Choose Kendis if
- You run PI Planning as a live, collaborative event with the whole train.
- You need PI Objectives, a ROAM risk register and a confidence vote.
- You plan across Jira and Azure DevOps, or across Jira Data Center and Cloud.
- You want predictability and scope change reports after the event.
- You do not want to move every Jira user to Premium to get a program board.
Choose Jira Plans if
- Everything lives in one Jira Cloud site and you already pay for Premium.
- You want roadmap, scenario and capacity planning without SAFe ceremonies.
- You want auto-scheduling and a sandbox where changes do not save until ready.
- You do not want a second tool or a sync of any kind.
What is the best Jira Plans alternative for PI Planning?
Kendis is a strong alternative to Jira Plans for PI Planning. It provides a real-time program board for the whole train, dependencies, PI Objectives with business value, a ROAM risk register and a confidence vote, synced two-way with Jira and Azure DevOps. Jira Plans is the better fit for roadmap and capacity planning inside a single Jira Cloud site.
Atlassian describes Jira Plans as "a cross-team planning feature that lets program managers coordinate work across multiple Jira projects from a single view."[1] It includes a Program board that is "optimized to support Program Increment Planning rituals."[2] Atlassian is also clear about what that board is not: "The Program Board isn't designed for real-time collaborative planning sessions such as Big Room Planning", and it recommends using a whiteboarding tool alongside.[2] That gap is the one Kendis fills.
Kendis vs Jira Plans at a glance
| Kendis | Jira Plans | |
|---|---|---|
| Type of product | Standalone PI Planning layer that syncs with your ALM tools | Planning feature built into Jira Premium and Enterprise[1] |
| Pricing | $14 per user per month billed annually, $16 monthly. You license the people who plan, not every Jira user. Pricing | Included in Jira Premium, which applies to every Jira user. Monthly list price per user: $18.30 up to 100 users, $14.54 at 300, $11.05 at 1,000.[3] |
| Free option | 6 months free, no credit card | Not in Jira Free or Standard[1] |
| Deployment | Cloud or self-hosted on your own infrastructure | Jira Cloud. Also bundled in Jira Software Data Center since 8.15.[4] |
| Hosting region | Your choice at signup: EU (OVHcloud, Frankfurt) or US (AWS) | Atlassian data residency, with an EU location in Frankfurt and Dublin[5] |
| Work sources | Jira Cloud, Jira Data Center, Azure DevOps and TFS, two-way | Jira boards, spaces and filters[6] |
| Azure DevOps | Yes | Not documented |
How do Kendis and Jira Plans compare on PI Planning features?
Jira Plans documents a Program board, dependencies, capacity and scenario planning. It does not document PI Objectives, ROAM risks, a confidence vote or predictability reports. Kendis provides all of those and is designed for live planning with the whole train.
| Feature | Kendis | Jira Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Program board | Yes. Program board with team rows and iteration columns | Yes. Up to two active program boards per plan, at Epic and Story level[2] |
| Live collaborative planning | Yes. Changes by any user are visible to everyone instantly | Atlassian says the board "isn't designed for real-time collaborative planning sessions"[2] |
| Dependency management | Yes. Lines on the board, list view, dependency wheel, due dates and alerts | Yes. Lines can focus on up to 10 work items at once, plus an off-track view[7] |
| Capacity and load | Yes. Capacity per team per iteration against planned load | Yes. Capacity on the timeline, in story points or time[1] |
| PI Objectives with business value | Yes. Planned and actual business value, linked to features and stories | Not documented |
| ROAM risks | Yes. ROAM risk register linked to features | Not documented |
| Confidence vote | Yes. Per team and for the whole PI | Not documented |
| Predictability reporting | Yes. Predictability and performance reports | Not documented |
| Inspect and Adapt | Yes. Inspect and Adapt module with PI comparisons | Not documented |
| Solution Train / multi-ART | Yes. Solution board across ARTs, mixing Jira and Azure DevOps boards | Not documented |
| Plan size | No fixed plan limit published | Up to 10,000 work items and 200 Jira spaces per plan[8] |
When is Jira Plans the better choice?
Choose Jira Plans when your teams are all in one Jira Cloud site on Premium and what you need is a roadmap with capacity and scenarios, not a facilitated planning event with objectives, risks and a vote.
- No second tool. Plans is part of Jira Premium, so there is nothing to buy, connect or sync if you already hold that edition.[1]
- Scenario planning. Plans work as a sandbox, so you can model options before saving anything back to Jira.[6]
- Capacity on the timeline. Over- and under-allocation show directly on the plan.[1]
- Large plans. A plan can load up to 10,000 work items across 200 spaces.[8]
Many organisations use both: Plans for the long-range roadmap and Kendis for the PI.
Why do teams add Kendis to Jira instead of relying on Jira Plans?
Teams add Kendis when they run PI Planning as an event and need the artefacts SAFe expects from it: committed objectives, ROAMed risks and a confidence vote, on a board everyone can edit at once.
Built for the planning event
Kendis is designed for dozens of people planning at the same time. Each team has its own area, sets capacity per iteration, pulls features in and breaks them into stories, and every change is written to Jira. Atlassian's own guidance is to pair the Plans Program board with a separate whiteboard for that kind of session.[2]
Objectives, risks and the vote are built in
PI Objectives carry planned and actual business value and link to the features that deliver them. Risks are ROAMed in a risk register. The confidence vote runs per team and for the PI. After the event the same board tracks scope change and predictability.
You license planners, not every Jira user
Plans requires Jira Premium for the whole site. On Atlassian's monthly list prices the step from Standard to Premium at 300 users is $7.91 to $14.54 per user[3], which is about $1,989 a month across the site. Twenty-five Kendis planners on annual billing cost $4,200 a year. If you need Premium for other reasons, Plans is already included and this point does not apply.
It works beyond one Jira site
Kendis reads from Jira Cloud, Jira Data Center and Azure DevOps, and a solution board can combine trains that use different tools. Jira Software Data Center, which bundles Plans[4], reaches end of life on 28 March 2029.[9] See the Data Center end-of-life guide for what that means for planning tools.
How do you try Kendis alongside Jira Plans?
You do not need to replace anything to evaluate Kendis. It reads from and writes to the Jira or Azure DevOps backlog you already have, so you can run it next to Jira Plans for a PI and compare the two on real work.
- Sign up for the six-month free trial and pick EU or US hosting. No credit card is asked for.
- Connect Jira or Azure DevOps and choose the boards or projects for one Agile Release Train.
- Load the features for the next PI with a JQL filter or Azure DevOps query. Linked stories come in with them.
- Run PI Planning on the board: capacity, dependencies, objectives, ROAM and the confidence vote.
- Track the PI against the planning baseline, then decide with two PIs of evidence.
Nothing changes in Jira. Kendis uses the epics, stories and issue links you already have, so Plans and Kendis can show the same work side by side.
Try Kendis free for 6 months
Kendis is a PI Planning and tracking platform that sits on top of Jira and Azure DevOps. The free trial runs for six months, long enough to plan and track two full PIs with your real backlog before anyone has to approve a budget.
- 6 months free, no credit card
- Choose EU hosting (OVHcloud, Frankfurt) or US hosting (AWS)
- Planning board, dependencies, PI objectives, ROAM risks, solution boards
- Two-way sync with Jira Cloud, Jira Data Center and Azure DevOps
- ISO/IEC 27001 certified, GDPR compliant, DORA Schedule available
- No user caps and no setup costs during the trial
One trial per organisation that has not used Kendis in the last twelve months. After the trial, Premium Cloud is $14 per user per month billed annually, or $16 monthly, and you license only the people who plan. SSO, Kendis AI and premium support are part of paid plans. See pricing and the free trial terms.
Compare Kendis with other PI Planning tools
New to the topic? Read the PI Planning guide or the scaling agile guide.
Kendis vs Jira Plans: frequently asked questions
Can you do PI Planning in Jira Plans?
Partly. Jira Plans includes a Program board that Atlassian says is optimised for Program Increment Planning. Atlassian also states the board is not designed for real-time collaborative planning sessions such as Big Room Planning, and recommends a whiteboarding tool alongside it.
What is the difference between Jira Plans and Advanced Roadmaps?
They are the same feature. Advanced Roadmaps was renamed Plans, and Atlassian still uses the older name in some documentation.
Is Jira Plans included in Jira Standard?
No. Atlassian states that Jira Plans is only available on Jira Premium and Jira Enterprise. Standard and Free include the basic timeline view.
Does Jira Plans have PI Objectives or a ROAM board?
We did not find PI Objectives, a ROAM risk board or a confidence vote in Atlassian's Jira Plans documentation as of 12 October 2026. Kendis includes all three.
Does Jira Plans work with Azure DevOps?
Jira Plans draws its work from Jira boards, spaces and filters. Kendis syncs two-way with both Jira and Azure DevOps and can combine them on a solution board.
Is Jira Plans affected by the Data Center end of life?
Plans is bundled in Jira Software Data Center, which Atlassian lists among the products reaching end of life on 28 March 2029. Jira Plans in Jira Cloud is not affected.
Can I use Kendis and Jira Plans together?
Yes. Both read the same Jira work items. A common split is Jira Plans for the long-range roadmap and Kendis for PI Planning and tracking.
Sources
Every external claim in this guide links to the primary source below. All links were checked on 12 October 2026.
- Atlassian. Jira Plans overview guide.
- Atlassian Support. What is the Program board in my plan?.
- Atlassian. Jira pricing.
- Atlassian. Discover Advanced Roadmaps for Jira (Data Center).
- Atlassian Support. Understand data residency.
- Atlassian Support. What are plans in Jira?.
- Atlassian Support. View and manage dependencies on the Program board.
- Atlassian Support. Limits on plan size.
- Atlassian. Data Center end of life.
How this comparison was made: statements about Jira Plans come from the vendor's own website, documentation and marketplace listing, linked above and checked on 12 October 2026. Statements about Kendis come from Kendis. Products change, so if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it. All product names are trademarks of their respective owners.