Jira is a household name when it comes to software development and bug tracking. As a heavyweight in the field, Jira is well-known in the development community and the software has become a go-to for many teams. However, emerging software like Linear is giving Jira a run for its money.
As a newer project management option for developers, Linear promises a new and sleek design with a wealth of robust features. However, how does this newcomer compare to veteran Jira?
In this blog post, we’ll look at the two platforms side by side so you can get a better picture of which one might be better for your team’s unique needs. We’ll look at features, integrations, price points, reviews, and more.
Try monday devJira vs Linear: At a glance
If you’re in a hurry, the chart below will tell you everything you need to know about both software. For a more detailed breakdown of Jira and Linear, continue reading below.
| Linear | Jira | |
| Features | Cycles for sprints Issue tracking Roadmaps | Agile tools Advanced reporting Easy automations |
| Integrations | Hundreds of available integrations | 3,000+ integrations on the Atlassian Marketplace |
| Pricing | Free plan, paid plans starting from $8/user/month | Free plan, paid plans starting from $8.15/user/month |
| Ease of use | Simple, intuitive, straightforward design | Easy to use, agile, easy onboarding |
| Support | Community support, priority support for higher plans, documentation | Community support, support during local business hours, and priority supply for Enterprise users |
| Customer reviews | 4.6/5 out of 27 reviews | 4.3/5 out of 5,800 reviews |
Linear vs Jira: Features
Choosing the right development tool for your team can set the tone for your projects, so it’s essential to look for one that has features that fit your workflow. Both Linear and Jira have great features for product development needs, let’s take a closer look at what each has to offer
Linear features
Linear offers a sleek interface that makes task management easy and intuitive. With features designed for product management and development, teams can easily collaborate on tasks and projects in one organized place. Here are a few of Linear’s best features:
- Cycles: Organize sprints and project progress with Linear’s Cycles feature
- Track issues: Handle one issue at a time and add priorities, labels, due dates, and more
- Roadmaps: Create, plan, and manage project roadmaps to keep your team focused
Jira features
Jira is known for its powerful bug-tracking capabilities, making it another reliable option for software development teams. With advanced features focused on development tasks, Jira is ideal for complex project needs. Some of Jira’s best features include:
- Agile tools: Scrum and Kanban boards to visualize work how you want
- Advanced reports: Get deep insights into your work to ensure your team is set up for success
- Easy automations: Drag and drop to build custom automations to optimize your workflows
Linear vs Jira: Integrations
If your team is already used to using certain business or communication tools and apps, you’ll want them to work seamlessly with a new product development platform. Both Jira and Linear offer a number of integrations that are commonly used by developers, let’s take a closer look at the options offered by each.
Linear integrations
As a platform built specifically for developers, Linear offers hundreds of different integrations with some of the most popular work tools. Here’s a look at some of the most essential integrations Linear offers:
- Slack
- GitHub
- Figma
- Discord
- GitLab
Linear also offers an integration with Jira, for the best of both worlds. Users can also access additional integrations through Zapier.
Jira integrations
Jira integrations with over 3,000 apps including many tools for developers as well as work tools for any team. Some of Jira’s most popular integrations include:
- GitHub
- BitBucket Cloud
- Jenkins
- Slack
- Zephyr
Jira has an extensive integration marketplace with thousands of integrations for CRM, project management, customer service, and more.
Linear vs Jira: Pricing
For some teams, the choice of software can come down to pricing, especially for large teams that require heftier investments. Let’s compare pricing and plans for both Linear and Jira so you can decide which one offers better value for money.
Linear pricing
Linear offers four different plans:
- Free: Linear offers a free forever plan for unlimited members. Free plan users are limited to 250 issues, 10 MB file uploads, and basic features
- Standard: $8/user/month, and includes everything from the Free plan plus unlimited issues and file uploads, guest accounts, admin roles, and more
- Plus: $14/user/month, includes everything in the Standard plan in addition to advanced authentication controls, priority support, Linear Insights, and more
- Enterprise: Price available upon request, built for enterprises who want onboarding support, custom billing, enterprise-grade security, and more.
Jira pricing
Jira offers four different plans:
- Free: Free forever plans for small teams with 10 users, including 2 GB of storage, unlimited project and issues, reports, backlogs, and more
- Standard: $8.15/user/month, including everything in the free plan plus unlimited users, user roles and permissions, 1,700 monthly automations, 250 GB of storage, and more
- Premium: $16/user/month, everything in Standard including AI-powered tools, 1,000 automations per user, approvals, unlimited storage, and more
- Enterprise: Price available by contacting the sales team, ideal for large teams who want advanced security and support, up to 150 sites, centralized billing, unlimited automations, and more
- Read more about Jira’s plans and prices here
Linear vs Jira: Ease of Use
When considering adopting new software, it’s essential to look at how easy it is to use for all members of your team. Some team members may have different levels of tech-savviness, so you want to select a tool that will be easy to adopt and use across the board. Here’s a look at the ease of use for both platforms.
Linear ease of use
While a relatively newer platform than Jira, Linear is still collecting user reviews and testimonials online. Still, Linear users are praising the tool for its intuitive interface and straightforward design. With a clean layout and customization options, Linear makes it easy to organize, collaborate, and track tasks. According to one user on popular review site, G2, Linear’s best feature is its “ease of use and simplicity compared to other task management tools.”
Jira ease of use
As an established software platform, Jira is revered by users as being a platform that’s easy to get the hang of. Onboarding, compared to Linear, is a little more painless. Users comment on how easy it is to track tasks, oversee projects, and use the platform. On review site, Trustradius, one user praises Jira for its “agility with the simplest and most effective application life management solution.”
Linear vs Jira: Support
Good customer support can make or break an experience with software. It’s important to have access to reliable support during the onboarding process and throughout the platform’s use as teams’ needs and goals evolve. Here’s a look at the customer support offered by both Linear and Jira.
Linear support
Linear only offers priority support to Enterprise plan users, all other plan users have access to standard Linear support. There’s community support available to ask questions to other Linear users as well as documentation that goes over Linear’s features.
Jira support
The level of support you receive with Jira depends on the plan you have. Free plan users have access to community support while Standard plan users can access customer support during local business hours. Premium and Enterprise users get 24/7 support.
Linear vs Jira: Customer reviews
To get a better idea of how other users are getting along with software, it’s ideal to look at what real users are saying. Review and comparison sites help you get an idea of whether or not a product is right for your business and team. Let’s look at what users have to say about both products.
Linear customer reviews
G2 review: 4.6/5 out of 27 reviews
Linear reviews on G2 highlight how the product is loved by users. Some users call it the “perfect project management tool for software companies” and others see it as a “supercharged productivity tool for Agile and Scrum.” In general, Linear reviews are quite favorable, with users pointing out its ease of use, intuitive design, and how it integrates with other apps. However, it’s important to point out that compared to other similar project management tools, it doesn’t yet have many reviews so the sample size of user feedback is relatively small.
Jira customer reviews
G2 review: 4.3/5 out of over 5,800 reviews
Jira reviews on G2 show how users love using the platform for project management. Users call it the “best application for managing projects” and comment how “software development is simple with Jira.” Jira users like the platform’s features, particularly issue tracking, and the flexibility it offers to integrate with countless other work tools. They also note that the interface is intuitive and user-friendly, offering a positive overall experience with the product.
Jira vs. Linear: Which one is the right platform for you?
Overall, both Linear and Jira are great options for software development teams seeking a reliable project management platform. Ultimately, the choice will come down to your specific team’s needs. If you’re looking for a simple and modern task management solution with tons of features, Linear can be a good option. However, if you prefer a system that offers advanced issue tracking and agile tools, Jira might be the better option for you.
While both Jira and Linear are good project management platforms, they can be limiting if you plan on onboarding non-development teams to the same system. There aren’t a lot of options in either for other team members, like marketing or customer service, which means collaboration between teams isn’t entirely seamless.
monday dev: Product development features with seamless collaboration
As an alternative to Jira and Linear, monday dev stands out among the competition for being a platform that facilitates easy collaboration and communication.
Packed with helpful features for development teams along with a simple yet visual interface, monday dev is a good compromise for companies who also want the option of integrating other teams to a single platform. monday dev offers a number of features for development teams, such as:
- 27+ different work views such as Gantt, Kanban, Timeline, and more to visualize work your way
- Templates to get started quickly for sprint management, sprint retrospectives, roadmaps, bug tracking, and more
- Custom automations to streamline workflows and take care of repetitive tasks
- 200+ integrations with the most popular work apps, like Slack, GitHub, Gitlab, Figma, and others
- Real-time collaboration and communication features
- Flexible pricing based on how many users you need
- Enterprise-grade security features
Additionally, monday dev is also well-loved by users. Boasting a 4.7/5 user review score on G2 out of 1,400 reviews, monday dev helps teams accomplish a lot with one simple platform and get products to market faster.
Users on the review site love the intuitive design, how easy it is to use and onboard, and the fact that it’s highly customizable. One reviewer remarked how monday dev is “really easy to get your ideas organized and divy up work among teams.”
Try monday devmonday dev provides teams with all the robustness of a development tool with the simplicity of a modern project management platform, offering the best of both worlds. For teams who want a platform that’s flexible, customizable, and can be scaled to your team’s evolving needs, monday dev is the easy choice.
FAQs
Who is Jira's biggest competitor?
Aside from Linear, Jira has several competitors, such as monday dev, Asana, Wrike, and others.
How is Linear different from Jira?
While both platforms are tailored for software development teams, Linear is considered to be more streamlined and simple, while Jira is more robust and might be better suited to larger teams.
What is the best project management platform for development teams?
There’s no single best platform for all teams, but rather the best platform that fits each team’s needs. The best project management platform will be the software that’s flexible and customizable enough to fit your team’s workflow. monday dev is a great choice for development teams searching for a flexible project management platform that can scale as they grow.
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