Fast issue tracking for engineers
Linear
Built for engineering teams who want a fast, opinionated issue tracker with cycles, projects and coding-agent integrations.
COMPARE Project Simple vs Linear
Linear is fast. Project Simple is complete.
Linear is a superb issue tracker for engineers. Project Simple runs the whole AI-DLC — goals, quality, forecasting and team health — for every team on the project, not just engineering.
Product Operating Model for AI-DLC
Project Simple
Built to run the whole lifecycle — goals, delivery, quality and forecasting — for every team on the project, out of the box.
The short version
Different tools for different jobs. Here’s the honest answer.
Choose Linear if…
you’re an engineering-led team that mainly needs a fast, beautiful issue tracker and is happy to bring other tools for the rest.
Choose Project Simple if…
leadership needs forecasts and analytics, quality needs discipline, and product, design, QA, DevOps and marketing need to work the same way as engineering.
Teams switch when…
the company grows past one engineering team and the questions become “when will it ship?”, “is quality slipping?” and “how are the teams doing?”
Where Linear shines
- Fast, keyboard-first UI that developers love
- Clean, opinionated cycles, projects and initiatives
- Treats coding agents as teammates, with integrations for Cursor, Codex, Copilot, Devin and more
Where teams hit a wall
- Built around engineering — other teams fit in rather than belong
- Insights analytics only on the Business plan
- No built-in quality discipline, retros, health checks or timesheets
- Cloud-only, with no self-hosted option
Feature by feature
What you get out of the box — and what you’d have to add.
| Capability | Linear | Project Simple |
|---|---|---|
| Operating model |
Linear Engineering-only
Opinionated issue tracking built for engineering |
Project Simple Built in
A proven Product Operating Model, ready on day one |
| Roadmaps & goals |
Linear Native
Projects and initiatives |
Project Simple Built in
Now / Next / Later roadmap tied to goals and milestones |
| Delivery forecasting |
Linear Limited
Progress tracking; delivery forecasting isn’t a core feature |
Project Simple Built in
AI forecasts release dates and flags delivery risks |
| Quality discipline |
Linear Not built in
No quality gates or root-cause workflow |
Project Simple Built in
Quality gates, bug waterlines and 5 Whys root-cause analysis |
| Sprint analytics & reviews |
Linear Higher tier
Cycle views; Insights analytics on the Business plan |
Project Simple Built in
Sprint, backlog, item and project analytics with automated sprint reviews |
| Retros & team health |
Linear Not built in
No built-in retrospectives or health checks |
Project Simple Built in
Built-in retrospectives and team health-check surveys |
| Timesheets |
Linear Not built in
No built-in time tracking |
Project Simple Built in
Built-in time tracking for CapEx / OpEx with financial reporting |
| Cross-functional teams |
Linear Limited
Designed around engineering teams |
Project Simple Built in
Dev, QA, UI/UX, DevOps and Marketing working one way in one project |
| AI pricing |
Linear Metered
AI coding sessions use separate usage-based credits |
Project Simple Built in
Bring your own LLM keys — no per-token markup |
| Deployment |
Linear Cloud only
No self-hosted or on-prem option |
Project Simple Built in
Cloud, isolated tenant, your own cloud, or on-prem |
Based on Linear’s public product and pricing pages as of October 2026. Plans and features change — check the vendor’s site for the latest.
The real cost
Low per-seat price — until you add everything around it.
| What you pay for | Linear | Project Simple |
|---|---|---|
| Base license | Linear $10 – $16 per user / month (Basic – Business) | Project Simple $1,000 – $1,500 / month per 100-person team |
| Analytics | Linear Insights on Business plan | Project Simple Full analytics suite included |
| AI | Linear Coding sessions on usage-based credits | Project Simple Your own LLM keys, no markup |
| The rest of the stack | Linear Retros, timesheets, quality and forecasting tools bought separately | Project Simple All included in one platform |
| Total per month | Linear ≈ $10,000 – $10,650+ | Project Simple $1,000 – $1,500 |
Linear prices are annual list prices as published in 2026.
Switching from Linear
Up and running by your next sprint.
-
Step 1
Bring your backlog
Export your work and we’ll help you import it and set up the integrations you rely on.
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Step 2
Set goals and teams
Define your roadmap goals and add your teams. The operating model, dashboards and analytics are already there.
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Step 3
Start the next sprint
Run your next sprint in Project Simple. Forecasts and insights build from day one.
“Our team was up and running in a few days, with almost zero learning curve — something I’ve never been able to say about any project management tool before.”
Rajiv Kasera
VP of Engineering, Luckpay Solutions
FAQ
Questions teams ask before switching
Our engineers love Linear’s speed. Will they push back?
Project Simple is designed for almost zero learning curve — customers report teams up and running within days — and engineers get fewer status meetings because progress is visible live.
How does AI pricing work?
We don’t charge per token or per AI action. AI capabilities come with the Enterprise plan, and you connect your own provider’s API keys — OpenAI, Anthropic or another — and pay them directly.
Can Project Simple run in our own environment?
Yes. Choose an isolated multi-tenant setup, a dedicated instance in your own AWS or GCP account, or an on-prem deployment in your private cloud or data center.
Ready to move past Linear?
See the Product Operating Model for AI-DLC running on real delivery data. Zero setup required.
