Issue tracking and project management · Comparison
Jira vs Asana vs Linear: Jira leads at 8.7; 25 people from $204.17 a month
We read the pricing, security and docs pages of three issue tracking and project management tools on the same day and scored them on the same six indicators. How each one sells seats, what 25 people cost, and who should pick which.
On this page8 sections
On six indicators read from each vendor's public pages, Jira scores 8.7, Asana 7.4 and Linear 6.8 out of 10. For our reference scenario, a product team of 25 people billed annually, Jira lists the lowest price ($204.17 a month on Standard), Linear comes to $250 on Basic and Asana to $274.75 on Starter. Jira tops four of six items, mostly because its entry paid plan carries data residency, a self-serve HIPAA BAA and site audit logs. Asana's Starter plan includes the most for everyday work, with unlimited rules and free guests, and Linear has the only free plan with no member limit.
All three price per user, but sell seats differently, so the scenario names the assumption each figure rests on. The scores measure what the public pages commit to, not how the products feel to use, and we did not sign up for any of the three.
At a glance
| Jira | Asana | Linear | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Issue tracking with compliance controls on Standard | Work management with unlimited rules and free guests | Issue tracking for software teams |
| How seats are sold | Monthly per user; annual by user tier | Per seat, in steps (5s up to 30) | Per user |
| Free plan | Up to 10 users | Up to 2 users | Unlimited members, 250 issues |
| 25 people, billed annually | $204.17/mo (Standard) | $274.75/mo (Starter) | $250/mo (Basic) |
| 25 people, billed monthly | $242.50/mo | $337.25/mo | Not listed |
| Automation, entry paid plan | 400 steps per user a month | Unlimited rules | Triage rules from Business |
| Guests, entry paid plan | Free | Free | From Business |
| HIPAA BAA | Self-serve on Standard | Enterprise+ | On request (Enterprise) |
| Data residency | Standard and up, 11 locations | Enterprise add-on or Enterprise+ | EU or US at workspace creation |
| SAML SSO | Atlassian Guard or Enterprise | Enterprise | Enterprise |
| Score (public pages) | 8.7 Excellent | 7.4 Good | 6.8 Good |
What the public pages show
Jira has a Free plan for up to 10 users and three paid plans. Standard adds free guests, user roles and permissions, data residency, site audit logs and 400 automation steps per user a month. The calculator prices monthly billing per user ($9.70 on Standard for 25 users) and annual billing per user tier ($2,450 a year for 16–25 users). SAML SSO and SCIM need Atlassian Guard, a separate subscription, or Enterprise. The BAA docs let an admin sign a BAA on Standard or Premium.
Asana has a free Personal plan for up to 2 users, then Starter ($10.99 per user billed annually, $13.49 monthly) and Advanced ($24.99 / $30.49). Starter includes unlimited rules, forms, custom fields, timelines and unlimited free guests. SAML and SCIM are on Enterprise; audit logs and data residency are add-ons there or part of Enterprise+, and HIPAA is Enterprise+ only. Seats are added in steps.
Linear is free for unlimited members up to 250 issues and 2 teams. Basic ($10 per user billed yearly) removes the issue cap and allows 5 teams; Business ($16) adds guests, private teams, triage rules and Insights. SAML, SCIM, the audit log and HIPAA are on Enterprise. The security page lists SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 and offers EU or US hosting.
Strengths and things to know
Jira. Strengths: compliance controls on the entry paid plan, the lowest listed price for 25 people, a free plan for up to 10 users, a full site backup with attachments. Things to know: SAML SSO needs Atlassian Guard ($1,100 a year for 16–25 users) or Enterprise, annual prices jump at tier edges, automation is metered, and trials run 7 days.
Asana. Strengths: unlimited rules and free guests on Starter, the longest certification list, monthly and annual prices both listed. Things to know: the free plan is for 2 users, seats come in steps, security controls start on Enterprise, and the FAQ says there are no refunds.
Linear. Strengths: no member limit on the free plan, per-person billing, EU or US hosting without an enterprise contract, API and webhooks on every plan. Things to know: guests and private teams start on Business, SAML, SCIM and the audit log are Enterprise only, Basic caps teams at 5, and CSV exports leave out attachments.
Pricing reality
All three charge per user, but Jira bills annual plans by user tier, Asana sells seats in steps and Linear bills each person. So we state one scenario and show the arithmetic. Reference scenario: a product team of 25 full members, billed annually, on the cheapest paid plan with no member or work-item cap below that.
| Service | Plan | Monthly cost | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jira | Standard | $204.17 | Listed by the calculator: $2,450 a year for 16–25 users, ÷ 12 |
| Linear | Basic | $250 | Listed: 25 × $10 per user, billed yearly |
| Asana | Starter | $274.75 | Listed: 25 × $10.99 per user, billed annually |
Billed monthly, Jira comes to 25 × $9.70 = $242.50 and Asana to 25 × $13.49 = $337.25; Linear's pricing page lists no monthly rate.
The figures rest on how each vendor sells seats. Jira's annual price covers the 16–25 tier; a 26th user moves it to the 26–50 tier, $4,850 a year ($404.17 a month). Asana adds seats in steps of 5 between 5 and 30, so 25 people fit exactly but 26 need 30 seats ($329.70 a month). Linear bills unsuspended users, so 26 people cost $260.
The cheapest plan is not always the one a team needs. Guests and private teams on Linear need Business: 25 × $16 = $400 a month. SAML SSO on Jira needs Atlassian Guard Standard, $1,100 a year for 16–25 users, bringing Standard with SSO to about $295.83 a month (our arithmetic); on Asana and Linear, SAML is on Enterprise, priced by sales.
How we scored them
Every product in this category is scored on the same six indicators, read from the vendor's own pricing, security or docs pages, with fixed formulas. The overall score is the plain mean. Our methodology page explains how these scores work.
| Indicator | Jira | Asana | Linear |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing clarity | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| Free tier | 9 | 7 | 7 |
| Price for a team of 25 | 7.3 | 5.6 | 6.1 |
| Entry paid plan | 9 | 10 | 5.5 |
| Compliance and data residency | 10 | 8 | 9 |
| Team and control | 9 | 5 | 5 |
| Overall | 8.7 | 7.4 | 6.8 |
Jira loses points on clarity for its annual user tiers and an FAQ that contradicts the plan table on Enterprise automation, and on team control because SAML SSO is a separate subscription. Asana's lower team score reflects SAML, SCIM and audit logs on Enterprise, and its compliance score data residency and HIPAA on Enterprise tiers. Linear loses most on the entry paid plan, where guests, private teams and triage rules start on Business, and on team control, where SAML, SCIM and the audit log are Enterprise only.
The rubric rewards what a buyer can confirm before signing up. It has no item for how well a tool fits software teams versus cross-functional work, where Linear and Jira focus on issues and sprints and Asana on projects across departments, and it cannot see speed of use, interface quality or how well imports work. Hands-on runs will add that later.
Who should choose which
- Choose Jira if you need data residency, a BAA or audit logs without an enterprise contract, or a free plan for up to 10 people. Look elsewhere if you want SAML SSO without a second subscription.
- Choose Asana if your projects span teams, clients or partners and you want unlimited rules and free guests on the cheapest paid plan. Look elsewhere if you need SAML SSO or data residency without an enterprise contract.
- Choose Linear if your team is mostly engineers, you want everyone on a free plan while issues stay under 250, and you prefer paying per person. Look elsewhere if you need guests on the cheapest paid plan.
Bottom line
From public pages alone, Jira puts the most on its entry paid plan and lists the lowest price for 25 people; plan for Atlassian Guard if you need SAML SSO. Asana includes the most for everyday work on Starter. Linear's lower score reflects how this rubric counts guests, automation and team controls; its free plan is the most open here.
How we checked
We read the vendors' pricing, security or trust, and documentation pages on Oct 15, 2026, and used the team-size calculators on Jira's and Atlassian Guard's pricing pages for the 25-user prices. We did not sign up or create a workspace. Asana's prices are the US list prices; its page showed a limited-time new-customer discount in another region. Facts the pages did not state, such as Linear's monthly rate or whether Asana offers a trial, are left out rather than guessed. Every figure is on the vendors' pages as of that date or, where marked, computed from them.
