Choose Plane if: You need self-hosting for compliance, data sovereignty, or cost You're migrating from Linear and want a familiar workflow Team size is 20+ where per-seat costs compound You need a wiki integrated with project management Your org has GDPR, HIPAA, or air-gap requirements Choose OpenProject if: You need Gantt charts and formal resource/budget planning Your team includes project managers, not just developers EU data residency is a requirement You're running formal waterfall or hybri

Plane vs Linear vs GitHub Projects vs Jira 2026

TL;DR

If you need self-hosting or data sovereignty, Plane (47K stars, AGPL-3.0) is the clear winner — it rivals Linear's features at a fraction of the cost. Linear is still the fastest, most polished SaaS for small engineering teams. GitHub Projects is the right choice if your team lives in GitHub and needs free, zero-friction Kanban. Jira wins only at enterprise scale where its ecosystem, compliance certifications, and deep integrations justify the complexity and price.

Quick Comparison

	Plane	Linear	GitHub Projects	Jira
Type	Open source	Proprietary SaaS	Proprietary SaaS	Proprietary SaaS
License	AGPL-3.0	Proprietary	Proprietary	Proprietary
GitHub Stars	47K	—	—	—
Self-Hosting	✅ Free	❌	❌	✅ Data Center ($)
Free Tier	Up to 12 members	250 issues max	Unlimited	10 users
Paid Pricing	$6–$13/seat/mo	$8–$16/seat/mo	GitHub plans	$8.15–$16/seat/mo
Sprints/Cycles	✅	✅	⚠️ (Iterations)	✅
Roadmaps	✅	✅	⚠️ (Basic)	✅
Kanban	✅	✅	✅	✅
Built-in Wiki	✅	⚠️ (Lightweight)	❌	✅ (Confluence)
Time Tracking	✅ (Pro+)	❌	❌	✅
GitHub Integration	✅	✅	Native	✅
API	REST + webhooks	REST + GraphQL	GraphQL	REST + GraphQL
AI Features	✅ (BYOLLM)	✅ (Business+)	⚠️ (Copilot)	✅ (Cloud)

The OSS Contenders

The task description asks about 6 tools. Three — Plane, OpenProject, and Planka — are fully open source and self-hostable. Three — Linear, GitHub Projects, and Jira — are commercial tools you're comparing them against. We cover all six, but the self-hosted angle is where OSSAlt readers care most.

Plane — The Linear Killer

Plane is the fastest-growing open source project management tool, crossing 47K GitHub stars in early 2026. It was explicitly designed as a self-hosted alternative to Linear, and the feature gap has closed dramatically over the past 12 months.

What's new in 2026: Plane v1.2.x shipped bring-your-own LLM support (run AI features against your own OpenAI/Anthropic API keys or local Ollama models), two-way Slack sync, a Marketplace for third-party integrations, and the front-end was rebuilt on React Router + Vite for significantly better performance.

Self-hosting setup:

git clone https://github.com/makeplane/plane
cd plane/deploy/selfhost
cp plane.bak.env .env
./setup.sh start

Minimum: 2 vCPUs, 4GB RAM, 20GB storage. Docker Compose spins up ~8 containers including PostgreSQL, Redis, and MinIO. Kubernetes Helm chart also available.

Pricing:

Tier	Price	Key Features
Community (Self-Hosted)	Free	Unlimited projects, issues, cycles, API
Free Cloud	$0	Core features, 12 members
Pro	$6/seat/mo	Time tracking, epics, wiki, AI, BYOLLM
Business	$13/seat/mo	Workflows, SSO, SCIM, RBAC
Enterprise	Custom	Air-gapped, LDAP, multi-workspace

The self-hosted Community Edition has full feature parity with cloud — you're not locked into a stripped-down version.

Best for: Engineering teams migrating from Linear who need data sovereignty, 20+ person teams where seat costs matter, or orgs with GDPR/HIPAA/compliance requirements.

OpenProject — Enterprise Self-Hosted PM

OpenProject (15K+ GitHub stars, GPL-2+) is the serious enterprise option in the OSS project management space. Where Plane mimics Linear, OpenProject is closer to Jira — it has Gantt charts, budget tracking, resource planning, meeting management, and a full wiki.

What sets it apart:

Gantt charts — proper project timeline visualization with dependency tracking
Resource management — assign budgets, track hours, generate project reports
Meeting module — integrated meeting agendas and minutes linked to issues
EU hosting — headquartered in Berlin, fully GDPR-compliant

Self-hosting: Docker image or DEB/RPM packages. Minimum 4GB RAM recommended for production. More complex setup than Plane but well-documented.

Pricing: Community edition is free to self-host. OpenProject Cloud starts from €5.95/user/month. Enterprise Data Center license for self-hosted enterprise features (SSO, LDAP, audit logs).

Best for: Project managers (not just developers) who need proper project portfolio management, Gantt-based planning, and formal resource tracking.

Planka — Lightweight Self-Hosted Kanban

Planka (12K+ GitHub stars, AGPL-3.0) is the Trello alternative for self-hosters. It's deliberately minimal — boards, lists, cards, labels, due dates — and nothing else. Single Docker container, runs on 512MB RAM.

docker run -d \
  -e BASE_URL=https://planka.yoursite.com \
  -e DATABASE_URL=postgresql://... \
  -p 1337:1337 \
  ghcr.io/plankanban/planka

There's no cloud tier, no paid version, and no enterprise sales. You deploy it, you own it. If you need sprint tracking, roadmaps, or GitHub integration, Planka isn't for you — but for pure Kanban at zero cost, nothing beats its simplicity.

Best for: Small teams or solo developers who want a self-hosted Trello replacement without the complexity of Plane or OpenProject.

The Commercial Tools

Linear — The Speed Benchmark

Linear has no GitHub stars because it's proprietary SaaS with no open source component. But it remains the reference design for modern developer project management — sub-100ms UI interactions, a command palette that engineers actually use, and a workflow built around software development.

Pricing:

Tier	Price	Limits
Free	$0	250 issues, 2 teams
Basic	~$8/seat/mo	Up to 5 teams
Business	$16/seat/mo	Unlimited teams, AI, analytics
Enterprise	Custom	SSO, SCIM, GitHub Enterprise Server

Linear's key weaknesses in 2026: no self-hosting (ever), no time tracking, lightweight wiki, and $16/seat on Business adds up fast for large teams. A 50-person team on Linear Business pays $9,600/year; Plane Pro costs $3,600/year (or just server costs for self-hosted).

Best for: Small design-led engineering teams (under 20 people) who prioritize UI speed and polish over cost and self-hosting.

GitHub Projects — Free Friction Reduction

GitHub Projects is not a full project management tool. It's a free, built-in board and table view for GitHub issues — no separate account, no additional cost, zero migration overhead if you're already on GitHub.

What it does:

Kanban board and spreadsheet table views over GitHub Issues
Automation rules (auto-close, auto-move based on PR status)
Iterations (sprint-like time boxes)
Custom fields on issues
GitHub Copilot integration

What it doesn't do: Sprints with velocity tracking, proper roadmaps, built-in wiki, time tracking, or multi-repo project management at scale.

For teams where every developer already has a GitHub account and the main workflow is PR-based, GitHub Projects eliminates a tool. The integration is native — no sync required, no webhooks to set up, no data duplication.

Best for: Dev teams already on GitHub who want lightweight task tracking without adding another tool to their stack.

Jira — Enterprise Standard

Jira (Atlassian) is the market leader by installed base, not by developer affection. It has every PM feature imaginable, decades of enterprise integrations, and compliance certifications that matter in regulated industries. It also has a reputation for complexity and a pricing structure that has angered teams at every price increase.

Pricing:

Tier	Price	Includes
Free	$0	10 users
Standard	$8.15/seat/mo	20K automations/mo, roles
Premium	$16/seat/mo	Advanced roadmaps, backups, SLA
Enterprise	Custom	Unlimited sites, HIPAA
Data Center	License fee	Self-hosted, HA, clustering

The Jira Data Center self-hosted option exists, but it's expensive — the annual license fee for 500 users is tens of thousands of dollars. This is not the same as Plane's free Community Edition.

Best for: Enterprises that already have Atlassian tooling (Confluence, Bitbucket, Bamboo), regulated industries with specific compliance needs, or teams that need Jira because their clients or partners require it.

Pricing at Scale: The Real Math

For a 50-person engineering team over 3 years, the cost differences are significant:

Option	3-Year Cost (50 users)
Plane Self-Hosted	~$1,800–6,000 (server only)
Plane Pro (Cloud)	$10,800
Linear Basic	$14,400
Linear Business	$28,800
GitHub Teams (Projects included)	$11,520
Jira Standard	$14,670
Jira Premium	$28,800

Self-hosted Plane on a $50/month Hetzner server costs $1,800 over 3 years for unlimited users. That's roughly what you'd pay for 2 months of Jira Premium.

Self-Hosting Decision Matrix

Tool	Self-Hosted?	Difficulty	Monthly Server Cost
Plane	✅ Free CE	Easy	$15–40 (VPS)
OpenProject	✅ Free CE	Medium	$20–60 (VPS)
Planka	✅ Always	Very Easy	$5–15 (VPS)
Linear	❌	—	—
GitHub Projects	❌	—	—
Jira Data Center	✅ ($$$)	Hard	License + servers

If you need self-hosting, you have three viable OSS options and one expensive enterprise option. Jira Data Center is not a budget-friendly self-hosted alternative — it's designed for enterprises replacing Jira Cloud with on-prem control.

When to Use Which

Choose Plane if:

You need self-hosting for compliance, data sovereignty, or cost
You're migrating from Linear and want a familiar workflow
Team size is 20+ where per-seat costs compound
You need a wiki integrated with project management
Your org has GDPR, HIPAA, or air-gap requirements

Choose OpenProject if:

You need Gantt charts and formal resource/budget planning
Your team includes project managers, not just developers
EU data residency is a requirement
You're running formal waterfall or hybrid methodologies alongside agile

Choose Planka if:

You want the lightest possible self-hosted Kanban
Pure board-based workflow is all you need
You're replacing Trello, not Jira or Linear

Choose Linear if:

Team is under 20 people with no self-hosting requirement
UI speed and keyboard-first workflow are non-negotiable
You want the reference-quality developer PM experience
You're okay with $8–16/seat/month

Choose GitHub Projects if:

Your whole team is already on GitHub
You want zero additional tooling overhead
Lightweight Kanban + issue linking is sufficient
Budget is zero or already included in GitHub plan

Choose Jira if:

Your organization already standardized on Atlassian tooling
You're in a regulated industry requiring Jira-specific compliance integrations
Clients or enterprise partners require Jira access
You need Jira Service Management for ITSM alongside dev PM

The Migration Path

Moving away from Jira or Linear? Plane is the most migration-friendly of the self-hosted options:

From Jira: Plane has a native Jira CSV import. Covers issues, states, priorities, and epics.
From Linear: Export CSV from Linear, import into Plane. Community migration scripts exist for automating the process.
From GitHub Projects: If you use GitHub Issues natively, Plane's GitHub integration pulls them in — minimal data loss.

Budget 1–2 weeks for a 10–20 person team to settle into a new PM workflow regardless of which tool you're switching to.

Methodology

Research conducted April 2026. GitHub star counts from official repositories. Pricing from official pricing pages (Plane, Linear, Atlassian, GitHub). Self-hosting requirements from each tool's official documentation. TCO calculations use Business/Pro tier pricing and $40/month VPS for self-hosted estimates.

Compare tools and see community ratings for all open source project management alternatives on OSSAlt.

The SaaS-to-Self-Hosted Migration Guide (Free PDF)