Linear costs nothing on its Free plan, then $10 per user per month for Basic and $16 per user per month for Business, both billed yearly. Enterprise pricing is custom and annual-only. Monthly billing exists at a higher per-seat rate. You pay for every unsuspended member in the workspace, in any role.
That is the short version. The longer version matters, because the plan names tell you almost nothing about where teams actually feel the squeeze. After running Linear across a few engineering teams, the tier that trips people up is rarely the one they expected, and the billing mechanics behind annual seats deserve more attention than the price tag itself.
What each Linear plan actually gives you
Free is genuinely usable, not a demo. You get unlimited members, 2 teams, 250 issues, a 10MB per-file upload cap, plus core issues, projects, cycles and initiatives. Linear’s agent platform and the Linear Agent are included here too, which surprises people who assume all AI sits behind a paywall. The 250-issue ceiling is the real constraint, and it counts non-archived issues only.
Basic ($10/user/month, billed yearly) removes the issue cap, raises you to 5 teams, adds unlimited file uploads, admin roles and one level of sub-teams. This is the tier for a team that has stopped prototyping and started shipping. What Basic does not include catches people out: no private teams, no guest accounts, no Insights, no Linear Asks.
Business ($16/user/month, billed yearly) is where most growing product orgs land. You get unlimited teams, private teams, guest accounts, five levels of sub-teams, Linear Insights (dashboards and progress reporting), Linear Asks (Slack, email and web-form intake), Triage Intelligence, Code Intelligence (beta), Linear Agent automations (beta), and the Zendesk and Intercom integrations. If you need reporting for engineering leads or a proper intake queue, this is the floor.
Enterprise (custom, annual billing only) is the security and administration tier. It adds SAML SSO and SCIM provisioning, granular admin controls, IP restrictions, domain claiming, audit log, HIPAA compliance, invoice and PO billing, advanced org modeling, priority support and an account manager. Linear does not publish an Enterprise number, so treat any specific per-seat figure you see quoted online as a guess.
Linear pricing plans compared
| Plan | Price (billed yearly) | Teams | Issues | File upload | Notable gating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2 | 250 | 10MB/file | Agent platform, Linear Agent, Google SSO |
| Basic | $10/user/mo | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Admin roles, sub-teams (1 level) |
| Business | $16/user/mo | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Private teams, guests, Insights, Linear Asks, Triage Intelligence, sub-teams (5 levels) |
| Enterprise | Custom (annual only) | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | SAML + SCIM, audit log, IP restrictions, HIPAA, priority support |
Figures are from Linear’s official pricing page. The $10 and $16 rates assume yearly billing; monthly billing is available at a higher per-seat rate that Linear does not list publicly, so budget a premium if you want the flexibility of paying month to month.
What free-plan teams hit first
It is almost never the member count. Unlimited members means your whole team can be in the workspace on day one. The wall is the 250-issue cap. An active team files bugs, chores and feature tickets faster than it closes them, and archiving only buys so much room before it becomes a chore in itself. Most teams shipping weekly cross 250 non-archived issues within the first month or two.
The second constraint is the 2-team limit. Frontend and backend can share a workspace comfortably, but the moment you add a design, mobile or DevOps team, you are over the line and looking at Basic. If a genuinely free option is your priority right now, compare Linear against the strongest free project management tools before you commit, because Linear’s free tier is deliberately shaped to move active teams onto Basic.
When Basic is enough, and when it is not
Basic is the right stopping point more often than sales-oriented guides admit. If your team runs sprints, tracks issues and plans with projects and cycles, Basic covers it. Projects, cycles and initiatives are core features available on every plan, including Free, so upgrading to Business purely to get roadmapping is a mistake. You already have it.
Business earns its extra $6 per seat in three situations: you need Insights dashboards because an engineering manager reviews velocity and throughput; you want Linear Asks to turn Slack messages and emails into triaged issues; or you need private teams and guest accounts to bring contractors or clients in without exposing everything. If none of those apply, the jump from Basic to Business is money spent on capacity you will not touch. For context on how that per-seat math compares elsewhere, it is worth checking ClickUp’s pricing tiers and Notion’s paid plans, both of which bundle features differently.
One honest downside: AI. Linear’s agent platform and the Linear Agent are on Free, but the more advanced pieces, Triage Intelligence and the beta Code Intelligence and agent automations, are Business features, and coding sessions require separate AI credits on top of your plan. If AI-assisted triage is central to your pitch for Linear, price the credits in, not just the seats.
The billing details that catch teams out
Linear bills for every unsuspended user in any role, so seats you forgot to suspend keep costing money. The mechanics differ by billing frequency, and the annual behavior is where surprises live.
On monthly billing, adding users mid-month does not trigger a charge until the following month, and removing a user mid-month does not generate a credit for the remainder of that month. Simple, slightly in your favor when removing.
On annual billing, every change is pro-rated. Adding a seat mid-year creates a pro-rated charge covering the rest of your subscription year, reconciled on your next monthly billing cycle as a true-up invoice. Suspending a seat creates a pro-rated credit, but that credit is applied to future invoices and renewals, never refunded as cash. Invoices are final once issued and Linear does not edit or cancel them. There are no refunds for cancelling mid-subscription either, which is the strongest argument for starting on monthly billing until you are certain, then switching to annual once your headcount is stable.
Cancellation has a sting worth planning for. If you cancel and your workspace holds more than 250 issues, you can no longer create new issues, though nothing is deleted, and all members revert to Admins because everyone is an Admin on Free. Full mechanics are in Linear’s billing and plans documentation.
How to change your Linear plan or billing
- Open Linear and go to Settings, then Workspace, then Plans.
- Choose the plan you want and select Change plan (or Contact sales for Enterprise).
- Pick your billing frequency, Monthly or Yearly, on the checkout screen.
- If you are buying as a company, select I’m purchasing as a business to add a VAT number and billing details.
- Confirm payment. To manage invoices later, go to Settings, then Workspace, then Billing to update your card, change the billing email or download past invoices.
- To downgrade or cancel, return to Plans and select the lower tier or Cancel. The change takes effect at the end of your current billing period, not immediately.
Discounts worth knowing about
Linear runs three programs that quietly cut the bill. Full-time students get a 100% discount for a year and university staff get 75% off, both on Basic and Business, applied by emailing from a .edu address. Registered nonprofits get 75% off Basic and Business. Startups affiliated with a Linear partner can get up to six months free on Basic or Business. None of these apply to Enterprise, but for eligible teams they change the calculation entirely.
Frequently asked questions
Is Linear free forever?
Yes. The Free plan has no time limit and supports unlimited members, 2 teams and 250 non-archived issues. For a small early-stage team it is a legitimate long-term option, not a trial. The usual triggers to upgrade are crossing 250 issues, needing more than 2 teams, or wanting Insights, Linear Asks or guest accounts.
Does Linear give a discount for annual billing?
The published $10 Basic and $16 Business rates are the yearly-billed prices. Monthly billing is available but costs more per seat, and Linear does not publish the exact monthly figure. If you are unsure about committing to a full year, start monthly, since there are no refunds for cancelling an annual plan partway through.
Is SAML SSO available on the Business plan?
No. Google SSO is available on Free, Basic and Business, but SAML SSO and SCIM provisioning are Enterprise-only. If your IT policy mandates SAML for every SaaS tool, or you need automated onboarding and offboarding through your identity provider, you are looking at Enterprise. Budget for it early, because negotiating it retroactively is slower.
How are Linear seats actually counted?
You are billed for every unsuspended user in any role in the workspace. Suspending someone stops future billing and, on annual plans, generates a pro-rated credit toward future invoices rather than a cash refund. Removing a monthly user mid-cycle does not credit the rest of that month, so tidy up seats before your billing date.
Do I lose my data if I downgrade to Free?
No. Cancelling or downgrading deletes nothing. The catch is that if your workspace holds more than 250 issues, you cannot create new issues until you archive down below the cap or upgrade again. Everyone also becomes an Admin, since all users are Admins on the Free plan. Existing issues and projects stay intact.
If you are weighing Linear mainly for its sprint workflow, the plan you need often comes down to how you run cadences, which is covered in more depth in our guide to how Linear cycles work for sprint planning. Match the tier to the feature you will genuinely use, not the one with the longest bullet list.
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