Project Mgmt
Linear vs Jira – Modern Issue Tracker vs Battle-Tested Dev PM 2025
Linear vs Jira for software engineering teams. Speed, UX, pricing, and which tool your developers will actually enjoy using.
Quick Verdict
| Feature | Linear | Jira | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | ✅ Up to 250 issues | ✅ Up to 10 users | Jira |
| Starting paid price | $8/user/mo | $7.75/user/mo | Tie |
| UI / UX | ✅ Excellent (fast, minimal) | ❌ Complex, slow | Linear |
| Keyboard shortcuts | ✅ Extensive | ❌ Limited | Linear |
| Page load speed | ✅ Instant (local-first) | ❌ Slow at scale | Linear |
| Sprint management | ✅ Cycles | ✅ Full scrum tooling | Jira |
| Workflow customisation | ✅ Good | ✅ Excellent | Jira |
| GitHub / GitLab integration | ✅ Native | ✅ Native | Tie |
| Enterprise customisation | ❌ Intentionally limited | ✅ Very deep | Jira |
| Admin complexity | ✅ Simple | ❌ Complex | Linear |
Pricing
Linear (annual, per user/month):- Free: up to 250 issues, 10 members
- Basic: $8
- Business: $16
- Enterprise: Custom Jira (annual, per user/month):
- Free: up to 10 users
- Standard: $7.75
- Premium: $15.25
- Enterprise: Custom
Linear is priced similarly but its free tier has a hard 250-issue limit — Jira's free tier has no issue limit.
Linear's Core Philosophy: Speed
Linear was built with the conviction that developer tools should be fast and keyboard-first. Everything in Linear is optimised for speed: