Linear API vs Plane

Detailed side-by-side comparison to help you choose the right tool

Linear API

πŸ”΄Developer

Project Management

GraphQL API, MCP server, webhooks, and developer tooling for building Linear integrations and engineering workflow automations.

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Starting Price

$0

Plane

Project Management

AI-native project management platform that combines projects, documentation, and AI-powered workflows in one unified workspace for teams and agents to plan, execute, and stay aligned.

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Starting Price

Custom

Feature Comparison

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FeatureLinear APIPlane
CategoryProject ManagementProject Management
Pricing Plans8 tiers8 tiers
Starting Price$0
Key Features
  • β€’ GraphQL API with schema explorer
  • β€’ Native MCP server documentation
  • β€’ Real-time WebSocket subscriptions
  • β€’ AI-native workspace with context-aware agents
  • β€’ Board, Spreadsheet, List, and Gantt views
  • β€’ Time-boxed cycles with burndown charts

Linear API - Pros & Cons

Pros

  • βœ“Provides GraphQL access to core Linear workspace data including issues, projects, teams, cycles, and comments.
  • βœ“API and webhook access are included on the Free plan, which lowers the barrier for testing integrations.
  • βœ“Supports both personal API keys for internal automation and OAuth for user-authorized apps.
  • βœ“Linear documents a remote MCP endpoint at https://mcp.linear.app for compatible AI clients.
  • βœ“The Business plan at $16 per user per month when billed yearly includes advanced workflow and insight features.
  • βœ“Linear states that more than 25,000 companies use the platform.

Cons

  • βœ—The primary public API is GraphQL-first, so teams expecting REST endpoints may need onboarding time.
  • βœ—The Free plan is useful for testing but limited to 2 teams and 250 issues.
  • βœ—Some AI-facing capabilities are labeled beta or evolve quickly.
  • βœ—Webhook-based integrations still require teams to operate reliable receiving infrastructure.
  • βœ—Linear's opinionated workflow model may be a poor fit for organizations that require heavy customization.

Plane - Pros & Cons

Pros

  • βœ“Two Fortune 10 companies selected Plane for Jira migration, validating enterprise readiness at massive scale (50 to 10,000+ users)
  • βœ“Only modern project management platform built from the ground up for self-hosted, on-prem, and air-gapped environments with Prime CLI tooling
  • βœ“Plane AI reads across the entire workspaceβ€”projects, cycles, docs, and threadsβ€”delivering context-aware answers rather than generic LLM responses
  • βœ“Native MCP server and agent framework with @mention support and full Agent Run lifecycle tracking, a rare offering among 870+ AI tools in our directory
  • βœ“Certified across four compliance standards (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, CCPA) out of the box with independent auditing and continuous monitoring
  • βœ“Plane Compose enables projects-as-code in YAML, versioned in Git and deployed from the terminalβ€”unique among mainstream PM tools

Cons

  • βœ—Desk (customer support product) is still marked 'coming soon', limiting the unified workspace promise for support-heavy teams
  • βœ—Microsoft Teams integration is listed as coming soon, so Teams-first organizations cannot yet use the AGI-like chat workflow
  • βœ—Enterprise tier requires a sales conversation for pricing, though Free, Pro, and Business tiers are publicly listed
  • βœ—Self-hosting requires managing Postgres, Redis, and S3-compatible storage, adding DevOps overhead compared to pure SaaS competitors
  • βœ—Being AI-native and comparatively newer than Jira or Asana, some niche third-party plugins and community templates may not yet exist

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πŸ”’ Security & Compliance Comparison

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Security FeatureLinear APIPlane
SOC2βœ… Yesβ€”
GDPRβœ… Yesβ€”
HIPAAβ€”β€”
SSOβœ… Yesβ€”
Self-Hosted❌ Noβ€”
On-Prem❌ Noβ€”
RBACβœ… Yesβ€”
Audit Logβœ… Yesβ€”
Open Source❌ Noβ€”
API Key Authβœ… Yesβ€”
Encryption at Restβœ… Yesβ€”
Encryption in Transitβœ… Yesβ€”
Data ResidencyNot specified in this recordβ€”
Data RetentionPlan and workspace dependentβ€”
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