Linear vs Jira: Which Project Management Tool for Software Teams 2025?
Linear and Jira are the two dominant project management tools for software teams. After extensive testing across different team sizes, here is a detailed comparison for 2025.
Linear vs Jira: Which Project Management Tool in 2025?
Core Differences
Linear: Built for modern software teams that want speed and simplicity. Blazing fast interface, automated workflows, and opinionated process. Created by Stripe engineers, used heavily by fast-moving startups.
Jira: Enterprise-grade project management with maximum configurability. Decades of features, deep integrations, and the standard for larger organizations. Used by 65,000+ companies including most Fortune 500 software teams.
When Linear Wins
- Startups and scale-ups valuing speed over configurability
- Teams that want automatic status updates and cycle management
- Teams tired of Jira’s complexity and admin overhead
- Development teams wanting GitHub/GitLab deep integration
When Jira Wins
- Enterprise teams needing maximum customization
- Organizations requiring Atlassian ecosystem integration (Confluence, Bitbucket)
- Teams with complex multi-project portfolio management needs
- Organizations with existing Jira data and established workflows
Pricing
| Tier | Linear | Jira |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Up to 250 issues | Up to 10 users |
| Paid | $8/user/month | $7.75/user/month |
| Business | $16/user/month | $15.25/user/month |
AI Assistance for Both Tools
Regardless of which project management tool you use, Claude is valuable for: writing clear ticket descriptions, creating sprint planning documents, generating retrospective formats, and drafting engineering decision documents.
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