The Linear alternative for teams whose assignees are agents.

Linear is the best project tracker built for human product teams, and it's adding agents fast. AIDEN starts from the other end: a board that lives inside the coding workspace, where agents are the default assignees and every card has a branch, a worktree, a spec gate, and a diff.

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Quick answer

Linear is excellent, mature software, and in 2026 it repositioned as "the product development system for teams and agents": Linear for Agents lets you delegate issues to Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Devin, and others from its agent directory, agents aren't billable seats, and June 2026 added Coding Sessions with prepaid AI credits. But structurally, Linear is a human-first tracker with agents retrofitted, the human stays primary assignee, the agent is added as a contributor, and the code lives somewhere else. AIDEN is agents-first: the board lives in the coding workspace itself. Every story card has a git branch, a local worktree, an enforced spec approval gate, and a reviewable diff, and the default assignee is a Claude Code or Codex agent running on your machine.

Linear in one line: Best-in-class project tracker for human product teams, repositioned 2026 as "the product development system for teams and agents"
Linear for Agents: Delegate issues to Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Devin, and others; human stays primary assignee; agents aren't billable seats
Claude Code in Linear: No native integration in the agent directory; open feature request, third-party bridges exist
AIDEN in one line: Agents-first board inside the coding workspace: every card has a branch, worktree, spec gate, and diff
Linear pricing: Free / Basic $10 / Business $16 per user/mo; Coding Sessions with prepaid AI credits (June 2026)
AIDEN pricing: Free for 1 project, Solo $19/mo, $169 lifetime, Team $10/seat/mo (min 3)

Stick with Linear when

You need mature roadmapping, triage, and cycles for a large human team, Linear does this better than anything else.
You rely on Linear's deep ecosystem integrations, GitHub, Slack, Figma, support tools.
You want a polished web and mobile PM experience for stakeholders who never touch code.
Your agents already live in Linear's directory (Cursor, Codex, Devin) and issue delegation from the tracker fits your flow.

Switch to AIDEN when

Your assignees are mostly coding agents, and you want the board where the code is, not a tracker that points at it.
You want board, code, and review in one desktop app: card, branch, worktree, terminal, diff, PR.
You want an enforced spec-approval step before any agent writes code, not just a well-written issue description.
You want local-first and BYOK, agents run through your own Claude Code and Codex CLIs on your machine.
Team mode at $10/seat/mo gives you shared boards and review queues without per-agent pricing questions.

Linear vs AIDEN, side by side

Across 10 features · AIDEN 4 · Linear 1

Feature	Linear	AIDEN
Built for agent assignees	Agents as contributors; human stays primary assignee	Agents are the default assignees
Board + code in one app	No, tracker links out to your repo and tools	Yes, card, worktree, diff, PR in one window
Enforced spec approval gate	No	Yes
Git worktree per story	No	Yes
Runs Claude Code	No native integration (open feature request; third-party bridges)	Yes
Runs OpenAI Codex	Yes, via agent directory integration	Yes
Human PM depth (triage, projects, docs)	Yes, best in class	Basic, board-centric
Cycles and roadmaps	Yes	No
Local-first	No, cloud service	Yes, desktop app, code never leaves your machine
Pricing	Free / Basic $10 / Business $16 per user/mo	Free, Solo $19/mo or $169 lifetime, Team $10/seat/mo (min 3)

Switching from Linear?

Download AIDEN free and bring your existing Claude Code or Codex setup. Runs on macOS in minutes, no credit card required.

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Free to start · macOS 12+ · No credit card required

A switcher's take

I didn't drop Linear, it still runs our company-level planning, roadmap, cycles, the issues our PMs and support team file. What moved to AIDEN is the execution layer: the stories that agents actually implement. In Linear, delegating to an agent means writing an issue, handing it to a directory integration, and waiting for activity in another tool. In AIDEN, the card is the worktree: I approve a spec, an agent codes on its own branch, and the diff is one click away. It's not either/or, Linear plans, AIDEN ships.

Linear vs AIDEN, FAQ

Is AIDEN a full Linear replacement?

Honestly, no, not for human project management depth. Linear's triage, cycles, roadmaps, and ecosystem integrations are mature and excellent, and AIDEN doesn't try to match them. AIDEN replaces the agent-execution layer: the board where coding agents pick up stories, work on isolated worktrees, and produce PRs. Many teams run both, Linear for planning, AIDEN for agent execution.

Can Linear assign issues to Claude Code?

Not natively. Linear's agent directory covers Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Devin, and others, but there's no official Claude Code integration today, an open feature request exists, and third-party bridges fill the gap. AIDEN runs Claude Code as a first-class engine: every story can be assigned to a Claude Code agent (or a Codex agent) with no bridge involved.

Doesn't Linear for Agents make a separate agent board unnecessary?

Linear for Agents is real and well designed: delegate an issue, the agent works and reports back, and agents aren't billable seats. The difference is where the work happens. Linear stays a tracker, the code, branches, and diffs live in other tools. AIDEN puts the board inside the coding workspace, so approving a spec, watching the agent, and reviewing the diff happen in one desktop app.

How does pricing compare?

Linear is Free / Basic $10 / Business $16 per user per month, and delegated agents aren't billable seats (Coding Sessions use prepaid AI credits). AIDEN is Free for 1 project, Solo $19/mo or a one-time $169 lifetime, and Team at $10/seat/mo (min 3), with model usage flowing through the Claude Code / Codex plans you already have.

Can my non-technical teammates use AIDEN like they use Linear?

AIDEN's team mode gives shared boards and review queues, but it's a desktop coding workspace at heart, stakeholders who just want to file and track requests will be happier in Linear. That's exactly why the two pair well: planning and stakeholder visibility in Linear, agent execution in AIDEN.

Keep reading

Issue tracking for AI agents

Why agents need trackers more than humans do, and what an agent-native tracker looks like.

Project management for AI agents

Not AI helping PMs, PM for teams where the assignees are coding agents.

Linear + Claude Code

How to connect them today, and the shortcut: a board and agents in one app.

AI kanban for developers

One board where every agent is a card with a branch, a status, and a diff.

Stop chatting. Start shipping.

Try AIDEN free. Bring your existing Claude Code or Codex setup.

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