Comparison
Glattice vs Jira
The short version
| Dimension | Jira | Glattice |
|---|---|---|
| Board structure | Columns plus swimlanes; the swimlane field is configured per board. | Two axes. Any facet on the rows, any other on the columns. |
| Changing the question | Reconfigure the board; swimlane and column fields are not interchangeable in one action. | Swap the axes in one click; the same cards re-sort. |
| Public API | Extensive REST API and a large marketplace. | REST, 76 documented endpoints, not tier-gated. |
| AI agents | Rovo and Atlassian’s own AI surface; MCP support via Atlassian’s connectors. | Remote MCP server over OAuth 2.1; agents read and write the same board. |
| Change history | Full issue history and audit log. | Append-only, tagged with the interface behind each change. 30 days on Free. |
| Seats | Every user is a paid seat above the free tier. | Viewers and billing-only members are free; you pay for people who edit. |
| Entry price | Free up to 10 users; paid from around $8/user/month. | Free for 5 boards per space; Pro $5/month. |
Where Jira is strong
A comparison that concedes nothing is not worth reading, so here is the honest read on where Jira earns its place — and where the two of us are simply built for different jobs.
- A real workflow engine — transitions, conditions, validators — and the agile reporting apparatus around sprints, points and releases.
- Enterprise governance: SSO, audit logs, data residency, and a marketplace of thousands of apps.
- Deep configurability for organisations that have someone whose job is to configure it.
Where Glattice is different
Configuration cost, and what the axes are for. In Jira the second dimension is a board setting; in Glattice both axes are facets and either can be exchanged for another in one click, so the board is a lens rather than a configuration. The other difference is who the API is for: Glattice’s own interface runs on its public REST API with direct database access banned in CI, and its MCP server is a thin adapter over that same API — so an agent is a first-class user rather than an integration with a subset of the features.
Moving from Jira
Export issues from Jira as CSV and import them, mapping two columns to the axes. Titles, descriptions and whichever two fields you choose as axes come across, and everything you import can be exported again as JSON or CSV on any plan — including Free.