Atlassian makes great tools. They also make it easy to over-buy.

I’ve used their full suite and their minimal suite. Here’s what startups should actually pay for.

The Atlassian Portfolio

Jira: Project/issue tracking ($8.15/user/month) Confluence: Wiki/documentation ($6.05/user/month) Trello: Kanban boards ($6/user/month Standard) Bitbucket: Code hosting ($3/user/month) Jira Service Management: Support tickets ($22.05/agent/month)

Plus a dozen other products I won’t cover.

What Most Startups Actually Need

Under 10 people? You need:

• A way to track tasks
• A place for documentation
• Code hosting

That’s it.

The Minimal Setup

Trello + Notion + GitHub

Trello for tasks: Free tier handles most early startups.

Notion for docs: Free for small teams. Better than Confluence for most use cases.

GitHub for code: Industry standard. Better ecosystem than Bitbucket.

Total cost: $0 (or minimal)

This works until you hit 15-20 people or need specific integrations.

When Jira Makes Sense

Jira is powerful. It’s also complex.

Use Jira when:

• You have multiple dev teams needing coordination
• You need detailed sprint planning and reporting
• Your workflow requires custom statuses and automations
• You’re doing Agile “by the book”

Skip Jira when:

• You have one dev team
• Simple kanban is enough
• You don’t have someone who’ll configure it properly
• You value simplicity over features

Misconfigured Jira is worse than a whiteboard. It requires ongoing attention.

When Confluence Makes Sense

Use Confluence when:

• You’re already on Jira (the integration is excellent)
• You need structured documentation with permissions
• You have 20+ people and need findability

Skip Confluence when:

• You’re under 15 people
• Notion or Google Docs meets your needs
• You won’t invest in information architecture

Confluence without organization is a graveyard. Pages go to die.

The Hidden Cost: Configuration

Atlassian tools require setup. A lot of it.

Jira projects need:

• Workflow configuration
• Field setup
• Permission schemes
• Automation rules
• Integration configuration

Budget 20-40 hours for initial setup. More for ongoing maintenance.

If you don’t have someone who enjoys this, Atlassian becomes a mess quickly.

The Startup Tier

Atlassian offers free tiers for small teams:

• Jira Free: Up to 10 users
• Confluence Free: Up to 10 users
• Trello Free: Unlimited users (limited features)

These are genuinely useful. The limitations are reasonable for early startups.

My Recommendation by Stage

Pre-revenue / <5 people: Trello + Notion + GitHub. All free tiers. Don’t overthink it.

Early revenue / 5-15 people: Add Jira Free if you need better sprint tracking. Or stick with Trello. Confluence or Notion for docs.

Growing / 15-30 people: Jira Standard + Confluence Standard makes sense. The coordination overhead justifies the tooling.

30+ people: Full suite probably. But also consider Linear, Shortcut, or other modern alternatives to Jira.

What I Use Now

Jira for development tracking. We’re past the simple Trello phase.

Notion for documentation. Prefer it to Confluence.

GitHub for code. Not interested in migrating to Bitbucket.

Trello for quick boards (marketing campaigns, hiring pipeline).

I pay for what I need. Not the full suite discount.

The Bottom Line

Atlassian tools are professional-grade. They can grow with you.

But they’re not necessary early. Simpler tools work until they don’t.

Adopt Atlassian when complexity requires it, not when you want to feel enterprise.