Linear

Keyboard-first issue tracker and project management tool built for speed and software engineering teams.

Best for: Software engineering teams who want a fast, focused issue tracker with strong GitHub integration and minimal project management overhead

Free plan

4.7/5Editorial score 90/100Last reviewed Sep 22, 2026linear.app

Entry plan

Free forever

Get started free

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Editorial score90/100

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The editorial note

What to know about Linear

Linear is a project management tool designed specifically for software development teams, prioritizing speed and minimalism over feature bloat. It features keyboard-first workflows, a clean interface, and Git integration that automatically links pull requests and commits to issues. Linear is loved by engineering teams for its fast, responsive interface and thoughtful UX that makes tracking bugs, features, and sprints feel effortless compared to heavier tools like Jira.

Is it right for you?

Who Linear suits

Choose it if

Software engineering teams who want a fast, focused issue tracker with strong GitHub integration and minimal project management overhead

Look elsewhere if

Large enterprises requiring fine-grained permission control, Gantt charts, or deep custom reporting — Jira provides more flexibility for complex organizational structures

What you get

Key features

Issues with priorities, labels, and assignees
Cycles (sprints) and milestones
Roadmap and project views
GitHub/GitLab auto-linking
Custom workflows and statuses
Team triage and backlog management
Slack notifications
API and webhook support

Works with

Integrations8

GitHub GitLab Slack Figma Intercom Sentry Notion Zapier

What it costs

Pricing

Linear pricing plans
Plan	Price	What it includes
Free	Free forever	Unlimited members, 2 teams, 250 issues, and core issue tracking features.
Basic	$10/user/month (billed annually)Billed per user/month (billed annually)	Unlimited issues and file uploads, 5 teams, and admin roles.
Business	$16/user/month (billed annually)Billed per user/month (billed annually)	Unlimited teams, private teams, guest access, Triage Intelligence, Linear Insights, and Loops.
Enterprise	Custom pricingBilled annual	SAML/SCIM, granular admin controls, enterprise-grade security, and priority support.

Prices are recorded from the vendor's public pricing page and can change. Check before you buy.

The trade-off

Pros and cons

Pros

Blazing fast, keyboard-first interface makes issue management feel instant
GitHub and GitLab integrations auto-link PRs and commits to issues
Cycles (sprints) and Projects simplify roadmap and sprint planning
Beautiful, opinionated UI with excellent dark mode — loved by developers
Free plan covers up to 250 issues with full feature access for small teams

Cons

Less flexible than Jira for enterprise workflows requiring custom fields and complex permissions
Analytics and reporting are more limited compared to Jira and Azure DevOps
No native time tracking requires third-party integrations
Can feel too opinionated for teams needing non-software project management

Quick read

At a glance

Category: Development & Coding
Pricing model: Freemium
Entry plan: Free forever
Free plan: Available
Free trial: Not listed
Platforms: macOS, Web, Windows
Website: linear.app
Last reviewed: Sep 22, 2026

The verdict

Our take on Linear

Linear has earned its reputation as the issue tracker software teams actually enjoy using. The speed and keyboard shortcuts alone make it worth trying; the cycle and roadmap features make it a complete PM platform for engineering. Asana and Jira handle more complex cross-functional work, but for pure engineering velocity Linear wins.

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Editorial review

From the journal

Editorial review of Linear

By TopToolsPick Editorial

Where this appears

Mentioned in

Use cases

Team collaboration

Audiences

Developers Startups

Platforms

macOS Web Windows