Is Jira free? What it actually costs in 2026
Jira Cloud is free for up to 10 users. Self-hosted Jira has been closed to new customers since 30 March 2026.
Jira Cloud Free supports up to 10 users at no cost, indefinitely. It is a real product tier, not a trial that expires.
Atlassian closed Jira Data Center to new customers, ending self-hosted Jira as something you can purchase.
Every team that needs Jira on its own infrastructure — for data residency, air-gapped networks, or a regulator who requires it — is now looking for something else. This stopped being a preference question in March; the door is shut. Teams already on Data Center have until March 2029, which is a migration horizon rather than a comfortable one.
What the free tier actually includes
- 10 users maximum
- 2 GB total file storage
- 100 automation rule runs per month
- Community support only, with no SLA
Where the wall is
The eleventh user. There is no gradual degradation here: you either fit inside ten seats or you move to Standard and start paying for every seat, including the ten that were free the day before.
After that: Standard $7.91 per user per month and Premium $14.54 per user per month on annual billing, as of June 2026. A team of twelve on Standard pays roughly $1,140 a year for what cost nothing at ten.
Can you self-host Jira? No longer sold
Jira Server was discontinued on 15 February 2024. Data Center replaced it, and Atlassian stopped selling Data Center to new customers on 30 March 2026 — so if you did not already own it, you cannot buy self-hosted Jira at any price. Existing customers can renew and expand until 30 March 2028, and Data Center reaches end of life on 28 March 2029.
When paying is still the right call
If your organization is deep in the Atlassian ecosystem — Confluence, Jira Service Management, marketplace apps — the switching cost is real, and Jira's free 10-user cloud tier remains a fair deal for a tiny team.
What you are locked into
Projects, issues, workflows, custom fields, automation rules, and dashboards live inside Jira, and on Cloud they reside in Atlassian's environment. Jira provides exports (CSV, and JSON/backup formats) and a REST API, so data is retrievable, but migrating a mature instance to another tool generally means re-mapping workflows, fields, permissions, and automations rather than a clean one-click transfer. Teams also commonly depend on Marketplace apps and tight integration with the broader Atlassian suite, which deepens switching cost. The self-managed Data Center edition reduces cloud dependence but still ties you to Atlassian's annual licensing and pricing.
If you would rather not pay: OpenProject
OpenProject
GPL-3.0 self-hosted project management with Gantt, agile boards, and portfolio features in the free Community Edition.
Free to self-host (Community Edition, GPL-3.0); paid Enterprise cloud/on-premises tiers from about €5.95/user/month for premium and security add-ons
See all 4 Jira alternatives comparedCompare the free options head-to-head
Read from Atlassian's own pricing and documentation on 2026-08-17 — 26 days ago. Vendors change prices without notice; confirm before you commit.