Jira alternative
The open source, self-hosted Jira alternative
Atlassian has stopped selling Jira Data Center to new customers and ends it on 28 March 2029, so the self-managed option is closing. Kuayle is an Apache 2.0 issue tracker you host yourself, with no licence fee. It is far smaller than Jira; this page shows the trade-off.
At a glance
- Licence
Jira: Proprietary
Kuayle: Apache 2.0
- Hosting
Jira: Vendor cloud only
Kuayle: Self-hosted
- Pricing
Jira: Standard
Kuayle: Free, no paid tier
- Difference
- Jira is moving everyone to its cloud; Kuayle stays on your servers, with a narrower, developer-focused scope.
Why teams look for a Jira alternative
Data Center is ending
New customers can no longer buy Jira Data Center since 30 March 2026, and it reaches end of life on 28 March 2029. After that it becomes read-only.
The cloud is the only path left
For new customers, Jira is cloud-only. Teams with an on-premises requirement need a different product.
SSO is a separate subscription
On Free, Standard and Premium, SSO, SCIM and AD sync need an Atlassian Guard Standard subscription on top of Jira.
Per-user prices add up
Atlassian lists Standard at $8.48 and Premium at $15.56 per user a month on monthly billing; Enterprise is by quote.
Kuayle vs Jira, side by side
| Topic | Jira | Kuayle |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | No Proprietary. | Yes Apache 2.0. The full source is in one public repository. |
| Hosting | In part Jira Cloud. Data Center is closed to new customers and ends on 28 March 2029. | Yes Self-hosted with Docker Compose (Caddy, PostgreSQL, Redis, API, frontend). There is no hosted Kuayle service. |
| Pricing | In part Free up to 10 users; Standard $8.48 and Premium $15.56 per user a month (monthly billing); Enterprise by quote. | Yes No licence fee and no paid tier. Nothing is gated behind a key; you pay for your own server. |
| SSO and SCIM | In part Needs an Atlassian Guard Standard subscription, except on Enterprise, which includes it. | No Email and password sign-in with invite links. No SSO (SAML/OIDC), SCIM, passkeys or magic links yet. |
| AI and agents | Yes Rovo Search, Chat and Agents on paid plans, with pooled monthly credits per user. | In part Opt-in Dev Machines run coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, opencode and others) in self-hosted containers linked to issues. There are no agents assigned as issue members. |
| MCP server | Yes Official Atlassian Rovo MCP server; some tools consume Rovo credits. | No No MCP server yet. |
| API and webhooks | Yes REST API (v2 and v3) and webhooks. | In part HTTP API with scoped, expiring personal access tokens, plus HMAC-signed webhooks. No published OpenAPI reference yet. |
| Importers | Yes Asana, monday, ClickUp, Trello, Azure DevOps, GitHub, GitLab, Linear, Notion, CSV and more. | No No importer from other trackers. Kuayle-to-Kuayle workspace export and import (.kuayle.zip) is built in. |
| Git integrations | Yes Bitbucket, GitHub, GitHub Enterprise Server, GitLab (Marketplace app) and Azure DevOps. | In part GitHub App: branches, commits and pull requests link to issues, status automation on PR events, and PR comments. No GitLab, Bitbucket or Gitea yet. |
| Custom fields | Yes Extensive custom fields and workflow configuration. | No No custom fields, estimates or time tracking. |
| Issue model | Yes Highly configurable issue types, workflows, boards and automation. | Yes Multiple assignees, sub-issues, relations, labels, priorities, due dates, templates, team-specific statuses and title/description version history. |
What Jira costs a year compared with Kuayle
| Team | Jira Standard | Jira Premium | Kuayle licence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 people | $508.80 | $933.60 | $0 |
| 20 people | $2,035.20 | $3,734.40 | $0 |
| 50 people | $5,088 | $9,336 | $0 |
| 100 people | $10,176 | $18,672 | $0 |
Moving from Jira to Kuayle
- 01
Export from Jira
Export work items to CSV from the list view or search (attachments come out as URLs), or read them with the Jira REST API.
- 02
Deploy Kuayle
Run the Docker Compose stack on your server (Caddy, PostgreSQL, Redis, API and frontend), then create a workspace and invite the team.
- 03
Recreate teams and workflows
Set up teams (public or private), team statuses, labels and issue templates before moving work, so issues land in the right place.
- 04
Move open work through the API
Kuayle has no built-in Jira importer yet. Script the move of open issues with a scoped personal access token, or start fresh with active work and keep Jira read-only for history.
When to stay on Jira, and when to choose Kuayle
Stay on Jira if
- You depend on custom fields, complex workflows, Marketplace apps or Jira Service Management.
- Moving to Jira Cloud is acceptable for your data and compliance rules.
- You need SSO today; Kuayle does not offer SSO yet.
- Non-engineering teams share the same instance and rely on its breadth.
Choose Kuayle if
- You run Data Center and the tracker must stay on your own infrastructure after 2029.
- Your team mainly needs issues, cycles, projects and GitHub linking, not a configurable platform.
- Licence and per-user costs should drop to zero.
- You want an Apache 2.0 codebase you can audit and change.
Other Jira alternatives
Kuayle is not the only option. Compare these too, or see every tracker in the full comparison matrix.
- OpenProject alternative GPL-3.0 · Cloud or self-hosted
- YouTrack alternative Proprietary · Cloud or self-hosted
- Plane.so alternative AGPL-3.0 · Cloud or self-hosted
- GitLab alternative MIT core; EE under a separate licence · Cloud or self-hosted
- Linear alternative Proprietary · Vendor cloud only
- It's a Plan alternative AGPL-3.0 · Self-hosted
Jira alternative FAQ
When does Jira Data Center reach end of life?
- Atlassian ends Jira Software and Jira Service Management Data Center on 28 March 2029. New customer sales ended on 30 March 2026, and existing customers can buy or expand until 30 March 2028.
Is there a self-hosted Jira alternative?
- Yes. Kuayle is a free, self-hosted Jira alternative under Apache 2.0. OpenProject, YouTrack Server, Plane and GitLab are other self-hostable options.
Is there a free, open source Jira alternative?
- Kuayle is free and open source, with no licence fee or paid tier. It is narrower than Jira: there are no custom fields, Marketplace apps or service desk.
Can I migrate from Jira to Kuayle?
- There is no built-in Jira importer yet. Export to CSV or read the Jira REST API, then create issues in Kuayle with a scoped personal access token.
Does Kuayle replace Jira Service Management?
- No. Kuayle is an issue tracker for product and engineering teams. It has a triage inbox, but no customer portal, SLAs or service desk features.
Sources
- Jira pricing
- Explore Jira Cloud plans
- Atlassian Data Center End of Life
- Ascend to the cloud (Atlassian blog)
- Atlassian Rovo MCP overview
- Jira Cloud webhooks
- Import data into Jira
- Integrate Jira with development tools
- Export issues from Jira Cloud in CSV format
- Kuayle source code
Jira details were checked against Jira's own pages on 6 November 2026; Kuayle details against the v0.2.15 source code. Prices are list prices before tax and change over time; the vendor's pricing page is authoritative. This is a snapshot, not an endorsement. Kuayle is developed by Bakney and is not affiliated with Jira. Jira is a trademark of its owner.