You know the feeling. Opening Jira feels like wading through molasses. Asana is too general 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 whether 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 they do differently? They are 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 achieved a kind 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 – then this is your tool.
Think about: product managers who want oversight of the sprint, developers who want to quickly log bugs without breaking their flow, engineering leads who need to present a roadmap to stakeholders. For that group, Linear is perfect.
But who isn’t it for? Marketing teams planning campaigns. HR departments tracking recruitment. Sales teams managing deals. Linear is built too specifically for software development. You can certainly use it for other purposes, but then you miss the point. There are better tools for general project management.
Also important: Linear works best when your team is comfortable with keyboard shortcuts. If you prefer clicking on everything, you miss 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 actually do with it in practice.
- Issue tracking – Dit is de kern. Issues aanmaken gaat razendsnel met CMD+K. Je typt je titel, drukt op enter, klaar. Geen formulieren, geen verplichte velden. Je kunt later labels, prioriteiten en assignees toevoegen. Het voelt bijna te simpel, maar dat is precies het punt.
- Cycles (Sprints) – Linear noemt sprints ‘cycles’. Je plant issues in een cycle, ziet realtime de voortgang, en aan het einde krijg je automatisch een samenvatting. Wat ik fijn vind: je kunt issues tijdens de sprint makkelijk verplaatsen zonder gedoe. Geen starres die je moet heropenen of statussen die niet kloppen.
- Roadmaps – Hier zie je de lange termijn planning. Handig voor stakeholder updates. Je sleept projecten op een tijdlijn, koppelt issues eraan, en iedereen ziet waar je naartoe werkt. Niet super geavanceerd, maar voor de meeste teams meer dan genoeg.
- Keyboard-first navigatie – Dit is waar Linear echt schittert. CMD+K opent de command palette. Vanaf daar kun je alles doen. Issue aanmaken, zoeken, filteren, assignen. Als je de sneltoetsen leert, werk je letterlijk twee keer zo snel. Geen overdrijving.
- Offline modus – Je laptop heeft geen wifi? Geen probleem. Linear werkt gewoon door. Alle wijzigingen worden lokaal opgeslagen en syncen zodra je weer online bent. Klinkt basic, maar probeer dat maar eens in Jira.
- GitHub & Slack integraties – De GitHub integratie is echt goed. Pull requests worden automatisch gekoppeld aan issues. Status updates verschijnen in Linear. En in Slack krijg je notificaties precies zoals je wilt – niet te veel, niet te weinig. Je kunt zelfs issues aanmaken vanuit Slack.
- Linear Insights – Dit is hun analytics feature. Je ziet cycle velocity, hoeveel issues je team afrondt, waar bottlenecks zitten. Niet zo uitgebreid als dedicated analytics tools, maar genoeg om je workflow te optimaliseren.
That keyboard-first approach deserves some extra attention. In the beginning it feels weird. You have to learn keyboard shortcuts. But after a week it’s in your muscle memory. And then you realize how slow clicking actually is. Create an issue? CMD+K, type title, enter. Done in five seconds. In other tools you’d still be trying to open 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 sounds like a lot, but archived issues don’t count. For small teams or side projects this works fine.
Then the paid plans. Basic costs $1 per user per month. Or $1 per month if you pay annually (then you pay $1 per year). This gets you unlimited issues, more teams, and better support. For most growing teams this is the plan you want.
Business is $1 per month (or $1 per month when paying annually, so $1 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 easily earn back that $1 per month in time savings.
What is annoying though: guest users also cost money. Want stakeholders to just be able to watch? Then you still pay the full rate. That feels unfair for people who only want to check something occasionally. Other tools are more flexible with that.
What should you watch out for?
Linear isn’t 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 come up 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 occasionally wants to check in on issues. 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 swap people in and out, that’s challenging.
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 messing 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’s 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 up in reviews. Linear feels like a native app, not like a web tool. That makes a bigger difference than you’d think.
The minimalistic 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 breath of fresh air.
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 need to switch between tools to see what someone is working on.
But those complaints about guest users also come up frequently. 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 managers 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 bring in 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 restricted. They want to be able to set up their own process, not be forced into a certain way of working.
Linear alternatives
Linear not quite right? Then check out these options.
- Jira – Jira is complexer en trager, maar biedt meer enterprise-functies. Kies hiervoor als je organisatie zware compliance-eisen of zeer complexe workflows heeft. Denk aan grote enterprises met strikte processen en audit trails.
- Asana – Asana is algemener en minder gericht op softwareontwikkeling. Kies hiervoor als je projectmanagement zoekt voor niet-technische teams zoals marketing. Het is flexibeler voor verschillende soorten projecten, maar mist development-specifieke features.
- Monday.com – Monday biedt meer visuele aanpassingsmogelijkheden maar mist de developer-focus. Kies hiervoor als je een zeer flexibele tool zoekt voor diverse afdelingen buiten development. Perfect voor organisaties die één tool willen voor alles, van sales tot HR.
Frequently asked questions
Does Linear have a free plan?
Yes, and it’s quite generous. You get unlimited team members, but you’re 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’s no native desktop app for Linux. The web version works just fine and offers all functionality, but if you really want a native app, you’re out of luck. For a tool that’s 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. Creating issues, making changes, adding comments – everything works. As soon as you’re back online, everything syncs automatically. No conflicts, no lost work. Really nice when you’re often working 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 distractions, 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 using keyboard shortcuts, you’re missing half the power.
Personally? I keep using it. That speed, that minimalistic design – it helps me stay focused. Yes, I sometimes miss some analytics. And yes, I get annoyed by 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.
