Jira runs sprints.
Lane runs design.
Jira was built for engineers shipping linear backlogs. Design work doesn’t fit that shape, and forcing it there is why design teams burn out inside Jira.
Pick Jira if you need cross-squad dependency graphs, SOX-grade audit trails, or a PM org that already lives there.
Pick Lane if your design team keeps getting handed solutions instead of problems, and throughput charts aren’t telling you anything true.
We're not pretending Jira is bad.
Jira is a serious tool and we’re not going to pretend otherwise. If you’re coordinating 20+ engineering squads with interlocking dependencies, Jira’s hierarchy model (epics → stories → subtasks → linked issues) is genuinely the right shape for the job.
If your company needs SOX, ISO 27001, or HIPAA audit trails tied to every status change, Jira’s enterprise compliance story is years ahead of anything a V1 product can offer. Same for SSO/SCIM at Atlassian-scale rollouts.
If your PMs already draft every spec in Jira and route approvals through Jira workflows, the switching cost alone can make "just keep using Jira" the honest answer.
The line we draw, drawn honestly.
The moment your design team starts describing Jira as "the place my work goes to die," the tool has stopped serving the work. Design doesn’t move in straight lines from backlog to done — it loops, it backs up, it needs reframing. Jira has no idea what any of that means.
Lane exists because the first problem in design isn’t tracking — it’s the intake. "Make the button bigger" is not a design problem. Lane’s intake gate classifies requests before they become work, so your team never has to silently swallow a bad brief again.
And the impact question — "did this ship actually change anything?" — has no home in Jira. It does in Lane. Every Design Stream ends at an outcome, not a closed ticket.
Twelve capabilities, three honest states.
No green checkmark soup. Each cell is annotated, including the rows where Lane is intentionally absent — design throughput isn't velocity, and we won't pretend it is.
| Capability | Jira | Lane |
|---|---|---|
| Non-linear workflow stages | None Status fields can be renamed but the model is linear. | Full Five scientific stages: Sense, Frame, Diverge, Converge, Ship. |
| AI intake gate for PM requests | None Any request that fits the form template becomes a ticket. | Full Classifies problem-framed vs solution-specific before work starts. |
| Figma-native handoff | Partial Marketplace plugin, not a core integration. | Full First-class Figma OAuth. Designers stay in Figma. |
| Outcome measurement after ship | None Closed = done. Nothing measures what changed for users. | Full Every Stream ends at a measured outcome, not a status. |
| Story points & velocity charts | Full Deeply integrated — Agile reporting is a headline feature. | None Intentionally absent. Design throughput isn’t velocity. |
| Individual activity tracking | Full Per-assignee dashboards, last-active, time-in-status. | None Intentionally absent. Surveillance produces performance, not truth. |
| Cross-squad dependency graphs | Full Epics, linked issues, portfolio-level roadmaps. | None Different model. Streams are scoped to design impact. |
| SOX / ISO 27001 / HIPAA audit trails | Full Enterprise-grade, years of compliance certifications. | Partial Audit log in V1. Formal certifications on the roadmap. |
| PM weekly digest (read-only) | Partial Email subscriptions exist but surface noise, not summary. | Full AI-written digest: shipped, blocked, escalations. No dashboards. |
| Data export on cancel | Full JSON/CSV export across all projects. | Full Full JSON + CSV. Thirty-day grace period. No hostage data. |
| Slack integration | Full Deep two-way sync, comment mirroring, notification firehose. | None V2 only, opt-in, summary-only. Firehoses are the enemy. |
| SSO / SCIM | Full Atlassian Access, every IdP, enterprise-grade. | Partial SSO at launch. SCIM provisioning on the roadmap. |
Status fields can be renamed but the model is linear.
Five scientific stages: Sense, Frame, Diverge, Converge, Ship.
Any request that fits the form template becomes a ticket.
Classifies problem-framed vs solution-specific before work starts.
Marketplace plugin, not a core integration.
First-class Figma OAuth. Designers stay in Figma.
Closed = done. Nothing measures what changed for users.
Every Stream ends at a measured outcome, not a status.
Deeply integrated — Agile reporting is a headline feature.
Intentionally absent. Design throughput isn’t velocity.
Per-assignee dashboards, last-active, time-in-status.
Intentionally absent. Surveillance produces performance, not truth.
Epics, linked issues, portfolio-level roadmaps.
Different model. Streams are scoped to design impact.
Enterprise-grade, years of compliance certifications.
Audit log in V1. Formal certifications on the roadmap.
Email subscriptions exist but surface noise, not summary.
AI-written digest: shipped, blocked, escalations. No dashboards.
JSON/CSV export across all projects.
Full JSON + CSV. Thirty-day grace period. No hostage data.
Deep two-way sync, comment mirroring, notification firehose.
V2 only, opt-in, summary-only. Firehoses are the enemy.
Atlassian Access, every IdP, enterprise-grade.
SSO at launch. SCIM provisioning on the roadmap.
Lane vs Jira, asked honestly.
Can I migrate my Jira project into Lane?
Not automatically, and honestly we’re not rushing to build that importer. Jira epics and stories don’t map cleanly onto Design Streams — the shape is wrong. Most teams use the beta as a fresh start for their design workflow and leave engineering work in Jira where it belongs. If you want a CSV dump of your design-tagged tickets, we’ll help you hand-sort them into Streams during onboarding.
Does Lane replace Jira for the whole company?
No. Lane replaces Jira for design work, not for engineering squads, PM roadmaps, or cross-functional program management. We expect most Lane customers to keep Jira running for engineering. The two tools link at the ship stage — Streams reference Jira tickets, not the other way around.
Why not just use a Jira plugin for design?
We tried. Every team we talked to had already tried. The problem isn’t missing features — it’s that Jira’s core data model assumes work moves forward in a straight line. Design work loops. No plugin fixes a mismatched shape.
Is Lane cheaper than Jira?
Probably, but that’s not the pitch. Lane is $29 per designer per month — designers only, no math on PM or engineering seats. Jira’s published list price is lower per seat but applied across the whole org. Do the math on your own team; we’re not going to fake a savings calculator.
What about Jira’s reporting — velocity, burndown, sprint health?
Lane doesn’t ship any of that and won’t. Design throughput isn’t velocity, and a burndown chart measured against design work is a lie told in public. If your leadership needs those charts to feel safe, Jira is still the right tool for them — run Lane alongside it.
Beta opens Summer 2026. Capped at 100 design teams.
We prioritize design leads at teams of eight or more. Pricing is flat at $29 per designer. If Jirais still the right answer for you after reading this — that's a fine outcome. We'd rather you know than guess.