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Linear Plans: Seats, Guests, and Qualifying Tiers

Choose your Linear plan by mapping must-haves to qualifying tiers — seats, guests, views, and add-ons — not homepage “from” tiles.

By Lee M.Updated Aug 18, 20267 min readFact-checked

Quick answer

Choose a Linear plan by mapping must-haves for fast engineering issue tracking to a qualifying tier — seats, guests, views, and add-ons included — not by comparing homepage “from” tiles. Never invent list prices here — confirm seats, hubs, and quote terms on /pricing/linear/.

  • List day-one must-haves for the job cluster
  • Map each to a researched qualifying plan
  • Price guests / viewers separately from full seats
  • Confirm trial or free proving ground
  • Get the qualifying configuration in writing
  • Never invent a spreadsheet total in this guide

Linear packaging rules

  • Tiles are the bottom layer — Researched plans: Free, Basic, Business, Enterprise.
  • Gates change the bill — Our research does not flag plan-gated capabilities for Linear, but confirm your must-haves — including seats, hubs, and add-ons — against the packaging you actually intend to buy.
  • Prove on the package you will buy — Our snapshot flags a trial on Basic and Business without a published length — confirm the window on the Linear pricing page.
  • Job cluster first — Must-haves should match file an issue, cycle it, and ship with a changelog a PM can read. Do not pay for hubs that serve a cross-functional marketing work OS or a spreadsheet PMO.

Linear plan path

  1. 1Day one
  2. 2Qualifying tier
  3. 3Seats/guests
  4. 4In writing

Linear plan anatomy

Linear plan anatomy: seats, gates, add-ons.
Read Linear pricing from must-have gates upward; confirm numbers on the pricing page.

What actually shapes a Linear bill

We do not invent list prices here. Use this anatomy, then confirm live numbers on the Linear pricing page.

  • Seats61%
  • Add-ons18%
  • Implementation12%
  • Training5%
  • Other4%

  • Full seats

    People who create and update work weekly — not everyone in Slack.

  • Guests / viewers

    Clients and execs often need a cheaper or free viewer path. Confirm whether they count as seats.

  • Feature gates / hubs

    Our research does not flag plan-gated capabilities for Linear, but confirm your must-haves — including seats, hubs, and add-ons — against the packaging you actually intend to buy.

  • Add-ons and AI

    Research lists AI assistant, AI summaries, AI automation, and AI recommendations for Linear. Research places AI assistance on Free, Basic, Business, and Enterprise.

  • Implementation time

    Internal owner hours plus any vendor onboarding — get fees in writing; do not invent them.

Open Linear pricing →

Who Linear packaging usually fits

  1. 01

    Small crew (about 5–15 weekly users)

    Fits when fast engineering issue tracking is the job and you can live without enterprise portfolio controls.

    • One workspace owner
    • One live board or project
    • Guests only if the plan allows
  2. 02

    Cross-functional team (about 15–50)

    Fits when managers need a second view and you will admin the tool weekly.

    • Named admin hours
    • Intake or automations on a qualifying hub
    • Stop shadow spreadsheets
  3. 03

    Portfolio / multi-team

    Fits only if Linear is still fast engineering issue tracking at that scale — not if you actually needed a cross-functional marketing work OS or a spreadsheet PMO.

    • Written qualifying configuration
    • Guest vs seat rules
    • Adoption review before more hubs

Linear must vs nice

Must-have
  • Core loop on the qualifying plan
  • Seats for weekly users
  • task boards, timeline / Gantt, workload and resources, and automations and workflows
Nice-to-have
  • AI / extra hubs

1. List day-one must-haves for this job cluster

Linear plans diagram 1.
Start Linear packaging from the fast engineering issue tracking loop — not from a “from” tile.

  • Honest musts

    Five jobs, all used weekly.

  • Wishlist

    Twelve musts including unused AI — cut to five.

  • Wrong job

    If musts describe a cross-functional marketing work OS or a spreadsheet PMO, this product’s packaging will not save you.

Must-haves should match file an issue, cycle it, and ship with a changelog a PM can read. Research-supported features include task boards, timeline / Gantt, workload and resources, and automations and workflows. 1. Write five things the team must do in week one.

  1. Mark each must vs nice.
  2. Drop anything that is actually a cross-functional marketing work OS or a spreadsheet PMO. Worked example: Harbor Product (small product-engineering team) drops a cheaper tile when the must-have workflow unlocks only on a higher hub.

2. Map must-haves to a researched qualifying plan

Linear plans diagram 2.
Map Linear must-haves upward until every day-one job unlocks.

  • Mapped

    Every must-have has a researched plan name.

  • Tile shopping

    You compared “from” prices across vendors — restart from must-haves.

  • Quote-only

    If there is no public matrix, get the configuration in writing before you call it cheap.

Researched plans: Free, Basic, Business, Enterprise. 1. For each must-have, write the lowest researched Linear plan that includes it. Our research does not flag plan-gated capabilities for Linear, but confirm your must-haves — including seats, hubs, and add-ons — against the packaging you actually intend to buy.

  1. The highest plan on that list is the qualifying tier — not the homepage starter tile.
  2. Check guests and view-only seats separately. Never invent list prices here — confirm seats, hubs, and quote terms on /pricing/linear/. Worked example: Harbor Product (small product-engineering team) discovers timeline or automations force a higher hub than the tile they screenshotted, so they re-qualify before a trial.

3. Prove the loop on the package you will buy

Linear plans diagram 3.
Trial Linear on the qualifying package — not the demo’s extra hubs.

  • Honest trial

    Loop works on the hub you will pay for.

  • Inflated trial

    Ask the vendor which package the tenant is on, in writing.

  • Free-plan trap

    Free is a proving ground only if must-haves actually live there.

Our snapshot flags a trial on Basic and Business without a published length — confirm the window on the Linear pricing page. 1. Run an engineer closes an issue in a cycle and a PM sees it without a Linear admin on the qualifying hub — not a demo enterprise workspace.

  1. Confirm guest/viewer behaviour if clients or execs must see status.
  2. Write the configuration: seats, hubs, add-ons, billing term. Worked example: Harbor Product (small product-engineering team) fails the gate when the trial ran Pro features they will not purchase. They restart the trial on the written package.

4. Get the qualifying configuration in writing

Linear plans diagram 4.
Buy Linear from a written configuration — never from a homepage tile.

  • Written

    Seats, guests, hubs, term — attached to the decision.

  • Verbal extra

    If a feature was “included in the demo,” it is not included until it is written.

  • Walk

    If packaging stays vague, keep looking via how to choose project management software.

  1. Seats (weekly users only).
  2. Guests/viewers.
  3. Hubs and add-ons the trial proved.
  4. Implementation or onboarding fees if any — do not invent them.
  5. Annual vs monthly only after the configuration is frozen. Worked example: Harbor Product (small product-engineering team) will not sign until the qualifying hub and guest rules are in an email they can attach to the buy decision.

Linear checklist

Bring these questions to every demo

Ask vendors to show the workflow live, not just describe it.

  • 1List day-one must-havesFeatures that must ship without an unused enterprise tier.
  • 2Map to a qualifying planUse researched plan names — not marketing starting tiles.
  • 3Get the qualifying quote in writingSeats, guests, add-ons, and implementation fees.

Frequently asked questions

  • Does a free Linear plan count?

    Our snapshot flags a trial on Basic and Business without a published length — confirm the window on the Linear pricing page.

  • Should we pay annually?

    Only after the qualifying configuration is written. Annual discounts do not fix the wrong hub.

  • How do we treat guests?

    Count people who must log in weekly as seats. Confirm whether clients and execs are guests, viewers, or billable users on the pricing page.

  • Can we compare “from” prices across tools?

    Not usefully. Compare qualifying configurations for the same must-haves. Tiles omit gates.

  • Where are the actual numbers?

    Never invent list prices here — confirm seats, hubs, and quote terms on /pricing/linear/.

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