Linear is the Lean Jira We've Been Dreaming Of

I avoid comparisons in app reviews because I believe a good product proposes a unique take on a problem. Comparing thus becomes a disservice to the app's purpose.

That said, there are exceptions. Take Linear. It's impossible to talk about it without mentioning the elephant in the room: Atlassian's Jira.

Jira's story is famous. Two Australian students built Jira from scratch right at the time the Agile Manifesto was going mainstream, and the issue-tracking tool became the staple project management suite for developers and non-developers alike.

Over 20 years after its inception, Jira is as mainstream as it gets, spearheaded by a giant corporation. The word "giant" matters a lot here because any Jira user will tell you similar stories: Jira works, but it's also ugly and slow.

Linear seems built with the premise of making a Jira that does not suck. Everything one can dislike about Jira is fixed in Linear, front and center.

But let's not kid ourselves. Linear is not just a Jira alternative, it's a masterpiece of product design.

Exploring the app

Linear is a standard software project and issue-tracking app: users create tasks, log them in projects, set statuses, and there we go. I used it for the better part of two weeks for website-related tasks and got this beautiful yet very normal issue board. The video below shows how quickly you can iterate between tasks using keyboard shortcuts. There is no montage here: this is how fast Linear really is! I'm guessing their use of GraphQL is what sets the app apart but, really, it doesn't matter which tech is used, what matters is the result and it's mind-blowing.

But Linear is meant for one thing above all: development. I dusted off my GitHub account, connected it to Linear in less than a minute and created an issue. I built a Python script to fetch Alex Ovechkin's latest NHL Goals in Vs Code and created a pull request with the Linear issue name. Linear updated the issue as "In Review" automatically, and when I merged the PR, Linear set the issue as Done. It's so rapid and crisp. I screenshot the workflow and you can also appreciate the lean interfaces. There are no cluttered fields, only the essentials.

My favourite apps are the ones that are laser-focused on a business problem (here: software development) and want to optimize everything about that one tiny process. I don't like the "this app does everything!" rhetoric. This is why Linear works so well for me.

Recommended Use Cases

Linear lives and dies for software development. I wouldn't recommend it for anything else. Who else wants hundreds of keyboard shortcuts?

Linear also offers specialized features to handle multiple projects and roadmaps. It has a distinctive "cycles" feature to replace the traditional sprints, which I did not try as it wasn't offered for solo projects like I did.

Limitations

• Absence of mobile app. Linear most importantly lacks a mobile app. I would usually be harsh towards apps like these but, here, I'm giving Linear a pass: nobody builds software on mobile devices. Nobody does pull requests from their phone.
• Absence of community. Linear feels like a grassroots effort but from within the app, I did not feel a full sense of belonging as I do for example on GitHub. I would enjoy it if Linear could somehow connect more feedback into the app from other people.
• Absence of third-party plugins. One thing that's amazing about VS Code is the number of plugins you get. I wish Linear entertained the same mindset.
• Absence of npm plug and play. I fully admit I am front-end illiterate. My only experience with npm is setting up access and repos as a security person. Yet npm is glaringly absent from Jira and I sense an opportunity for Linear.

Pricing

The pricing is very fair. The free plan is surprisingly for unlimited members but 250 issues are something a team can hit within weeks. I had 21 issues with website creation tasks and a 16-line Python script.

Verdict

Linear is the super fast, keyboard shortcut-heavy, uncluttered alternative to Jira you've always wanted. The app understands how developers feel and thrive, giving the most well-adapted experience one can imagine. Try it!