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Plane

Freemium

Open-source project planning tool

4.5
Editorial Rating
Editorial Rating
4.5/5
Starting Price
Free
Founded
2022
Reviewed by James Crawford·Senior IT & Cybersecurity Leader · 15+ years evaluating enterprise software·Last reviewed:

About Plane

Plane is an open-source project management tool positioned as a self-hostable alternative to Linear and Jira. The community version is MIT licensed with 29K+ GitHub stars. Cloud pricing: free up to 12 members, $8/member/mo Pro, $16/member/mo Business. The core model copies Linear: cycles (sprints), modules (epics), issues with priority and status, and multiple views. The self-hosted version runs in Docker with straightforward setup — main operational overhead is Postgres and Redis management. Compared to Linear, Plane is less polished but free to self-host; compared to Jira, it is dramatically simpler and faster to get running. Reddit discussions note the UI is improving but still lags Linear on keyboard shortcuts and speed. The hosted cloud product has been reliable since late 2023. Analytics and reporting are basic compared to Jira. For solo developers and small engineering teams that want Linear-style tracking without per-seat costs, the self-hosted version is compelling. For larger teams needing deep integrations with Confluence, Bitbucket, or enterprise SSO, Jira or Linear are more mature.

Key Features

Issue tracking
Cycles & sprints
Modules
Custom views
Self-hosting option
Open source

Pricing Plans

Verified April 2026
Full pricing breakdown

Free (Self-hosted)

Free
  • All features
  • Unlimited users
  • Unlimited projects
  • Self-host anywhere

Free (Cloud)

Free
  • Up to 12 members
  • Unlimited projects
  • Basic support
Most Popular

Pro

$6/mo
  • Unlimited members
  • Priority support
  • Advanced analytics

Enterprise

Contact Us
  • SSO/SAML
  • Audit logs
  • Custom contracts

Pros

  • Open source and self-hostable
  • Clean, modern UI
  • Great for dev teams
  • Strong free tier

Cons

  • Newer product, fewer integrations
  • Smaller community
  • Limited templates

Best For

  • Engineering teams wanting self-hosted Linear-style tracking at no license cost
  • Companies with GDPR or data residency requirements
  • Early-stage startups tracking sprints without per-seat SaaS costs

Not Ideal For

  • Teams needing deep Jira integrations (Confluence, Bitbucket, Bamboo)
  • Non-technical teams -- Plane is built around dev workflow concepts

Potential Deal Breakers

  • Integration library is much thinner than Jira or Linear
  • Newer codebase with some edge cases that more mature tools handle cleanly
  • Plugin and template ecosystem is early-stage compared to Jira

Data & Privacy

No
Sells Data
No
AI Training
US or self-hosted
Data Location
Yes
Data Export
Yes
Data Deletion
Yes
GDPR

Open-source project management. Self-hosted option keeps all data on your infrastructure. Cloud version hosted in US. No AI training. Full project data exportable. Growing startup with straightforward privacy practices.

Who Is This For?

Hands-on tested May 2026

Signup Experience

Email signup for cloud or self-hosted via Docker for on-premise. Cloud free tier is available immediately with no credit card required. Onboarding creates a workspace and first project within a few minutes. Interface is clean and modern -- closer to Linear than Jira in visual design.

For Home Users

Not suited for personal or home use. Requires a project and team context to be useful. Solo developers might use it for personal project tracking but simpler tools work better for that.

For Business Users

Free cloud tier is genuinely unlimited for issues and members. Pro at $4/user/mo adds advanced analytics and priority support. Self-hosted option is a meaningful differentiator -- full data control with no recurring cost beyond infrastructure. Best for teams that want a modern Jira alternative and care about open-source or data sovereignty.

Our Verdict

Plane is the best open-source option in the Linear/Jira space right now. Self-hosting with Docker is genuinely straightforward. The UI is clean but has rough edges compared to Linear, and the integration library is thin. For teams that need the feature set without the per-seat cost, Plane delivers.

Editorial Rating:
4.5

Price History

DecreasePro·Apr 22, 2026

Plane Pro decreased from $8 to $6/user/mo

Detected by automated price watch. Plane also added Business tier at $13/user/mo.

View all pricing changes