Linear alternatives
Linear is fast, beautiful and built for software teams. People leave it when the free plan’s 250 issues run out, when the per-seat price stops making sense, or when they work alone and don’t need a team tool at all. Here’s what fits each.
Free for two projects · Works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. By Yassine Zeriouh. Prices and features checked on October 26, 2026.
Milestones is the app this site belongs to, so it’s listed first and held to a harder standard below. GitHub Projects, Plane and Jira are for teams that still want an issue tracker; Things 3 and Todoist are for people who were really using Linear as a personal list.
One person’s projects, split into milestones with a progress bar each
Issues, boards and a roadmap right next to your code
The closest match to Linear, with cycles and modules, open source
Larger teams that need deep configuration and Atlassian’s other tools
A calm personal to-do list on Apple devices, paid once
A fast personal list on every platform, Windows and Linux included
Prices from each app’s own site or the App Store, checked on October 26, 2026.
Feature comparison
Linear is an issue tracker for software teams; Milestones is a project planner for one person. Where each one is ahead, row by row.
Built for
Milestones
One person planning their own projects
Linear
Software teams planning and shipping products
Structure
Milestones
Project, milestone, task, plus tags
Linear
Teams, projects with milestones, issues and sub-issues, plus cycles and initiatives
Progress
Milestones
A progress bar for every milestone and every project
Linear
Progress for projects and their milestones, plus Insights on Business
Platforms
Milestones
iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, native on each
Linear
Web, Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android
Sprints
Milestones
None; milestones with due dates and an active milestone
Linear
Cycles that carry unfinished issues over automatically
Keyboard
Milestones
Changeable shortcuts, ⌘K to jump anywhere, Quick Entry from any app on Mac
Linear
Keyboard-first throughout, with a command menu
Daily view
Milestones
Today, Upcoming and Inbox across every project
Linear
My Issues, plus an inbox for notifications
Boards
Milestones
Kanban for projects and smart lists (Pro)
Linear
Board and list views on every plan
Code
Milestones
Tasks don’t know about commits or pull requests
Linear
Issues link to branches, commits and pull requests and close when they merge
Integrations
Milestones
Siri, Shortcuts, widgets, and a local MCP server for AI agents on Mac (Pro)
Linear
GitHub, GitLab, Slack and more, a GraphQL API, and AI agents
Sharing
Milestones
None; every project belongs to one person
Linear
Unlimited members on every plan, guests on Business
Free plan
Milestones
Two projects at a time, with unlimited milestones and tasks
Linear
250 issues and 2 teams, with unlimited members
Price for one person
Milestones
$5.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $79.99 once
Linear
Basic $10 a month billed yearly ($120 a year)
Account and sync
Milestones
Your own iCloud, no Milestones account
Linear
A Linear account and workspace; data on Linear’s servers
Why switch
Linear is built for teams: workspaces, teams, triage, cycles and an assignee on every issue. Used alone, that structure is still there, and the assignee is always you. Milestones has no team layer at all. A project, its milestones and their tasks are the whole model, so there’s nothing to set up before you start.
Shipping an app means screenshots, a landing page, App Store review, pricing and launch posts as well as code. Linear issues fit the engineering part well and the rest awkwardly. In Milestones, design, build, launch and marketing are milestones of the same project, each with its own tasks and progress bar.
Linear’s free plan stops at 250 issues, and then you can’t create new ones. Basic removes the limit for $10 per person a month, billed yearly: $120 a year for one person. Milestones is free for two projects at a time with no limit on tasks, and Pro can be bought once for $79.99.
Linear runs on the web, Windows and Android as well as Apple devices, and keeps your work on its servers under a Linear account. Milestones is built only for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, syncs through your own iCloud with no account, and works fully offline in between.
Honest trade-offs
Leaving Linear isn’t always the right call. Stay if one of these matters most to you.
Compare
Milestones vs Linear
A native Apple planner for personal projects vs a polished issue tracker for software teams. Both are beautiful, opinionated tools, for very different jobs.
Use case · Launch checklist
An app launch checklist you’ll actually finish.
Every step from six weeks out to the week after release for an iPhone, iPad or Mac app, with the mistakes I made shipping Milestones. Then plan it as a project with one milestone per phase.
Use case · Client project tracking
How to set project milestones for client work.
Milestones gives freelancers and consultants the structure clients ask for (projects per client, milestones for deliverables, tasks for the work) without the overhead of Asana or the chaos of a notes file.
More alternatives: OmniFocus alternatives · Things 3 alternatives · Todoist alternatives
FAQ
Yes, for small workspaces. The Free plan includes unlimited members, 2 teams, 250 issues, 10 MB file uploads and Linear’s AI agent. Once a workspace has more than 250 issues, you can’t create new ones. Basic removes that limit for $10 per person a month and Business costs $16, both billed yearly.
Yes. The free plan works for one person until you reach 250 issues, and nothing stops you from being the only member. It’s built around teams, though, so a personal workspace still comes with teams, triage, cycles and assignees. For personal projects that aren’t mostly code, a personal planner fits the shape better.
For a team, Plane: its cloud plan is free for up to 12 users, it’s free to host yourself, and its cycles and modules work much like Linear’s. If your code is on GitHub, GitHub Projects is free and sits next to your issues. For one person on Apple devices, Milestones is free for two projects at a time.
Yes. Plane is the best known: open source, with issues, cycles, modules and pages, and you can run it on your own server or use Plane’s cloud. Older open-source trackers such as Redmine and Taiga work too, but they look and feel nothing like Linear. Milestones isn’t open source.
For one person’s planning, yes; as a team’s issue tracker, no. Milestones has no sharing, assignees, cycles or GitHub integration. If you build alone, you can keep bugs and code work in GitHub Issues or Linear and plan the project around them, launch and marketing included, in Milestones.
No. Milestones has no importer for Linear, GitHub or CSV files. Recreate the projects you’re actively working on, split into milestones, and leave finished work in Linear. Linear can export a workspace’s issues as a CSV file, which is worth keeping as an archive before you cancel.
Milestones is free for two projects. Move your side project over, split it into milestones, and see if a planner for one person fits better.
