Linear
The system for product development
Linear is a high-performance issue tracking and project management platform built specifically for software development teams. Launched in 2019 by former engineers from Uber, Airbnb, and Coinbase, it's known for its blazing-fast interface, keyboard-first navigation, and opinionated workflow design. Used by over 25,000 companies including OpenAI, Ramp, and Vercel, Linear organises work around issues, projects, and cycles with real-time sync and sub-second load times.
How we scored it
A weighted average of the 4 dimensions below, each judged 0–10 from published pricing, vendor documentation and independent user feedback. We do not run hands-on tests, and no vendor has any say in a score.
2 further dimensions are not scored for this product yet, so they are left out of the average rather than counted as zero. How the score works.
What it actually costs
Intro pricing shown — see the renewal note for what you'll pay after the introductory term. We don't hide the second-act price.
Free
Free tier: Unlimited members, 2 teams, 250 issues (as published).
Basic
Published as "$10 per user/month" and labeled "Billed yearly" (vendor shows annual billing only on the pricing page). Includes 5 teams, unlimited issues, unlimited file uploads, admin roles.
Business
Published as "$16 per user/month" and labeled "Billed yearly" (vendor shows annual billing only on the pricing page). Includes unlimited teams, private teams and guests, Triage Intelligence,
What to check before you commit to Linear
A tool is judged on what it costs once it is adopted, not what it costs to try. These are the four things that change that number.
The price once it is adopted
At $10 a seat, five people is $50 a month ($600 a year) and ten is $100 ($1200 a year). Tools are bought one seat at a time and paid for by the dozen.
Where the usage ceiling sits
Credits, generations, exports and API calls are the lines that run out mid-month. Find what happens when you hit the cap — hard stop, throttle, or an overage rate you have not budgeted for.
What the free tier is really for
A free tier is an evaluation, not a plan. Check which limit you would hit first in real use, because that is the one that decides when you start paying.
Getting your work back out
Export formats decide how reversible this decision is. A tool that only exports to its own format costs more to leave than its price suggests.
These are the checks we apply across developer tools, in the same order, so two pages can be compared line for line.
How much does Linear really cost?
Our calculation from the vendor's published prices — not a figure the vendor advertises.
The headline price is for one person. Adding people multiplies it, so a team of ten pays ten times the advertised figure. Plans (except Free and Enterprise) are charged per user; cost scales with number of users (per-user pricing). Enterprise is custom and billed annually.
| Team size | Per month | Per year | Over 3 years | How it is charged |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person | $10 | $120 | $360 | $10 per seat per month |
| 5 people | $50 | $600 | $1,800 | $10 per seat per month |
| 10 people | $100 | $1,200 | $3,600 | $10 per seat per month |
| 50 people | $500 | $6,000 | $18,000 | $10 per seat per month |
Based on the Basic plan at $10 a month. Three years at the published annual price. No renewal increase is published.
- The vendor does not publish a renewal price, so three-year totals assume today's price holds.
Work out your own cost
- $10 per seat per month.
- Billed annually at $10 per month equivalent.
Linear against the field
The highest-scoring alternatives in the same category, compared on the figures we hold for all of them.
| LinearThis page | Supabase | GitHub | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ReviewCost score | 8.3/10 | 8.8/10 | 8.6/10 |
| Cheapest plan | Free | — | — |
| From | — | — | — |
| Renews at | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Biggest strength | Exceptionally fast performance with sub-second load times and real-time sync across all users | Postgres foundation means you're not locked into a proprietary database — you can self-host or migrate if needed | GitHub Copilot demonstrably accelerates development — customers like Duolingo report 25% speed gains and Mercado Libre cuts coding time by 50% |
| Biggest drawback | Limited customisation options may frustrate power users wanting complex workflows | Dashboard can be overwhelming for developers new to Postgres — the SQL editor and migration tools assume some database literacy | Pricing can become punitive at scale — enterprise features and Copilot seats add up quickly for larger teams, making alternatives like GitLab worth evaluating |
Prices are the published figures at the time of writing and change often. Renewal pricing is shown where the vendor publishes it. See how we review.
What people ask about Linear
Straight answers to what buyers actually ask, drawn from the documentation and published user reports.
Is Linear actually faster than Jira, or is that just marketing?
Can non-technical teams use Linear?
Does the free plan actually work for small teams?
How does Linear pricing compare to Jira at scale?
What's the catch with the AI features?
Page history
- Published
- 21 May 2026
- Last updated
- 1 October 2026
- Pricing checked against vendor
- 1 October 2026
Sources & verification
Pricing on this page was taken from the vendor's published pricing page on 1 October 2026.
- Pricing – LinearOfficial pricing page · Linear · read 1 October 2026