B.efficient The 5-Tool Protocol

Linear vs Jira for startups

Reviewed

Both have a Cmd+K command palette, SOC 2 Type II reports, and a free GitHub integration, so a feature checklist won't decide this. What differs is the shape of the free plan, how you pay, and what each company gives startups for nothing.

Verdict

Linear, for product teams under 50 people. Its free plan has no member limit, it stays close to the code, and it is the tool in our Founder Stack. Pick Jira if you already run Confluence or Bitbucket, need data residency outside the EU and US, or qualify for Atlassian for Startups: 12 months of Premium free is hard to argue with, and Jira's Standard plan also costs less per user.

Linear holds the Issue Tracking slot in the Founder Stack →

Linear vs Jira, compared
Criterion Linear Jira
Free plan Unlimited members, 2 teams, 250 issues Up to 10 users, 2 GB storage
Entry paid plan Basic: $10/user/month, billed yearly Standard: $7.91/user/month
Next tier Business: $16/user/month, billed yearly Premium: $14.54/user/month
Startup program Up to 6 months of Business free, via a Linear partner, under 50 employees 12 months of Premium free for up to 50 seats; VC-backed or accelerator-affiliated, under $10M raised
SSO (SAML) Enterprise plan Enterprise plan, or the paid Atlassian Guard add-on
Keyboard Cmd/Ctrl+K command bar; ? opens shortcut help Cmd/Ctrl+K command palette; ? lists shortcuts
Hosting Cloud; no self-managed option listed Cloud; Data Center no longer sold to new customers since 30 March 2026
Data residency EU or US, chosen when the workspace is created 11 locations, on Standard and above
Compliance SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001, HIPAA with a BAA SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA with a BAA on paid plans
GitHub Native app on all plans Free GitHub for Atlassian app, built by Atlassian
AI Linear Agent on all plans; more on Business and up Rovo on paid plans, 25–150 credits per user per month
Switching Official Jira importer (API or CSV); custom fields don't import —

Facts are checked against each vendor's own pages, listed below; the verdict is our opinion. Prices change, so confirm on the vendor's site. See disclosures.

Sources