Teams leave Jira for different reasons: cost, complexity, slowness, or simply tired of stitching Jira, Confluence and a handful of apps together. The right alternative depends on which of those matters most. This guide compares the tools teams shortlist most often.
The overview
| Starlex | Jira | Linear | ClickUp | Trello | Asana | monday.com | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kanban boards | Yes, live for everyone | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sprints and backlog | Yes | Yes | Cycles | Yes | No | No | Via templates |
| Workflow rules on transitions | Yes, with a visual editor | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Gantt chart | Yes, every project | Timeline, Plans on top tiers | Project timeline | Yes | Paid plans | Yes | Yes |
| Docs | Yes, built in | Confluence | Project documents | Yes | No | Limited | Workdocs |
| Whiteboards | Yes, live with issue cards | Confluence | No | Yes | No | No | Separate app |
| Diagram editor | Yes, draw.io style | Apps | No | No | No | No | No |
| Team calendars | Yes, with .ics feeds | Apps | No | Calendar view | Calendar view | Calendar view | Calendar view |
| SLA targets | Yes, every project | Service Management | No | No | No | No | No |
Starlex
Starlex is a cloud project tracker built for teams that like what Jira can do and dislike how it feels. You get boards, a backlog, sprints, epics and Jira-style workflow rules, and next to them whiteboards with live cursors, a diagram editor, notes, calendars and a Gantt chart. Everything shares one set of people and permissions, so nothing needs linking together. Read Starlex vs Jira.
Linear
Linear is loved for its speed and keyboard driven design, and its GitHub integration is excellent. It is also deliberately narrow: simple statuses, cycles instead of sprints, and no whiteboards, diagrams or calendars. Read Starlex vs Linear.
ClickUp
ClickUp tries to be everything, from tasks to chat to goals, with dozens of views. That breadth is its appeal and, for many teams, its biggest cost: more settings to learn and more places for work to hide. Read Starlex vs ClickUp.
Trello
Trello, also from Atlassian, is the simplest way to run a Kanban board. Teams usually outgrow it the day they need sprints, epics or rules about how work moves. Read Starlex vs Trello.
Asana and monday.com
Both are general work management platforms aimed at every department. They are strong for marketing and operations plans, and less natural for bugs, sprints and releases. Starlex vs Asana and Starlex vs monday.com.
Is Starlex self-hosted?
No. Starlex runs in the cloud at starlex.org, so there are no servers to buy, patch or back up. Sign up and your first project is ready in under a minute.
How to choose
Import one real project into your two favourites and run a sprint in each. The tool your team keeps up to date without reminders is the winner, and that is exactly what Starlex is designed for.