You know the feeling. Opening Jira feels like wading through molasses. Asana is too generic for your dev team. And you just want to quickly create an issue without clicking through ten screens. I’ve been using Linear for six months now and can tell you exactly if it’s worth the hype.
Linear: the company
Linear was founded in 2019 by Karri Saarinen and Jori Lallo – two ex-Airbnb designers who were fed up with slow project management tools. They wanted to build something that feels like a native app. No bloated interface, no endless configuration menus.
What do they do differently? They’re deliberately ‘opinionated’. That means: they force you into a certain way of working. No endless customization options like in Jira. They believe that constraints actually lead to better workflows. And honestly? For many teams, that’s true.
The company has grown significantly since then. Thousands of software teams use Linear daily. From small startups to large scale-ups. The tool has gained a sort of cult status among developers who value speed and focus over flexibility.
Who is Linear actually for?
Linear is built for software teams. Period. If you have a development team that works with sprints, needs to track issues, and wants to maintain a roadmap – this is your tool.
Think of: product managers who want oversight of the sprint, developers who want to quickly log bugs without getting knocked out of their flow, engineering leads who need to present a roadmap to stakeholders. For that group, Linear is perfect.
But who is it not for? Marketing teams planning campaigns. HR departments tracking recruitment. Sales teams managing deals. Linear is too specifically built for software development. You can certainly use it for other purposes, but then you’re missing the point. There are better tools for general project management.
Also important: Linear works best if your team is comfortable with keyboard shortcuts. If you prefer clicking on everything, you’re missing half the power of this tool. It’s really built for people who want to keep their hands on the keyboard.
Linear features
Let’s look at what you get. And more importantly: what you can do with it in practice.
- Issue tracking – This is the core. Creating issues is lightning fast with CMD+K. You type your title, press enter, done. No forms, no required fields. You can add labels, priorities and assignees later. It feels almost too simple, but that’s exactly the point.
- Cycles (Sprints) – Linear calls sprints ‘cycles’. You plan issues in a cycle, see progress in real time, and at the end you automatically get a summary. What I like: you can easily move issues during the sprint without hassle. No stories you have to reopen or statuses that don’t match.
- Roadmaps – Here you see the long-term planning. Useful for stakeholder updates. You drag projects onto a timeline, link issues to them, and everyone sees where you’re working towards. Not super advanced, but more than enough for most teams.
- Keyboard-first navigation – This is where Linear really shines. CMD+K opens the command palette. From there you can do everything. Create issue, search, filter, assign. If you learn the keyboard shortcuts, you literally work twice as fast. No exaggeration.
- Offline mode – Your laptop has no wifi? No problem. Linear just keeps working. All changes are saved locally and sync as soon as you’re back online. Sounds basic, but try doing that in Jira.
- GitHub & Slack integrations – The GitHub integration is really good. Pull requests are automatically linked to issues. Status updates appear in Linear. And in Slack you get notifications exactly how you want them – not too many, not too few. You can even create issues from Slack.
- Linear Insights – This is their analytics feature. You see cycle velocity, how many issues your team completes, where bottlenecks are. Not as comprehensive as dedicated analytics tools, but enough to optimize your workflow.
That keyboard-first approach deserves some extra attention. At first it feels weird. You have to learn keyboard shortcuts. But after a week it’s in your muscle memory. And then you realize just how slow clicking actually is. Create an issue? CMD+K, type title, enter. Done in five seconds. In other tools you’d still be opening the first dropdown menu.
The offline mode too. I often work on the train. No stable connection. Linear just keeps working as if nothing’s wrong. Creating issues, adding comments, changing statuses – everything works. And as soon as you’re back online, everything syncs automatically. No conflicts, no lost work. That gives you a peace of mind you don’t expect from a web app.
Linear pricing
Linear has a free plan. Pretty generous actually. Unlimited team members, but you’re limited to a maximum of 2 teams and 250 active issues. Those 250 issues sound like a lot, but archived issues don’t count. For small teams or side projects this is perfectly doable.
Then the paid plans. Basic costs $ 10 per user per month. Or $ 8 per month if you pay annually (then you pay $ 96 per year). This gives you unlimited issues, more teams, and better support. For most growing teams, this is the plan you want.
Business is $ 16 per month (or $ 12 per month when paying annually, so $ 144 per year). This mainly adds enterprise features: SSO, better security, priority support. Unless you’re a larger organization with compliance requirements, you probably don’t need this.
Is it worth it? Depends. Compared to Jira, Linear is similarly priced, but much faster. Compared to free tools like Trello, you obviously pay more, but you also get a tool that’s specifically built for development. If your team works with issues daily, you’ll easily earn back those $ 8 per month in time savings.
What is annoying though: guest users also cost money. Want stakeholders to just be able to view? Then you still pay the full rate. That feels unfair for people who only want to check something occasionally. Other tools are more flexible in that regard.
What should you watch out for?
Linear is not perfect. Let’s be honest about the frustrations.
The reporting options are limited. If your manager wants extensive analytics – think burn-down charts, velocity trends, custom dashboards – then you’ll fall short. Linear Insights gives you the basics, but for real data nerds it’s too sparse. You can’t just build your own reports like in Jira.
Those high costs for guest users too. Say you have a designer who wants to check in on issues occasionally. Or a stakeholder who wants to check the roadmap. They pay the same as a full-time developer. That doesn’t feel logical. Other tools have read-only access or cheaper guest seats.
And then those keyboard shortcuts. Yes, they make you faster. But the learning curve is steep. New team members are completely lost the first week. They don’t know how to do things without clicking. You really need to invest time in onboarding. For teams that quickly rotate people in and out, that’s difficult.
Also: no Linux desktop app. There’s a web version that works fine, but if you want a real native Linux app, you’re out of luck. For a tool that puts so much emphasis on developer experience, that feels like a missed opportunity.
The customization options are limited. That’s intentional – Linear doesn’t want you to mess around with endless settings. But sometimes you just want to add an extra field or adjust a workflow. That’s often not possible. You have to work the way Linear designed it. For some teams that’s liberating, for others frustrating.
And finally: Linear is really built for software teams. Try using it for marketing projects or HR processes and you’ll immediately notice it doesn’t fit. The terminology, the workflows, the features – everything screams ‘development’. That’s not necessarily a disadvantage, but it is important to know before you roll it out for your entire organization.
What do others think?
The general sentiment is positive. Really positive. People who switch from Jira are often almost euphoric about how fast everything feels. That speed keeps coming back in reviews. Linear feels like a native app, not like a web tool. That makes a bigger difference than you’d think.
The minimalist design also gets a lot of praise. No distraction, no unnecessary buttons, no features you never use anyway. It forces you to stay focused. For teams struggling with overly complex tools, that’s a relief.
The GitHub integration is often mentioned as a killer feature. Pull requests that automatically link to issues, status updates that happen automatically – it really saves time. Developers no longer have to switch between tools to see what someone is working on.
But those complaints about guest users also come back often. Teams want to give stakeholders access without paying full price. Or designers who only need to check in occasionally. That flexibility is missing. And that feels especially painful if you’re coming from a tool where that was possible.
The lack of advanced analytics especially frustrates managers. Developers love Linear, but their supervisors want more data. More charts. More insight into trends. Linear gives you the basics, but if you really want to dive into metrics, you need to add external tools.
And that opinionated workflow? People are divided on that. Some teams like that clear choices have been made. No endless configuring, just get to work. Other teams feel limited. They want to be able to set up their own process, not be forced into a certain way of working.
Linear alternatives
Linear doesn’t quite fit? Then check out these options.
- Jira – Jira is more complex and slower, but offers more enterprise features. Choose this if your organization has heavy compliance requirements or very complex workflows. Think large enterprises with strict processes and audit trails.
- Asana – Asana is more general and less focused on software development. Choose this if you’re looking for project management for non-technical teams like marketing. It’s more flexible for different types of projects, but lacks development-specific features.
- Monday.com – Monday offers more visual customization options but lacks the developer focus. Choose this if you’re looking for a very flexible tool for various departments outside development. Perfect for organizations that want one tool for everything, from sales to HR.
Frequently asked questions
Does Linear have a free plan?
Yes, and it’s quite generous. You get unlimited team members, but are limited to a maximum of 2 teams and 250 active issues. Archived issues don’t count, so in practice you can handle more. For small teams or side projects this works fine.
Is there an official Linux app?
No, unfortunately not. There is no native desktop app for Linux. The web version does work normally and offers all functionality, but if you really want a native app you’re out of luck. For a tool that is so developer-focused, this feels like a missed opportunity.
Does Linear work offline?
Yes, and that’s really one of the strongest points. You can just keep working without an internet connection. Create issues, modify them, add comments – everything works. As soon as you’re back online, everything syncs automatically. No conflicts, no lost work. Really nice if you often work on the go.
Conclusion
Linear is the fastest project management tool I know. Period. If you have a software team that wants to work focused without distraction, this is your tool. That keyboard-first approach, that offline mode, that tight GitHub integration – it just works.
But it’s not for everyone. If you need extensive reporting, look elsewhere. If you want to give stakeholders free access, it gets expensive. And if your team prefers clicking over keyboard shortcuts, you’re missing half the power.
Personally? I keep using it. That speed, that minimalist design – it helps me stay focused. Yes, I sometimes miss some analytics. And yes, I get annoyed at those guest user prices. But every time I have to go back to Jira for another project, I really notice how nice Linear is. That says enough.
