Linear alternatives for small teams

By Darko Bačić, founder of App Tube · 9 October 2026 · Facts checked 9 October 2026

Pick by what you need most. For stories, epics and sprints with docs on every plan, Shortcut. For a tracker you can host yourself, Plane. For a board, epics and a timer in a phone and Mac app, devBoard. An epic is a big piece of work split into smaller tasks. We make devBoard. It is first on the list. We say where the others are better.

Why small teams leave Linear

The first reason is fit. Linear has firm ideas about how software teams should work. One Capterra reviewer said setup took a couple of weeks because of them. Another found epics that run across many quarters weak.

The second reason is growth. On Hacker News, a daily user called search slow and the screens clunky. A reply said the tool keeps getting more complex. If you came from Height, which shut down on 24 September 2025, you may have picked Linear in a hurry. Linear is not bad. It has grown.

The short list

devBoard

devBoard is a tracker for freelancers and small dev teams. Free while in early access; paid plans will be one plain number, posted here first.

Pick it if

• You want time tracking on the task. Linear has none built in.
• You want epics, tasks and subtasks. A subtask is a step inside a task.
• You plan by releases instead of sprints. A release is a named batch of work that ships together.
• You want GitHub pull requests on the card. A pull request asks to merge code changes. Linear links to Git too.

Skip it if

• You need a web version.
• You want to import your Linear tasks.
• You need docs, chat or automations in the same tool.
• You work on Windows or Linux. Those apps are not out yet.

Shortcut

Shortcut is a tracker for software teams, with stories, epics and sprints.

Pick it if

• You hit Linear's 250-issue free limit. Shortcut's free plan, for up to ten users, states no story limit.
• You want epics, a roadmap and docs on every plan.
• You are a startup with fewer than 50 people. Those get a year free.

Skip it if

• You need time tracking. Shortcut says it has none.
• You want phone or desktop apps. We could not confirm any.
• You want speed above all. One review site says its screens feel slower than Linear's. See Shortcut alternatives.

GitHub Projects

GitHub Projects puts your GitHub issues on a board, next to your code.

Pick it if

• Your code lives on GitHub, and you want a board at no extra cost.
• You want your own fields, such as a number for estimates.

Skip it if

• You need time tracking. Browser add-ons from Harvest or Clockify fill the gap.
• You want a desktop app. There is none for boards.
• You have hundreds of issues. One team left GitHub Issues for Linear at that size, over slow search and no priority field. See GitHub Projects alternatives.

Plane

Plane is an open-source tracker in the style of Jira and Linear. Open source means anyone can read and run the code.

Pick it if

• You want to host it yourself. The Community Edition is free.
• You want your Linear work to come along. Plane imports it on every plan.
• You want calendar and Gantt views on the free plan.

Skip it if

• You need time tracking for free. Work logs start on Pro.
• You want an easy install. Its forum shows install and upgrade problems.
• You want the new Windows app. It is not out yet. See Plane alternatives.

Jira

Jira is the tracker from Atlassian, with sprints, a backlog, boards and many settings.

Pick it if

• You are ten or more people and need set workflows, sprints and reports.
• You want rules that run on their own, on every plan.
• You want your Linear issues to come along. Jira lists Linear as a source.

Skip it if

• No one on the team will own the setup. One reviewer says Jira slows a team of five.
• You want a timer. Jira logs time by hand, and timers usually come from paid add-ons.
• You want a desktop app. Atlassian dropped its Mac app. See Jira alternatives.

Who should stay on Linear

Stay if Linear's way of working suits your team. Stay if you plan in cycles, its repeating sprints, and use its Git links every day. Stay if you need a web app or a Windows app. Stay if you write docs on your projects inside Linear. It does these things well. devBoard vs Linear goes point by point.

How we chose

We looked for tools that fit a team of two to ten. We weighed setup time, dev features such as epics and pull request links, the apps, and the price. We make devBoard, so we put it first, and that is a bias. Other lists are on our alternatives page.

Moving off Linear

Two tools here import from Linear. Plane does on every plan, and Jira lists Linear as a source. Shortcut takes CSV files, which are plain spreadsheet files, from other tools. Linear's free plan includes export. We did not find a Linear importer for GitHub Projects. devBoard has none either, so moving in is by hand. Creating epics, tasks and subtasks shows how to set the work up again.