Jira vs Linear: Pricing Compared in 2026

Verified 2026-07-27 · by Sebastian Bru

Both tools do broadly the same job. The gap that matters for most teams is what they cost once seat minimums and user caps are applied.

What each one costs your team

Cheapest paid plan from each, on annual billing, with vendor seat minimums included.

Team size	Jira	Linear	Cheaper
5 people	$40/mo	$50/mo	Jira, by $10/mo
20 people	$158/mo	$200/mo	Jira, by $42/mo
50 people	$396/mo	$500/mo	Jira, by $104/mo

Jira plans

Built for software teams and priced for them. Powerful issue tracking, and the steepest learning curve of anything in this comparison.

Plan	Per user / month	Limits
Free	Free	Up to 10 users
Standard	$7.91	—
Premium	$14.54	—
Enterprise	Custom	Custom quote, billed annually only

Linear plans

Fast, opinionated issue tracking favoured by software teams. Deliberately narrow: it does one thing and does not pretend otherwise.

Plan	Per user / month	Limits
Free	Free	Up to 250 issues
Basic	$10	Annual billing only
Business	$16	Annual billing only
Enterprise	Custom	Custom quote

What neither pricing page tells you

Jira: The per-user rate drops at 100, 250 and 500 seats. If you are near one of those thresholds, adding a few users can lower your total bill.

Jira: The self-hosted Data Center edition rose from $51,000 to $59,000 per year for 500 users in February 2026.

Linear: Paid plans are annual only. There is no monthly option, so you commit to twelve months upfront.

Linear: The free plan caps at 250 issues total, not per team. An active team hits that in weeks.

Before you compare on price alone The cheapest plan is not the same plan on both sides. Check what each tier actually includes before treating these numbers as equivalent.

Full breakdowns

Written by Sebastian Bru. Sebastian Bru runs administration for a 180-person private hospital. For the past 10 years he has evaluated, bought and renewed the software his organization depends on, which means he has spent a decade learning the difference between the price on the pricing page and the number on the invoice.

Prices last verified on 2026-07-27.