The issue tracker software teams switch to when Jira feels slow and heavy: fast, keyboard-first and opinionated, at the cost of the deep customization and admin controls large Jira setups rely on.
What it is
Linear tracks issues, projects, cycles (its sprints), initiatives and roadmaps, with triage, customer requests, GitHub and GitLab integrations, an agent platform with MCP access, and built-in importers for Jira, GitHub, Asana and Shortcut. US plans: Free ($0, unlimited members, 2 teams, 250 issues, 10 MB file uploads); Basic $10 per user a month billed yearly (5 teams, unlimited issues and uploads, admin roles); Business $16 per user a month billed yearly (unlimited teams, private teams and guests, Insights, Linear Asks intake from Slack and email, Triage and Code Intelligence, Zendesk and Intercom integrations); Enterprise is custom and annual-only (SAML and SCIM, audit log, IP restrictions, HIPAA, uptime SLA). Web, macOS, Windows, iOS and Android. Checked on linear.app/pricing November 13, 2026.
Best for
- Startup and scale-up engineering teams
- Product teams that want issues, cycles and roadmaps in one fast tool
- Teams leaving Jira over speed and admin overhead
What we like
- Very fast, keyboard-first interface
- Opinionated defaults: cycles, triage and projects work without setup
- Built-in importers for Jira, GitHub, Asana and Shortcut
- Unlimited members on every plan, including Free
What to watch
- Fewer workflow, field and permission customizations than Jira
- Free plan stops at 250 issues and 2 teams
- Private teams, guests and Insights need Business at $16 a user
- Built for software teams: thin for marketing or operations projects
Where Linear ranks
Alternatives and head-to-heads
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