Jira alternative
The Jira alternative with time and billing built in.
See every hour logged against a task. Bill from approved time. One flat price.
Quick answer
52 wordsIf your team needs task management with time tracking on every task and billing built in, switch to Airtask. Airtask runs projects, tasks and sprints natively, logs hours against each task, and calculates cost from approved timesheets. Everything Jira makes you buy a Marketplace app for, time, billing and timesheets, is in the base plan, flat per workspace.
The short version
Four reasons teams go looking for a Jira alternative.
Cost climbs with every hire.
Jira Standard runs about $7.91 per seat per month, and time tracking means paying again per seat for a Marketplace app like Tempo.
Built for admins.
Jira pays off when someone owns the configuration. Smaller teams carry that setup overhead without ever using the depth.
Heavy for non-engineers.
Powerful for engineers. A lot of tool for marketing, ops and cross-functional teams sharing the same boards.
The Data Center clock is real.
If your team runs on Jira Data Center, Atlassian ends support on 28 March 2029. That date is already on the calendar.
Head to head
Where each platform is stronger.
Four places teams feel the difference, every day.
01Time tracking on tasks
Airtask wins02Project cost and profit
Airtask wins03Flat pricing, not per seat
Airtask wins04Timesheets, standups and docs in one
Airtask winsComparison
Jira vs Airtask.
What changes when your tasks are backed by logged hours.
Task structure
- Jira
- Issues, epics, sub-tasks
- Airtask
- Projects, tasks, child tasks
Task fields
- Jira
- Type, assignee, status, priority, story points
- Airtask
- The same fields, plus time estimate and billing type
Time tracking
- Jira
- Manual worklog entry
- Airtask
- Logged against the task with a timer, reconciled with timesheets
Advanced filtering
- Jira
- JQL query language
- Airtask
- Visual builder: Where, Field, Condition, Value
Billing models
- Jira
- Not built in. Needs Tempo or a similar app
- Airtask
- Non-billable, time-based, fixed, mixed, inherited
Cost tracking
- Jira
- Not built in
- Airtask
- Calculated from approved timesheet time
Sprints
- Jira
- Built in
- Airtask
- Built in
Marketplace / plugins
- Jira
- Thousands of apps, often needed for time tracking, reporting and automation
- Airtask
- A smaller integration list. Time, billing and standups ship in the base product
Docs / notebook
- Jira
- Confluence, a separate product and a separate bill
- Airtask
- Project Notebook, linked to tasks
Pricing
Flat per workspace. Not per head.
Jira charges for every seat. Airtask charges for the workspace, and the whole team is in.
200 people on Jira Standard is about $1,582 a month before a time-tracking app. On Airtask Plus it's $49.
* Jira per-seat prices are third-party figures confirmed before publish; the receipt assumes the Standard rate above.
Same task structure. Real hours underneath.
Keep the projects, tasks and child tasks your team already knows. Airtask adds logged time and approved timesheet hours beneath them, so the numbers in your reports are the hours people actually worked, not typed estimates.
Will my team have to relearn task management?
No. Projects, tasks, child tasks, with the same fields as Jira: assignee, status, priority, story points, dates. Nothing to unlearn.
What powers the reports?
Logged time and approved timesheet hours, not typed estimates. The number in the report is the number the team worked.
How much of Jira do I give up on day one?
None. Jira Sync keeps both live during migration, so you move one project at a time. It carries core fields and worklogs only, not custom fields, sprints or dependencies.
The platform
Three things built into Airtask that Jira leaves to Marketplace apps.
Time tracked on the task, not next to it.
Open a task and see every hour logged against it: who, when, how long. Task hours and timesheet hours reconcile automatically, so reports and cost math use the same numbers.
- JiraManual worklog entry. Timesheets and billing come from Tempo or another Marketplace app.
- AirtaskTimer and timesheets in the base product. Every hour reconciles with the task.
Billing that lives inside the project.
Pick a billing model per project: non-billable, time-based, fixed, mixed or inherited. Override the rate per team member. Project cost calculates from approved time.
- JiraNo native billing. Needs Tempo or another Marketplace app.
- AirtaskFive billing models, a per-member rate override, cost from approved time.
Filter tasks without a query language.
Build filters visually with Where, Field, Condition and Value, using is, contains, does not contain or exactly contains. Switch views without leaving: List for tracking, Board for flow, Calendar for planning, Notebook for notes.
- JiraJQL. Powerful for power users, a steep learning curve for everyone else.
- AirtaskA visual filter builder and four views, with no query language to learn.
Who switches
Who actually needs to switch.
Teams without a dedicated engineering workflow.
If you don't need deep sprint planning and backlog grooming, Jira's depth is overhead you pay for and never use.
Teams that need time and cost on one tool.
If hours live in one tool and project cost in another, Airtask puts logged time and cost on the same board and ends the reconciliation.
Teams billing clients by the hour.
Built-in billing models and cost from approved timesheets replace the spreadsheet you use to work out what to bill.
Migration
From Jira export to your first project.
Set up your workspace.
Create projects and invite your team. No admin approval needed to start.
Recreate or import your task structure.
Projects, tasks and child tasks map to how most Jira boards are already organized.
Turn on billing and time tracking.
Set a billing model per project and start logging real hours from day one.
Fast for the default view. Full team and billing configuration takes one to two days.
Ready to see what your tasks actually cost?
Put time, tasks and billing on one board, at one flat price.
Book a demoFAQs
The questions teams evaluating Jira alternatives actually ask.
Which Jira alternative has native time tracking on tasks?
A few do it credibly. Airtask puts time tracking, sprints and billing in the base product. ClickUp includes native time tracking in its workspace. Jira itself needs Tempo or a similar Marketplace app.
Can Airtask handle sprints natively?
Yes. Scrum and Kanban boards, sprints, a backlog and sprint reports (completion, spillovers, velocity) all ship natively, with time tracking and billing on top.
Does Airtask replace Jira's board and backlog?
Yes. List, Board, Calendar, sprints and a backlog cover day-to-day work, with time tracking and billing on top that Jira leaves to paid apps.
How does Airtask pricing compare to Jira?
Jira charges per seat, around $7.91 per user per month on Standard. Airtask is flat per workspace: Plus is $49 a month for up to 200 people. Your bill doesn't move when you hire.
Does Airtask include timesheets and billing without add-ons?
Yes. Timesheets with approvals and five billing models are in the base product. In Jira, those are paid Marketplace apps such as Tempo, billed per user on top.
Why do teams switch from Jira to Airtask?
To get time tracking, timesheets and billing in the base product instead of paying for Tempo and other Marketplace apps on top, at one flat price instead of per seat.