Short answer
GitHub Issues is our top pick for small businesses, scoring 87/100 when price and ease of use carry more weight. Paid plans start at $4/user/mo (GitHub Team; Enterprise $21. Issues and Projects are on the Free plan).
This list uses the same tools and ratings as our main issue tracking tools ranking, reweighted for teams of roughly 1 to 50 people: price and ease of use count for more, and enterprise depth counts for less. Tools that score 70 or higher on the small-business weights are included.
The reviews
Starting price$4/user/moGitHub Team; Enterprise $21. Issues and Projects are on the Free plan
Free trial / planFree plan (Issues and Projects included)
Main score84/100
GitHub Issues and Projects are GitHub's built-in tracking tools, included on every plan. Projects offers table, board and roadmap layouts, iteration fields, built-in workflows and charts. GitHub Team ($4 per user a month) adds protected branches and required reviewers for private repositories; Enterprise ($21) adds SAML SSO and the audit log API.
Who it's best for
Engineering teams that already host code on GitHub and want issues linked to pull requests without a second tool.
Strengths
- Issues and Projects included on the Free plan
- Rated 4.7/5 on G2
- Roadmap layout and iteration fields in Projects
Watch-outs
- Fewer workflow and permission controls than Jira
- Projects allow up to 50 fields
- SAML SSO needs Enterprise ($21)
Skip it if: Non-engineering teams will file and track most of the work.
Read our full GitHub Issues review →
Starting price$10/user/moBasic, billed yearly; Business $16
Free trial / planFree plan (unlimited members, 2 teams, 250 issues)
Main score86/100
Linear is an issue tracker built around cycles (1- to 8-week sprints where unfinished issues roll over automatically) and projects. Free covers 2 teams and 250 issues; Basic ($10 per user billed yearly) removes the issue limit and allows 5 teams; Business ($16) adds Insights, Linear Asks, guest accounts and triage rules.
Who it's best for
Startups and product engineering teams that want a fast, keyboard-driven tracker with sensible defaults.
Strengths
- Cycles roll unfinished issues over automatically
- Unlimited members on every plan, including Free
- Rated 4.6/5 on G2, the second highest here
Watch-outs
- Free plan stops at 250 issues
- Insights need Business ($16); dashboards, SAML and audit log need Enterprise
- Monthly prices aren't listed on the pricing page
Skip it if: You need heavily customized workflows and permissions per project.
Read our full Linear review →
Starting price$4.50/user/moCloud, billed annually from 11 users ($5.40 monthly)
Free trial / planFree plan (up to 10 users, full features)
Main score85/100
YouTrack is JetBrains' issue tracker and project management tool, with agile boards, a knowledge base and a helpdesk. It's free for up to 10 users; paid Cloud plans start at $4.50 per user a month billed annually ($5.40 monthly), and every plan includes the full feature set and AI Assistance at no extra cost.
Who it's best for
Teams that want Jira-style depth without per-plan feature gates, especially those already using JetBrains IDEs.
Strengths
- Full feature set on every plan, including free
- 25 users cost $1,350 a year billed annually
- Built-in helpdesk free for 3 agents
Watch-outs
- Paid plans start at 11 users
- Fewer third-party integrations than Jira or GitHub
- Smallest G2 review base here (60 reviews)
Skip it if: Your code lives in GitHub and you want issues next to pull requests.
Read our full YouTrack review →
Starting price$8.50/user/moTeam; Business $12; yearly billing saves up to 25%
Free trial / planFree plan (10 users); 14-day trial, no card
Main score81/100
Shortcut (formerly Clubhouse) is an issue tracker with stories, epics, iterations and docs. Free covers 10 users and 1 team; Team ($8.50 per user) allows up to 5 teams and adds automations; Business ($12) adds objectives and key results, the metrics dashboard and advanced custom fields, with SAML SSO as an add-on.
Who it's best for
Small and mid-size product teams that want iterations, epics and docs in one simple tool.
Strengths
- Free plan for 10 users with iterations and docs
- Free read-only Observer seats on paid plans
- 14-day trial without a card
Watch-outs
- Automations need Team; metrics dashboard needs Business
- SAML SSO is an add-on on Business
- No pro-rated refunds on cancellation
Skip it if: You need deep cross-team portfolio planning.
Read our full Shortcut review →
Starting price$6/user/moAzure DevOps Basic; first 5 users free
Free trial / planFree plan (first 5 users)
Main score83/100
Azure Boards is the work-tracking part of Azure DevOps Services, with backlogs, sprint planning, Kanban and scrum boards, and dashboards. The Basic plan is $6 per user a month with the first 5 users free, and it includes Azure Pipelines (1,800 free minutes a month on one Microsoft-hosted job) and Repos.
Who it's best for
Teams building on Microsoft's stack, or companies that want boards, repos and pipelines from one vendor.
Strengths
- First 5 users free
- Backlogs, sprints and dashboards included
- Links GitHub commits and pull requests to work items
Watch-outs
- Interface is heavier than Linear or GitHub
- Basic + Test Plans is $52 per user a month
Skip it if: You don't use Microsoft tools and want a tracker that stands on its own.
Read our full Azure Boards review →
Starting price$9.70/user/moStandard, billed monthly for 1 to 100 users; annual $950/yr for 10 users; Premium $19.60
Free trial / planFree plan (10 users, 2 GB); paid-plan trials
Main score87/100
Jira is Atlassian's issue and project tracker for software teams. The free plan covers 10 users and 2 GB of storage; Standard ($9.70 per user monthly) adds 250 GB and 1,700 automation rule runs a month; Premium ($19.60) adds advanced planning, a sandbox, unlimited storage, a 99.9% uptime SLA and 24/7 support.
Who it's best for
Engineering organizations with several teams that need configurable workflows, permissions and cross-team planning.
Strengths
- Free plan for 10 users
- Advanced planning, sandbox and 99.9% uptime SLA on Premium
- Annual pricing drops to $950 a year for 10 users on Standard
Watch-outs
- List prices rose on Oct 13, 2026 (Standard $9.05 to $9.70 per user monthly)
- Premium costs about twice Standard
- More configuration than lighter tools
Skip it if: You're a small team that wants a fast, opinionated tracker with little setup.
Read our full Jira review →
Starting price$29/user/moPremium, billed annually; Ultimate by quote
Free trial / planFree plan (5 users per group); free trial of paid plans
Main score79/100
GitLab is a DevOps platform with source control, CI/CD and issue tracking in one app. Free covers 5 users per top-level group, 400 compute minutes and 10 GiB of storage; Premium ($29 per user billed annually) adds epics, 10,000 compute minutes and 500 GiB, plus 12 GitLab Duo AI credits per user a month for a limited time.
Who it's best for
Teams that want code, pipelines, security scanning and issues in a single platform.
Strengths
- Issues, CI/CD and code in one platform
- 10,000 compute minutes on Premium
- Rated 4.5/5 on G2 across 902 reviews
Watch-outs
- Epics need Premium ($29 per user)
- Free plan caps a group at 5 users
- Most expensive entry price here if you only need tracking
Skip it if: You only need an issue tracker and already host code elsewhere.
Read our full GitLab review →
How we weighted this list
| Criterion | Main ranking | Small business |
|---|
| Issue tracking & workflows | 25% | 17% |
| Agile planning | 20% | 14% |
| Dev integrations & automation | 15% | 10% |
| Reporting | 10% | 7% |
| Ease of use | 15% | 26% |
| Price & value | 15% | 26% |
FAQ
What are the best issue tracking tools for small businesses?
GitHub Issues scores highest (87/100) once price and ease of use carry more weight, followed by Linear, YouTrack.
How is this different from your main ranking?
Same tools and the same 0 to 5 ratings, but price and ease of use count for more, because small teams rarely have an admin or a big budget. The weights are in the table on this page. GitHub Issues move into the top three as a result.
Which issue tracking tools are cheapest for a small team?
See the starting prices in the comparison table; free plans and trials are listed next to them. Price the plan that covers your team size, not only the entry plan.
What should a small business look for?
A free plan or low entry price, quick setup without an admin, and the two or three features you need on day one. Avoid paying for enterprise controls you won't use yet.
Vettlo Editorial TeamResearched and written by the Vettlo editorial team using our methodology. Prices and plan details come from each vendor's public pricing page.