It's a Plan vs Linear
An open-source Linear alternative you host yourself
It's a Plan is an open-source, self-hosted issue tracker released under AGPL-3.0. It covers the same ground as Linear (issues, boards, views, initiatives, dashboards) with one structural difference: it runs on your own server and database, and its AI agents and MCP server run inside your instance rather than in a vendor's cloud. Linear is a closed-source product sold as a hosted service and priced per seat.
Side by side
It's a Plan compared with Linear
Checked against Linear's own documentation on 21 July 2026.
| It's a Plan | Linear | |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | AGPL-3.0. The full source is public. | Closed-source. The product source is not published. |
| Hosting | Self-hosted with Docker Compose, on your server and your PostgreSQL. | Hosted by Linear on Google Cloud. You pick a data region (United States or European Union); there is no self-hosted option. |
| Pricing | No licence fee and no per-seat cost. You pay for the server you run it on. | Per seat. A free tier limited to 2 teams and 250 issues; Basic at $10 and Business at $16 per user per month, billed yearly; Enterprise on request. |
| AI | Agents are members of a project. Delegate an issue to one or mention it in a comment. You supply the model and the key. | Linear Agent and the agent platform, available from the free tier. Coding sessions and Loops consume AI credits. |
| MCP | An MCP server is part of the API, served from your own instance at /mcp. | A hosted MCP server at mcp.linear.app, reached over OAuth or an API key. |
| API | REST, with an OpenAPI reference, plus webhooks. | GraphQL, plus webhooks. Creating a webhook requires workspace admin rights. |
| Where the data sits | In your database. Nothing leaves the machine you run it on except the calls your agents make to the model you chose. | In Linear's cloud, in the region you selected. Workspace information, user accounts and API keys are stored in the United States whichever region you pick. |
When Linear is the better choice
- You want a product someone else operates, patches and backs up.
- You are migrating off another tracker: Linear has in-product importers for Jira, GitHub Issues, Asana and Shortcut, and a command-line importer for Trello, GitLab and a CSV export. It's a Plan has none and expects you to move issues through its REST API.
- You need SAML or SCIM today, which Linear sells on its Enterprise plan.
- Per-seat cost is not a constraint and a mature, heavily used product matters more than owning the stack.
When It's a Plan is the better choice
- The data has to stay on your infrastructure, for policy or for contractual reasons.
- Headcount should not change the price of the tracker.
- You want agents that work the board like teammates, on a model you choose, not an assistant tied to one vendor.
- You want the MCP server and the API inside your own network, so a local agent can reach them without going through a third party.
- You want to read or change the code that runs your tracker.
Sources
Last checked 21 July 2026. Pricing and features on the other side change without notice; follow the sources for the current state.