Issue tracking for software teams

Should you build your own Linear?

Switch to Plane. It imports Linear issues and cycles, is free for up to 12 people, and Pro costs $6 a user against Linear’s $10.

SWITCH

Short answer

Linear Basic costs $10 per user per month, about $1,800 over 3 years for five people, because the free plan stops at 250 issues. Plane is an open-source tracker with cycles, modules and a Linear importer. Its free plan covers up to 12 users, and Pro is about $1,080 over 3 years for the same team. Building your own would cost about $5,100 over 3 years, so building loses.

Buy for 3 years
$1,800
Basic, $10/mo × 5 seats
Build and run for 3 years
$5,053
50 h to build, 3 h/mo upkeep
Verdict
SWITCH
Money and risk combined

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Cheaper options

Open sourcePlaneFree for up to 12 users; Pro $6/user/mo billed yearly; open sourceImports Linear issues, cycles and comments, but it is younger and integrations need Pro.FreeGitHub ProjectsIncluded in GitHub Free and TeamBoards, tables and roadmaps next to your code, but plainer than Linear.FreeJiraFree for up to 10 users; Standard from $7.92/user/mo billed yearlyFree boards, backlog and timeline views for small teams, but heavier to set up and use than Linear.

Linear pricing in 2026

PlanBilled yearlyBilled monthly
Basic Typical$10/seat/mo–
Business$16/seat/mo–

Free plan: Unlimited members, 2 teams and 250 issues

Paying too much? The free plan is enough while you have fewer than 250 issues and two teams. Basic removes the issue cap and adds admin roles and up to 5 teams.

Per user, billed yearly, from Linear’s pricing page (shown as US$10 and US$16). The page shows only the yearly price, and monthly billing costs more. Checked October 26, 2026.

Run your own numbers

Defaults are a typical small team at $30/hour. Change anything.

If you buy Linear
If you build it
Buy
$1,800
Build
$5,053

Buying is about $3,253 cheaper over 3 years.

3-year totals. Building includes your time, upkeep, running costs and one month of an AI app builder ($25). Change any number to match your situation.

What you’d build

  • Issues with statuses, priorities, labels and assignees
  • Cycles (sprints) and projects
  • A fast, keyboard-first interface with instant updates
  • GitHub pull request linking through webhooks
  • Slack and email notifications

Our estimate for a database, hosting and an email sending service.

What you’d give up

  • Linear’s speed and sync engine
  • Insights, Asks and triage automation on Business
  • Polished GitHub, GitLab and Slack workflows
  • Roadmaps and initiatives across teams

Risks the price doesn’t show

Live syncMedium

Instant updates are easy to start and hard to make reliable offline.

GitHub linkingMedium

Webhooks, auth and retries take real care.

Search and filtersLow

Fast filtering over thousands of issues needs indexes, but it is a solved problem.

When the verdict flips

Switch to BUY if your team values Linear’s speed and polish more than the $720 a move to Plane Pro saves over 3 years. Switch to BUILD only if issue tracking is part of your own product.

Sources

Linear pricing

Build hours are our estimates for one person using an AI app builder. How we score. Spotted a wrong price? Tell us on X @BuildictHQ.

Related verdicts

Asana

Project management

SWITCH

Switch to ClickUp or Trello. ClickUp’s free plan has no member cap, and Trello costs $5 a user against Asana’s $10.99.

Buy, 3 yrs
$1,978
Build, 3 yrs
$2,725

ClickUp

Project management

BUY

Buy it, or start on the free plan. At $7 a user, ClickUp costs far less than building even a slice of it.

Buy, 3 yrs
$1,260
Build, 3 yrs
$4,363

Jira

Project management

BUY

Buy it, and start free. Jira costs nothing for up to 10 users, and Standard runs about $8 a user beyond that.

Buy, 3 yrs
$2,851
Build, 3 yrs
$5,425