Best for
Best for software teams that want a modern issue tracker they can self-host, including air-gapped.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Project Management Comparison
Plane vs. Shortcut
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for software engineering teams that want tickets, docs and git automation in one workspace.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Plane | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | lower value Free; Pro from $6 / seat / month Free plan for up to 12 users. Business is $13 per seat and month, Enterprise Grid is a custom quote, and the pricing page advertises a discount on annual billing. AI credits are allotted per seat and rise with the plan. | Free; Team from $8.50 / user / month Billed monthly, with 25 percent off on yearly billing. Business is $12 per user and month billed monthly, Enterprise on request. The free plan covers up to 10 users. |
| Free trial | Free tier for up to 12 users, plus a 14-day Business trial without payment details | 14-day free trial, no credit card required; free plan for up to 10 users |
| API | Yes, a REST API with more than 180 endpoints, webhooks, OAuth apps and an MCP server | Yes |
| Hosting | Cloud, or self-hosted on Docker or Kubernetes, including air-gapped | Not stated |
| Task planning | Yes, work items grouped into cycles, modules, epics and initiatives, across five layouts including board, list, spreadsheet and Gantt, with intake forms, estimates and approval workflows | Yes, stories, epics and objectives planned in iterations, with Kanban boards, work-in-progress limits, backlogs, roadmaps and custom fields |
| Resource planning | Not a staffing planner; real-time dashboards track velocity, workload and blockers instead | No capacity or workload planning is documented; planning runs through iterations, backlogs and work-in-progress limits on the boards |
| Time tracking | Yes, from the Pro plan up | No hour logging is documented; work is sized with story-point estimates and measured afterwards through the burndown, velocity and cycle time reports |
| Reporting and controlling | Yes, real-time dashboards for velocity, workload and blockers, with advanced dashboard widgets on Business | Epic and iteration reports on all plans; metrics dashboard with velocity, cycle and lead time and cumulative flow diagrams from Business |
| Integrations and API | Yes, a REST API with more than 180 endpoints, webhooks, OAuth apps, an MCP server and YAML projects-as-code, plus 50-plus integrations and migration from Jira, Linear, Asana, ClickUp and Monday | Yes, REST API plus version control automations for GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket and 40+ integrations |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| MCP-ready | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | GitHub, GitLab, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Sentry | more entries GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Slack, Figma, Sentry |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Plane Free; Pro from $6 / seat / month Shortcut Free; Team from $8.50 / user / month
- Free trial Plane Free tier for up to 12 users, plus a 14-day Business trial without payment details Shortcut 14-day free trial, no credit card required; free plan for up to 10 users
- Deployment Plane Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise Shortcut Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- API Plane Yes, a REST API with more than 180 endpoints, webhooks, OAuth apps and an MCP server Shortcut Yes
- Task planning Plane Yes, work items grouped into cycles, modules, epics and initiatives, across five layouts including board, list, spreadsheet and Gantt, with intake forms, estimates and approval workflows Shortcut Yes, stories, epics and objectives planned in iterations, with Kanban boards, work-in-progress limits, backlogs, roadmaps and custom fields
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Plane
Strengths
- Open source under AGPL-3.0, with self-hosting on Docker, Kubernetes or air-gapped infrastructure
- Cloud and self-hosted run the same product, so moving between them is a deployment choice
- Broad developer surface: REST API, webhooks, OAuth apps and an official MCP server
- Migration tools from Jira, Linear, Asana, ClickUp and Monday
- Free plan covers teams of up to twelve
Limitations
- No staffing-style resource planning and no invoicing, so client work needs a second system
- Time tracking starts on the paid Pro plan
- AI features are metered through credits rather than included outright
Shortcut
Strengths
- Version control automations keep stories in step with branches and pull requests
- Docs, roadmaps and objectives sit in the same workspace as the tickets
- Free plan for up to 10 users, and 12 months free for startups under 50 employees
Limitations
- No native time tracking or capacity planning published
- Cycle time, lead time and velocity reporting only from the Business plan
Plans
Pricing
Plane
- Free $0 Per seat and month, up to 12 users. Includes 500 AI credits per seat, projects, work items, cycles, modules, five layouts, intake forms, estimates and project pages.
- Pro $6 Per seat and month, unlimited seats. Adds 1,000 AI credits per seat, custom work item types, a workspace wiki, time tracking, templates, dashboards, initiatives and teamspaces.
- Business $13 Per seat and month, unlimited seats. Adds 2,000 AI credits per seat, project templates, recurring work items, intake by email, nested pages, workflow control, customer profiles and advanced dashboard widgets.
- Enterprise Grid Not stated Custom quote. Adds flexible AI credit allocation, managed deployments, granular access controls, multiple workflows with approvals, LDAP and API-enabled audit logs.
Shortcut
- Free $0 Up to 10 users. Kanban views, roadmap visibility, basic reporting, sprint planning, docs and GitHub, Slack and Figma integrations.
- Team $8.50 Per user and month billed monthly, 25 percent off on yearly billing. Adds advanced reporting, work-in-progress limits, workflow customization, automations and unlimited integrations.
- Business $12 Per user and month billed monthly, 25 percent off on yearly billing. Adds the metrics dashboard, objectives and key results, advanced custom fields and multiple workspaces.
- Enterprise Not stated Custom pricing. Adds volume discounts, premier support with SLAs, SSO and SCIM and custom terms.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Plane
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Shortcut
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Plane https://plane.so · checked against the official source on 2026-09-10
Shortcut https://www.shortcut.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-07
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.