What is Jira and what is it used for?
Quick Answer: Jira is a project and issue tracking platform developed by Atlassian, first released in 2002. Originally built for software bug tracking, Jira has expanded into project management, IT service management (Jira Service Management), and product discovery. Over 300,000 organizations use Jira as of 2026.
What Is Jira?
Jira is a project management and issue tracking platform developed by Atlassian, an Australian software company founded in 2002 by Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar. Jira was one of Atlassian's first products, initially designed as a bug and issue tracker for software development teams.
Product Family
As of April 2026, Jira comprises several products:
- Jira Software: Agile project management for development teams (Scrum and Kanban boards)
- Jira Service Management: ITSM for help desk and service request management
- Jira Product Discovery: Prioritization and roadmapping for product teams
- Jira Work Management: Simplified project tracking for business teams
Key Features
- Issues: Configurable issue types (Story, Bug, Task, Epic) with custom fields
- Boards: Scrum boards with sprints or Kanban boards with WIP limits
- Workflows: Customizable status transitions with conditions, validators, and post-functions
- Automation: Rule-based automation with triggers, conditions, and actions
- Roadmaps: Timeline view for planning across epics and versions
- Reporting: Burndown charts, velocity reports, control charts, cumulative flow diagrams
Pricing (April 2026)
- Free: Up to 10 users, 2GB storage
- Standard: $8.15/user/month — 20,000 user limit, audit logs, 250GB storage
- Premium: $16/user/month — advanced roadmaps, sandbox, IP allowlisting
- Enterprise: Custom pricing — org-wide visibility, Atlassian Analytics
Market Position
Jira is the most widely used issue tracker for software development, with over 300,000 organizations (reported by Atlassian). It competes with Linear, GitHub Issues, Azure DevOps, Asana, and ClickUp. Jira's primary strength is its deep customization: workflows, fields, screens, and permissions can be configured to match virtually any team process, though this flexibility can lead to administration complexity.
Related Questions
Related Tools
Asana
Project management platform with Rules automation engine for automating task assignment, status changes, and team notifications.
Project Management AutomationClickUp
All-in-one productivity platform with 100+ automation recipes for project management, docs, and goal tracking.
Project Management AutomationJira
Issue tracking and project management platform with built-in automation rules for agile development teams.
Project Management AutomationMonday.com
Visual work operating system with automation recipes for task management, project tracking, and team collaboration.
Project Management AutomationRelated Rankings
Dive Deeper
ClickUp vs Asana: Complete Comparison (2026)
A comparison of ClickUp and Asana for project management automation in 2026. ClickUp offers 15+ views with built-in docs and whiteboards at $7-12/user/month. Asana provides unlimited automation rules with a refined workflow engine at $13.49-30.49/user/month. Includes pricing data for 25-person teams and adoption metrics from deployments.
Trello vs Asana: Complete Comparison (2026)
A comparison of Trello and Asana for project management in 2026. Trello offers Kanban-first simplicity with Butler automation at $6-12.50/user/month. Asana provides multi-view structured workflows with unlimited rules at $13.49-30.49/user/month. Includes pricing for 15-person teams and migration data.
ClickUp vs Notion: Complete Comparison (2026)
A comparison of ClickUp and Notion as all-in-one workspace tools in 2026. ClickUp provides 15+ project views with built-in time tracking and sprints at $12/user/month. Notion offers a refined documentation and wiki experience with database automations at $18/user/month. Pricing analysis for 20-person teams included.