# Linear alternatives in 2027, compared on price

Author: Sahil Dave
Canonical: https://gitsu.app/compare/linear-alternatives
Published: 2026-11-14
Updated: 2026-11-14
Last checked: 2026-11-14

> **TL;DR** The main Linear alternatives for software teams are Plane, Shortcut, Jira, Zenhub and GitHub Projects. Plane is the closest in feel and can be self-hosted, free for up to 12 users. Shortcut is free for up to 10 users, Team from $8.50 per user per month billed yearly. Jira suits teams that need configurable workflows, free for up to 10 users. Zenhub adds sprints and reports on top of GitHub issues, Teams at $4.99 per user per month billed yearly. If the team wants its issues back in GitHub, GitHub Projects is free and Gitsu is a client for it, with a free web app and paid macOS Seats for desktop agents and MCP; it shows one project at a time and loads up to 2,000 items.

The Linear alternatives most teams compare are Plane, Shortcut, Jira, Zenhub and GitHub Projects, and the first thing that splits them is where your issues live afterwards. Plane, Shortcut and Jira are their own trackers, so leaving Linear means moving into another store. Zenhub and GitHub Projects work on the issues already in your GitHub repositories.

We make Gitsu, a client for GitHub Projects, so it appears here with its limits stated. Each tool gets the same four questions: what it is, what it costs on the free and paid tier, where the work lives, and who it suits. The order below is not a ranking. Every price was read from the vendor's own pricing page on 14 November 2026.

## How do the Linear alternatives compare?

| Tool | Free tier | Paid entry | Work lives in | Best for |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Linear (for reference) | 250 issues, 2 teams, unlimited members | Basic $10/user/mo, billed yearly | Linear's cloud | Teams happy with Linear that only need more issues |
| Plane | Up to 12 users | Pro $6/seat/mo, billed annually | Plane's cloud or your own server | Self-hosting and a Linear-like feel |
| Shortcut | Up to 10 users | Team $8.50/user/mo yearly, $10 monthly | Shortcut | Small teams that want stories, epics and iterations |
| Jira | Up to 10 users, 2 GB storage | Standard $8.48/user/mo; annual billed by user tier | Atlassian's cloud | Configurable workflows and mixed teams |
| Zenhub | 1 workspace, 2 repositories, 250 issues | Teams $4.99/user/mo, billed yearly | GitHub, plus Zenhub's planning data | Sprint reporting on GitHub issues |
| GitHub Projects with Gitsu | Projects on GitHub Free; Gitsu web app free | Gitsu Pro or Team Seats ([pricing](/pricing)) | GitHub | Teams that want issues next to the code |

Most readers arrive here from the Linear Free plan's 250-issue limit. The [guide to that limit](/guides/linear-free-plan-250-issue-limit) covers what it blocks and what archiving does. Paying for Linear's Basic plan, at $10 per user per month billed yearly with unlimited issues, is the cheapest way out if the team likes Linear.

## What does Plane offer?

Plane is an open-source project tool with work items, cycles, modules and several layouts, and it is the alternative closest to Linear in shape. Its main draw is deployment choice: the same plans run in Plane's cloud, on your own servers or air-gapped.

- **Price:** Free covers up to 12 users. Pro is $6 per seat per month and Business $13 per seat per month, both billed annually, on [Plane's pricing page](https://plane.so/pricing). Enterprise Grid is quoted.
- **Where work lives:** in Plane. Its pricing page lists a GitHub integration that syncs work items and states with GitHub issues.
- **Best for:** teams that need to control where their data sits, or want an open-source tool they can change.

Self-hosting moves the bill from seats to servers. Count the time to run and upgrade it before calling it free.

## What does Shortcut offer?

Shortcut is a tracker built around stories, epics, iterations and objectives, with Docs for specs alongside the work. It covers the same ground as Linear for a small product team.

- **Price:** Free covers up to 10 users, one team and one workspace. Team is $8.50 per user per month billed yearly or $10 monthly, and Business is $12 yearly or $16 monthly, on [Shortcut's pricing page](https://www.shortcut.com/pricing). It lists an MCP server on every plan.
- **Where work lives:** in Shortcut, with GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket integrations.
- **Best for:** teams of up to 10 who want a dedicated tracker and a larger free allowance than Linear's 250 issues.

## What does Jira offer?

Jira is Atlassian's work tracker, with custom workflows, sprints and JQL search. It wins when the process needs enforcing, or when people outside engineering plan in the same tool.

- **Price:** Free covers up to 10 users with 2 GB of storage. Standard, Premium and Enterprise are priced per user on [Atlassian's pricing page](https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/pricing); the page's price data lists Standard at $8.48 per user per month. Annual subscriptions are charged by the user tier closest to your headcount, so price your own team on that page.
- **Where work lives:** in Atlassian's cloud. Jira hosts no code, so a team on GitHub pays for both; the [GitHub for Atlassian app](https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/integrate-with-github/) links branches, commits and pull requests to Jira work items.
- **Best for:** larger organisations that want configurable workflows and reporting more than speed.

For a team leaving Linear for speed, Jira is usually a step away from what it liked. The [Jira comparison](/compare/jira) covers it against GitHub in detail.

## What does Zenhub offer?

Zenhub adds sprints, epics, estimates, roadmaps and velocity reports on top of your existing GitHub issues. Its free plan includes automated sprint planning and velocity reporting.

- **Price:** Free allows one workspace, up to 50 users, two connected repositories and up to 250 issues. Teams is $4.99 per user per month billed yearly, with up to 50 repositories and 5,000 issues, on [Zenhub's pricing page](https://www.zenhub.com/pricing). A 14-day Teams trial is available.
- **Where work lives:** in GitHub, with Zenhub's own planning data beside it.
- **Best for:** teams on GitHub that plan in sprints and want burndown and velocity reports without leaving GitHub issues.

Note that Zenhub's free plan also stops at 250 issues. [Zenhub vs Linear](/compare/zenhub-vs-linear) compares the two directly.

## What does GitHub Projects with Gitsu offer?

GitHub Projects is the board, table and roadmap layer built into GitHub, and Gitsu is a client for it: a web app and a macOS app that read and write your GitHub Projects boards. Moving here puts the issues back next to the pull requests, so there is nothing to sync.

- **Price:** Projects is included on [GitHub's Free plan](https://github.com/pricing). Gitsu's web app is free with no card. Paid Pro and Team Seats add the macOS app, its desktop agents and MCP access; current prices are on [Gitsu's pricing page](/pricing).
- **Where work lives:** in GitHub. Every Gitsu edit is an ordinary change to your project.
- **Best for:** developers and small teams whose code is on GitHub and who want dense lists, keyboard controls, nested AND/OR filters and bulk edits on those issues.

![Gitsu's web app showing a GitHub project as a filtered list, with 34 issues selected and a bulk-edit bar for status, priority, assignee and labels](/app.webp)

The limits are real. Gitsu shows one project at a time and loads up to 2,000 items per project. It supports priorities, estimates, existing iteration fields and a single-project roadmap, but has no automatic cycle rollover, velocity report or triage inbox. A team that depends on Linear's cycles will miss them.

Getting the issues across is the other cost. Gitsu's web app has a Linear importer that maps statuses, priorities and cycles to project fields and brings comments with their dates; the first 50 issues per GitHub account are free. The [Linear import guide](/guides/move-from-linear-to-github-issues) lists the field map and the manual CSV route.

## Which Linear alternative should you choose?

Choose by where you want the issues to live, then by the planning features you cannot drop.

- You like Linear and only hit the issue cap: **Linear Basic**.
- You need self-hosting or open source: **Plane**.
- A team of up to 10 wants a free dedicated tracker: **Shortcut**.
- You need enforced workflows or non-engineers planning alongside: **Jira**.
- You want sprints and velocity reports on GitHub issues: **Zenhub**.
- You want the issues back in GitHub with a fast daily client: **GitHub Projects with Gitsu**. Open one board in the free web app, run a filter you use for triage and try a bulk edit before paying for Seats.

For the full Linear trade-offs, read [Linear vs GitHub Issues](/compare/linear). For the tools that sit on GitHub Projects, read the [GitHub Projects tools roundup](/compare/github-projects-tools).

## How we checked

Each alternative is sorted by where the issues end up, its own store or GitHub, and the Gitsu section is written from Gitsu's code: its 2,000-item loading cap, its one-project-at-a-time rule and the free 50-issue allowance of its Linear importer, with the planning features it does not have named.

Public references:
- https://linear.app/pricing
- https://plane.so/pricing
- https://www.shortcut.com/pricing
- https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/pricing
- https://www.zenhub.com/pricing
- https://github.com/pricing
- https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/integrate-with-github/

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the best free alternative to Linear?

It depends on team size and where the issues should live. Plane's Free plan covers up to 12 users and Shortcut's up to 10, with work stored in each tool. Jira Free covers up to 10 users with 2 GB of storage. GitHub Projects is included on GitHub's Free plan and keeps issues in your repositories; Gitsu's web app is a free client for those boards. Prices were checked on the vendors' pricing pages on 14 November 2026.

### Which Linear alternatives keep issues in GitHub?

GitHub Projects and Zenhub work on the issues in your GitHub repositories, and Gitsu is a client that reads and writes GitHub Projects boards. Plane, Shortcut and Jira keep work in their own store and connect to GitHub through an integration.

### Is there an open-source Linear alternative?

Plane is open source and can be self-hosted on your own servers. Its pricing page lists the same plans for cloud, self-hosted and air-gapped deployments, so check which plan your self-hosted features need and budget for running the server.

### What should I use when Linear hits the 250-issue limit?

Linear Free lists 250 issues and two teams. You can pay for Basic at $10 per user per month billed yearly, move to a tool with a different free allowance, or move the issues to GitHub. Gitsu's web app imports Linear issues into GitHub Projects, with the first 50 free per GitHub account.

### Does Gitsu replace Linear for a whole team?

Only for teams that want GitHub to hold the work. Gitsu gives GitHub Projects dense lists, keyboard controls, nested filters and bulk edits, but it has no automatic cycle rollover, velocity report or triage inbox, shows one project at a time and loads up to 2,000 items per project.

## Related resources

- [Linear alternative for solo developers on GitHub](https://gitsu.app/guides/issue-tracker-solo-developer)
- [Import Linear issues into GitHub Projects](https://gitsu.app/guides/move-from-linear-to-github-issues)
- [Linear's free plan and its 250-issue limit](https://gitsu.app/guides/linear-free-plan-250-issue-limit)
- [Jira alternatives in 2027, compared on price](https://gitsu.app/compare/jira-alternatives)
- [Zenhub vs Linear for teams on GitHub](https://gitsu.app/compare/zenhub-vs-linear)
- [GitHub vs Jira: which one fits a software team?](https://gitsu.app/compare/jira)
- [GitHub Projects alternatives in 2027, by price](https://gitsu.app/compare/github-projects-tools)
- [Linear vs GitHub Issues: keep your work in GitHub](https://gitsu.app/compare/linear)