Plain vs Linear.
Linear is the best-crafted issue tracker on the market, and it reset everyone's expectations for how fast software should feel. We built Plain Issues to that same bar: sub-50ms, keyboard-first, offline-capable. The difference is what surrounds it. Linear ends where the issue ends. Plain connects the issue to the commit, the doc, the chat thread, and the pipeline that ships it.
// Coverage
Linear does one job. Plain is the whole setup.
Seven surfaces every software team ends up paying for, one way or another. Here is what each product actually covers.
| Surface | Linear | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| Code hosting | Not includedsyncs with GitHub | Included |
| Issue tracking | Included | Included |
| Docs & wiki | Partialproject specs | Included |
| Team chat | Not included | Included |
| CI / CD | Not included | Included |
| Packages | Not included | Included |
| AI agents | Partialagents work issues only | Included |
Linear fully covers 1 of the seven surfaces. Plain covers all seven on one seat.
// Credit where due
Where Linear is genuinely good.
- The speed and polish are real. Linear made every other tracker feel slow, and it deserves the credit for that.
- Cycles, triage, and projects are opinionated in ways that genuinely reduce process overhead.
- Its keyboard-driven design rewards power users instead of punishing them.
The catch.
Linear is one beautifully made piece of a six-piece stack. Your code is on GitHub, docs in Notion, chat in Slack, CI somewhere else again, and Linear holds it together with integrations that copy references between systems. Plain gives you the same grade of tracker as one surface of the platform, so the issue, the branch, and the conversation about it are one click apart, not three tools apart.
// Pricing
One seat price vs a stack of them.
Linear
$10 to $16/ user / mo
Covers issue tracking. The other surfaces are other tools, other invoices.
Linear Basic is $10, Business is $16, annual billing. Code, docs, chat, and CI are separate tools.
Plain Pro
$24/ user / mo
Code, issues, docs, chat, CI, packages, and AI agents on every seat. One bill, one search index, one source of truth.
// FAQ
Common questions.
- Is Plain a Linear alternative?
- Yes. Plain Issues matches the speed and keyboard-first design Linear is known for, and adds the six surfaces Linear leaves to other tools: code, docs, chat, CI, packages, and agents.
- Can I import from Linear?
- Yes. Plain imports Linear teams, issues, cycles, and labels via the Linear API, so you keep your backlog and history.
- How does Plain pricing compare to Linear?
- Linear Business is $16 per user per month for issue tracking. Plain Pro is $24 and replaces Linear plus your Git host, docs tool, chat tool, CI, and registry in one seat.
[ Get started ]
Replace Linear and six other tools.
The alpha is open. Create your first repo, issue, and pipeline in minutes. No stack to assemble.