Self-host Jira

Issue tracking / agile boards · Category: project boards & kanban

Jira owns enterprise issue tracking. Self-host alternatives cover the core kanban + sprint workflow well; what they trade off is the deep workflow customization and the sprawling Atlassian Marketplace.

Jira pricing anchor: $8.15/user/mo on Standard tier.

OpenProject opf/openproject alive

GitHub: ★ 15.0k · last commit today · 214 open issues
License: GPL-3.0
Setup time: 20min docker-compose
Monthly cost: $10 VPS for a 25-person team — Postgres + the OpenProject app image.

Migration sketch. Jira → Issues → Export → CSV. In OpenProject, use Modules → Work Packages → Import (CSV). Map status / assignee / priority columns by hand. Attachments do not transfer over CSV — re-attach the files that matter.

Full migration guide →

Good fit forMixed eng + PM teams that want Gantt + boards in one tool.

Weak atFree-tier (Community Edition) does not include the time-tracking and SAML modules that Enterprise has.

Plane makeplane/plane alive

GitHub: ★ 48.9k · last commit 5d ago · 773 open issues
License: AGPL-3.0
Setup time: 15min docker-compose
Monthly cost: $5 VPS handles a small team comfortably.

Migration sketch. Plane Migrators ship a Jira importer (Settings → Imports → Jira) that pulls projects, issues, comments, and labels via the Jira REST API using a token you paste in. Sub-tasks come over; custom fields collapse to text.

Good fit forModern engineering squads who want a Linear-shaped UI but on their own infra.

Weak atYounger project; admin / RBAC features are still maturing.

Redmine redmine/redmine alive

GitHub: ★ 5.94k · last commit 2d ago · 3 open issues
License: GPL-2.0
Setup time: 30min (docker or bitnami stack)
Monthly cost: $5 VPS — small RAM footprint.

Migration sketch. Use the third-party redmine_importer plugin against a Jira CSV export. Workflow states map roughly; agile boards need the redmine_agile plugin (paid) or a free fork.

Good fit forTeams that want a battle-tested, low-maintenance tracker and don't care about modern UI.

Weak atUI is dated; default install is plugin-heavy to feel modern.

In a terminal? npx os-alt jira prints this table — how the CLI works →