Jira is a comprehensive project management platform with advanced workflow customization and reporting, while GitHub Issues is a lightweight, integrated issue tracker built directly into GitHub repositories. Jira excels for large teams managing complex projects, whereas GitHub Issues is ideal for developers who want simplicity without leaving their code hosting platform.
Jira vs GitHub Issues — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Enterprise-grade project management and issue tracking platform by Atlassian with advanced customization.
Lightweight, integrated issue tracking system built natively into GitHub repositories with minimal setup.
Learning Curve & Setup Time. Workflow Customization Depth. Team Size Sweet Spot. Integration with Code Repositories. Advanced Reporting & Analytics. Pricing Model for 50-person Team. Mobile App Experience
Choose Jira if you manage enterprise projects, need advanced agile workflows, require detailed reporting/analytics, or work with teams exceeding 50 members. Choose GitHub Issues if you prioritize simplicity, need seamless code integration, maintain small-to-medium development teams, or want zero additional tooling overhead.
Jira: Full Scrum with sprints, backlogs, velocity tracking | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 50+ developers (enterprise scale) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Highly customizable workflows and fields | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Advanced dashboards, burndowns, velocity charts | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 50-1,000+ | GitHub Issues: 1-50 (optimal < 20)
Jira: Advanced (SOC 2, HIPAA) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Good (Moderate) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Via Everhour API | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: $20,000-30,000 | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Native & advanced | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Enterprise-grade bug tracking | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Deep CI/CD & DevOps integration | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: $14.54/month (Premium) | GitHub Issues: $4-21/month (depends on team size)
Jira: Full agile reporting suite included | GitHub Issues: Not available natively
Jira: Built-in cycle time metrics | GitHub Issues: Absent
Jira: Full cross-project and portfolio reporting | GitHub Issues: Limited to single repository
Jira: External integration via webhooks and apps | GitHub Issues: Native GitHub Actions and seamless linking
Jira: Available at Premium ($14.54/user/month) | GitHub Issues: Enterprise plan only (custom pricing)
Jira: 15-500+ with complex workflows | GitHub Issues: Up to 10 for lightweight tracking
Jira: Steeper learning curve, more heavyweight | GitHub Issues: Lightweight, integrated within GitHub
Jira: 1000+ apps in Marketplace | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Steep (Advanced features require training) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Via marketplace add-ons | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Native with Confluence, Bitbucket, and 400+ apps | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Small (1-10) to Enterprise (1000+) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 60-80% of teams require professional services | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Project Management & Issue Tracking | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Full sprint planning with burndown charts and velocity tracking | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Limited to issue descriptions and project documentation | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Issue and project-level search capabilities | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Standard mobile interface for viewing and managing issues | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 10+ users for optimal use | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Seamless integration with Confluence for context and documentation | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: iOS, Android, native apps | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Native GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket support | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Pages (limited collaboration) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Advanced with burndown charts | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Code-based scripting and automation | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Up to 10 (limited features) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: ~500 integrations | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Issue tracking, sprint planning, agile boards | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Requires third-party tools (Jenkins, GitHub Actions) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Data Center available (enterprise) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Full support (Scrum, Kanban, custom) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Deep two-way integration | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: No (requires Bamboo/Jenkins) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: No (Bitbucket integration required) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Advanced (unlimited custom fields, swim lanes, automation) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Unlimited (1000+) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Advanced Agile Features (Sprint Velocity Tracking)
Jira: Advanced with historical trending | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Limited offline access | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Native deep integration (GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, etc.) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Limited automation rules, requires plugin marketplace | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Yes - up to 10 users | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Integration only | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 100+ templates | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 20 requests/second | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, Scrumban | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 30+ (burndown, velocity, CFD, etc.) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Native sprint planning, capacity planning, scope management | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Free tier for up to 10 users | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 3,000+ apps | GitHub Issues: 500+ integrations (via GitHub Actions)
Jira: 50+ to unlimited | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: ~3000 integrations | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Varies by plan | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Web app + Jira Mobile (limited) | GitHub Issues: Web-responsive only
Jira: 1,000+ people | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: $7.16 (Standard) - $29 (Enterprise) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 40+ (burndown, velocity, CFD, sprint) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Unlimited with Jira Automation + Scripts | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 1000+ (higher tiers unlimited) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Unlimited in free tier | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: $775 (Standard tier at $7.75/user) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Requires external Git hosting integration | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 100+ custom field types with plugins | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 180+ million monthly active users | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Security scanning via Atlassian plugins ($8-15/month extra) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 8-16 hours to configure workflow rules and custom fields for development team | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 5,000+ users per instance; proven at 50,000+ enterprise deployments | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: $25 (Standard tier) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Yes (burndown, velocity, retrospectives) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Native (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure Repos) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 500+ native fields | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Board, list, timeline, calendar, dashboard (5 types) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 7 (challenging) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Advanced sprints, velocity, burndown, capacity planning | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Native bidirectional sync, commit linking | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Bitbucket only (requires separate setup) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Yes (Jira Data Center, $20k+/year) | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: Unlimited custom fields, workflows, automation | GitHub Issues: N/A
Jira: 40-60 hours | GitHub Issues: 2-4 hours
Jira: Unlimited (20+ standard) | GitHub Issues: 2 (open/closed only)
Jira: Burndown, velocity, sprint reports, JQL dashboards, cycle time | GitHub Issues: Project insights, basic charts, no velocity/burndown
Jira: Yes (iOS/Android, full-featured) | GitHub Issues: No (web-responsive only)
Jira: Requires plugins (Bitbucket native, GitHub requires setup) | GitHub Issues: Native (automatic PR/issue linking, same platform)
Jira: Unlimited (conditional logic, webhooks) | GitHub Issues: Limited (basic auto-assign, comment templates)
Jira: N/A | GitHub Issues: 4 types (labels, milestones, assignees, projects)
Jira: N/A | GitHub Issues: GitHub Actions + manual triggers
Jira: N/A | GitHub Issues: 1 (GitHub only)
Jira: N/A | GitHub Issues: 3 (Open, In Progress, Done)
Jira: N/A | GitHub Issues: Basic (limited actions)
Jira: N/A | GitHub Issues: Up to 50 (performance degrades beyond)
Jira: N/A | GitHub Issues: Notifications only
Jira: N/A | GitHub Issues: $0 (included)
Jira: N/A | GitHub Issues: Labels only (limited structure)
Jira: N/A | GitHub Issues: Native (same platform)
Jira: N/A | GitHub Issues: No (via project boards only)
Jira: N/A | GitHub Issues: Basic (labels, assignment)
How to choose between Jira and GitHub Issues
Jira vs GitHub Issues — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Jira vs GitHub Issues. Contains 181 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Jira vs GitHub Issues — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Jira vs GitHub Issues.
Can GitHub Issues scale to manage 500+ concurrent issues across multiple teams?
GitHub Issues becomes difficult to manage beyond 100 concurrent issues due to lack of advanced filtering, custom workflows, and no native burndown/velocity tracking. For 500+ issues, Jira's custom dashboards, JQL queries, and sprint-specific metrics make issue triage vastly more efficient. GitHub Issues is designed for small-to-medium repositories (< 50 issues per sprint).
Does GitHub Issues support Scrum or Kanban workflows?
GitHub Issues supports basic Kanban via Project Boards (columns represent workflow states). However, it lacks Scrum-specific features like sprint planning, velocity tracking, burndown charts, and commitment-based sprint cycles. Jira natively supports both Scrum (with backlog refinement, sprint planning, burndown) and Kanban (with WIP limits, cycle time metrics).
Is Jira worth the cost for a 15-person startup?
No. A 15-person startup should use GitHub Issues (free, integrated) or Plane/Linear (lightweight, $50-100/month). Jira's $500/month cost, 50-hour onboarding, and enterprise-focused features create unnecessary overhead. Start with GitHub Issues, migrate to Jira only when managing 10+ concurrent projects with strict workflow/reporting requirements.
Can Jira and GitHub Issues be used together?
Yes. Many teams use GitHub Issues for development tracking (linked to PRs/commits) and Jira for cross-team project management, roadmaps, and executive reporting. However, this creates duplicate issue entry and synchronization overhead. Atlassian's GitHub integration allows read-only syncing of GitHub issues into Jira, but the reverse (Jira → GitHub) requires third-party tools like Zapier.
Which tool has better integrations with other software?
Jira has 3,000+ integrations (Slack, Confluence, Bitbucket, Salesforce, Zendesk, etc.) via the Atlassian Marketplace. GitHub Issues integrates natively with 200+ apps (Slack, Discord, GitLab, GitKraken, linear.app) plus any service supporting webhooks. For enterprise use, Jira's integration ecosystem is richer; for developers, GitHub's webhook-based approach is simpler.
How to Choose Between Jira and GitHub Issues
Learning Curve & Setup Time: Jira has 40-60 hours for full mastery, while GitHub Issues has 2-4 hours to basic proficiency.
Workflow Customization Depth: Jira has Unlimited custom workflows, fields, and automation rules, while GitHub Issues has Limited to labels, milestones, assignees, and basic automation.
Team Size Sweet Spot: Jira has 10+ members (scales to 1000+), while GitHub Issues has 1-50 members (optimal < 20).
Consider: Integration with Code Repositories
Integration with Code Repositories: Jira has Requires plugins/configuration, while GitHub Issues has Native integration within GitHub, automatic PR/issue linking.
Consider: Advanced Reporting & Analytics
Advanced Reporting & Analytics: Jira has Burndown charts, velocity tracking, custom dashboards, JQL queries, while GitHub Issues has Basic insights, project boards, no velocity/burndown metrics.
Consider: Pricing Model for 50-person Team
Pricing Model for 50-person Team: Jira has $2,450/month (Premium tier, 50 users), while GitHub Issues has $0-$210/month (GitHub Pro/Enterprise, included).
Mobile App Experience: Jira has Full-featured native iOS/Android apps, while GitHub Issues has Web-responsive only, no native mobile app.