Jira
Issue tracking that scales to organisations nobody enjoys working in.
- Development
- Productivity
- from $7.91/mo
Jira is Atlassian's issue tracking and project management tool, built around configurable workflows, custom fields and JQL search. It is the default in enterprise software delivery because it can model almost any process and produce the reporting that management asks for, which is also why teams complain about it.
Jira ranking and coverage
- In Development
- #5 of 18
- Overall
- #9 of 122 tied
- Terms score
- 8 /10
- Referenced here
- 3 pages
Cost position 6.9 · Portability 8 · Subscription flexibility 9 - Ranked on published terms only: entry price against category peers, portability and subscription flexibility, equally weighted. This is not a quality score.How the rank is calculated.
Jira: the short answer
Every line below is drawn from facts verified on 9 August 2026.
- What it is
- Issue tracking that scales to organisations nobody enjoys working in
- Best for
- Software teams running Scrum or Kanban at scale
- Starts at
- Free for up to 10 users; Standard from $7.91 per user/month
- Free option
- Free plan available, 30 days on Standard and Premium trial
- Biggest strength
- Models almost any delivery process, however unusual
- Biggest drawback
- Slow interface compared with modern trackers
- Based on
- Primary-source research, not hands-on use
- Closest alternative
- Linear - Dramatically faster and better designed, with far less configurability
- True annual cost
- from $94.92 a year on Standard, the cheapest paid tier ($7.91 a month)
Jira at a glance
| Best for | Software teams running Scrum or Kanban at scale, Organisations needing auditable, configurable workflows, Teams that already use Confluence and Bitbucket |
|---|---|
| Category | Development, Productivity |
| Starting price | Free for up to 10 users; Standard from $7.91 per user/month |
| Free plan | Yes |
| Free trial | 30 days on Standard and Premium |
| Pricing model | freemium |
| Company | Atlassian Corporation |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Founders | Mike Cannon-Brookes, Scott Farquhar |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android |
| Public API | Yes |
| Browser extension | No |
| Mobile apps | iOS + Android |
| Self-hosting | Yes |
| Affiliate programme | No |
| Data source | Vendor pricing page and public records |
| Last checked | August 2026 |
Jira pricing
Prices below were read from the vendor's own pricing page on 9 August 2026. Pricing model: freemium. Free trial: 30 days on Standard and Premium.
| Plan | Price | Billing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | per month | Up to 10 users, 2 GB storage, community support |
| Standard | $7.91 | per month | per user - Audit logs, 250 GB storage, business-hours support |
| Premium | $14.54 | per month | per user - Adds advanced roadmaps, sandbox, 24/7 support and unlimited storage |
| Enterprise | Custom | Negotiated | Billed annually, multiple instances and unlimited automation |
What Jira actually costs over a year
A monthly price is not the same thing as a monthly contract. These are the plans above resolved both ways, per seat or unit where the plan is charged that way. Where a vendor quotes only a yearly figure it is divided by twelve rather than left out, and the Quoted column says which figure the vendor actually publishes.
| Plan | Quoted | Monthly | Over 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standardper user | per month | $7.91 | $94.92 |
| Premiumper user | per month | $14.54 | $174.48 |
Which Jira plan should you buy?
| Your situation | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A team of ten or fewer tracking software work | Free | Up to 10 users with 2 GB storage. Genuinely usable for a small squad. |
| You have more than ten developers | Standard | $7.91 per user, with audit logs and business-hours support. |
| You need advanced roadmaps, sandbox or 24/7 support | Premium | $14.54 per user, and advanced roadmaps are usually the specific reason. |
| You run several instances or need unlimited automation | Enterprise | Annual billing only, and a procurement conversation rather than a self-serve upgrade. |
| Your team tracks marketing or creative tasks | Do not buy Jira | Asana or Trello fit that work. Jira will feel like bureaucracy. |
| Nobody will administer it | Consider Linear instead | Jira's configurability requires an owner. Linear has opinions instead, which small teams often prefer. |
Verdict by who you are
Software team running Scrum or KanbanYes
The industry standard for a reason: auditable, configurable workflows that scale to hundreds of developers.
Organisation using Confluence and BitbucketYes
The linking between issues, documentation and commits is the strongest part of the Atlassian estate.
Marketing or creative teamNo
Wrong shape of tool. The overhead will outweigh the tracking.
Small startup wanting speedCompare first
Free works, but Linear is faster to live with if you have no appetite for configuration.
Team without an adminNo
Unadministered Jira degenerates into workflows nobody understands.
Should you buy Jira?
Buy Jira if…
- Software teams running Scrum or Kanban at scale
- Organisations needing auditable, configurable workflows
- Teams that already use Confluence and Bitbucket
Do not buy Jira if…
- Small teams who want to plan work in an afternoon
- Marketing or creative teams tracking simple tasks
- Anyone without someone willing to administer it
Key features
- Configurable issue types, fields and workflows
- Scrum and Kanban boards with sprints and backlogs
- JQL, a query language for filtering and reporting on issues
- Advanced roadmaps and dependency mapping on Premium
- Automation rules without code
- Native Confluence, Bitbucket and Compass integration
- Velocity, burndown and control-chart reporting
- Very large marketplace of apps and integrations
Integrations
- Confluence and Bitbucket
- GitHub and GitLab
- Slack and Microsoft Teams
- Figma
- Zendesk
- Atlassian REST API and Forge platform
Jira screenshots
Captured by us in August 2026 at 1440px, unedited. Interfaces change, so these show the product as it looked on the date we verified this profile. Pricing pages are captured from a US vantage point, so the currency shown matches the USD figures recorded above.
Our assessment
Jira is the most configurable issue tracker available, and configurability is both the product and the problem. Given a competent administrator it models genuinely complex delivery across dozens of teams and produces reporting nothing else matches. Left to accumulate, it becomes twenty required fields, six approval gates and a board nobody trusts. The tool is rarely the reason teams are unhappy; the process encoded into it usually is. Price is reasonable for what it does, and the free tier for ten users is genuinely usable.
What works in Jira
- Models almost any delivery process, however unusual
- JQL and reporting are unmatched for large-scale delivery
- Free tier for up to 10 users is genuinely capable
- Deep integration with Confluence, Bitbucket and the wider Atlassian estate
What doesn't
- Slow interface compared with modern trackers
- Configuration sprawl is the norm rather than the exception
- Needs an administrator to stay usable at any scale
- Overkill for teams that are not shipping software
EveryAny Decision Score
3 of these 8 dimensions are calculated from verified facts; the rest are our judgement, shown as a band rather than a figure unless something specific sits behind them. How each score works.
- Cost position6.9/10
derivedentry tier at $7.91 a month against a category median of $15 a month across 16 comparable tools
- Portability8/10
derivedself-hostable, public API
- Subscription flexibility9/10
derivedfree plan, free trial, freemium, monthly billing
- Feature depthVery high
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
- Ease of learningLow
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
- CollaborationHigh
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
- AI capabilityModerate
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
- Professional adoptionVery high
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
What leaving Jira would cost
low lock-in
Jira scores on self-hostable, public API. Portability 8/10 ; lock-in is the inverse. How this is calculated.
Jira competitors and alternatives
| Alternative | Why you might pick it instead |
|---|---|
| Linear | Dramatically faster and better designed, with far less configurability. |
| Asana | Better for cross-functional work that is not software delivery. |
| GitHub Projects | Free and adequate if your work already lives in GitHub. |
The complaint is usually about process, not software
Almost every criticism of Jira describes a configuration decision: too many required fields, a workflow with too many states, an approval step added after one incident and never removed. Jira enforces what it is told to enforce. Before migrating away, it is worth checking whether the problem would survive the move, because it usually does.
Where the free tier ends
Ten users, and then it stops. That is a sharp cliff for a growing team, and the jump to Standard is per user for everyone, not just the eleventh person. Model the cost at your expected headcount rather than your current one.
Premium is bought for two things
Advanced roadmaps and the sandbox. If you plan across multiple teams with dependencies, roadmaps justify the step from $7.91 to $14.54. If you have a single team and one board, Premium buys support response times you probably do not need.
What to check before choosing it
Ask who will administer it. Jira without an owner degrades predictably: fields accumulate, workflows calcify, and within a year the board reflects the org chart rather than the work. If no one can hold that responsibility, a simpler tracker will serve you better for longer.
Jira questions, answered
- Is Jira worth it?
- Jira is the most configurable issue tracker available, and configurability is both the product and the problem.
- How much does Jira cost?
- Free for up to 10 users; Standard from $7.91 per user/month. The cheapest paid tier we recorded is Standard, published at $7.91 a month, which works out at $7.91 a month or $94.92 over a year. Verified against the vendor's pricing page.
- Does Jira have a free plan or free trial?
- Jira has a free plan. A free trial is available: 30 days on Standard and Premium.
- What is the best Jira alternative?
- It depends on the job. Linear: Dramatically faster and better designed, with far less configurability. Asana: Better for cross-functional work that is not software delivery. GitHub Projects: Free and adequate if your work already lives in GitHub.
- Can I self-host Jira?
- Yes. Jira can be run on your own infrastructure, so the data stays under your control.
What this profile is based on
Every claim below is about our work, not about Jira. A "no" is recorded rather than omitted, because the difference between a tested review and careful desk research is the reader's to weigh. How we research a profile.
-
Prices read from the vendor : yes
Read from Jira's own pricing page on 9 August 2026
-
Plans and terms recorded : yes
4 rows, each with its billing period
-
Original screenshots : yes
2 captured by us: homepage, pricing page
-
Sources cited and dated : yes
1 primary source, each with the date it was read
-
Product used first-hand : no
Not tested. This profile is desk research from primary sources
-
Alternatives used first-hand : no
None, so comparisons here rest on published facts rather than use
-
Vendor contacted : no
Not contacted for this profile
Where Jira appears on this site
3 other pages here reference Jira. Every one is listed below, so the figure can be checked rather than taken.
- Another profile Confluence names it as a competitor
- Another profile Linear names it as a competitor
- Another profile Plane names it as a competitor
Counts pages on this site that name the product by choice - buyer guides, articles, deal records and other profiles. Category and directory indexes list everything automatically and are not counted.
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Provenance and freshness
When each fact was last checked
- Pricing ·
- Plans ·
- Free trial
- Features
- Platforms
- Integrations
- Affiliate programme
- Company details
What has changed
-
August 2026
- Per-user pricing verified
- Added plan picker and verdicts
Sources & verification
Facts on this page were read from the sources below on the dates shown. Where a vendor does not publish a figure, we record it as not disclosed rather than estimating it.
- Jira pricing - checked 9 August 2026
Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and we will re-check it. Corrections are logged on the page.
