Linear alternatives: where to go and how to migrate without losing anything
Eight destinations, one for each reason to leave, plus a seven-step migration plan.
Short answer: Plane if you want Linear's workflow with self-hosting on top, and the only native Linear importer around; Shortcut if your small engineering team wants the same lightweight feel; GitHub Projects if your code already lives on GitHub; ClickUp, monday.com, Asana or Notion if non-technical teams need to work in the same tool; OpenProject if you want a self-hosted European option with Gantt. We compared all eight, their published 2026 prices, and what each one actually brings over from Linear.
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
Why teams outgrow Linear
Nobody leaves Linear because it's slow. On developer forums it keeps getting described as fast, a middle ground between a bare Kanban board and an enterprise suite. People leave because of what Linear deliberately doesn't do, and what it keeps for its top plans. One myth to clear up first: "Linear has no mobile app" is wrong. Native iOS and Android apps shipped in 2024, so any comparison still repeating that line is out of date.
An opinionated workflow you can't bend much
Linear models work the way a product team does: issues, cycles, projects, triage. Great while you're shipping software. Once marketing, ops or client work move in, the model starts to pinch: few custom fields, few ways to reshape the flow. One Hacker News commenter called it "a very fast spreadsheet" that lacks features he needs day to day, and Product Hunt threads say the same thing: far fewer features than Jira.
Reporting sits behind the expensive plans
Insights, Linear's reporting, starts on Business at $16 per user per month. Dashboards are Enterprise only, with sales-led pricing. A 12-person team that wants velocity on a real dashboard ends up on a sales call.
The free plan stops at 250 issues
Linear Free gives you unlimited members, but only 250 active issues, 2 teams and 10 MB file uploads. A four-developer team burns through that in a few weeks. Basic, at $10 per user per month, removes the issue cap but stops at 5 teams.
No Gantt, budgets or resource planning
Linear does roadmaps, not portfolio management. There's no dependency-driven Gantt chart, no budget tracking and no workload view per person. When leadership asks who is overbooked next month, the data goes into a spreadsheet. That's usually when a non-engineering team starts pushing for ClickUp or Asana.
Cloud only, and your region is locked
You can't self-host Linear. You can pick EU data hosting, but only when you create the workspace; it can't be changed later. Moving regions means creating a new workspace and importing everything again. If IT insists on your own servers, Linear has no answer.
SSO, audit logs and annual-only billing
SAML SSO, SCIM provisioning, audit logs and IP restrictions are Enterprise features, quote-based and annual. Paid plans are billed yearly with no monthly price on the pricing page. So your real deadline for switching is your renewal date, not the end of the month.
You're leaving because… go to…
The right Linear alternative depends on what's pushing you out. Usually only one row fits. Each card jumps to the full write-up below.
Close UX, open source, and a native Linear importer.
Your small dev team wants the same feelShortcutStories and iterations, free for up to 10 users.
Your code already lives on GitHubGitHub ProjectsIssues and Projects are included on the Free plan.
Marketing and ops need to work alongside engineeringClickUpDocs, Gantt and tasks in one workspace.
You want everyone productive on day onemonday.comConfigurable boards, free for up to 2 seats.
Your data must stay in Europe, on your serversOpenProjectGerman vendor, free Community edition, Gantt included.
Linear alternatives, tool by tool
For each tool: why switch to it, who it's for, where it falls short, how to migrate from Linear, and what it costs. Prices are what each vendor lists in 2026, per user per month in US dollars. You won't find Height here even though plenty of lists still recommend it: it shut down in 2025.
Plane: Linear's workflow, on your own servers if you want
Native Linear importerWhy switch to Plane. Plane follows Linear's model (issues, cycles, modules, views) under the AGPL open source license. Run it in Plane's cloud or on your own infrastructure. That answers two of the biggest complaints about Linear in one move: forced cloud hosting and a tight free tier. Plane Free covers up to 12 users.
Who it's for. Product teams that like working the Linear way but whose security team wants data in-house, or startups that outgrew Linear Free and want a cheaper paid plan.
Where it falls short. The free plan has no wiki, no time tracking, no integrations and no SSO. Plane is younger than Jira, with a smaller ecosystem, and the commercial self-hosted editions are paid.
Migrating from Linear. This is Plane's edge. Its native Linear importer brings over issues, states, labels, priorities, users, comments and attachments. Cycles come across as cycles, and Linear projects become modules. The catch: only parent-child stays a real relation. "Blocks" and "related to" become plain links, with a backlink to the original Linear issue. You need to be a Plane workspace admin and provide a Linear personal access token, and you can re-run the import. It works on Plane Cloud and the commercial self-hosted editions.
Pricing. Free for up to 12 users. Pro is $6 per seat per month billed yearly ($8 monthly), Business $13 ($15 monthly). Enterprise is listed as coming soon.
- Free
- up to 12 users
- Paid
- Pro $6/seat/mo, yearly
- Best for
- product teams, data in-house
- Watch out
- other relations become plain links back to Linear
Shortcut: closest to Linear in spirit
Small dev teamsWhy switch to Shortcut. Shortcut targets the same people Linear does: engineers who want to write a story, drop it into an iteration and get on with it, without filling in ten fields. It stays lightweight and software-focused, built around stories and iterations.
Who it's for. A 3 to 30 person engineering team leaving Linear over price or a workflow detail, not because it wants a heavier tool.
Where it falls short. Free stops at 10 users, 1 team, 1 workflow and 5 GB of storage. And it's still an engineering tool: if your goal is to bring marketing on board, Shortcut won't fix that.
Migrating from Linear. There's no automatic Linear importer. Shortcut publishes a mapping guide (a Linear issue becomes a story) and relies on CSV import. Set up your workflow states before you import.
Pricing. Free for up to 10 users. Team is $8.50 per user per month, Business $12. Paying yearly saves up to 25%. Enterprise is quote-based.
- Free
- up to 10 users, 1 team
- Paid
- Team $8.50/user/mo
- Best for
- small engineering teams
- Watch out
- no Linear importer
GitHub Projects: one less tool if your code is there
CheapestWhy switch to GitHub Projects. If your repos are on GitHub, your issues can live there too. Issues and Projects come with the Free plan: boards, tables, roadmaps, custom fields, and a direct link from issue to branch to pull request. You drop a subscription and an integration to maintain.
Who it's for. Engineering teams, open source projects and small shops that want tracking right next to the code.
Where it falls short. A project caps out at 50 fields and 50,000 items. More importantly, there are no cycles with velocity tracking like Linear's. Iterations exist, but analytics are thin. For a PM steering a roadmap across several teams, it's tight.
Migrating from Linear. No native Linear import. Either script it (read Linear's API, write to GitHub's) or go through CSV. If you used the Linear GitHub integration, many issues already reference their pull request: keep that link in the issue body.
Pricing. Free at $0, Team at $4 per user per month, Enterprise at $21.
- Free
- Issues and Projects included
- Paid
- Team $4/user/mo
- Best for
- teams whose code is on GitHub
- Watch out
- 50 fields, no velocity
ClickUp: when the whole company needs to be in one tool
Mixed teamsWhy switch to ClickUp. Everything Linear leaves out on purpose, ClickUp includes: docs, Gantt charts, time tracking, forms and dashboards. Engineers keep their lists and sprints while marketing and ops get their own spaces in the same workspace. We rate it 4.2 out of 5 in our ClickUp review.
Who it's for. Companies where product is one team among many and leadership wants a single tool for everyone.
Where it falls short. ClickUp is dense. Without clear rules, every team builds its own maze. The free tier gets tight fast, with 60 MB of storage and a monthly automation quota. Engineers who loved Linear's minimalism tend to grumble for the first few weeks.
Migrating from Linear. No Linear importer. ClickUp's official answer on its feature request board: export Linear to CSV, then use the Spreadsheet Importer. Map statuses and priorities column by column before you run it.
Pricing. Free Forever. Core is $9 per user per month billed yearly, Business $17, Max $100. Enterprise is quote-based.
- Free
- Free Forever, 60 MB
- Paid
- Core $9/user/mo, yearly
- Best for
- dev, marketing and ops together
- Watch out
- dense, needs ground rules
monday.com: boards everyone gets on day one
Fast adoptionWhy switch to monday.com. monday organizes work in colorful boards with columns each team sets up its own way: status, date, owner, budget. Where Linear imposes its method, monday lets you build yours, and sales or marketing teams pick it up without training. We rate it 4.0 out of 5 in our monday.com review.
Who it's for. Teams of 5 to 50, often non-technical, that want fast adoption and views leadership can follow.
Where it falls short. A 3-seat minimum and automation quotas push the bill up faster than the pricing grid suggests. For engineers, the link to code is looser than in Linear or GitHub.
Migrating from Linear. Start from Linear's CSV export, opened in a spreadsheet. Create your board columns first (status, priority, owner), then load the file and map each column.
Pricing. Free for up to 2 seats. Basic is $9, Standard $12 and Pro $19 per seat per month billed yearly, with a 3-seat minimum.
- Free
- up to 2 seats
- Paid
- Basic $9/seat/mo, yearly
- Best for
- non-technical teams, fast rollout
- Watch out
- 3-seat minimum
Asana: for teams that don't write code
Beyond engineeringWhy switch to Asana. If Linear ended up serving people who don't ship code, Asana will speak their language. Projects, portfolios, goals and timelines are built to coordinate people, not branches. Marketing or HR teams pick it up quickly.
Who it's for. Companies running cross-functional projects (launches, events, hiring) where engineers are only part of the user base.
Where it falls short. Asana isn't a developer tool. The link between a task and a pull request is weak, and your engineers will probably want to keep their own tracker. The free Personal plan stops at 2 users, with no timeline or Gantt view.
Migrating from Linear. Asana's documented route is its CSV import, with a help guide on preparing the file: start from Linear's export. Take the chance to group Linear projects into portfolios: that's what will save leadership time.
Pricing. Starter is $10.99 per user per month billed yearly ($13.49 monthly), Advanced $24.99 ($30.49 monthly).
- Free
- Personal, 2 users
- Paid
- Starter $10.99/user/mo, yearly
- Best for
- non-technical teams, portfolios
- Watch out
- weak for engineering
Notion: when docs matter as much as tickets
Docs and projectsWhy switch to Notion. If your team spends as much time writing specs as moving tickets, Notion brings both together: pages, a wiki and databases with table, board, calendar and timeline views. One database can run your project tracking and your documentation. We rate it 4.0 out of 5 in our Notion review.
Who it's for. Small product teams, agencies or startups under twenty people that want one tool for writing and light project tracking.
Where it falls short. No cycles with velocity, no numeric dashboards, and big databases slow down. The free plan caps blocks as soon as the workspace has two members.
Migrating from Linear. Notion doesn't import Linear directly. Import Linear's CSV into a database, where each column becomes a property. Comments and attachments have to come over separately.
Pricing. Free for one person. Plus is $10 per member per month and Business $20 (with full AI), billed yearly. Enterprise is quote-based.
- Free
- unlimited solo, capped blocks for teams
- Paid
- Plus $10/member/mo, yearly
- Best for
- teams that document a lot
- Watch out
- no velocity or dashboards
OpenProject: the European, self-hosted option
Data sovereigntyWhy switch to OpenProject. It's the clearest answer to Linear's cloud-only model. OpenProject comes from a German vendor, and its Community edition is free, self-hosted and has no user minimum. It adds what Linear lacks: Gantt charts, automatic or manual scheduling and classic project management.
Who it's for. IT departments, public bodies or industrial companies that want data on their own servers in Europe, with detailed schedules.
Where it falls short. The interface is busier than Linear's and engineers lose speed. Paid plans require 25 users minimum.
Migrating from Linear. Start from Linear's CSV export, and set up your work package types and statuses in OpenProject first.
Pricing. Community is free with no minimum. Basic is €5.95 per user per month and Professional €10.95, with 25 users minimum; OpenProject lists these prices in euros. Corporate is on request.
- Free
- self-hosted Community
- Paid
- Basic €5.95/user/mo, 25 minimum
- Best for
- EU data, Gantt
- Watch out
- heavier interface
The 8 alternatives compared
Our default pick: Plane if you want to keep working the Linear way, Jira if you need process. For scale, a 10-person team pays $100 a month on Linear Basic and $60 on Plane Pro billed yearly, $40 on GitHub Team, and $85 on Shortcut Team at the listed price (Shortcut doesn't say whether that's the yearly or monthly rate).
| Free plan | First paid tier and import from Linear | |
|---|---|---|
| LinearWhere you start | 250 issues, 2 teams, unlimited members | Basic $10 yearly; CSV export without attachments |
| PlaneClosest match | Up to 12 users, self-hostable | Pro $6 yearly ($8 monthly); native Linear importer with comments and cycles |
| ShortcutSmall dev teams | Up to 10 users, 1 team | Team $8.50; mapping guide and CSV |
| GitHub ProjectsCode on GitHub | Issues and Projects included | Team $4; API or CSV |
| ClickUpMixed teams | Free Forever, 60 MB | Core $9 yearly; Spreadsheet Importer |
| monday.comFast adoption | Up to 2 seats | Basic $9 yearly, 3-seat minimum; via Linear's CSV |
| AsanaBeyond engineering | Personal, 2 users | Starter $10.99 yearly ($13.49 monthly); CSV import |
| NotionDocs and projects | Unlimited solo, capped blocks for teams | Plus $10 yearly; CSV into a database |
| OpenProjectData sovereignty | Self-hosted Community, no minimum | Basic €5.95, 25-user minimum; via CSV |
Per user per month, before tax, as listed by each vendor in 2026 (US dollars, except OpenProject in euros). Prices change, so check against your team size.
Migrating off Linear in seven steps
Order matters. With Linear the risk isn't losing issues, it's losing everything around them: comments, attachments, issue relations, cycle history.
Inventory everything that lives in Linear
Day 1List your teams, their workflow states, labels, active cycles and projects. Write down every integration too: GitHub or GitLab for pull requests, Slack for notifications, and on Business, email intake or the Zendesk and Intercom connections. Each one needs a replacement in the new tool. Flag issues with lots of attachments: those are where the work is.
- Time
- half a day
- Risk if rushed
- a forgotten integration
Time the switch around your renewal
Before anythingLinear's paid plans are annual. Find your renewal date in billing and plan the cutover at least a month before it, so you don't commit to another twelve months. Pick a quiet window between two cycles so nobody works in both tools at once.
- Check
- annual renewal date
- Best window
- between two cycles
Export the whole workspace to CSV as an admin
Key stepRun the full workspace export from settings with an admin account (an owner on Enterprise). Don't export a view instead: view exports cap at 250 issues for members and 2,000 for admins. The download link expires after 12 hours, so grab it right away. Two more limits: there's no CSV export for teams, and guests can't export at all.
- Who
- workspace admin
- Gotcha
- link valid 12 hours
Bring over attachments and comments
Often missedLinear's CSV holds links to attachments, not the files. Moving to Plane? Its importer handles files and comments. Anywhere else, either script a download through Linear's API or keep Linear readable during the transition. For a single issue, the Markdown copy shortcut (Cmd+Option+C on Mac) pastes it cleanly into the new tool.
- In the CSV
- links only
- Fix
- API or Plane importer
Set up the destination before importing
Before importCreate the statuses, issue types, labels and fields that match Linear's. In Jira this is mandatory: you can't create statuses during a CSV import into an existing space. Also check where the new tool stores data. If your Linear workspace was in the EU, don't move to a US-hosted cloud without meaning to.
- Create
- statuses, types, fields
- Check
- data region
Import a small batch, then the rest
Go-liveStart with about fifty issues from one team. Check statuses, assignees, priorities, dates and links. Then import the rest, team by team. For Jira, split files at roughly 1,500 issues. With Plane, you can re-run the import if a team was left out.
- Test
- one team's batch
- Jira
- files of ~1,500 issues
Reconnect integrations and freeze Linear
After importReconnect GitHub, Slack and the rest in the new tool, then turn off Linear's integrations so you don't get duplicates. Announce the day Linear becomes read-only. Keep it open until the paid period ends: it's your safety net if an issue or file is missing.
- Turn off
- Linear's integrations
- Keep Linear
- read-only until renewal
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
What makes a Linear migration go wrong
The same mistakes show up on forums and in vendors' import guides. Each one is easy to dodge if you know it upfront.
Assuming the CSV has everything
It has issues and fields, not files. Teams that cancel Linear right after importing find broken screenshots two months later. Pull the files or keep read access.
Exporting a view instead of the workspace
A view export stops at 250 or 2,000 issues depending on your role, and it's easy to miss. Always use the full workspace export.
Losing issue relations
"Blocks" and "related to" don't survive a standard CSV. Plane's importer keeps parent-child and turns the rest into plain links back to Linear, so the dependency no longer blocks anything. Before you leave, write key dependencies into issue descriptions.
Trusting an outdated listicle
Plenty of pages still recommend Height, which shut down in 2025, or quote old ClickUp prices. Others claim Linear has no mobile app, which hasn't been true since 2024. Check every price on the vendor's own page.
Missing the renewal date
Linear bills yearly. Start migrating a week after renewal and you'll pay for two tools for eleven months. Look at the date before you choose.
Forcing engineers into everyone else's tool
Swapping Linear for an all-in-one to keep marketing happy can push engineers into private side lists. If needs diverge too much, two connected tools beat one tool nobody likes.
- Teams, states, labels, cycles, projects and integrations inventoried
- Annual renewal date noted, cutover planned before it
- Full workspace export run as admin and downloaded within 12 hours
- Attachments pulled through the API, or Linear kept read-only
- Key dependencies copied into issue descriptions
- Statuses, types and fields created in the destination first
- Destination's data region checked
- Test import on one team reviewed before the rest
- GitHub and Slack reconnected, Linear's integrations turned off
Linear alternatives: frequently asked questions
What is the best free Linear alternative?
It depends on your team size. Plane is free for up to 12 users, Shortcut and Jira for up to 10, and GitHub Projects has no user cap on Free if your code is on GitHub. Each free tier cuts something different: Plane drops the wiki and integrations, Shortcut limits you to one team, Jira to 2 GB of storage. Our best project management software ranking goes further.
Is there an open source Linear alternative?
Yes. Plane, under AGPL, is the closest: same issue and cycle model, self-hostable, with a native Linear importer. OpenProject, from a German vendor, is the other route: its Community edition is free and self-hosted, with Gantt and classic project management, but a busier interface. Its paid plans start at €5.95 per user per month with a 25-user minimum.
Linear vs Jira: which should you pick?
Linear if your product team wants speed with a simple process; Jira if several teams must share workflows, permissions and reporting. Jira needs an admin, Linear barely any. Leaning the other way? Our Jira alternatives guide covers leaving Jira.
How do I export my data from Linear?
Use the full workspace CSV export in settings with an admin account. The link stays valid for 12 hours. The file doesn't include attachments, only links to them, so fetch them through the API or keep Linear read-only. The API and webhooks also let you script a complete export.
Can I import Linear issues into Notion?
Not directly: Notion's import list covers Asana, Trello, Confluence and monday.com, not Linear. Go through CSV instead: export the Linear workspace, then import the file into a Notion database, where each column becomes a property. Comments and attachments don't come along, so keep Linear read-only while you check.
Do I need admin rights to leave Linear?
Yes, to do it properly. The full workspace export requires an admin (an owner on Enterprise), and guests can't export anything. On the other side, Plane's importer is limited to workspace admins, and Jira's external CSV import to admins. Check who holds those rights on both sides before you start.
Height shut down: where should I move?
Height stopped operating in 2025. For a fast tool built for product teams, look at Linear itself, Plane or Shortcut. If Height also served non-technical teams, ClickUp covers more ground in one workspace.
Can I keep Linear for engineering and use another tool for everyone else?
Yes, and it's often smarter than a forced migration. Linear connects to other tools through its API, webhooks and automation platforms; our Linear and n8n guide shows how to sync issues. For docs-heavy teams, our Notion review covers another way to work alongside it.
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