free plans, timelines, automations, integrations, and reporting. There is no universal winner — choose by job-cluster fit.
Jira
Atlassian Agile issue tracker for software teams — Free ≤10; Standard from ~$8.15/user/mo annual.
Best for
- • Enterprise Agile + Atlassian stack
- • Complex workflows at scale
Starting from $8.15/user/mo
Free plan available
VS
Our verdict
No universal winner. Choose based on which criteria matter most for your team.
Jira is better for
- ✓ Automation & workflows
- ✓ Integrations
- ✓ Reporting
- ✓ Scalability
Linear is better for
- ✓ Ease of use
- ✓ Collaboration
- ✓ AI features
Tie
- • Free plan
- • Timeline / Gantt
- • Automations
Choose Jira if: Enterprise Agile + Atlassian stack
Choose Linear if: Product/eng teams wanting modern UX
Linear
Modern issue tracker for product/engineering teams — Free limited; Basic from ~$8/user/mo annual.
Best for
- • Product/eng teams wanting modern UX
- • Startups replacing Jira complexity
Starting from $8.00/user/mo
Free plan available
Comparison scorecard
Criterion-by-criterion results for Jira and Linear. Numeric bars appear only when both products have approved scores.
- Depends
Starting pricing
Published floor price and what that floor actually includes.
Jira Cloud Standard ~$8.15/user/mo annual; Linear Basic ~$8/user/mo annual (medium confidence) — similar eng-tracker floors.
JiraDependsLinearDepends - Depends
Seat / licence minimum
Minimum billed seats and how that changes small-team cost.
Both Free tiers cap users/issues; paid seats scale per user.
JiraDependsLinearDepends - Tie
Free plan
Whether a usable free plan is published, and what it gates.
Jira and Linear both research a free plan. Confirm what each path unlocks on the live vendor pricing page.
JiraTieLinearTie - Tie
Timeline / Gantt
Native timeline, Gantt, or dependency planning.
Jira and Linear have the same researched availability on timeline gantt (Jira: supported; Linear: supported).
Jira9/10Linear9/10 - Tie
Automations
Rules, recipes, and workflow automations in the work OS.
Jira and Linear have the same researched availability on automations workflows (Jira: supported; Linear: supported).
Jira8/10Linear7/10 - Linear
Ease of use
How quickly teams become productive.
Linear leads on ease of use (5/10 vs 9/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.
Jira5/10Linear9/10 - Tie
Work planning depth
Boards, timelines, dependencies, and planning views for the primary job.
Jira and Linear are close on work planning depth (9/10 vs 9/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.
Jira9/10Linear9/10 - Jira
Automation & workflows
Automation depth, workflow builders, and action limits.
Jira leads on automation & workflows (8/10 vs 7/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.
Jira8/10Linear7/10 - Linear
Collaboration
Docs, comments, chat, proofing, and guest collaboration quality.
Linear leads on collaboration (6/10 vs 7/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.
Jira6/10Linear7/10 - Jira
Integrations
Important third-party integrations.
Jira leads on integrations (9/10 vs 8/10) from vendor documentation as of the research date — not lab testing.
Jira9/10Linear8/10 - Linear
AI features
Useful AI for the primary job — not marketing fluff.
Linear leads on ai features (6/10 vs 7/10) from vendor documentation as of the research date — not lab testing.
Jira6/10Linear7/10 - Jira
Reporting
Reporting and forecasting quality.
Jira leads on reporting (8/10 vs 7/10) from vendor documentation as of the research date — not lab testing.
Jira8/10Linear7/10 - Jira
Scalability
Fit as team size and complexity grow.
Jira leads on scalability (10/10 vs 8/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.
Jira10/10Linear8/10 - Tie
Value for money
Capability relative to total cost of ownership.
Jira and Linear are close on value for money (8/10 vs 8/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.
Jira8/10Linear8/10
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