Atlassian makes great tools. Jira, Confluence, Trello. Millions of people use them.

But for small teams, they’re often overkill. Too complex, too expensive, too much overhead.

Here are alternatives that might fit better.

Why Teams Leave Atlassian

Common complaints:

Complexity: Jira has approximately 47,000 configuration options. Small teams don’t need that.

Cost: Free tiers are limited. Paid plans add up fast as you grow.

Speed: Jira can be sluggish. Death by a thousand slow page loads.

Administration: Someone has to manage all those workflows and permissions.

If you’re an enterprise with dedicated admins and complex workflows, Jira makes sense. If you’re a 5-person startup, there are better options.

The Alternatives

Linear ($8/user/month)

Best for: Engineering teams who want simplicity

Linear is what Jira should have been. Fast, beautiful, opinionated. You can’t configure everything, which is actually a feature.

Works great for: Issue tracking, sprint planning, roadmaps Doesn’t do: Heavy customization, complex workflows

Our engineering team switched from Jira. Nobody misses it.

Notion ($10/user/month)

Best for: Teams who want everything in one place

Notion isn’t a project management tool. It’s a flexible workspace that can be a project management tool if you set it up that way.

Works great for: Documentation + basic tasks, flexible workflows Doesn’t do: Advanced sprint planning, time tracking

Good if you also need a wiki/docs solution.

Asana (Free for up to 15 users)

Best for: Cross-functional teams with marketing/ops

More visual than Jira, less complex. Good balance of features and usability.

Works great for: Task management, cross-team projects, timelines Doesn’t do: Deep engineering workflows

The free tier is genuinely useful for small teams.

Trello (Free for basic use)

Best for: Simple kanban workflows

Ironic since Atlassian owns Trello, but the standalone product is simpler than Jira. Just cards and boards.

Works great for: Basic kanban, visual task management Doesn’t do: Complex projects, reporting

If your workflow is simple, Trello keeps it simple.

Height (Free up to 5 users)

Best for: Startups who want AI features

Newer player with AI built in. Helps with task descriptions, suggestions, organization.

Works great for: Modern teams who want AI help, clean interface Doesn’t do: Enterprise complexity

Worth a look if you’re evaluating new options.

GitHub Projects (Free with GitHub)

Best for: Engineering teams already on GitHub

If your code is on GitHub, Projects is free and integrated. Not as polished as Linear but costs nothing extra.

Works great for: Issue tracking, basic project management Doesn’t do: Non-engineering workflows

If you just need basic issue tracking, start here.

Replacing Confluence

Confluence alternatives:

Notion: The obvious choice. Flexible, good-looking, familiar.

Slite: Simpler than Notion, focused on docs. Good for teams who don’t need flexibility.

GitBook: Great for technical documentation specifically.

Coda: Powerful like Notion with different strengths in formulas/automation.

For most small teams, Notion replaces both Jira and Confluence.

The Migration Question

Worried about migration? Here’s reality:

Jira data export: It’s possible but messy. You’ll probably rebuild rather than migrate.

Losing history: You might. Accept this and move on, or export to archive.

Team retraining: Simpler tools mean faster retraining. Usually 1-2 weeks to adjust.

The switching cost is real but usually worth it if your current tools aren’t working.

My Recommendation

For teams under 10 people:

Engineering-focused: Linear Cross-functional: Notion or Asana Minimal needs: GitHub Projects or Trello

For teams 10-50: Start evaluating whether you actually need Jira complexity. You might. Most don’t.

For enterprise: Yeah, you probably need Jira. Sorry.

The Honest Assessment

Atlassian tools aren’t bad. They’re just built for different problems than most startups have.

Use tools that match your current size and complexity. Not tools that match where you hope to be in five years.

You can always upgrade later. You can’t get back the hours lost configuring enterprise software you didn’t need.