Linear vs GitHub Issues: keep your work in GitHub

On Linear vs GitHub Issues, keep GitHub Issues as the record if your team already works there and wants a faster daily client for it, and Gitsu is that client: it gives the issues dense lists and keyboard controls without moving the planning record to Linear. It adds nested filters and bulk edits, and one person can start on the free Web App while teammates keep using github.com. Linear is the pick when the whole team will move into its workspace for automatic cycles, triage and initiatives.

Linear figures are from Linear's pricing page, checked on 29 October 2026. For what a team of 10 pays on each tool, read GitHub project management pricing.

How does Gitsu compare with Linear on daily use?

Gitsu supports the daily workflow of reading, filtering, prioritising and editing GitHub issues, with a single-project roadmap for planning. The table separates those tasks from the workflow automation and workspace features Linear adds. Gitsu's column is checked against its requirements:

Every Gitsu item also has an "Open on GitHub" control, so there is no dead end. Anything Gitsu does not do, you can finish on github.com.

Which should own the work, Linear or GitHub?

GitHub should own it if your work is mostly issues, pull requests and repository discussion. Linear should own it if you want a planning system with its own teams, cycles and workflow vocabulary, and the whole team will move there together.

This is a boundary question, not a quality ranking. A second system costs more than the migration. Every day after, someone translates between the issue engineers discuss in GitHub and the item the planning tool shows. A project tool is easier to trust when nobody has to remember which one holds the final version.

Who should choose Gitsu, and when does Linear fit?

Choose Gitsu if your issues and pull requests already live in GitHub and you want dense lists, keyboard controls, nested filters, bulk edits and a roadmap for that project. Start with the free web app. Add a Pro Seat or Team Seats for the macOS app and agents; colleagues can keep using GitHub without buying a Seat.

Choose Linear if automatic cycles, triage or cross-team initiatives are essential and the team wants its planning record in Linear. If you are moving existing Linear issues to GitHub, follow the migration planning guide first. The Gitsu Web App has a Linear importer at dash.gitsu.app/import/linear, free for the first 50 issues; after the import, Gitsu works on the issues in your GitHub Projects board.

For the wider field, read the roundup of GitHub Projects tools, which covers Zenhub and Plane as well. If you are weighing trackers outside GitHub too, the Linear alternatives comparison sets Plane, Shortcut, Jira and Zenhub side by side on price and where the work lives. To see exactly what Gitsu does and does not cover against GitHub's own interface, read Gitsu compared with GitHub's Projects UI.

What does Linear do better than GitHub Issues?

Linear is fast, keyboard-first and opinionated, and its planning features are the reason teams choose it. Cycles run your week with automatic rollover and velocity. A triage inbox gives new, unassigned work a queue to land in. Projects and initiatives sit above issues for longer-running work. Pull request activity can move an issue's status on its own. There is a notifications inbox.

Gitsu covers daily issue planning through priorities, estimates, existing iteration fields, saved views and a single-project roadmap. It has no automatic cycle rollover, velocity report or triage inbox. Notifications, cross-project views and a mobile app are non-goals in its product requirements. Choose Linear if those specific workflows are essential and you want its workspace to own the planning record. Choose Gitsu when your team wants to improve the workflow around the GitHub issues it already uses.

What happens when you hit Linear's free-tier limit?

Linear's pricing page, checked on 29 October 2026, lists 250 issues, two teams and unlimited members on Free. Its billing documentation describes restrictions on creating issues when an over-limit workspace cancels its paid subscription. Check how those documented restrictions apply to your workspace. Linear also supports automatic archiving, so check its current rules before treating the limit as a reason to migrate.

The same pricing page lists Basic at $10 per user per month and Business at $16 per user per month, billed yearly, with custom Enterprise pricing. Compare those offers with Gitsu's current plans and the people who need paid desktop features. The free Gitsu web app can be used while the rest of your team stays on GitHub.

If your team chooses GitHub Issues, Gitsu gives you a dedicated daily client for that decision. Evaluate its filtering, keyboard controls and bulk editing on a real backlog. Gitsu has its own limits: one active project at a time and up to 2,000 loaded items per project. It is a useful option for a team that wants work beside the code, rather than a promise of unlimited capacity or a complete Linear migration.

What are the limitations of a Linear and GitHub issues sync?

Some teams run both: GitHub Issues in public for community bug reports, and Linear in private for internal planning. Linear's GitHub importer and sync support this, and an open-source bridge, SyncLinear, exists to sync a ticket when a label is added, so contributors can take part without a Linear seat.

It works, and it has a running cost. Syncs break. The same bug has two states in two places. Someone has to decide which one is right when they disagree. The fact that a community built and maintains a bridge for this tells you how many teams are paying that cost to get a better triage view on top of public issues.

The alternative is one store. If the work stays in GitHub and the better view is a client that reads and writes GitHub directly, there is nothing to sync. That is the case Gitsu is built for.