Linear
Fast issue tracker for software teams; a poor fit for production planning
Linear is an issue tracker and project planner built for software and product teams, with keyboard-first navigation, cycles, roadmaps and GitHub integration. In 2026 it added Linear Agent, a built-in AI agent on every plan, plus Loops and coding sessions that hand work to coding agents such as Cursor and OpenAI Codex. It is software project management, not a creative or production tool.
- 1 creator using
- Freemium pricing
- Easy learning curve
What Linear can do
- Infinite canvas No
- AI agent Yes
- Node / flow builder Partial
- Public API Yes
- MCP server Yes
11 of 26 capabilities confirmed
| Capability | Supported | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Text to image | No | |
| Image editing | No | |
| Text to video | No | |
| Image to video | No | |
| Video to video | No | |
| Native audio in video | No | |
| Lip-sync | No | |
| Voice / TTS | No | |
| Music & SFX | No | |
| Upscaling | No | |
| Character consistency | No | |
| Camera control | No | |
| Custom training | No | |
| Third-party models | Partial | Coding sessions route between model providers (adaptive routing, open-weight GLM option); no creative generation models |
| Capability | Supported | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Infinite canvas | No | |
| Node / flow builder | Partial | Loops (recurring agent workflows on schedule or events, Business and Enterprise) and built-in issue automations; not a node-based flow builder |
| AI agent | Yes | Linear Agent (free plan), Loops, coding sessions, and third-party agents assignable to issues |
| Chat assistant | Yes | Linear Agent |
| Team collaboration | Yes | Teams, private teams and guests (Business), documents, comments |
| Capability | Supported | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Public API | Yes | Public Linear API; custom agents are built on it |
| MCP server | Yes | Hosted MCP server at https://mcp.linear.app/mcp (read-only variant at /mcp/readonly) |
| Mobile app | Yes | iOS and Android; coding sessions and document editing on mobile |
| Desktop / local | Yes | Desktop app; hosted SaaS, not self-hostable |
| Open source | No |
| Capability | Supported | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Yes | Free plan: unlimited members, 2 teams, 250 issues, Linear Agent |
| Commercial use | Yes | Standard SaaS subscription terms; not a creative-output tool |
Yes Partial No Not confirmed by the vendor
What makes Linear different
- 01
Linear Agent is included on the free plan, while most competing PM tools gate their AI behind a paid add-on (ClickUp Brain starts at $9/user/mo).
- 02
Agents such as Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Devin and Sentry can be assigned issues directly; the human stays the primary assignee and the agent is added as a contributor.
- 03
Hosted MCP server at mcp.linear.app with OAuth, read-only URL option and enterprise Okta control, usable from Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code and Zed.
- 04
Opinionated defaults (cycles, roadmaps, keyboard-first navigation) mean less setup than ClickUp or Asana, at the cost of far fewer configurable views and fields.
- 05
Free plan is capped at 250 issues and 2 teams rather than by seats; unlimited members.
About Linear
Linear is the issue tracker that engineering teams use to plan and ship software: issues, cycles (sprints), projects, initiatives and roadmaps, with a deliberately narrow set of opinionated workflows. Its interface is built around speed and keyboard shortcuts.
The main 2026 change is agents. Linear Agent is available on the free plan and can triage issues, answer questions, draft project briefs and create follow-up work. Business and Enterprise plans add Loops, recurring agent workflows that run on a schedule or react to changes in initiatives, projects and cycles. Coding sessions let an agent set up, run and test code, and in August 2026 Linear moved agent usage to provider rates with no markup plus a sandbox fee. Linear's hosted MCP server at mcp.linear.app lets Claude, Cursor, Codex and other assistants read and write issues.
For filmmakers, Linear only matters when a production has an engineering side: building an in-house tool, a web app for a client, or a pipeline script. It does not handle call sheets, shot lists, schedules, budgets or frame-accurate review, and the product is built for developers rather than producers.
What's new in Linear
-
Stacked pull requests in Linear Diffs
Diffs now shows PR stacks with review, CI and merge status, and admins get an AI-credit usage explorer and spend limits.
Source: linear.app ↗ -
Adaptive model routing and open-weight models for coding sessions
Simpler coding tasks go to a faster model, open-weight models such as GLM are available, and teams get their own labels and statuses.
Source: linear.app ↗ -
Loops can edit documents and post to Slack
Loops now respond to changes in initiatives, projects and cycles, edit Linear documents and post tailored Slack updates.
Source: linear.app ↗ -
Agent usage billed at provider rates
Coding-session model usage is billed at provider rates with no markup, plus $0.25 per 20-minute sandbox block, and the agent can now open the app in a browser and capture screenshots.
Source: linear.app ↗ -
Loops launched
Recurring agent workflows that run on a schedule or in response to events, limited to Business and Enterprise plans.
Source: linear.app ↗
Models available in Linear
-
GLM (open-weight) Zhipu AI Available in coding sessions since 2026-09-24
Key Features
- Issues, cycles (sprints), projects, initiatives and roadmaps
- Keyboard-first interface with fast navigation
- Linear Agent: triage, answers, project briefs and follow-up work
- Loops: recurring agent workflows on schedules or events (Business and Enterprise)
- Coding sessions with sandbox environments, browser testing and screenshots
- Linear Diffs with stacked pull request status (Oct 2026)
- Delegate issues to Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Devin, Sentry and others
- Hosted MCP server and public API
- GitHub and GitHub Copilot integrations, Slack, Zendesk and Intercom (Business)
- Mobile apps for iOS and Android with document editing
When to reach for it — and when to skip
Reach for it when…
- Very fast and keyboard-driven; the interface stays out of the way
- Agents are on the free plan, so a small team can try them without a paid add-on
- Mature MCP server that works from most current coding assistants
- Opinionated defaults mean little setup before a team can start tracking work
Skip it when…
- Built for software teams; no creative review, shot lists, call sheets or scheduling
- Free plan caps you at 250 issues and 2 teams
- AI usage is metered at provider rates since August 2026, so heavy agent use costs more and is harder to forecast
- Loops and Triage Intelligence are gated to Business at $16 per user per month
- Far fewer configurable views and fields than ClickUp or Asana
Best For
✓ Ideal for
- Tracking the build of an in-house tool, pipeline script or client web app for a studio
- Small software or tech teams at a production company that ship apps alongside content
- Letting an AI agent triage bug reports and draft follow-up issues from a shared inbox
- Connecting Claude Code, Cursor or Codex to a live issue backlog through MCP
✗ Not built for
- Production scheduling, shot lists, call sheets or budgets (use a dedicated production tool)
- Frame-accurate review and client feedback on cuts (use Frame.io or similar)
Working Tips from Filmmakers Using Linear
- 01 Use the free plan first: the agent works there, and 250 issues is enough for a single small tool build.
- 02 Set a spend limit on AI credits before enabling coding sessions for the whole team; usage is billed at provider rates.
- 03 Connect the MCP server to your assistant with the read-only URL when you only need status checks, so the agent cannot change issues.
Linear pricing in 2026
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 free |
|
| Basic | $10 yearly, per user |
|
| Business | $16 yearly, per user |
|
| Enterprise | Custom annual only |
|
Prices checked against Linear's pricing page on 9 Oct 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm before you buy.
Linear vs ClickUp vs Notion vs Asana
| Linear | ClickUp | Notion | Asana | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (250 issues) / Basic $10 per user/mo / Business $16 per user/mo, billed yearly; Enterprise custom | Free Forever; paid from $8/user/mo billed yearly (Core) | Free; Plus EUR 9.50/member/mo; Business EUR 19.50/member/mo | Free Personal (2 users); Starter from $10.99/user/mo billed annually; Advanced from $24.99/user/mo billed annually |
| Infinite canvas | No | Partial | Not confirmed | No |
| Node / flow builder | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| AI agent | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Chat assistant | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Team collaboration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text to image | No | Partial | No | No |
| Third-party models | Partial | Yes | Yes | No |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop / local | Yes | Not confirmed | Partial | No |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed |
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page. "Not confirmed" means the vendor doesn't say.
Open the full Linear vs ClickUp vs Notion vs Asana comparison →Use Cases
Tags
Creators Using Linear
Sources
Facts on this page were checked against Linear's own pricing, product and changelog pages on , then cross-checked with independent coverage where vendor pages were silent. Anything we couldn't confirm is marked "Not confirmed" rather than guessed.
- Linear pricing page linear.app
- Linear changelog linear.app
- Linear for Agents linear.app
- Linear MCP server docs linear.app
- The Register: Linear launches AI agent (March 2026) theregister.com
- ClickUp pricing page (comparison) clickup.com
- Notion pricing page (comparison) notion.com
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll re-check it.
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