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
Scroll the table
| 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: one VPS per client on your account
You order one VPS per client on your ServOrbit account, at the public price, with Plane deployed on each, and all of them appear in your client area.
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
