Linear vs Jira

Linear suits focused product-development teams that value fast interaction and a cohesive model for issues, projects, initiatives, and cycles. Jira suits teams that need configurable work types, enforced workflows, granular access, and planning across business and engineering work.

Compare features See the tradeoffs

Linear

Best for focused product-development teams that value speed and a consistent work model

Advantage: Keyboard shortcuts and the command menu support navigation, selection, and common issue actions.
Advantage: Most issue views can switch between board and list layouts while keeping the same work in view.
Advantage: Native GitHub and GitLab connections link product work with branches, commits, pull requests, reviews, and releases.
Limitation: Linear uses a defined issue property model plus labels and label groups rather than arbitrary organisation-defined issue fields.
Limitation: Teams configure workflow statuses and their order within Linear's standard status categories.

Jira

Best for teams that need configurable work models, enforced workflows, and connected delivery planning

Advantage: Configurable workflows can restrict transitions, require information, validate changes, and run follow-up actions.
Advantage: Software spaces provide backlogs for ranking, estimating, and scheduling upcoming work.
Advantage: Can reuse managed work-type and workflow schemes across company-managed spaces.
Limitation: Can connect Jira work to Confluence documents; the full document workspace is supplied by Confluence rather than Jira alone.
Limitation: Company-managed boards group columns by status and can add swimlanes by query, story, assignee, epic, or space.

Feature comparison

✓ Supported · — Partially supported · × Not available.

Feature	Linear	Jira
Pricing
Starting paid price Compare the entry paid plan, billing unit, and payment commitment.	Linear Basic starts at $10 per user/month billed yearly. Monthly pricing and applicable taxes may differ.	Jira Standard starts at $7.91 per user/month on the current monthly pricing example. Actual prices vary by user count, billing cycle, and region.
Free plan Compare what teams can use before moving to a paid plan.	The Free plan includes unlimited members, two teams, and up to 250 issues. File uploads are limited to 10 MB and several administration and reporting features require paid plans.	The Free plan covers up to 10 users with 2 GB storage, community support, and lower automation limits. Permissions, external collaboration, and other controls require a paid plan.
Work structure and knowledge
Projects, tasks, and subtasks Organise work from individual tasks through projects and larger initiatives.	Supported	Supported
Custom fields Track information that is specific to the team’s work.	Limited Linear uses a defined issue property model plus labels and label groups rather than arbitrary organisation-defined issue fields. This keeps the model consistent but limits bespoke data structures.	Supported
Custom work types Model different kinds of work with their own structure and fields.	Limited Can classify issues with labels, label groups, and templates; these use Linear’s defined issue model rather than arbitrary work-type schemes.	Supported
Documents and knowledge Keep project documentation and long-form knowledge connected to tasks.	Supported	Limited Can connect Jira work to Confluence documents; the full document workspace is supplied by Confluence rather than Jira alone.
Whiteboards Connect visual brainstorming to project work.	Limited Can import, create, and edit issues through Miro boards; requires the connected Miro Business or Enterprise product.	Limited Can create and import Jira work on Confluence whiteboards; Confluence is the companion product.
Views and everyday work
Board and list layouts Switch between a board and a list of the same work.	Supported	Supported
Grouping by field Organise views by status, owner, or another work-item field.	Supported	Supported
Cross-project views View work from several projects or teams together.	Supported	Supported
Advanced filters Build precise views from several conditions.	Supported	Supported
Saved and shared views Save board or list settings and share them with other people.	Supported	Supported
Keyboard navigation and commands Navigate and act without reaching for the mouse.	Supported	Supported
Bulk editing Update several selected work items together.	Supported	Supported
Planning and reporting
Planning across teams Connect current delivery work with broader projects, initiatives, and plans.	Supported	Supported
Progress reporting Understand delivery progress and performance through reports.	Limited Project and initiative updates provide progress context, while Linear Insights adds filtered reporting on Business and Enterprise. Insights is not included on Free or Basic.	Supported
Task dependencies Track blocking relationships between tasks and projects.	Supported	Supported
Workload and capacity Compare assigned work with team availability and capacity.	Limited Can inspect assigned work through cycles, estimates, and views; availability-aware resource planning needs additional reporting or integrations.	Supported
Goals and objectives Connect tasks and project progress to organisational goals.	Limited Can connect projects to larger outcomes through initiatives; the model is organised around product initiatives rather than a separate objective framework.	Supported
Time tracking Record time spent on work and review it in reports.	Limited Can connect issue work to third-party time tracking such as Timely; the timer is supplied by the connected service.	Supported
Sprint planning Plan repeating delivery periods with a backlog and sprint scope.	Supported	Supported
Sprint reporting Review burndown, velocity, and delivery trends with dedicated reports.	Limited Can track cycle scope and completion and use Insights for analysis; reporting follows Linear cycles rather than a full Scrum report suite.	Supported
Timeline and Gantt views Plan work against dates and see schedules and dependencies in a timeline or Gantt view.	Supported	Supported
Backlog management Maintain an ordered backlog and select work for upcoming delivery periods.	Supported	Supported
Workflow and intake
Automatic actions React to changes and automate multi-step processes.	Limited Built-in rules automate common cycle, status, triage, and integration updates. The product offers fewer arbitrary multi-step workflow rules than Jira.	Supported
Rules for changing status Enforce allowed status transitions and require information before work can move to another stage.	Limited Teams configure workflow statuses and their order within Linear's standard status categories. Linear does not document Jira-style transition validators, conditions, and post-functions.	Supported
Request forms Collect structured requests that create work items.	Supported	Supported
Custom statuses Define the stages that match each team’s process.	Supported	Supported
Approval steps Require approval from designated people before work can proceed.	Limited Can follow required GitHub or GitLab reviews and checks before a pull request is ready to merge; this does not establish approval gates for arbitrary issue stages.	Supported
Access and administration
Project roles and permissions Control who can view, edit, and administer project work.	Limited Workspace roles, team ownership, private teams, guests, and Enterprise controls govern access. Private teams and guests start on Business; SAML, SCIM, and granular controls are Enterprise.	Supported
Individual work-item access Restrict an individual work item within an otherwise shared project.	Supported	Supported
Shared configuration Reuse managed fields and process settings across teams.	Limited Can reuse workspace and team issue templates; workflow statuses and team-specific setup are still managed in their owning teams.	Supported
Integrations
Development integrations Connect planning with branches, pull requests, builds, and deployments.	Supported	Supported
Jira integration Connect work and updates with Jira projects.	Supported	Supported
API and webhooks Read and update work programmatically and receive events when it changes.	Supported	Supported

Linear

Best for focused product-development teams that value speed and a consistent work model

Keyboard-driven execution

Keyboard shortcuts and the command menu support navigation, selection, and common issue actions.

Unified board and list views

Most issue views can switch between board and list layouts while keeping the same work in view.

Projects, initiatives, and cycles

Projects, initiatives, cycles, roadmaps, and timelines connect near-term execution with broader product plans.

Native code integrations

Native GitHub and GitLab connections link product work with branches, commits, pull requests, reviews, and releases.

Jira

Best for teams that need configurable work models, enforced workflows, and connected delivery planning

Enforced workflow rules

Configurable workflows can restrict transitions, require information, validate changes, and run follow-up actions.

Configurable work types and fields

Administrators can create custom fields and apply contexts so teams capture organisation-specific data.

Connected delivery planning

Backlogs, sprints, releases, timelines, and Plans support short- and long-range planning.

Granular work-item access

Work items inherit space permission schemes and can add issue-level security where configured.

Key differences

Linear

Jira

Work structure and customisation

Compare how each product models projects, tasks, work types, and team-specific information.

Boards can group and sub-group by status, project, priority, cycle, label, team, assignee, and other supported properties. Nested filters combine issue properties with and/or logic, and filtered views can be saved and shared.

Jira supports grouping work by fields, including status columns and assignee swimlanes. Board scope, quick filters, rows, and card colours can use JQL queries.

Workflow configuration

Consider whether the team needs a consistent status model or rules that govern how work moves between stages.

Teams configure workflow statuses and their order within Linear’s standard status categories. Linear does not document Jira-style transition validators, conditions, and post-functions.

Can follow required GitHub or GitLab reviews and checks before a pull request is ready to merge; this does not establish approval gates for arbitrary issue stages. Built-in rules automate common cycle, status, triage, and integration updates.

Configurable workflows can restrict transitions, require information, validate changes, and run follow-up actions. Can embed multiple approval steps into team-managed business workflows on Premium and Enterprise. Rules combine triggers, conditions, branches, smart values, and actions across Jira work.

Access and extensibility

Review the permission model and the options for connecting or extending each product programmatically.

Issues follow the access of their owning team, including private-team boundaries. Cross-team projects can expose project context while preserving private issue access. Workspace roles, team ownership, private teams, guests, and Enterprise controls govern access.

Work items inherit space permission schemes and can add issue-level security where configured. Local configuration and plan restrictions apply. Global, space, work-item, and workflow permissions can control viewing, creation, editing, transition, and administration.

Planning and portfolio scope

Consider how near-term execution connects to timelines, initiatives, dependencies, and broader organisational plans.

Can inspect assigned work through cycles, estimates, and views; availability-aware resource planning needs additional reporting or integrations. Projects, initiatives, cycles, roadmaps, and timelines connect near-term execution with broader product plans.

Can plan individual work allocations across the Jira site and use team capacity in planning; availability depends on the plan and enabled planning features. Backlogs, sprints, releases, timelines, and Plans support short- and long-range planning.

Sources and verification

Documentation reviewed 2026-09-16. Based on product documentation and pricing sources.