A comparison · checked October 24, 2026
Looking for a Jira alternative? Here is an honest comparison
The best Jira alternative depends on why you are leaving. If it is price, Jira is free for up to 10 users and its Standard plan is listed at $8.48 per user a month [4]. If it is hosting, Atlassian is ending Data Center: new customers could no longer buy it after March 30, 2026, and it reaches end of life on March 28, 2029 [2]. If it is day-to-day fit, Jira is used by 52.1% of professional developers but only 42.1% of the developers who used it want to keep using it [11]. This page compares Kavanah, Jira, Linear, ClickUp and monday dev on what their own pages said today, says exactly what each one brings across from Jira and what it leaves behind, and names the cases where you should stay on Jira.
#Why it is different
Why teams look for a Jira alternative
For self-managed teams the decision is being made for them. Atlassian stopped selling new Server licences on February 2, 2021 and ended Server support on February 15, 2024 [1]. In September 2025 it announced the same path for Data Center: no new Data Center subscriptions for new customers after March 30, 2026, a last date of March 30, 2028 for existing customers to buy licences and apps, and end of life on March 28, 2029 [2]. On that date Data Center subscriptions and their Marketplace apps expire and become read-only [3]. Atlassian says 99% of its 300,000+ customers are already on its cloud [2], so for the rest, a migration is coming either way, and a migration is the natural moment to ask whether the destination should be Atlassian Cloud or something else.
For cloud teams it is usually cost and fit. The Free plan covers up to 10 users with 2 GB of storage, and a Free site that goes over the user limit is moved to a 7-day trial of Standard [4]. Above that, Atlassian's pricing page lists Standard at $8.48 and Premium at $15.56 per user a month [4]. Fit is harder to price. In Stack Overflow's 2025 survey, Jira was the most-used collaboration tool after GitHub, at 46.4% of all respondents and 52.1% of professional developers, but its admired score, the share of users who want to keep using it, was 42.1%, against 58.8% for Linear [11]. Even ClickUp's own comparison page, which is selling against Jira, frames the trade as Jira rewarding a dedicated administrator [17].
Be fair to Jira, though, because the reasons to stay are real. Its workflow engine lets you define criteria a work item must meet before it can move on, it has story points, version management and a release hub [6], over 3,000 Marketplace apps extend it [7], and Atlassian's products go through independent third-party SOC 2 audits [8]. Leaving is a good decision when your team uses little of that and pays for all of it. It is a bad one when your process is built on it. The checklist below is how to tell which.
#What to require
What to check in any Jira alternative before you move
Use this list on every tool you shortlist, including ours. The first three are where most migrations go wrong, because they are only discovered after the import.
01
An import that says what it drops
Jira's CSV export puts each comment in its own Comment column [9], and Jira Cloud does not download attachment files in bulk [9]. Every importer loses something; the good ones say what. ClickUp, for example, lists that the priority field, timestamps and user-defined custom fields do not transfer [17]. Ask for that list in writing, then test one real project.
02
A way to run both tools during a pilot
A whole-company cutover is the riskiest way to switch. Prefer a tool that can sit beside Jira while one team tries it. Linear, for instance, offers a two-way Jira Sync meant for a pilot or a gradual transition [13]. Check what moves in each direction, and who approves a write into Jira.
03
The Jira concepts your process really uses
List the issue types, workflows, versions, components and resolutions your reports depend on. Not every tool has them: Linear says it chose not to pursue issue types or components as a matter of product philosophy [13]. That is a fine choice if you never used them, and a broken report if you did.
04
Planning on real numbers
Jira estimates in story points, ideal hours or your own method and reports velocity [6]. Whatever you move to should do at least that, and ideally check estimates against the time actually logged, so a sprint plan says how likely it is to land.
05
The apps you cannot live without
Write down every Marketplace app you rely on. When Data Center reaches end of life its Marketplace apps expire too [3], and an alternative will not have a twin for each of Jira's 3,000+ apps [7]. Decide which ones the new tool must replace natively and which ones you can drop.
06
AI with a scope, an approval step and a record
Every tool here now ships AI. Jira offers assigning work to coding agents and an audit trail for AI usage [5]. Ask any vendor what its agents may touch, which actions wait for a person, and how you reverse one.
07
The price at your real team size
Per-user prices hide breakpoints. Jira is free up to 10 users [4], Linear's Free plan stops at 250 issues [12], and monday dev's pricing starts at 3 seats [18]. Price the team you will have in a year, plus any AI add-on, before you compare.
08
Security evidence, and which plan has SSO
Ask for the SOC 2 report, not the badge, and check which plan carries SAML single sign-on and SCIM. On Linear and ClickUp those sit on Enterprise [12][16]; on Jira, multiple identity providers for SAML SSO and SCIM are listed for Enterprise [4].
#How Kavanah does it
How Kavanah covers what you use Jira for
Kavanah is an agentic project management platform: tasks, sprints and planning, with AI employees that do coordination work inside limits a person sets. Each item below describes the product as it ships today, including where it falls short of Jira.
A Jira connector for the pilot
Connect Jira Cloud with your site URL, email and an API token. The agent can then list projects, search issues with JQL, create issues, edit summary, description and due date, and move an issue through its workflow transitions. Writes into Jira wait for your approval by default and are removed entirely in safe mode. A background sync keeps an index of issues updated in the last 30 days; it does not create Kavanah tasks.
CSV import of a Jira export
Kavanah reads Jira's column names: Summary, Description, Status, Priority, Assignee, Due date, Labels and Comment. Imported into a new project, each Jira status becomes a board column and assignees are matched to members by name or email. Limits: 1,000 rows per import, only the first Labels and first Comment column are read, and issue keys, issue types, sprints, parent links, versions, story points and attachments are not imported.
Issue keys and Jira-style lists
Every task gets a project key such as KAV-123, and you can rename a project's prefix. Task types (epic, story, task, bug, sub-task), resolutions, versions and components can be defined per workspace or project through the agent. Tasks are created with the default type; setting a task's version or resolution is not in the task editor yet.
Sprints planned at p50 and p90
Sprints with velocity, plus a planner that compares each person's estimates with the hours they actually logged over the last 90 days and says what fits at the median and at the 90th percentile. It never rewrites a stored estimate, and committing the sprint stays a human action.
Sub-tasks, dependencies, statuses and fields
First-class sub-tasks, finish-to-start dependencies that refuse cycles, custom statuses per project, custom fields, and time tracking on every plan.
GitHub-linked tasks
Install the GitHub App and pull requests and commits that say "fixes #123" or "task 123" link to that task, with branch and state. Two-way GitHub Issues sync is available per repository.
AI employees with controls
AI employees with a role, scoped tools and access only to the projects you choose. Safe mode removes risky actions, action policies make chosen categories wait for approval, every action lands in a ledger, and actions can be undone. Anything that runs on its own or spends AI credits is off until you turn it on.
Learn moreAPI, CLI and MCP
A REST API with a published OpenAPI spec, API keys that carry the permissions of the person who minted them, the kvn command line, and an MCP server so Claude can use your workspace as a connector.
Learn moreIdentity and security, stated plainly
SAML 2.0 and OIDC single sign-on and SCIM on the Enterprise plan, TOTP and passkey sign-in, per-project and per-task access control, and an audit log. The SOC 2 Type II observation period is underway; there is no report yet.
Learn morePriced per seat, AI metered separately
Basic is $3 a seat a month ($2 billed yearly) and Pro is $6 ($4 yearly), with unlimited seats and projects. AI usage is metered in credits with an allowance per seat. Pay as you go drops the seat fee entirely: you buy credits, in packs from $10 per 1,000.
Learn more#In practice
Migrating from Jira to Kavanah, step by step
One team lead and a workspace admin
1. Pilot beside Jira
- In Settings, Integrations, connect Jira with your site URL, the email of the Jira account and an API token from that account.
- Ask the agent for the team's open issues, for example "Jira issues in ENG assigned to me that are not done". It searches with JQL and answers in chat.
- Leave the default policy on, so any issue the agent creates, edits or transitions in Jira waits for a person to approve it.
- Run one team's planning in Kavanah for two sprints while Jira stays the system of record for everyone else.
Jira admin
2. Export one project from Jira
- In Jira, open the project's list, filter to the work you want to move, and export CSV [9]. Atlassian recommends choosing the fields you need rather than all fields [10].
- Include Summary, Description, Status, Priority, Assignee, Due date, Labels and Comment. Kavanah ignores the rest.
- Split the file so no import is over 1,000 rows. Jira's asynchronous CSV export goes up to 10,000 work items [10].
- Keep the full export, and Jira itself, as your archive: attachments, issue history and every comment after the first stay there.
Workspace admin
3. Import it as a new project
- Send the CSV to the task import API with a project name, from a script or the kvn command line. Each Jira status becomes its own column on the new board.
- For a small export you can instead attach the CSV in chat and ask the agent to import it; chat attachments are cut at 30,000 characters, so use the API for anything larger.
- Read the import report. Assignees that matched no member are kept on the task as written; invite them, then reassign.
- The board's own Import CSV button also works, but it adds rows to the current project and folds statuses into open, in progress, review and done.
Team lead
4. Rebuild what a CSV does not carry
- Rename the project's key prefix, and define the task types, versions and components your reports used.
- Recreate the active sprint and assign its tasks; add the dependencies that matter.
- Recreate Jira epics as parent tasks with their stories as sub-tasks, or as separate projects.
- Ask developers to reference tasks as "fixes #123" in pull requests from now on: Jira keys in old pull request titles do not link to Kavanah tasks.
#Compared
Kavanah, Jira, Linear, ClickUp and monday dev compared
Each competitor cell describes only what that vendor's own public page said when we checked on October 24, 2026: Jira's pricing, product, agile and integrations pages, Atlassian's SOC 2 page and its CSV export article [4][5][6][7][8][10], Linear's pricing, Jira and import pages and its security page [12][13][14][15], ClickUp's pricing page and its comparison with Jira [16][17], and monday dev's pricing and product pages [18][19]. Admired scores are from Stack Overflow's 2025 survey [11]; it lists monday.com, not monday dev. "Not described" means the page did not say, not that the product lacks it. Kavanah cells describe the product as it ships.
| Criterion | Kavanah | Jira | Linear | ClickUp | monday dev |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry paid price | $3 per seat a month, $2 billed yearly; AI metered in credits | Standard listed at $8.48 per user a month [4] | Basic $10 per user a month, billed yearly [12] | Unlimited $7 per user a month billed yearly, $10 monthly [16] | Basic $9 per seat a month billed annually, from 3 seats [18] |
| Free option | No free-forever plan; Pay as you go has no seat fee, credits from $10 per 1,000 | Free for up to 10 users, 2 GB storage [4] | Free: unlimited members, 2 teams, 250 issues [12] | Free Forever: unlimited members, 60MB storage [16] | Free trial; free plan not described [18] |
| Bringing work over from Jira | CSV import of a Jira export: summary, description, status, priority, assignee, due date, first label, first comment; 1,000 rows per import | Exports CSV, up to 10,000 work items asynchronously [10] | Dedicated Jira importer, started by a workspace admin [14] | Imports a Jira backup up to 50GB; priority, timestamps and user-defined fields do not transfer [17] | Not described |
| Running beside Jira | Agent reads issues by JQL, creates and edits issues and moves status; writes need approval by default | Not applicable | Two-way Jira Sync for a pilot or gradual transition [13] | Jira integration on every plan [16] | Integrates with Jira [19] |
| Jira-style structure | Project keys, task types, resolutions, versions and components as lists; tasks do not yet carry a version or resolution | Custom workflows per work type with transition criteria; version management [6] | Issue types and components deliberately not pursued [13] | Custom Task Types; epics map to Lists or linked tasks [17] | Epic, task and subtask hierarchy [18] |
| Sprints and estimates | Sprints and velocity; planner forecasts at p50 and p90 from each person's estimate-vs-actual history | Sprint planning, story points, velocity [6] | Cycles [12] | Sprint Management on Free; Sprint Points on Business [16] | AI sprint summary [18] |
| Apps and extensibility | REST API, CLI, MCP server and community-app SDK; no marketplace of thousands | Over 3,000 Marketplace apps [7]; MCP and CLI [5] | API and webhook access on every plan [12] | 50+ native integrations [16] | GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Slack, Jira, Figma, Azure DevOps [19] |
| AI agents and their controls | AI employees with scoped tools; safe mode, approval policies, action ledger and undo | Rovo; assign work to coding agents; audit trail for AI [5] | Linear Agent listed on every plan [12] | Brain AI add-on at $9 per user a month [16] | AI credits on every plan [18] |
| Security attestations named | SOC 2 Type II observation period underway; no report yet | Independent third-party SOC 2 audits [8] | SOC 2 Type II; ISO/IEC 27001:2022 [15] | SOC 2 and ISO 27001 [16] | SOC 2 Type II; ISO/IEC 27001, 27017, 27018 [19] |
| SSO and SCIM | SAML 2.0 / OIDC SSO and SCIM on Enterprise | Multiple identity providers for SAML SSO and SCIM on Enterprise [4] | SAML and SCIM on Enterprise [12] | SAML SSO and SCIM on Enterprise [16] | Not described |
| Developers who want to keep using it | Not in the survey | 42.1% admired [11] | 58.8% admired [11] | 33% admired [11] | monday.com 22.3% admired [11] |
#Questions
Questions buyers ask
- What is the best Jira alternative?
- It depends on why you are leaving. For a small engineering team that wants speed, Linear is the usual choice and it has a dedicated Jira importer. For a company where marketing and operations plan beside engineering, ClickUp and monday dev cover more kinds of work. Kavanah fits teams that want AI agents doing coordination work under real controls, at $3 a seat a month. If you depend on Marketplace apps or on Jira Service Management, staying on Jira, or moving to Atlassian Cloud, may be the better call.
- What is the best free Jira alternative?
- For up to 10 users, Jira's own Free plan is hard to beat. Beyond that, ClickUp's Free Forever plan allows unlimited members with 60MB of storage, and Linear's Free plan allows unlimited members but stops at 250 issues. Kavanah has no free-forever plan. Its Pay as you go option has no seat fee at all: after a first credit pack, from $10 per 1,000 credits, you pay only for the AI you use.
- Can I import my Jira issues into Kavanah?
- Yes, from a Jira CSV export. Kavanah reads summary, description, status, priority, assignee, due date, labels and comments, up to 1,000 rows per import, and can turn each Jira status into a board column. Only the first labels column and the first comment column are read, and issue keys, issue types, sprints, parent links, versions, story points and attachments are not imported, so keep the export and Jira as your archive.
- Does Kavanah sync with Jira both ways?
- Not as an automatic issue-for-issue sync. The Jira connector lets Kavanah's agent read issues with JQL, create issues, edit their summary, description and due date, and move them through workflow transitions, with each write waiting for your approval by default. A background sync indexes issues updated in the last 30 days but does not create Kavanah tasks. If you need a continuous two-way mirror during a pilot, Linear's Jira Sync is built for that.
- Is Kavanah cheaper than Jira?
- Not for a team of 10 or fewer, because Jira is free for up to 10 users. Above that, Kavanah Basic is $3 a seat a month, or $2 billed yearly, against Jira Standard's listed $8.48 per user a month. Kavanah meters AI separately in credits, with 100 credits a seat a month included on Basic, so a team that leans on its AI agents should price the credits too.
- What happens to Jira Data Center?
- Atlassian stopped selling new Data Center subscriptions to new customers on March 30, 2026. Existing customers can buy licences, apps and expansions until March 30, 2028, and Data Center reaches end of life on March 28, 2029, when subscriptions and their Marketplace apps expire and become read-only. Atlassian's path is its cloud; a move to another tool is the other option.
- Does Kavanah have epics, issue types and versions like Jira?
- Partly. Every task gets a project key such as KAV-123, and you can define task types including epic, story, bug and sub-task, plus resolutions, versions and components. Tasks have first-class sub-tasks and dependencies. What is missing today is setting a version or resolution on an individual task from the task editor, so teams that report by fix version should check that before they move.
- When should a team not leave Jira?
- When the process lives in Jira's depth: workflows with transition rules an administrator maintains, reports built on fix versions and components, Marketplace apps with no equivalent elsewhere, or an IT service desk on Jira Service Management. ClickUp's own comparison page concedes Jira is the better fit for a large engineering organisation with formal Scrum and an administrator, and for an IT service desk that needs SLAs.
#Go deeper
One question at a time
- How to Migrate From Jira Without Losing HistoryEvery Jira migration loses something. The teams that regret it are the ones who found out what after the cutover. Here is what a Jira export really carries, what importers drop, and how to keep an archive you can trust.
- Jira vs Linear vs Kavanah for a 10-Person Team: The Real Monthly BillAt exactly ten people, Jira is free. At eleven, it is not. Here is what Jira, Linear and Kavanah cost a small team at both sizes, from their own pricing pages, and what each one is actually best at.
- Mapping Jira Concepts to Kavanah: Epics, Issue Types, Keys, Resolutions and VersionsYour Jira reports are built on concepts: epics, issue types, resolutions, fix versions, components. Before you move, map each one. Here is how they land in Kavanah, including the two that do not fully land yet.
- When You Should Not Leave JiraMost Jira alternative articles are written to make you switch. This one is not. Here are the situations where staying on Jira, or moving to Atlassian Cloud, is the right call, and how to tell if you are in one.
Related reading
- How to migrate from Jira without losing historyWhat a Jira export carries, what every importer drops, and how to keep an archive you can trust.
- Jira vs Linear vs Kavanah for a 10-person teamThe real monthly bill at 10 people and at 11, and what each one is best at.
- Mapping Jira concepts to KavanahEpics, issue types, keys, resolutions, versions and sprints, one by one.
- When you should not leave JiraThe five situations where staying, or moving to Atlassian Cloud, is the right call.
- Project management software for tech companiesThe engineering buyer's checklist, with a comparison against Jira, Linear, Asana and monday dev.
Sources
- [1] Accelerating our journey to the cloud, together — Atlassian, 2020, updated 2024
- [2] Ascend to the cloud: The next chapter for Atlassian and our customers — Atlassian, 2025
- [3] Data Center End of Life — Atlassian, 2026, updated
- [4] Jira pricing: Free, Standard, Premium, Enterprise — Atlassian, 2026, updated
- [5] Jira: Project Management for the AI Era — Atlassian, 2026, updated
- [6] Agile tools for software teams — Atlassian, 2026, updated
- [7] Jira integrations with your favorite tools — Atlassian, 2026, updated
- [8] SOC 2 — Atlassian Trust Center, 2026, updated
- [9] Export issues from Jira cloud in CSV format — Atlassian Support, 2024
- [10] Export over 10,000 work items in Jira Cloud — Atlassian Support, 2025
- [11] 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey: Technology — Stack Overflow, 2025
- [12] Pricing — Linear, 2026, updated
- [13] Jira — Linear Docs, 2026, updated
- [14] Import Guide — Linear Docs, 2026, updated
- [15] Security — Linear, 2026, updated
- [16] ClickUp Pricing and Plans — ClickUp, 2026, updated
- [17] ClickUp vs. Jira: 2026 Comparison, Pricing & Features — ClickUp, 2026
- [18] monday dev pricing — monday.com, 2026, updated
- [19] monday dev: Agile software management — monday.com, 2026, updated
Sources and the comparison were checked on October 24, 2026. Product details change; check each vendor's own pages before you decide.
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