The Best Plane Alternatives in 2026
Tolodora Editorial Team
Independent software reviews for founders and small businesses.
Plane has become a popular open-source pick for teams that want a self-hostable Jira or Linear alternative, with issues, cycles, modules and roadmaps built in from the start. It's still a relatively young product, though, and some teams need deeper enterprise controls, a larger integrations marketplace, or a more mature managed cloud than Plane currently offers.
We compared Plane against six of the most-searched project management and issue-tracking tools on pricing, ease of use, support and functionality. If you just want the short answer: Linear is the closest match for fast-moving software teams, Jira wins for large enterprise engineering orgs, and Huly is the nearest open-source, self-hostable sibling to Plane itself.
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| # | Tool | Best for | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jira | Large engineering organizations that need enterprise-grade permissions, reporting and a massive app marketplace. | 3.6/5 |
| 2 | Linear | Product and engineering teams that want the cleanest possible issue-tracking experience. | 4.1/5 |
| 3 | ClickUp | Teams that want a single tool to replace project management, documentation and light collaboration apps. | 4.0/5 |
| 4 | Asana | Marketing, operations and cross-functional teams that need general project tracking more than issue tracking. | 3.9/5 |
| 5 | Trello | Small teams or individuals who just want lightweight, visual task boards. | 3.8/5 |
| 6 | Huly | Teams that want Plane's self-hosting model but with a broader all-in-one feature set. | 3.9/5 |
Jira
- Pricing
- 6.4/10
- Functionality
- 9.2/10
- Ease of use
- 5.5/10
- Support
- 7.8/10
What I like
Unmatched depth for enterprise software teams with complex workflows and compliance needs.
Best for
Large engineering organizations that need enterprise-grade permissions, reporting and a massive app marketplace.
Jira offers far more configurability, third-party integrations and enterprise administration than Plane, but it's primarily a hosted SaaS product and its interface is noticeably heavier than Plane's. Teams that outgrow Plane's simpler issue model often move to Jira for advanced workflow automation and audit-grade reporting.
Linear
- Pricing
- 7.8/10
- Functionality
- 8.0/10
- Ease of use
- 9.2/10
- Support
- 7.4/10
What I like
A famously fast, keyboard-driven interface built specifically for software teams.
Best for
Product and engineering teams that want the cleanest possible issue-tracking experience.
Linear and Plane share a similar philosophy - issues, cycles and roadmaps for dev teams - but Linear is cloud-only and closed-source, trading self-hosting for a more polished, tightly scoped product. Teams that don't specifically need Plane's self-hosting or modules feature often prefer Linear's speed and design.
ClickUp
- Pricing
- 8.4/10
- Functionality
- 9.0/10
- Ease of use
- 6.8/10
- Support
- 8.0/10
What I like
One of the broadest feature sets in project management, from docs to whiteboards to goal tracking.
Best for
Teams that want a single tool to replace project management, documentation and light collaboration apps.
ClickUp covers far more ground than Plane, since it's built for general business project management rather than software issue tracking specifically, so teams get more views and customization but a less dev-native workflow than Plane's cycles and modules. It's also closed-source and cloud-hosted only, unlike Plane.
Asana
- Pricing
- 6.8/10
- Functionality
- 8.2/10
- Ease of use
- 8.6/10
- Support
- 7.8/10
What I like
A clean, intuitive interface with strong cross-team collaboration and reporting.
Best for
Marketing, operations and cross-functional teams that need general project tracking more than issue tracking.
Asana is aimed at general work management rather than engineering issue tracking, so it lacks Plane's native cycles, modules and developer-centric workflow. Teams that need software-specific concepts like sprints and backlogs typically find Plane or Linear a closer fit than Asana.
Trello
- Pricing
- 9.0/10
- Functionality
- 5.8/10
- Ease of use
- 9.0/10
- Support
- 6.5/10
What I like
The simplest kanban board experience, with a very generous free plan.
Best for
Small teams or individuals who just want lightweight, visual task boards.
Trello is far simpler than Plane and doesn't offer native cycles, modules or roadmaps out of the box, relying on Power-Ups to add structure. It's a good starting point for small teams, but engineering teams that outgrow Trello's basic boards usually move toward Plane-style issue trackers.
Huly
- Pricing
- 8.7/10
- Functionality
- 8.4/10
- Ease of use
- 8.0/10
- Support
- 6.2/10
What I like
An open-source, self-hostable all-in-one workspace with issue tracking, docs and more.
Best for
Teams that want Plane's self-hosting model but with a broader all-in-one feature set.
Huly is arguably Plane's closest sibling, since both are open-source, self-hostable alternatives to Linear and Jira, but Huly bundles in additional modules like messaging and CRM-style tracking while Plane stays more tightly focused on issues, cycles and roadmaps. The choice usually comes down to scope: broader all-in-one with Huly, or focused issue tracking with Plane.
The verdict
Choose Jira for enterprise scale, Linear for the fastest dev-focused workflow, ClickUp or Asana for broader all-in-one project management beyond engineering, Trello for the simplest possible boards, and Huly if you want Plane's open-source self-hosted model with a wider feature set.
Whatever you shortlist, run your real work through it for a week before committing — the right tool is the one that quietly disappears and lets you get back to it. And if you build software like this yourself, you can list it on Tolodora free.
Frequently asked questions
Is Plane a good alternative to Jira?
Plane can be a good fit for teams that want a simpler, open-source, self-hostable issue tracker with less setup overhead than Jira, but Jira still leads on enterprise-grade permissions, compliance features and its third-party app marketplace for larger organizations.
What is the closest open-source alternative to Plane?
Huly is the closest open-source, self-hostable alternative to Plane, since both let teams run their own instance and both organize work around issues, cycles and roadmaps, though Huly adds a broader set of modules like messaging and CRM-style tracking.
Is Plane free to use?
Plane offers a free, self-hosted community edition for teams willing to run their own instance, plus a free tier on its hosted cloud version, with paid plans available for larger teams that need more seats or advanced features.
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