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.

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Last updated: | By Rafal Fila

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