Why Atlassian changed the rules in 2026
Two Atlassian decisions changed the calculation for all Data Center users.
First: since 17 February 2026, renewals rose by 15%. Second: since 30 March 2026, new Jira Data Center licences cannot be purchased. EOL is set for 28 March 2029 for existing licences.
What self-hosting provides versus an imposed Cloud
- No per-seat subscription: fixed VPS cost.
- Data on your infrastructure: no third-party transfer.
- SSO and permissions under your control: LDAP, SAML, OIDC.
- Open API: full REST API for CI/CD pipelines.
- Updates at your pace: no forced vendor migration.
- Import from Jira XML: preserves issues, comments and metadata.
- AGPL-3.0 licence: auditable code.
Plane in 2026 — features and Jira parity
Plane has surpassed 30,000 GitHub stars and covers the real operational needs of development teams and agencies: issue tracking, sprints, delivery cycles, modules (Jira epics equivalent), Kanban and Gantt views, customisable workflow states.
Plane vs Jira Data Center — functional comparison
| Feature | Jira Data Center | Plane (self-hosted) |
|---|---|---|
| Issue tracking | Yes — customisable fields, sub-tasks | Yes — customisable fields, sub-issues |
| Agile sprints | Yes — full Scrum dashboard | Yes — cycles |
| Epics / groupings | Yes — epics and components | Yes — modules |
| Kanban and Gantt views | Yes | Yes — multiple views |
| Customisable workflows | Yes — advanced transition editor | Yes — configurable states |
| CI/CD integrations | Yes — GitLab, GitHub, Jenkins | Yes — via REST API and webhooks |
| Import from Jira | — | Yes — native XML import |
| SSO / LDAP | Yes | Yes — LDAP, SAML, OIDC |
| Licence | Commercial — per-seat subscription | AGPL-3.0 — free to self-host |
VPS prerequisites for Plane
Minimum (up to 15 people): 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 20 GB SSD. Recommended (15–50 people): 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 40 GB SSD. Docker Engine 24+, Docker Compose v2, HTTPS reverse proxy.
Migrating from Jira to Plane — overview
Export your data from Jira
Go to Project settings → Export, choose the full XML export.
Provision the VPS and deploy Plane
Use the ServOrbit template or follow Deploy Plane on a VPS.
Import the Jira export into Plane
Go to Settings → Importers → Jira, upload the XML archive.
Reconfigure workflows and members
Recreate roles and invite team members by email.
Connect SSO and CI/CD integrations
Configure your identity provider and reconnect CI/CD pipelines.
Validate and cut the Jira connection
Run both in parallel during validation. See Migrate from Jira to Plane for the full procedure.
Multi-client management from the ServOrbit agency dashboard
The ServOrbit agency dashboard lets you provision one VPS per client with Plane deployed on each, from a single centralised control panel.
Back up before any migration
Export a full backup: docker compose exec -T postgres pg_dump -U plane plane > backup-plane-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.
Troubleshooting Plane — common errors
Error: Cannot find module '@plane-web/editor' — Force update: docker compose pull && docker compose up -d --force-recreate.
502 Bad Gateway — Wait 60–90 seconds after startup, check docker compose logs plane-frontend.
CSRF verification failed — Set CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://plane.your-domain.com in .env.
Attachment uploads fail — Check volume uploads mount and container user write permissions.
Celery workers not processing — Check docker compose ps | grep beat, then docker compose restart beat worker.
Conclusion
The closure of Jira Data Center to new customers since 30 March 2026, combined with the 15% renewal increase, makes the calculation clear. Plane covers essential needs with AGPL-3.0 and fixed infrastructure cost. EOL is 28 March 2029.
- Deploy Plane on a ServOrbit VPS
- Migrate from Jira to Plane
- Vikunja as a lighter alternative
