# Linear

Linear is a project management and issue tracking tool for dev teams, rated 4.7/5 on G2 (450+ reviews) and 4.8/5 on Capterra. Profile: pricing, funding, leadership.

**Category:** Issue tracking / project management for engineering teams  
**Vendor:** Linear Orbit, Inc.  
**Founded:** 2019  
**HQ:** San Francisco, California, US  
**Website:** https://linear.app  


## About

Linear is a project management and issue tracking platform built specifically for software engineering teams who found Jira too heavy and Trello too lightweight. Founded in 2019 in San Francisco by Karri Saarinen and Jori Lallo, former designers and engineers at Coinbase and Airbnb, the tool was built around speed as a core product value. Linear is known for a keyboard-shortcut-first interface, sub-100ms response times, and an opinionated workflow model that matches how high-output engineering teams actually work. The company raised approximately $52 million total funding across a Seed and Series A/B cycle, reaching a reported valuation of around $400 million in 2022. Linear remains private and has roughly 100 employees as of 2026, serving thousands of engineering teams from early-stage startups to public technology companies.

## Ratings

| Source | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| G2 | 4.7/5 | 462 |
| Capterra | 4.8/5 | 158 |
| Gartner Peer Insights | 4.6/5 | 42 |
| TrustRadius | 9.1/10 | 67 |

## Funding

~$52M total (Seed + Series A + Series B)

| Round | Amount | Date | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | $4.2M | 2019 | Sequoia Capital |
| Series A | $18M | 2021 | Index Ventures (with Sequoia) |
| Series B | $35M | 2022 | Accel (with Index, Sequoia) |

## Viability

Low risk for the tool's scope, with a meaningful watch-item on long-term independence. Linear is a well-funded private company with strong adoption among engineering teams and a product reputation that drives word-of-mouth growth. It is not known to be profitable publicly, but the business model (seat-based SaaS starting at $8/seat/mo) is straightforward and the team is small relative to funding. The realistic risks for buyers are acqui-hire or acquisition (the company's design and architecture reputation would make it attractive to larger platform players) and product opinionation: Linear's fastest-growing complaint category in 2025-2026 reviews is limited configurability for teams whose workflows diverge from Linear's defaults.

## Pricing

Linear's pricing is clean and predictable by SaaS standards. The free tier covers unlimited members but caps at 250 issues, which is enough for a single sprint but not a real backlog. Standard at $8/seat/mo (annual) unlocks unlimited issues, file attachments, and integrations. Business at $16/seat/mo adds SAML SSO, admin controls, and priority support. There is no per-project or per-workspace pricing, so a team of 20 on Standard is $160/mo flat, which compares well against Jira Software's equivalent tier. The main gotcha is that documents and some roadmapping features require the Business tier, which can push cost up for teams that want Linear to fully replace Notion or Confluence.

| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 250 issues, unlimited members; good for evaluating the tool or very small teams with a tight backlog |
| Standard | $8/seat/mo (annual) or $10/seat/mo (monthly) | Engineering teams needing unlimited issues, cycles, projects, integrations, and core Linear workflow |
| Business | $16/seat/mo (annual) or $20/seat/mo (monthly) | Teams needing SAML SSO, admin controls, document editor, priority support, and advanced roadmapping |
| Enterprise | Custom | Large organizations needing SLA guarantees, audit logs, dedicated support, and custom security review |

## What reviewers say

_462 G2 reviews at 4.7/5 and 158 Capterra reviews at 4.8/5, plus TrustRadius and Gartner; among the highest-rated project management tools in its category_

**Praised:**
- Speed is cited in almost every positive review: the interface responds instantly, keyboard shortcuts make common actions muscle-memory fast, and the lack of load spinners after years of Jira genuinely surprises first-time users
- The opinionated workflow model (cycles, projects, teams, priorities) resonates with engineering-led companies; reviewers say it matches how they actually think about shipping software rather than how project managers want to track it
- GitHub integration is consistently praised as the tightest in its category: issues auto-close, branches are created from issues, and PR status reflects back into Linear without any manual overhead

**Complaints:**
- Limited configurability is the most common pain point for teams at scale: custom fields are constrained compared to Jira, workflow automation rules are basic, and teams with complex approval or QA workflows often hit a wall
- The free tier's 250-issue limit is genuinely small for any team with backlog debt; teams hit it within weeks and face an immediate seat-based upgrade decision
- Reporting and analytics are sparse compared to Jira or Asana; there are no native burndown charts, velocity tracking, or cumulative flow diagrams without exporting to a third-party BI tool

## Compliance

- **SOC 2:** Yes (SOC 2 Type II)
- **GDPR:** Yes
- **HIPAA:** No
- **SSO:** Yes (SAML SSO on Business plan)

## Integrations

- GitHub
- GitLab
- Slack
- Figma
- Notion
- Zapier
- Sentry
- Intercom
- Zendesk
- PagerDuty

## FAQs

### How does Linear compare to Jira?

Linear is faster, simpler, and more opinionated. Jira wins on raw configurability: custom workflows, complex permission schemes, hundreds of plugins, and deep reporting. Linear wins on speed, developer experience, and getting teams shipping without spending two weeks configuring the tool. Most teams that switch from Jira to Linear report faster triage, fewer status meetings, and an interface people actually open willingly. Teams with complex QA or compliance workflows, or those deeply embedded in the Atlassian ecosystem, often stay on Jira.

### Is Linear free?

Yes, with a meaningful limit. The free plan supports unlimited team members but caps at 250 total issues, which a team of 5 engineers will hit within a month of real use. For ongoing work the Standard plan at $8/seat/mo (annual) is the practical entry point. The free tier is a real evaluation path, not a feature-gated demo, but it is sized for kicking the tires rather than running a product team.

### Does Linear have a roadmap feature?

Yes. Linear has a Roadmap view that shows projects on a timeline with milestones and progress indicators. The newer Initiatives layer groups multiple projects under a single strategic goal with progress rollup. Both features are included from the Standard tier. Document-style specs and RFCs within projects (similar to a lightweight Notion) require the Business plan. Native roadmap features are simpler than dedicated tools like Productboard or Aha, but sufficient for most engineering-led teams.

### Is Linear SOC 2 compliant?

Yes. Linear holds SOC 2 Type II certification and is GDPR compliant. SAML SSO is available on Business and Enterprise plans. HIPAA compliance is not offered, which matters for teams in regulated healthcare environments. Security documentation is available at linear.app/security.

### Who is Linear best for?

Linear is best for engineering-led companies of 5 to 300 people who value developer experience, fast interfaces, and an opinionated workflow over deep configurability. It is particularly strong for product teams where engineers and PMs work closely together and where GitHub is the primary development workflow. Teams that need complex multi-department project tracking, resource management, or deep reporting analytics are better served by Jira, Asana, or Linear's larger competitors.


## Sources

- [G2: Linear reviews](https://www.g2.com/products/linear/reviews): rating 4.7/5, 462 reviews, read live
- [Capterra: Linear](https://www.capterra.com/p/238461/Linear/): rating 4.8/5, 158 reviews, sub-scores and pricing
- [TrustRadius: Linear](https://www.trustradius.com/products/linear/reviews): score 9.1/10, 67 reviews
- [Linear pricing page](https://linear.app/pricing): Free/Standard/Business/Enterprise tiers, seat pricing, feature gates
- [Crunchbase: Linear Orbit](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/linear-orbit): funding rounds, investors, valuation estimates
- [LinkedIn: Linear company page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/linear-app/): employee count, industry, HQ, specialties
- [Linear changelog](https://linear.app/changelog): product updates, feature releases, Initiatives and AI features
- [Product Hunt: Linear](https://www.producthunt.com/products/linear-app): launch posts, community reviews, upvotes and discussions