Linear Pricing in 2026: Free Plan, Paid Tiers and What You Really Pay

The short answer: Linear, the issue tracking and product development tool for software teams, has a free plan and paid plans charged per user per month, with a discount for annual billing and an enterprise tier sold through sales. The free plan is generous enough for a small team to run real work, but it limits usage (such as the number of issues or teams) and leaves out admin and security features. Paid tiers add unlimited usage, more teams, analytics, intake and admin controls. The enterprise tier adds the security, compliance and support terms larger companies need.

This guide explains how Linear pricing works in 2026, what each type of plan is for, what makes your bill grow, how to estimate it, and how Linear’s model compares with Jira and other tools. We do not quote prices or plan limits, because Linear updates them. Check current pricing and the official free plan limits on Linear’s pricing page.

How much does Linear cost?

For most teams, Linear’s cost is simply the number of members multiplied by the per-user price of their plan. There are fewer add-ons and marketplace charges than with some older tools, which makes Linear easier to budget. The main cost lines are below.

How Linear pricing works in 2026

Per-user subscription

Linear charges per member of your workspace, per month. Annual billing is discounted compared with paying month to month. Because every member counts, the price grows with your organisation, so decide early whether people outside engineering will be full members, guests, or will interact through integrations such as Slack or a customer-support tool.

Linear plans by purpose

Linear has renamed and restructured its plans more than once. Match your requirements to the current plan comparison, not to plan names in older reviews.

Monthly vs annual billing

Monthly billing suits early-stage teams whose headcount changes quickly. Annual billing is cheaper per user and gives budget certainty once your team is stable. Ask how seats added mid-year are charged on an annual plan.

Is Linear free?

Yes, Linear has a free plan. It includes the core of the product (fast issue tracking, cycles, projects and the main integrations) and is used by small teams to run real work, not just to try the tool. The limits are usage caps (such as the number of issues you can keep or the number of teams) and missing admin and security features. When you hit the issue or team limits, or need SSO, analytics or intake workflows, you need a paid plan. Linear has also offered trials of paid features; check the pricing page for current terms.

What drives Linear costs up

Adding the rest of the company

Linear starts with engineering, but product managers, designers, support leads and executives soon want in. If each becomes a full paid member, costs rise faster than engineering headcount. Use guest access, Slack integration, request intake and shared views where they do the job.

Security requirements

SSO, SCIM provisioning, audit logs and data controls are typically on higher tiers or enterprise terms. If your security team requires them from day one, price the higher tier, not the entry plan.

Analytics and intake

Features that help managers (cycle and project analytics, triage rules, customer request intake) usually sit on higher tiers. If your team lead needs them, include that tier in the comparison.

Running two trackers

Some companies move engineering to Linear but keep Jira for other teams or for legacy projects. For a while you pay for both. Plan the migration so the overlap period is short, and decide which tool is the system of record for each team.

How to estimate your Linear cost

Use this formula with the current prices from Linear’s pricing page:

Annual Linear cost = (paid members x per-user plan price x 12) + any paid guests or add-ons + migration effort

Illustrative inputs (not prices) for a Series B startup:

• Engineers: 45.
• Product managers and designers: 12, as full members.
• Support and sales leads: 10, who file and follow requests through intake and Slack integration.
• Security: SSO required by the security team.
• Billing: annual.

Run the formula twice: once for the tier that includes SSO and intake, and once for the tier below. If the gap is small, the higher tier often pays for itself in admin time saved.

Questions to ask before you buy Linear

• What are the current free plan limits, and which one will we hit first?
• Which tier includes SSO, provisioning and audit logs?
• How are guests licensed, and can non-engineering users work through integrations without a seat?
• Which AI features are included on our plan?
• What is the annual discount, and how are mid-year seat additions billed?
• Is there a startup, nonprofit or education programme we qualify for?
• What import tools and migration help are available from our current tracker?

Linear pricing by company stage

Pre-seed and seed startups

A handful of engineers can usually run on the free plan for a while. The first limit you hit tends to be usage (issues or teams), not features. When that happens, the entry paid tier is normally enough. Keep non-engineers as guests or integration users for as long as that works.

Growth-stage companies

Once there are several product teams, managers start asking for cycle analytics, roadmap views across teams and a clean intake path for bugs and feature requests from support and sales. Security reviews from larger customers also start asking about SSO and audit logs. This is when the higher paid tier usually becomes the right comparison point, and when annual billing starts to make sense.

Larger organisations

At this stage procurement, security and legal get involved. Expect a sales-led enterprise conversation covering SSO and provisioning, data handling, uptime and support commitments, invoicing terms and a security questionnaire. Budget time for the process as well as the licence, and involve IT early so the review does not stall a rollout.

Linear vs Jira pricing

Linear and Jira are the two tools most engineering teams compare. Both have a free plan, per-user paid tiers and an enterprise tier. The difference is less in the per-user price and more in the total cost of running each tool.

For Jira’s model in detail, read our Jira pricing guide. For a side-by-side, see the Jira vs Linear comparison. If you are moving off Jira, our Jira alternatives guide covers Linear and other options.

How to choose a Linear plan

• Free: a small team that fits inside the usage limits and does not need SSO or analytics.
• Entry paid tier: when you hit the free limits and need more teams, but security and analytics can wait.
• Higher paid tier: when managers need insights, other teams need an intake path, or security asks for more control.
• Enterprise: when procurement requires custom terms, security reviews, uptime commitments and dedicated support.

If Linear is not the right fit, compare options on the free Linear alternatives list, the Linear alternatives page, and our guide to project management for software development. For broader tools, see the best project management software, the product management software category and the bug tracking software category. You can read reviews on the Linear profile and see the Linear pricing page on Spotsaas.

Frequently asked questions about Linear pricing