While powerful, Jira's growing complexity, rising costs at scale, and reliance on add-ons push teams managing projects in Europe to look for EU-based tech alternatives that are more cost-effective and fully GDPR-compliant.
The good news is that there are strong European Jira alternatives, from enterprise-grade portfolio platforms to open-source, self-hosted issue trackers, each addressing different needs around scalability, compliance, and delivery models.
Is There a European Alternative to Jira?
Yes. Several EU-based Jira alternatives exist, offering Agile workflows, issue tracking, planning, and integrations, while being developed, hosted, or governed within Europe.
What differentiates these tools is not whether they replicate Jira feature-by-feature, but how they approach work management: some focus on issue tracking, while others offer the bigger picture into execution through portfolio visibility, strategic alignment, and enterprise governance.
If you're searching for the best Jira alternative from Europe, the real question becomes:
Do you need a Jira-like issue tracker or a platform that replaces Jira and its costly add-on layers?
Why Teams Are Looking for European Jira Alternatives
Despite Jira's popularity, many organizations reach a point where it no longer fits their operating needs. Common drivers behind the shift include:
- High total cost of ownership: Essential Jira capabilities (advanced roadmap planning, advanced workflow analytics, portfolio views) often require paid add-ons, increasing costs significantly at scale.
- Operational complexity: Jira frequently demands dedicated administrators and extensive configuration to remain usable across teams outside engineering.
- Limited portfolio visibility: Jira excels at team-level execution, but lacks a unified view across initiatives, dependencies, and strategic goals.
- GDPR and data sovereignty concerns: European organizations increasingly prefer EU-based software vendors with clear compliance and hosting guarantees.
The Best European Jira Alternatives (Top Recommendation)
1. Businessmap (The Best Overall European Alternative to Jira)
Businessmap is a European project and portfolio management platform that goes far beyond traditional issue tracking. Designed for organizations that outgrow Jira's team-centric model, it replaces Jira and many of the add-ons required to make Jira usable at scale.
Rather than forcing teams into a single methodology, Businessmap supports Scrum, Kanban, Waterfall, and hybrid workflows in one connected system and maintains end-to-end visibility from strategy to execution.
Key Features
- Projects, Portfolio, Goals in a single place: Connect OKRs and portfolio roadmaps directly to execution workflows.
- Executive Dashboards: Track goals vs. delivery across departments in real time.
- Multiple Workflow Views: Timeline, Kanban, Gantt, and initiative-based boards.
- Embedded Analytics: Real-time reporting included with all plans.
- Unlimited Automations: Automate workflows at any scale.
- AI Tools: Generate insights, summaries, and comments directly in workflows.
Why Businessmap Is the Best Jira Alternative from Europe
Businessmap addresses the most common Jira pain points directly:
- No add-ons required: Advanced portfolio planning, project forecasting, analytics & whiteboards for team collaboration are built-in.
- Faster adoption: Business and technical teams can use the same platform without heavy admin overhead.
- Predictable pricing at scale: Costs remain transparent even for hundreds or thousands of users.
- True enterprise visibility: Workflows, dependencies, and goals are visible across teams and departments in real time.
»» Bonus: Watch this quick 5-minute video to see how easily you can apply a Scrum process in Businessmap and get your teams up and running in no time.
Jira Capabilities Businessmap Replaces and Extends
For teams migrating from Jira, Businessmap covers and expands on core Jira use cases:
- Kanban and Scrum boards with explicit policies and WIP limits
- Issue and work item tracking with flexible workflows
- Backlogs, prioritization, and cross-team dependencies
- Portfolio-level dashboards and executive reporting
- Built-in OKRs directly linked to delivery work
- Advanced analytics, forecasting, and AI-assisted insights
Unlike Jira, all of these capabilities are available out of the box, not through plugins.
Pricing
- 14-day free trial available
- €8/user/month for 50 users (billed annually), all features included
- Volume-based pricing
- Predictable pricing in Euro with possibility for multi-year fixed prices
→ Best for: PMOs and engineering-driven organizations, enforcing end-to-end visibility, dependency control, and predictable delivery across complex hardware development, mechanical engineering portfolios, and more.
How Banco Carrefour Replaced Jira with Businessmap
- Before (Jira): Banco Carrefour's IT and delivery teams relied on Jira plus multiple add-ons to manage work, which led to fragmented visibility, high administrative overhead, and limited insight beyond individual team boards.
- After (Businessmap): By moving to Businessmap, Banco Carrefour unified strategy, portfolios, and execution in a single platform, eliminating plugins and manual reporting, resulting in $200K in annual cost savings, 60% faster delivery times, over 30% higher team productivity, and enterprise-wide visibility across projects and teams.
»» See how Jira was replaced at scale. Download Whitepaper↗
2. Taiga (Best Open-Source EU Jira Alternative)
Taiga is a popular open-source Agile project management tool developed in Europe. It supports Scrum and Kanban workflows and is often chosen by development teams that want a Jira-like experience with full control over hosting.
Key Features
- Open-source with active community
- Scrum and Kanban boards
- Backlog management and sprint planning
- Cloud and self-hosted deployment options
Pricing
- Free hosted plan (1 public & 1 private project, community support)
- Enthusiast plan: €5/month or €50/year (5 public & 5 private projects, community support)
- Basic plan: €20/month or €200/year (unlimited projects, basic support)
- Premium plan: €60/month or €600/year (unlimited projects, premium support)
- Custom quote for on-premise and private cloud deployment
- No user limitations
→ Best for: Small Agile teams or organizations that require self-hosted, open-source Jira alternatives with basic Agile functionality.
3. Easy Redmine (EU-Based Jira Server & Data Center Alternative)
Easy Redmine is a strong, EU-based, self-hosted platform for organizations that prioritize data control and an abundance of features. It is often positioned as an alternative to Jira and to the broader Atlassian stack, combining project management, Agile tools, help desk, CRM, and documentation in a single system.
Key Features
- Kanban, Scrum, Gantt charts
- Self-hosted, private cloud, and EU sovereign cloud deployments
- Agile resource management
- Native time tracking
- Project cost management (budgets, expenses, rates management)
- Reporting and customizable dashboards
- GitHub and GitLab integrations - available with the two highest-tier plans
- Easy AI & automation (via Easy8 and n8n) for workflow automation and AI assistants
Pricing
- 30-day free trial available
- Cloud pricing (minimum 10 users):
- Essentials: € 6.90 / user/month
- Business: €13.90 / user/month
- Platform: €25.90 / user/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
- On-premises pricing starts at €6.90 per user/month and is available to a minimum of 25 users, with options for self-managed or fully managed hosting.
→ Best for: Organizations seeking a self-hosted, EU-based replacement for Jira Server / Data Center with built-in modules instead of marketplace plugins.
4. OpenProject (Best EU Self-Hosted Jira Alternative)
OpenProject is a German open-source project management platform with strong planning and issue-tracking capabilities. It is used in regulated industries due to its support for on-premise and private cloud deployments. With Atlassian phasing out permanent self-hosted Jira options by the end of March 2029, OpenProject is a good option for teams seeking on-premises deployment and EU data residency.
Key Features
- Agile & classic project management: Scrum, Kanban boards, backlogs, Gantt charts, and roadmaps
- Time and cost tracking, budgeting, and work templates
- Self-hosted / on-premise and EU-hosted cloud deployment options
- REST API; integrations with external tools depending on tier
- Role-based access
- Enterprise add-ons and additional security features available with different tiers
Pricing
- Community edition: Free, open source (on-premises)
- Paid editions (seat-based, add-on pricing):
- Basic: $7.25/user/month (on-prem, 25 users)
- Professional: $13.50/user/month (cloud/on-prem, 25 users)
- Premium: $19.50/user/month (cloud/on-prem, 100 users)
- Corporate: Custom pricing (on-prem only)
- 14-day free trial available for both cloud and enterprise on-prem editions
→ Best for: Public sector organizations and regulated enterprises prioritizing data sovereignty and self-hosting over advanced Agile analytics.
Best European Jira Alternatives Compared (2026)
| Tool | Pricing / Free Trial | Deployment Options | Portfolio / OKRs | Add-ons |
| Businessmap |
14-day free trial; €8/user/mo for 50 users (billed annually) |
EU-hosted Cloud; Data centers in Ireland and Germany; Enterprise-ready architecture |
Yes (built-in) |
All features included Available add-ons |
| Taiga |
Free hosted plan; Premium at €20-€60/mo; Custom quote for Private Cloud or On-premise deployment |
Cloud or Self-hosted / On-premise (open-source deployment) | Limited | No |
| Easy Redmine |
30-day free trial available; €6.90–€25.90/user/month |
EU Cloud, Private Cloud, On-premise |
Partial | Available add-ons |
| OpenProject |
14-day free trial; Community edition free plan; $13.50–$19.50/user/month (cloud/on-prem, 25 users minimum) |
On-premise, EU Cloud | Yes | Available add-ons |
FAQs
Is there an alternative to Jira in Europe?
Yes, there are EU-based platforms, including Businessmap, Taiga, Easy Redmine, and OpenProject. They provide Agile workflows, issue tracking, and GDPR-compliant hosting within Europe.
What is the best European Jira alternative for enterprises?
Businessmap is a top choice for enterprises that want Jira-like features along with portfolio visibility, OKRs, analytics, and predictable pricing as they grow.
Which EU Jira alternatives support self-hosting?
Taiga, Easy Redmine, and OpenProject all support self-hosted or on-premise setups, making them a good fit for regulated or data-sensitive environments.
Which European tools go beyond issue tracking?
Businessmap stands out because it replaces Jira and many add-ons with built-in portfolio management, strategic alignment, automation, and AI-powered insights.
Are there open-source Jira alternatives from Europe?
Yes, both Taiga and OpenProject are open-source European alternatives that Agile teams often use.
Ready to see Businessmap in action?
Iva Krasteva
Content Strategist | Agile Practitioner | Kanban Certified
Iva is a Kanban-certified Agile expert with hands-on experience in SEO, content creation, and Lean practices. She has published dozens of articles on Lean, Agile, and Kanban practical applications. Iva actively promotes collaborative, flexible work environments and regularly shares process optimization insights through writing.
