YouTrack vs Jira

From $4 per user/month (indicative, decreasing with volume)

From $8 per user/month (Standard, indicative)

Among the cheapest per-user trackers, and the self-hosted licence is affordable.

The base price is reasonable; the cost comes from Marketplace apps, which frequently exceed the Jira licence itself.

Free for up to 10 users, cloud or self-hosted.

Free for up to 10 users with core features.

Established

JetBrains · since 2008

Category standard

Atlassian · since 2002

• The command and query syntax makes bulk triage dramatically faster than clicking.
• Self-hosting is genuinely supported and reasonably priced.
• Free for ten users including on-premises.

• Configurable enough to model almost any process, including regulated workflows.
• The largest integration ecosystem in the category by a wide margin.
• Universal familiarity — new hires already know it.

• Smaller integration ecosystem than Jira.
• The interface is dense and takes time to learn.
• Less common, so new hires need onboarding.

• Configurability reliably degrades into slow, over-customised instances nobody wants to own.
• Performance on large instances is a recurring complaint.
• Marketplace app costs compound quickly.

Teams that triage a lot of issues and want self-hosting without enterprise pricing.

Organisations that need process flexibility and integration breadth above all else.