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Technology · head to head

Jira vs PagerDuty

Jira logo

Jira

Technology

The #1 software development tool used by agile teams

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PagerDuty logo

PagerDuty

Technology

Real-time operations for real-time business

From
$21/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Jira has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Jira free tier strictly limited to 10 users with only 2 GB storage; unsuitable for growing teams; PagerDuty aIOps, status pages, and live call routing are expensive add-ons not included in base plans, significantly increasing total cost
  • They diverge on capability: Jira covers Scrum boards, PagerDuty covers Incident response.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Jira and PagerDuty actually diverge.

Attributes where Jira and PagerDuty differ
AttributeJiraPagerDuty
Starting priceFree$21/month
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsCloud, WebWeb, Ios, Android, Api
Founded20022009

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Technology).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Jira

  • Scrum boards
  • Kanban boards
  • Roadmaps
  • Agile reporting
  • Custom workflows
  • Issue tracking
  • Sprint planning
  • DevOps integration

Only in PagerDuty

  • Incident response
  • On-call management
  • Alert grouping
  • Escalation policies
  • Mobile incident management
  • Postmortems
  • Status pages
  • Event intelligence

Both cover

  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams
  • SOC2
  • ISO27001
  • GDPR
  • HIPAA

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Jira

  • Software development teams leveraging AI-powered Rovo for trend analysis and bottleneck identificationnot PagerDuty
  • Organisations requiring integrated issue tracking, project planning, and team alignment toolsnot PagerDuty
  • Enterprises with 1,000+ users needing advanced analytics, security controls, and custom deployment optionsnot PagerDuty

PagerDuty

  • Incident managementnot Jira
  • On-call schedulingnot Jira
  • Real-time alertingnot Jira
  • Service reliabilitynot Jira
  • Digital operationsnot Jira

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Jira

  • Free tier strictly limited to 10 users with only 2 GB storage; unsuitable for growing teams
  • Per-seat pricing ($7.91–$14.54/user/month) accumulates significantly for large teams; 50-person team costs £3,955–7,270 monthly
  • Enterprise tier requires annual billing and sales contact; no transparent per-user pricing available
  • Premium features (cross-team planning, advanced automation) available only at $14.54/user/month tier or above

PagerDuty

  • AIOps, status pages, and live call routing are expensive add-ons not included in base plans, significantly increasing total cost
  • Complex escalation policies require workarounds for scheduling patterns beyond basic weekly rotations
  • 5-user minimum requirement forces costs even for small teams, with forced Business tier upgrades adding $12,000+ annually for larger teams

Pricing, plan by plan

Jira

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 10 users
    • 2 GB storage
    • 100 automation rule runs per month
  • Standard$7.91/user/month
    • Up to 100,000 users per site
    • 250 GB storage
    • 1,700 automation rule runs per month
  • Premium$14.54/user/month
    • Unlimited storage
    • 1,000 rule runs per month per paid user
    • 70 credits per user monthly for Rovo
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • 150 credits per user monthly for Rovo
    • Multiple sites (up to 150)
    • Unlimited automation rule runs

PagerDuty

$21/month

No published plan breakdown. See the PagerDuty review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Jira if

  • You need scrum boards.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Web.
  • You also want kanban boards.
Jira review

Choose PagerDuty if

  • You need incident response.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want on-call management.
PagerDuty review

Questions people ask

Is Jira or PagerDuty better?
Neither clearly leads. Jira starts at Free and PagerDuty at $21/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Jira or PagerDuty?
Jira has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Jira and $21/month for PagerDuty.
Does Jira or PagerDuty run on more platforms?
Jira runs on Cloud, Web. PagerDuty runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
Can I use Jira for free?
Yes. Jira has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. PagerDuty starts at $21/month.
What is Jira best used for?
Jira is most often used for software development teams leveraging ai-powered rovo for trend analysis and bottleneck identification, organisations requiring integrated issue tracking, project planning, and team alignment tools, enterprises with 1,000+ users needing advanced analytics, security controls, and custom deployment options. Of those, software development teams leveraging ai-powered rovo for trend analysis and bottleneck identification and organisations requiring integrated issue tracking, project planning, and team alignment tools are not what PagerDuty is typically brought in for.
What can Jira do that PagerDuty cannot?
Jira covers Scrum boards, Kanban boards, Roadmaps, Agile reporting. PagerDuty covers Incident response, On-call management, Alert grouping, Escalation policies. Both handle Slack, Microsoft Teams, SOC2, ISO27001.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Jira: What is Jira's free tier?

Jira's Free plan supports up to 10 users, includes 2 GB storage, allows 100 automation rule runs per month, and provides community support only. Ideal for small teams or evaluation.

Source
PagerDuty: What is the minimum cost to use PagerDuty?

PagerDuty requires a minimum of 5 users per account. The Professional plan starts at $21 per user per month ($105/month minimum), with annual billing providing 16% discount.

Source
Jira: How much does Jira Standard cost?

Jira Standard costs $7.91 per user per month and includes 250 GB storage, 1,700 automation rule runs per month, Rovo Search/Chat/Agents, and 9/5 regional support with 2-hour response time for critical issues.

Source
PagerDuty: What integrations does PagerDuty support?

PagerDuty integrates with 750+ monitoring, ticketing, and collaboration tools including Datadog, Slack, Jira, ServiceNow, New Relic, and Nagios.

Source
Jira: What is included in Jira Premium?

Jira Premium costs $14.54 per user per month and includes unlimited storage, 1,000 rule runs per user per month, 70 monthly Rovo credits, 24/7 support with 1-hour critical response, and 99.9% uptime SLA.

Source
PagerDuty: How much does AIOps cost in PagerDuty?

AIOps Intelligence is sold separately as an add-on starting at $699 per month, and is not included in any of the base plans.

Source
Jira: Does Jira offer an Enterprise plan?

Yes, Jira Enterprise is available with custom pricing (contact sales). It includes up to 150 sites, 150 monthly Rovo credits per user, unlimited automation runs, 24/7 support with 30-minute critical response, and 99.95% uptime SLA.

Source
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