# A simple Jira alternative for small teams Sprintree is an issue tracker for solo developers and teams of up to about 50 people. It has projects, epics, stories and tasks, a board, cycles and pages, and AI agents work in it over MCP (Model Context Protocol, a standard way for an AI tool to talk to an app). If you want a smaller tool than Jira, this page shows what you get and what you give up. ## Is this for you? Sprintree may fit you if: - Your team is small and you want to see the work without learning a lot of settings first. - You want AI agents such as Claude Code, Codex or Cursor to read cards and report back. See [Work with AI agents](https://sprintree.com/docs/work-with-ai-agents). - You plan in short periods and want a board, a list and a hierarchy of the same cards. See [Which feature should I use?](https://sprintree.com/docs/which-feature-for-what). - You want project notes, rules and decisions next to the cards. See [Pages](https://sprintree.com/docs/pages). It does not fit you if your process depends on custom workflow rules, add-ons from a marketplace, or enterprise reporting. Sprintree keeps its feature set small on purpose. ## What do you get, and how does Sprintree do it? | What you get | How Sprintree does it | | --- | --- | | Work broken into levels | Epics, stories and tasks, with a parent for each. A small project can use tasks alone. See [Core ideas](https://sprintree.com/docs/core-ideas). | | A board | Columns by status. Drag a card to change its status. See [Use the board](https://sprintree.com/docs/board). | | Statuses that match your process | Each project has its own statuses, and you can add your own. They are grouped as to do, in progress, review and done. There are no workflow schemes to configure. | | Searching and filtering a backlog | A list with filters, saved views and search across cards and comments. See [List and filters](https://sprintree.com/docs/list-and-filters) and [Saved views](https://sprintree.com/docs/saved-views). | | Time-boxed periods | Cycles, with a report. People can also plan their own week. See [Cycles](https://sprintree.com/docs/cycles) and [Weekly commitments](https://sprintree.com/docs/commitments). | | Roles | Owner, Editor and Viewer, set per project. See [Members and roles](https://sprintree.com/docs/members-and-roles). | | Project documents | Pages, including rules and decisions that agents read. See [Memory Drawer](https://sprintree.com/docs/memory-drawer). | | Code next to the work | GitHub pull requests, branches and commits on the cards that name them. See [GitHub](https://sprintree.com/docs/github). | | Updates where you work | Inbox, optional email, Telegram and Slack. See [Notifications](https://sprintree.com/docs/notifications). | | AI agents | A built-in MCP server. See [Connect an AI agent](https://sprintree.com/docs/connect-an-ai-agent). | | Your data | Export your profile, your cards and pages and your comments as Markdown or JSON from Settings. See [Settings and preferences](https://sprintree.com/docs/settings-and-preferences#how-do-i-export-my-data). | ![A project board with cards in status columns](https://sprintree.com/docs-media/feature-board-light-c6430210.webp) For comparison, Jira Cloud lets administrators map workflows to work types with [workflow schemes](https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/configure-workflow-schemes/), and one scheme can be shared across several spaces. In Sprintree, you edit the statuses of one project, and that is all. ![The list view with filters](https://sprintree.com/docs-media/list-filters-light-33b33da6.webp) ## A week in a small team Say a team of four ships a web shop. 1. On Monday, the owner creates the project and [invites](https://sprintree.com/docs/invitations) three editors. 2. Together they fill a two-week [cycle](https://sprintree.com/docs/cycles) with stories and tasks, and each person commits to their cards for the week. 3. Dan adds the label `needs-tests` to a card. A [trigger](https://sprintree.com/docs/agent-triggers) he made sends that card to his Claude Code session, which writes the tests. 4. Maya asks her agent to review them. The agent comments on the card. 5. The project's [Telegram group or Slack channel](https://sprintree.com/docs/telegram-and-slack) posts when cards are done, so nobody has to open the board to see progress. 6. On Friday, the team reads the [work records](https://sprintree.com/docs/work-records) of the finished cards. ## Moving from Jira Sprintree has no Jira import today. You recreate your projects and cards. Because Sprintree is made for AI agents, the quickest way is to let an agent do the typing: 1. In Jira, export your open work to a file. Atlassian describes how to export work items to CSV, [with all fields and comments](https://support.atlassian.com/jira/kb/how-to-export-issues-from-jira-cloud-in-csv-format/). 2. In Sprintree, create a project with a key. See [Quick start](https://sprintree.com/docs/quick-start). 3. Connect an agent. See [Connect an AI agent](https://sprintree.com/docs/connect-an-ai-agent). 4. Give the agent the file and ask it to create the epics, stories and tasks. The `create_issue` tool makes one card per call, with a title, description, type, parent, status, priority, assignee, labels and due date. The labels must exist first, and you can ask the agent to create them. See the [Technical MCP reference](https://sprintree.com/docs/mcp). 5. Try ten cards first and check them on the board. Then let the agent do the rest. Move open work only. Leave old, closed cards in Jira. The agent reads the file, not Sprintree, so check the result. Put the old Jira key in each description if you want to find it later. ## Questions people ask ### Can I use Sprintree next to Jira? Yes. Sprintree has no Jira integration, so they are separate tools. Start with one new project, and keep Jira for the rest until you are sure. ### Can I invite a client who only wants to follow progress? Yes. Invite them as a Viewer. You can also make a project public and choose what visitors without an account may read. See [Public projects](https://sprintree.com/docs/public-projects). ### How do I find what changed while I was away? Open your Inbox. It lists mentions, assignments, replies and status changes, and you can snooze or finish each one. See [Notifications](https://sprintree.com/docs/notifications). ### Can a few cards be updated at once? Yes. Select rows in the list and change status, assignee, priority, labels or plan together. See [Bulk changes](https://sprintree.com/docs/bulk-changes). ## Related pages - [Sprintree for solo developers](https://sprintree.com/docs/solo-developers) if you work alone. - [Sprintree with Claude Code and other AI agents](https://sprintree.com/docs/claude-code-and-ai-agents) for the agent workflow. - [Quick start](https://sprintree.com/docs/quick-start) to try it in five minutes. Jira is a trademark of Atlassian. Sprintree is not affiliated with Atlassian.