Atlassian's issue and project tracker, the industry standard for software teams. Free for 10 users, then per-user pricing with Marketplace add-on costs and Cloud vs Data Center confusion.
Advertised Price
$8
/month
Estimated True Cost
$546
/month (typical usage)
Surprise Factor
67.0×
more than expected
Confidence
82%
Data source: manual
What the pricing page doesn't tell you
Free plan caps at 10 users with limited storage (2GB) and no audit logs. Team of 11 must jump to Standard at $8.15/user/mo — instant $89.65/mo cost from $0.
Trigger: users > 10
+$0
/monthly
Most teams need 3-5 Marketplace apps (Tempo Timesheets $10/user, Zephyr Scale $10/user, BigPicture $10/user). Adds $30-50/user/mo on top of base license.
Trigger: marketplaceApps > 0
+$30
/monthly
Jira's flexibility is a curse — workflow customization, permission schemes, and field configurations require a dedicated Jira admin. Many orgs hire a part-time admin ($500-2,000/mo) or consultant ($150/hr).
Trigger: users > 50
+$500
/monthly
Atlassian sunsetted Server licenses. Data Center starts at $42,000/yr (500 users). Cloud Enterprise pricing is custom and non-transparent, with forced annual contracts.
Trigger: deployment == 'datacenter'
+$0
/monthly
Advanced Roadmaps, IP allowlisting, sandbox environments, and 99.9% SLA require Premium at $16/user/mo — nearly double Standard. Most growing teams hit these needs within 6 months.
Trigger: advancedFeatures > 0
+$8
/monthly
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per mo) | Key Limits | Overage Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Free | $0 | $0 |
| No overages |
StandardPOPULAR per user | $8 | $8 |
| No overages |
Premium per user | $16 | $16 |
| No overages |
Enterprise per user | $0 | $0 |
| No overages |
Jira Free works for up to 10 users but lacks advanced permissions, audit logs, and automation limits are tight. Standard at $8.15/user/mo and Premium at $16/user/mo seem fair, but Marketplace apps (Tempo Timesheets, BigPicture, Zephyr) add $5-30/user/mo each. Enterprise requires Data Center or Cloud Enterprise at custom pricing.
Jiraoffers a free plan, but with significant restrictions. Here's exactly what you get — and what forces you to upgrade.
⚠️ When you'll need to upgrade:
Most teams outgrow the free plan within 1-3 months. The first paid tier (Standard) costs $8/mo.
⚠️ When you'll need to upgrade:
Most teams outgrow the free plan within 1-3 months. The first paid tier (Standard) costs $8/mo.
Jiracharges per user. Here's what your team will actually pay at different sizes.
| Team Size | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $8.15/mo | $16/mo |
| 3 users | $24.45/mo | $48/mo |
| 5 users | $40.75/mo | $80/mo |
| 10 users | $81.5/mo | $160/mo |
| 25 users | $203.75/mo | $400/mo |
| 50 users | $407.5/mo | $800/mo |
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