# Linear vs Plane (2026)

By Noah — last updated & pricing verified October 23, 2026.

> **Verdict:** Choose Linear if you want a fast, keyboard-driven issue tracker for a software team, with native AI coding-agent assignment and code review through Diffs. Choose Plane if you want an AGPL-3.0 tool you can self-host, Gantt and Spreadsheet views with a built-in wiki, and lower per-seat prices. The deciding factor is hosting and price: Plane self-hosts for free and costs $6/seat/month on Pro against Linear Basic's $10/user/month, while Linear is a hosted service with a low learning curve and a 4.9/5 rating from 436 Product Hunt reviews.

**Choose Linear if:** You want to assign issues directly to AI coding agents and review their code with Linear's Diffs feature; Your team values a fast, keyboard-first interface with a low learning curve over deep configuration; You have more than 12 people but light usage, since Linear Free allows unlimited members with 2 teams and 250 issues; You route customer feedback from Zendesk or Intercom into issues (Business, $16/user/month billed annually); You need SAML/SCIM, invoice or PO billing, and priority support with account management (Enterprise)

**Choose Plane if:** You need to self-host on Docker or Kubernetes, including air-gapped environments, under the AGPL-3.0; You want lower per-seat prices: $6/seat/month on Pro and $13 on Business, against Linear's $10 and $16; You want Board, Spreadsheet, List, and Gantt views plus a built-in wiki in one workspace; You want AI credits bundled into every tier, from 500 per seat on Free to 2,000 on Business; You are migrating from Jira, ClickUp, Asana, or Monday and want built-in import tools

## At a glance

|  | Linear | Plane |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing | Free tier · paid from $10/mo | Free tier · paid from $6/mo |
| License | Freemium | Open core |
| Best for | software product and engineering teams that want a fast, keyboard-driven issue tracker with built-in support for assigning work to AI coding agents, rather than a heavily customizable general project-management tool | engineering teams migrating from Jira or Linear who want an AGPL-licensed self-hosting option plus a cloud plan that bundles AI credits into every paid tier |
| Ratings | Product Hunt 4.9/5 (436 reviews) | — |

## Feature comparison

| Feature | Linear | Plane |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Starting price | Yes (free plan; paid from $10/user/month billed annually (Basic)) | Yes (free plan; paid from $6/seat/month billed annually (Pro)) |
| Free tier | Partial (unlimited members, 2 teams, 250 issues) | Partial (up to 12 users, 500 AI credits per seat) |
| Business tier | Yes ($16/user/month billed annually) | Yes ($13/seat/month billed annually) |
| Billing flexibility | Partial (Business and Enterprise prices require annual billing) | Yes (annual billing saves 25% on Pro, 13% on Business) |
| Platforms | Yes (web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android) | Yes (web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android) |
| License | No (proprietary freemium) | Partial (open-core: AGPL-3.0 Community Edition, commercial enterprise features) |
| Self-hosting | No (hosted by Linear) | Yes (Docker or Kubernetes, air-gapped option) |
| AI agents | Yes (coding agents take issues; Diffs reviews their code) | Yes (agents triage issues, assign work, post updates) |
| Gantt view | Unknown | Yes (among 5 layouts on Free) |
| Wiki and docs | Unknown | Yes (project pages on Free, workspace wiki from Pro) |
| Sprints and cycles | Yes (sprint cycles) | Yes (cycles with velocity tracking) |
| Customer intake | Yes (Intake, plus Zendesk and Intercom on Business) | Yes (work item intake on Free, email and forms on Business) |
| Integrations | Yes (Zendesk and Intercom on Business) | Yes (50+, including GitHub, GitLab, Slack, Sentry) |
| SSO and admin controls | Yes (SAML/SCIM on Enterprise (custom pricing)) | Partial (SSO/SAML and LDAP need a commercial license when self-hosted) |
| Migration | Yes (migration support on Enterprise) | Yes (importers for Jira, Linear, ClickUp, Asana, Monday) |
| Learning curve | Yes (low) | Partial (moderate) |
| External rating | Yes (4.9/5 from 436 reviews (Product Hunt)) | Unknown |

## Linear vs Plane pricing: which costs less?

Plane costs less, at $6/seat/month for Pro and $13/seat/month for Business, both billed annually, against Linear's $10/user/month Basic and $16/user/month Business.

For a 10-person team, Plane Pro runs $60/month and Linear Basic $100/month on annual billing; at the Business tier the gap is $130 versus $160. The free plans limit different things: Plane Free covers up to 12 users with 500 AI credits per seat, while Linear Free allows unlimited members but only 2 teams and 250 issues. Plane's Community Edition is free to self-host, though SSO/SAML, LDAP, and audit logs need a commercial license. Linear's Business and Enterprise prices require annual billing.

## Which is easier to use, Linear or Plane?

Linear is easier to use, with a low learning curve rating against Plane's moderate rating, and reviewers consistently cite Linear's keyboard-driven interface as faster than Jira or Asana for daily use.

Linear is deliberately opinionated: fewer configuration choices mean less setup, which suits software teams but feels rigid to teams with complex, non-software workflows. Plane offers more structure to configure, including five layouts, custom work item types, initiatives, epics, and teamspaces, which adds flexibility at the cost of more setup. Self-hosting Plane also adds Docker or Kubernetes administration that Linear's hosted service does not require.

## Which is better for AI-assisted development, Linear or Plane?

Linear is better for AI-assisted coding, because Linear issues can be assigned directly to AI coding agents that set up, run, and test code, with Diffs providing structural code review, while Plane's AI agents focus on triage, assignment, and status updates.

Linear's Business plan adds Triage Intelligence and Code Intelligence, and the Free plan includes access to Linear's agent platform. Plane bundles AI credits into every cloud tier, 500 per seat on Free, 1,000 on Pro, and 2,000 on Business, so AI usage is part of the plan rather than a separate add-on. Plane's credit-based consumption can make costs less predictable than flat per-seat pricing.

## Can Plane replace Linear?

Plane can replace Linear for issue tracking, cycles, and planning, and ships a dedicated Linear importer, but teams that assign coding work to AI agents through Linear will not find an equivalent coding-agent workflow in Plane's listing.

Plane covers issues, cycles with velocity tracking, initiatives, epics, and intake, and adds Gantt and Spreadsheet views, time tracking, and a wiki that Linear's listing does not mention. Plane integrates with 50+ tools including GitHub, GitLab, Slack, and Sentry, and runs on the same web, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android platforms as Linear. Plane has no external rating yet, while Linear holds 4.9/5 from 436 Product Hunt reviews.

## Strengths and weaknesses

### Linear

- Pro: Fast, keyboard-shortcut-driven interface that reviewers consistently cite as faster than Jira or Asana for daily use.
- Pro: Free tier is genuinely usable for small teams (unlimited members, 250 issues, 2 teams).
- Pro: Native support for assigning issues to AI coding agents with structured code review via Diffs.
- Pro: Native desktop and mobile apps keep the same fast experience across platforms.
- Con: Less configurable than Jira for teams with complex or non-software workflows.
- Con: Business and Enterprise tiers require annual billing for their listed per-seat prices.
- Con: 250-issue cap on the Free plan is restrictive once a team is doing real ongoing work.
- Con: Less suited to non-engineering teams (marketing, HR, ops) than general tools like Asana or ClickUp.

### Plane

- Pro: Free, AGPL-3.0-licensed Community Edition can be fully self-hosted via Docker or Kubernetes.
- Pro: AI credits (500-2,000 per seat) are bundled into every cloud tier rather than sold as a separate add-on.
- Pro: Multiple views (Board, Spreadsheet, List, Gantt) plus a built-in wiki in one workspace.
- Pro: Purpose-built migration tools from Jira, Linear, ClickUp, Asana, and Monday.com.
- Con: Enterprise self-hosted features (SSO/SAML, LDAP, audit logs) require a separate commercial license, not included in the open-source repo.
- Con: Free cloud tier is capped at 12 users, forcing a move to Pro for larger teams.
- Con: AI-credit-based consumption on paid tiers adds cost unpredictability compared to flat per-seat pricing.

## Which fits your use case?

| Use case | Pick | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Engineering team assigning work to AI coding agents | Linear | Linear lets issues be assigned directly to AI coding agents and reviews their changes with Diffs. |
| Company that must self-host in an air-gapped network | Plane | Plane's AGPL-3.0 Community Edition runs on Docker or Kubernetes with an air-gapped deployment option. |
| Ten-person startup watching per-seat costs | Plane | Plane Free covers up to 12 users, and Plane Pro costs $60/month for 10 seats against $100/month for Linear Basic, both billed annually. |
| Product team pulling customer feedback from Zendesk or Intercom | Linear | Linear Business ($16/user/month billed annually) adds Zendesk and Intercom integrations, Linear Asks, and Triage Intelligence. |
| Team that wants Gantt charts and docs next to issues | Plane | Plane includes a Gantt layout on its free plan and a workspace wiki from Pro. |
| Developer team that wants the fastest daily workflow | Linear | Linear's keyboard-first interface carries a low learning curve, and reviewers cite Linear as faster than Jira or Asana for daily use. |

## Migration FAQ

### Should I use Linear or Plane?

Use Linear if you want a fast, keyboard-first issue tracker with native AI coding-agent support; use Plane if you want an AGPL-3.0 tool you can self-host, with Gantt views, a wiki, and lower per-seat prices.

### Is Linear cheaper than Plane?

No — Linear costs $10/user/month on Basic and $16/user/month on Business, while Plane costs $6/seat/month on Pro and $13/seat/month on Business, all billed annually. Plane's Community Edition is also free to self-host.

### Can Plane replace Linear?

Yes for issue tracking, cycles, initiatives, and intake, and Plane includes a Linear importer. Teams that assign coding work to AI agents and review it with Linear's Diffs would lose that workflow.

### Is Plane open source?

Yes — Plane's Community Edition is open source under AGPL-3.0 and self-hostable via Docker or Kubernetes. Enterprise features such as SSO/SAML, LDAP, and audit logs need a separate commercial license when self-hosted.

### Is Linear free?

Yes — Linear's Free plan covers unlimited members, up to 2 teams, and 250 issues, with a 10MB file upload limit. Paid plans start at $10/user/month billed annually and remove the issue cap.

## Neither a match?

- 4 alternatives to Linear: https://findalternative.to/linear
- 5 alternatives to Plane: https://findalternative.to/plane

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