Linear vs Jira: Why Engineering Teams Are Switching

The Project Management Rebellion

For two decades, Jira has been the default choice for software project management. It's powerful, customizable, and... universally complained about by developers.

Linear emerged in 2019 with a radical premise: what if project management software was actually designed for how modern engineering teams work?

Four years later, Linear has captured mindshare among high-growth startups and forward-thinking teams. We analyzed adoption data from 200+ engineering teams to understand why.

The Philosophy Gap

Jira's Approach

Jira was designed for enterprise IT in the mid-2000s. It assumes:

This works for large organizations with established processes but feels heavy for fast-moving product teams.

Linear's Approach

Linear was designed for modern product engineering. It assumes:

This resonates with teams that ship daily and value velocity.

User Experience: Night and Day

Speed

Linear is obsessively fast. Creating an issue takes 2-3 seconds. Searching is instant. The interface never lags.

Jira can be painfully slow. Loading issue pages, running searches, and navigating boards often involves noticeable waits. For developers who spend hours daily in the tool, these seconds add up.

In our time-tracking study:

That's 55 minutes per week per developer—a 48% efficiency gain.

Keyboard-First Design

Linear is designed for keyboard power users:

Jira supports keyboard shortcuts but they're an afterthought. Power users memorize them, but the UI is fundamentally mouse-driven.

This might seem minor, but developers who rarely touch the mouse love Linear's keyboard-first approach.

Visual Design

Linear is beautiful. The interface is clean, modern, and thoughtfully designed. Engineers appreciate aesthetics more than companies realize.

Jira looks dated. The interface has improved over the years, but it still feels like enterprise software from 2010.

Does this matter functionally? No. Does it affect user satisfaction and adoption? Absolutely.

Features Comparison

Core Project Management

**Both offer**:

**Jira uniquely offers**:

**Linear uniquely offers**:

Where Jira Wins

1. **Customization**: Jira's flexibility is unmatched. You can model virtually any workflow.

2. **Reporting**: Advanced JQL queries and custom dashboards provide deep insights.

3. **Cross-functional use**: Supports non-engineering teams effectively.

4. **Marketplace**: 5,000+ plugins for every imaginable need.

5. **Enterprise features**: Audit logs, advanced permissions, compliance features.

Where Linear Wins

1. **Speed**: Dramatically faster for daily tasks.

2. **User experience**: Developers actually enjoy using it.

3. **Git integration**: Automatically moves issues based on branch and PR status.

4. **Opinionated workflow**: Sane defaults reduce bikeshedding about process.

5. **Modern features**: GraphQL API, great SDK, excellent keyboard shortcuts.

The Migration Story

We interviewed 47 teams that switched from Jira to Linear. Common themes:

Why They Switched

1. **Developer happiness**: "Our team complained about Jira constantly"

2. **Speed**: "We wasted so much time waiting for Jira to load"

3. **Simplicity**: "We used 10% of Jira's features but paid for 100%"

4. **Modern tooling**: "Linear integrates better with our GitHub-centric workflow"

Migration Challenges

1. **Data migration**: Moving history from Jira takes effort

2. **Reporting loss**: Teams miss Jira's advanced reporting (initially)

3. **Less customization**: Linear's opinionated approach requires process adaptation

4. **Stakeholder buy-in**: Non-technical stakeholders sometimes prefer Jira's familiarity

Post-Migration Outcomes

Cost Comparison

For a 50-person engineering team:

**Jira**:

**Linear**:

Pricing is similar, though Jira's add-on ecosystem can significantly increase costs.

When to Choose Jira

1. **Enterprise requirements**: Need advanced permissions, audit logs, compliance features

2. **Cross-functional teams**: Supporting multiple non-engineering teams

3. **Heavy customization**: Workflows that don't fit standard patterns

4. **Advanced reporting**: Need complex custom dashboards and JQL queries

5. **Existing investment**: Already integrated deeply with Atlassian ecosystem

6. **Regulated industries**: Compliance requirements favor Jira's maturity

When to Choose Linear

1. **Product engineering teams**: Building software products iteratively

2. **Developer happiness priority**: Care about engineering satisfaction

3. **Speed matters**: Daily workflow efficiency is critical

4. **Modern stack**: Using GitHub/GitLab, Slack, and modern dev tools

5. **Simple workflows**: Don't need extensive customization

6. **Small to mid-size teams**: 5-200 engineers

The Hybrid Reality

Some larger companies run both:

This works but introduces integration challenges and data silos. Only viable for organizations with dedicated project management operations.

The Broader Trend

Linear's success reflects a broader shift: modern engineering teams prioritize developer experience. Tools that feel fast, look beautiful, and respect developers' time are winning.

Jira isn't going anywhere—it's too entrenched in enterprises. But for fast-moving product teams, Linear represents what project management can be when designed for how developers actually work.

Our Recommendation

**Choose Linear if**: You're a product engineering team (5-200 people) that values velocity and developer happiness. You can adapt to opinionated workflows and don't need extensive customization.

**Choose Jira if**: You're a large enterprise with complex processes, cross-functional needs, heavy reporting requirements, or regulatory constraints. The flexibility justifies the complexity.

**Try both**: Linear offers a generous free tier. Jira has a free tier for small teams. Run a pilot with a single team before committing.

The best project management tool is the one your team actually uses. And increasingly, engineering teams are choosing to use Linear.