8 Best European Alternatives to Jira (2026), Compared

The best European alternative to Jira is YouTrack from JetBrains (Netherlands): issue tracking, Scrum and Kanban boards, Gantt charts, a knowledge base and a helpdesk, free for up to 10 users, with a Jira importer that keeps syncing while you move. If you want open source and European hosting, pick OpenProject from Berlin – self-hosted for free, or in its EU cloud from €5.95 per user a month.

I wrote this ranking for software and product teams who like how Jira works – backlogs, sprints, boards, workflows, reports – but would rather not run their work through Atlassian. Atlassian has its global headquarters in Sydney and a US headquarters in San Francisco, is listed on Nasdaq, and the atlassian.com website runs on Amazon Web Services. On the pricing side, Jira is free for 10 users, but Standard starts at $8.48 per user a month and every paid plan now comes bundled with Atlassian’s Rovo AI. I compared eleven European project management tools and kept eight that can actually carry a Jira workload. For each one you get who is behind it, where it hosts your data, what it costs and what you lose compared with Jira.

What are the best European alternatives to Jira?

If you only have a minute: these are the European tools I would switch to from Jira, in order. Each one is reviewed in detail below.

1. YouTrack (Netherlands) – issue tracker, agile boards, Gantt, wiki and helpdesk in one. Best for most teams leaving Jira.
2. OpenProject (Germany) – open-source agile and classic project management. Best for self-hosting and the public sector.
3. Planio (Germany) – hosted Redmine with issues, Git repositories and help desk. Best for development teams on a fixed budget.
4. Taiga (Spain) – open-source Scrum and Kanban with epics and a wiki. Best for small agile teams.
5. Projektron BCS (Germany) – project management and ERP for service companies. Best for consultancies and engineering firms.
6. Stackfield (Germany) – tasks, Gantt, chat and files with end-to-end encryption. Best for regulated teams that want one tool.
7. awork (Germany) – projects, capacity planning and time tracking. Best for agencies.
8. MeisterTask (Germany) – simple Kanban boards with a free plan. Best for non-technical teams.

Jira alternatives compared

Prices from public pricing pages. Affiliate links and sponsored placements are labelled.

“Data hosted in” shows where each tool’s main domain or app runs, based on a DNS lookup and an ASN check of its IP address (25 Oct 2026). Where the vendor names its data centre, that is shown too.

How I compared the Jira alternatives

I looked at eleven project management tools from the EU and kept eight. The order is driven by how much of Jira you keep after switching, then by privacy and data sovereignty, then by price. Concretely, I weighed five things:

• Feature match with Jira – issues, backlogs, Scrum and Kanban boards, custom workflows, Gantt or roadmaps, and a way to import from Jira.
• Jurisdiction and hosting – where the company is registered, who owns it, and whether the cloud runs on European infrastructure or on AWS or Azure.
• Self-hosting and open source – whether you can run it on your own servers, and under which licence.
• Price – the free tier and the cheapest paid plan per user.
• What users say – ratings on Trustpilot, read together with the number of reviews.

I left out Vikunja and Nextcloud Deck (good to-do and Kanban tools, but no sprints, workflows or reporting), freispace (resource planning for post-production studios) and HelpSpace (a help desk with task boards). They are covered in my ranking of European project management tools. All data comes from the vendors’ own pricing, imprint, security and documentation pages and from Trustpilot, checked on 25 October 2026.

The best European alternatives to Jira, reviewed

Every tool below gets the same treatment: who is behind it, what users say, what it replaces from Jira and what it does not, its pros and cons, and my opinion on who should switch to it.

1. YouTrack

The closest European match for Jira – issues, agile boards, Gantt, knowledge base and helpdesk, free for 10 users

YouTrack is made by JetBrains, the company behind IntelliJ IDEA and Kotlin. JetBrains was founded in Prague in 2000; its corporate overview names JetBrains N.V. in Amsterdam as headquarters and describes the company as privately owned, with about 2,600 employees. One thing to know up front: YouTrack Cloud runs on Amazon Web Services. You choose the region when you create your instance – Frankfurt or Ireland in the EU – and your data stays in that AWS region. If you want no US cloud at all, YouTrack Server runs on your own machines.

What users say. JetBrains has 2.6/5 from 102 reviews on Trustpilot, but that profile covers the whole company and most reviews are about its IDEs and AI subscriptions, not YouTrack.

What it replaces from Jira – and what it doesn’t. YouTrack covers almost everything a Jira team uses day to day: a flexible issue tracker with custom fields and workflows, Scrum and Kanban boards, an interactive Gantt chart, time tracking, a knowledge base that also replaces Confluence for many teams, and a helpdesk with SLAs that replaces Jira Service Management. The Jira importer brings over projects, users, issues, links, attachments, comments, history and logged work, and can keep importing while both systems run side by side. What you lose: boards, dashboards and reports are not imported and must be rebuilt, the marketplace of apps is far smaller than Atlassian’s, and the cloud version depends on AWS.

Facts: HQ Netherlands (Amsterdam), founded in Prague in 2000 · free plan: 10 users, 30 GB, 3 helpdesk agents · Cloud from €4.50 per user a month billed yearly, less for larger teams · Server: free for 10 users, €900 a year for 15 users · 14-day trial with 100 users · SOC 2 compliant · apps for iOS and Android.

Switching from Jira: easy – the built-in importer moves issues with history, and continuous import lets you switch team by team.

My take: YouTrack is the tool I would move a Jira team to first. It does the same jobs – tracking, sprints, roadmaps, documentation, support tickets – and the importer makes the move gradual instead of a big-bang weekend. It sits first because you keep the most of Jira; the AWS hosting is the price of that, and YouTrack Server is the way out if that matters to you. Best for: software teams who want Jira's feature set with a European vendor. Not for: organisations that must avoid US cloud providers entirely and cannot self-host.

Visit jetbrains.com →

Full YouTrack review →

2. OpenProject

Open-source project management from Berlin – agile boards and Gantt, self-hosted for free

OpenProject is developed by OpenProject GmbH in Berlin, led by founder and CEO Niels Lindenthal. The software is licensed under the GPL version 3 and has about 16,000 stars on GitHub. You can run the free Community edition on your own servers or buy the Enterprise cloud. OpenProject says that from March 2026 Scaleway, a French provider, is the sole data centre provider for its EU cloud, and hosting in certified German data centres is available. The openproject.org website itself runs on AWS in Frankfurt.

What users say. OpenProject has 4.4/5 from 11 reviews on Trustpilot – too few to mean much. Reviewers praise fair support, self-hosting and data protection; one found the many configuration options confusing.

What it replaces from Jira – and what it doesn’t. OpenProject handles both agile and classic projects: work packages (its word for issues), backlogs, Scrum and Kanban boards, Gantt charts, roadmaps, time and cost tracking, wikis and meetings. The free Jira Migrator moves projects, issues, descriptions, history, comments, attachments, users and some custom fields. What you lose: the migrator supports only Jira Server and Data Center 10.x and 11.x, not Jira Cloud; issue relations and sprint assignments are not migrated yet; and paid plans start at 25 users.

Facts: HQ Germany (Berlin) · Community edition: free, self-hosted · Basic €5.95, Professional €10.95, Premium €15.95 per user a month, billed yearly · minimum 25 users (100 for Premium) · monthly billing only for Cloud Basic, at €1 extra per user · open source (GPLv3).

Switching from Jira: moderate – easy from Jira Server or Data Center with the migrator, harder from Jira Cloud.

My take: OpenProject is the most sovereign choice in this list: open source, German company, French cloud, and nothing stops you from running it yourself. It is second only because moving from Jira Cloud is still manual and the paid cloud is built for teams of 25 or more. Best for: public bodies and companies that want to self-host or need open source. Not for: small teams on Jira Cloud who want a quick move.

Visit openproject.org →

3. Planio

Hosted Redmine from Berlin – issues, Git repositories and help desk for a flat monthly price

Planio is run by Planio GmbH in Berlin, with managing director Jan Schulz-Hofen; the site has been online since 2009. Planio is based on Redmine, the open-source project management software, and adds hosting, Git and Subversion repositories, a help desk, file storage and team chat. Its servers run at Hetzner in Germany.

What users say. Planio has 4.1/5 from 220 reviews on Trustpilot – the best score in this list with a meaningful number of reviews. Users praise the responsive support and having issues, wiki and repositories in one place; complaints are few, such as wanting more projects per plan.

What it replaces from Jira – and what it doesn’t. Planio gives you configurable issues and workflows by role, an agile Kanban-style board for Scrum sprints, milestones and a Gantt chart, plus Git and Subversion repositories, so it also replaces Bitbucket for many teams. Planio offers free imports of existing data, but does not promise every import will be possible. What you lose: pricing is by plan, not per user, so the number of active projects is capped (3 on Silver, 15 on Diamond), and the Redmine interface feels older than Jira’s.

Facts: HQ Germany (Berlin) · online since 2009 · free Bronze plan: 1 project, 2 users, 1 GB · Silver €19 a month (5 users, 3 projects), Gold €49 (10 users), Diamond €95 (20 users), Platinum €199 (45 users), VAT may apply · month-to-month, cancel any time · free SQL export when you leave.

Switching from Jira: moderate – Planio’s team helps with the import, but your boards and workflows need rebuilding.

My take: Planio is the honest workhorse of this list: German hosting, Redmine under the hood, and the happiest users. It is third because the plan limits and the older interface mean you give up more of Jira’s polish than with YouTrack or OpenProject. Best for: small development teams who want issues and code hosting in Germany. Not for: large organisations with many parallel projects.

Visit plan.io →

4. Taiga

Open-source Scrum and Kanban from Spain, with epics, sub-tasks and a wiki

Taiga started at a hackathon at Kaleidos in 2013 and won “Best Agile Tool” at the 2015 Agile Awards. Its privacy policy names two joint controllers: the Spanish branch of Kaleidos Inc. in Madrid and Taiga Cloud Services S.L. in Vigo. The code is open source under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, and the cloud runs on servers of the Spanish provider Aitire.

What users say. Taiga has 2.5/5 from only 5 reviews on Trustpilot. One reviewer calls it a capable open-source Jira alternative; the negative reviews are about a refund dispute and are too few to judge.

What it replaces from Jira – and what it doesn’t. Taiga covers the agile core of Jira: a backlog with sprint planning, epics and sub-tasks, estimations, Kanban boards with swimlanes and WIP limits, issues, a wiki and custom reports. You can switch a project between Scrum and Kanban. What you lose: there is no Gantt chart or portfolio planning, the free cloud plan is tiny, and I could not confirm a Jira importer on Taiga’s current pages.

Facts: HQ Spain (Madrid and Vigo) · started 2013 · free plan: 1 private project, 3 members, 300 MB · paid: $5 per member a month on a $60 yearly plan, or $7 monthly · education and NGO: $1 per user a month · self-hosting free · open source (MPL 2.0).

Switching from Jira: moderate – setup is quick, but plan on moving your backlog by hand or with your own scripts.

My take: Taiga is what many teams actually use Jira for – a backlog and a board – without the weight. It is fourth because it stops there: no timelines, no portfolio view, and the free cloud is only enough to try it. Best for: small agile teams and open-source projects. Not for: teams that need roadmaps and cross-project planning.

Visit taiga.io →

5. Projektron BCS

German project management and ERP for service companies, with a Jira interface

Projektron BCS is made by Projektron GmbH in Berlin. The company says more than 850 companies use BCS, and it is sold as an on-premises licence or as SaaS. Projektron’s website is hosted by the German provider dogado; the pricing page does not say where the SaaS version is hosted.

What users say. Projektron has no reviews on Trustpilot yet.

What it replaces from Jira – and what it doesn’t. BCS is much broader than Jira: Scrum and Kanban, project planning and controlling, time and expense recording, resource planning, CRM, quotes, invoicing with e-invoicing, and a ticket system. It also connects to Jira Server and Jira Cloud, so development teams can keep Jira while management plans in BCS. What you lose: it is not a lightweight developer tool, there is no free plan, and pricing for the full edition is a licence purchase.

Facts: HQ Germany (Berlin) · BCS licence €300–350 per user, perpetual · SaaS: 5% of the licence price per user · BCS.light: €200 per licence, or €20 per licence a month as SaaS with a 6-month minimum · licensed per user who logs in within 24 hours · prices excl. VAT.

Switching from Jira: hard – it is a company-wide system, usually introduced with consulting and training.

My take: Projektron BCS is the pick when Jira was never the whole story – when you also track hours, budgets and invoices. It ranks fifth because it replaces much more than Jira and takes a real project to introduce. Best for: consultancies, engineering firms and IT service companies. Not for: a developer team that only needs a board.

Visit projektron.de →

6. Stackfield

Tasks, Gantt, chat and files in one German tool with end-to-end encryption

Stackfield GmbH is based in Munich, managed by Cristian Mudure, and says it has been trusted by over 10,000 companies since 2012. Data is stored on German servers; Stackfield holds ISO 27001, 27017 and 27018 certificates and a BSI C5 attestation. Its website runs on the network of the German provider SOPRADO.

What users say. Stackfield has only 1 review on Trustpilot, which criticises the support – far too few to judge.

What it replaces from Jira – and what it doesn’t. Stackfield combines task management (list, Kanban with swimlanes, Gantt, custom fields, workflows, time tracking) with team chat, video calls, pages, whiteboards and file storage, all with optional end-to-end encryption. What you lose: it has no backlog or sprint planning and no developer integrations like code repositories, so it fits business teams better than software teams.

Facts: HQ Germany (Munich) · since 2012 · Starter €9, Business €14, Premium €18, Enterprise €28 per user a month billed yearly, excl. VAT · Starter max. 10 users · 14-day free trial · ISO 27001, BSI C5 · on-premises available.

Switching from Jira: moderate – tasks can be imported, but the way of working is different.

My take: Stackfield replaces Jira and Slack at once for business teams that care about compliance. For a software team it is the wrong shape – no sprints – which is why it is sixth here. Best for: lawyers, public bodies and regulated teams who want chat and tasks in one. Not for: Scrum teams.

Visit stackfield.com →

7. awork

Project, capacity and time planning for agencies, from Hamburg

awork GmbH was founded in 2019 in Hamburg by Tobias Hagenau, Lucas Bauche and Nils Czernig. It is VC-funded and reports €12 million in funding and 50+ employees. awork says it is hosted on ISO 27001-certified Microsoft servers in Germany; the app runs behind Microsoft’s Azure Front Door, so it depends on a US cloud.

What users say. awork has 4.4/5 from 28 reviews on Trustpilot.

What it replaces from Jira – and what it doesn’t. awork covers projects and tasks, capacity planning with workload views, time tracking and reports, retainer budgets, docs and automations – the things agencies bolt on to Jira with add-ons. What you lose: no Scrum backlog or sprints, no developer integrations of Jira’s depth, and the cloud runs on Azure.

Facts: HQ Germany (Hamburg) · founded 2019 · Basic $6, Standard $12, Professional $22 per user a month billed yearly ($8, $16, $25 monthly), excl. VAT, as shown to me on its pricing page (the page title says from €5) · free trial · ISO 27001.

Switching from Jira: moderate – a different model built around people’s capacity rather than issues.

My take: awork is the tool I would suggest to an agency that ended up in Jira by accident. It plans people, not tickets. It is seventh because it is not a Jira replacement for developers and its hosting is on Azure. Best for: agencies and client-service teams. Not for: software teams running Scrum.

Visit awork.com →

8. MeisterTask

Simple Kanban boards with a free plan, hosted in Frankfurt

MeisterTask is made by MeisterLabs GmbH in Vaterstetten near Munich, managed by Till Vollmer – the company behind MindMeister. MeisterTask says its servers are in an ISO 27001-certified data centre in Frankfurt, Germany; its website runs behind Cloudflare.

What users say. MeisterTask has 2.3/5 from 55 reviews on Trustpilot. Users like the design; the complaints are about cancellations, auto-renewals and features moved to paid plans.

What it replaces from Jira – and what it doesn’t. MeisterTask gives every project a customisable Kanban board, with a timeline, time tracking, recurring tasks, automations and integrations. The free plan has unlimited tasks and team members across 3 projects. What you lose: no backlog, sprints or issue types, subtasks and custom fields only from Business, and imports only from Asana and Trello.

Facts: HQ Germany (Vaterstetten) · free plan: 3 projects, unlimited tasks · Pro €12.50, Business €24 per user a month billed yearly (€15.50 and €31 monthly), excl. VAT · ISO 27001 · data centre in Frankfurt.

Switching from Jira: moderate – easy to start, but no Jira importer.

My take: MeisterTask is a pleasant board for teams that only used Jira because IT picked it. It cannot replace Jira for software work, which is why it closes the list. Best for: marketing, HR and other non-technical teams. Not for: developers.

Visit meistertask.com →

What European project management tools cost compared with Jira

Jira is free for 10 users and then charges per user. YouTrack’s free plan matches that, and most European tools charge less per user than Jira Standard. OpenProject and Taiga can also be self-hosted for free.

Prices as shown on each vendor’s pricing page on 25 October 2026, in the currency shown there, excluding VAT where the vendor says so. Jira’s price is the monthly Standard price at the page’s default team size.

How to switch from Jira to a European project management tool

1. Clean up first. Archive dead projects and close stale issues in Jira – there is no point migrating clutter.
2. Export users and run a test import. YouTrack needs a user CSV from Atlassian Administration for Jira Cloud; OpenProject’s migrator works with Jira Server and Data Center. Import one project and check fields, statuses and attachments.
3. Rebuild boards and dashboards. No tool imports Jira boards or dashboards, so recreate the few your team really uses.
4. Run both systems for a sprint. YouTrack’s continuous import keeps the new system up to date while teams move over one by one.
5. Switch integrations and read-only Jira. Move Git, CI and chat integrations, then set Jira to read-only before you cancel it.

Jira alternatives: FAQ

My verdict: which European project management tool to switch to

Most software teams leaving Jira should start with YouTrack: it does the same jobs, the free plan covers 10 users, and the importer lets you move gradually. If you want open source and European hosting, or you are a public body, choose OpenProject and run it yourself or in its Scaleway-hosted cloud. Small development teams that want everything in Germany for a flat price will be happy with Planio.

Whatever you choose, test with one project first, rebuild only the boards you really use, and keep Jira read-only for a few weeks – that makes the switch painless.