project management tool · head to head
Linear vs monday.com
Comparison Summary
Linear scored 6.5 and monday.com scored 6.5 on our project management tool test script.
Linear: Linear is the fastest and lightest app we have tested in this category, and its AI agent is free and got everything right. But it is a tool for software teams, and it shows: there is no calendar view or task-level timeline, no rule builder, no plain CSV import, and the free plan makes every invited person an admin.
monday.com: monday.com did nearly everything in our script well: a clean 200- and 500-row import, working dependencies and automations, and the most accurate AI assistant in this category so far. But almost all of it ran on the automatic Pro trial. The free plan is two seats and three boards with no automations, no calendar or Gantt and no AI, so most teams will be paying.
Editor's Verdict
Choose Linear if…
Best for: Software and product teams who live on the keyboard and want a fast issue tracker with a capable free AI agent.
- Very fast: usable about 5 seconds after launch with roughly 0.55 GB of memory, the lightest app in the category
- Linear Agent is included on the free plan; its summary and overdue answer were accurate and it made real sub-issues
- Keyboard shortcuts for every field, natural-language due dates
Choose monday.com if…
Best for: Teams ready to pay for a polished, flexible work-management tool with strong imports, automations and AI.
- Excellent CSV/Excel import: 200 rows in about 10 s and 500 in about 20 s, with statuses, dates and priorities
- Strict dependencies that move dependent tasks when a date changes
- Automations fired in about a second and a half
Head to Head
Why Linear wins overall while monday.com leads on more axes: the axes are not weighted equally. Linear’s 3.5-point lead on Value for money (7.5 against 4.0, counted 2×) outweighs monday.com’s smaller leads on Ease of use, Views & flexibility, Automation & AI, and Integrations. The weights are the same for every project management tool and published on How we test.
Task by task
The same prompts, pasted word for word into each app on a clean Windows 11 PC. On the 8 tasks both apps were graded on, Linear completed 3 and monday.com completed 3.
| Task | Linear | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| P1 · Build a project | Pass≈ 18 min | Pass≈ 15 min |
| P2 · Views | Partial≈ 3 min | Partial≈ 4 min |
| P3 · Rules | Partial≈ 5 min | Partial≈ 7 min |
| P4 · 200-row import | Fail≈ 10 min | Pass≈ 3 min |
| P5 · Scale | Pass≈ 45 s import | Pass≈ 2 min |
| P6 · Permissions | Partial≈ 3 min | Partial≈ 3 min |
| P7 · AI | Pass≈ 20–55 s each | Partial≈ 3 min |
| P8 · Leave | Partial≈ 5 min | Partial≈ 5 min |
Measured on the same PC
| Measurement | Linear | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| On disk | 369 MB | 330 MB |
| Starts with Windows | No | No |
| 40-task project | ≈ 18 min | ≈ 15 min |
| Views on the free plan | 2 / 4 | 2 / 4 |
| 200-row CSV import | ≈ 20 s | 200 / 200 |
| 500-row CSV import | ≈ 45 s | 500 / 500 |
| Cold start | ≈ 5 s | ≈ 9 s |
| Memory | 0.55 GB | 1.1 – 1.3 GB |
| Left after uninstall | ≈ 280 MB | ≈ 92 MB |
Pros and cons
Linear
+ What works
- Very fast: usable about 5 seconds after launch with roughly 0.55 GB of memory, the lightest app in the category
- Linear Agent is included on the free plan; its summary and overdue answer were accurate and it made real sub-issues
- Keyboard shortcuts for every field, natural-language due dates
- Dependencies and weekly recurring issues work on the free plan
- The full CSV export arrived by email in under a minute, with dependencies, milestones and sub-issues
- No marketing emails by default, a choice of EU or US data region, no startup entry
− What falls short
- No plain CSV import: our file was rejected until we rewrote it in Jira's export format, and priorities and due dates were then lost
- Only list and board views for issues; no calendar, and the timeline covers projects rather than issues
- No custom automation rules, only presets such as auto-close; stale issues are auto-cancelled after six months by default
- No bulk paste: each of our 40 issues was entered one by one
- Invites have no role choice, and every member on the free plan is an admin
- The free plan lists a 250-issue limit (it did not stop our imports on day one)
- The AI created sub-issues without asking first
- The uninstall leaves about 280 MB and a linear:// link handler
monday.com
+ What works
- Excellent CSV/Excel import: 200 rows in about 10 s and 500 in about 20 s, with statuses, dates and priorities
- Strict dependencies that move dependent tasks when a date changes
- Automations fired in about a second and a half
- Sidekick AI summarised the board, answered “what is overdue?” correctly and created real subtasks
- Instant Excel export with subitems and dependencies, plus a full account export
- Clear roles, including free view-only Viewers
− What falls short
- Free plan: 2 seats, 3 boards, no automations, no calendar or Gantt, no AI
- A new account silently starts a 14-day Pro trial
- Calendar and Gantt views showed nothing until we refreshed the app
- The import's default column types mangled our descriptions and kept tags as one label
- The installer is signed with a code-signing certificate that expired in August 2025
- Heavier than most: about 1.1–1.3 GB of memory and a 9-second cold start
Privacy and security
What we saw on our own test PC. Each review also lists what the vendor states about data handling, training and certifications.
Linear
Quiet defaults
Marketing and onboarding emails are off by default, and you choose an EU or US data region when you create a workspace.
Everyone is an admin on Free
Invites have no role choice, and the invited user was listed as an admin.
Stale issues auto-close
Issues not updated for six months are cancelled automatically unless you switch this off.
Left after uninstalling
A 223 MB updater cache, a 58 MB profile and the linear:// link handler.
monday.com
Expired signing certificate
The installer is signed by monday.com Ltd with a certificate that expired in August 2025, so Windows reports the signature as not valid.
No background services
The app added no startup entry, services or listening ports.
Admin by default in sign-up
The sign-up wizard's invite step sets new members to Admin and allows automatic sign-ups from your domain unless you change it.
EU data storage
Our account's admin page showed data stored in the European Union.
Features & Pricing
| Linear | monday.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | — | — |
| iOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paid from | $10/mo | $9/mo |
Linear plans
- Free$0
- Basic$10/user/mo
- Business$16/user/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
From Linear's pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026.
monday.com plans
- Free€0
- Basic€9/seat/mo
- Standard€12/seat/mo
- Pro€19/seat/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
From monday.com's pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026.
Cost for your team
- monday.com$540per year
- Linear$600per year
Cheapest paid plan × seats × 12, at list price. Annual discounts and volume deals not included. Linear and monday.com also have a free plan.
Who makes them
- Company
- Linear:Linear Orbit, Inc.
- monday.com:monday.com Ltd.
- Headquarters
- Linear:San Francisco, California, USA
- monday.com:Tel Aviv, Israel
- Founded
- Linear:2019
- monday.com:2012
- Funding
- Linear:Series C of $82 million in 2025 at a reported $1.25 billion valuation.
- monday.com:Public on Nasdaq (MNDY) since 2021.
Timelines, official links and sources are in each review: Linear · monday.com.
Read the full reviews
This page compares the two side by side. Each full review has the complete test log, every screenshot, the scoring notes, pricing, security and company details.
Linear reviewSituational 6.5 Linear is the fastest and lightest app we have tested in this category, and its AI agent is free and got everything right. But it is a tool for software teams, and it shows: there is no calendar view or task-level timeline, no rule builder, no plain CSV import, and the free plan makes every invited person an admin. Read the full review → monday.com reviewSituational 6.5 monday.com did nearly everything in our script well: a clean 200- and 500-row import, working dependencies and automations, and the most accurate AI assistant in this category so far. But almost all of it ran on the automatic Pro trial. The free plan is two seats and three boards with no automations, no calendar or Gantt and no AI, so most teams will be paying. Read the full review → Project Management Alternatives
ClickUp Recommended Small teams that want lists, boards, Gantt charts, automations and AI in one free workspace and do not mind a busy, heavy app 7.4 Read reviewReview 
Notion Situational Individuals and small teams who want tasks living next to their docs and wiki, and who are happy to build their own setup 6.9 Read reviewReview 
Airtable Situational Teams who want a flexible database behind their projects, with automations and reliable CSV in and out 6.8 Read reviewReview 
