From Jira to PlanIT: A Migration Guide for Small Teams

Should your team migrate from Jira to PlanIT?

This guide is for small software teams — typically two to twelve people — who are considering migrating from Jira (or similar tools like Linear, Asana, or Trello) to PlanIT. It covers what maps directly, what works differently, and how to execute the migration without disrupting work in progress.

PlanIT is not the right fit for every team. Before starting, confirm that your team matches the profile where PlanIT adds the most value:

• You use AI coding tools (Claude, Cursor, GitHub Copilot) regularly
• You're frustrated by context-switching between your project tracker and AI tools
• Your team is small enough that Jira's enterprise features are overhead, not value
• You want project management that works well for both humans and AI agents

If those describe your situation, the migration is straightforward. Most teams complete it in an afternoon.

How Jira concepts map to PlanIT

Before migrating data, understand how the core concepts translate.

The main conceptual difference: PlanIT doesn't have Jira's deep issue hierarchy (Epic → Story → Sub-task). PlanIT issues are flat within a project, with milestones used for grouping. For most small teams, this is simpler — the multi-level hierarchy in Jira is usually more structure than small teams need.

Step 1: Export your Jira data

In Jira, go to Project Settings → Export. Choose CSV export and select all fields. You'll get a file with columns for issue key, summary, description, status, priority, assignee, reporter, created date, and any custom fields you've added.

If you have custom fields that are critical to your workflow, note them — you'll need to decide how to handle them in PlanIT (either as labels, or as part of the description).

Save the export file. You won't be importing it directly into PlanIT (there's no automated import tool), but you'll use it as a reference during manual migration.

Step 2: Set up your PlanIT workspace

Sign up for PlanIT if you haven't already. The free tier supports up to three members — enough to run a migration and verify everything works before adding your full team.

Create your projects. In PlanIT, go to Projects → New Project and create one project for each Jira project you're migrating. Use the same names to reduce confusion during the transition.

Set up your status columns. PlanIT has default statuses (To Do, In Progress, In Review, Done) that work for most teams. If your Jira workflow has custom statuses, map them to PlanIT's equivalents. For most small teams, the defaults work without modification.

Step 3: Migrate active work first

Don't try to migrate everything at once. Start with issues that are currently in progress or planned for the current sprint. These are the ones that need to exist in PlanIT immediately; older closed issues can wait or be left in Jira as historical record.

For each active issue:

1. Create the issue in PlanIT with the same title
2. Copy the description (PlanIT uses a rich text editor; paste the description and reformat as needed)
3. Set the status to match where the issue currently sits
4. Assign it to the correct team member
5. Add the Jira issue key as a label (e.g., "PROJ-123") so you can cross-reference during the transition period

This manual process takes roughly two to three minutes per issue. For a team with 20 active issues, that's an hour of work — worth it to do carefully rather than rushing.

Step 4: Create the current iteration

If your team runs sprints, create the current iteration in PlanIT before adding team members. Go to Iterations → New Iteration, set the dates to match your current Jira sprint, and add the migrated active issues to it.

This gives your team a recognizable structure when they log in for the first time — the iteration they see in PlanIT matches the sprint they were working in Jira.

Step 5: Set up the MCP integration (optional but recommended)

This step is optional for the migration itself, but it's the primary reason most teams switch to PlanIT, so it's worth doing early.

In PlanIT, go to Settings → Integrations → MCP. Copy your API key and server URL. Then follow the setup guide for your AI tool:

• Claude Desktop setup
• Cursor setup
• VS Code setup

Once connected, test it by asking your AI tool: "What are the open issues in my current sprint?" If you get a real answer, the integration is working.

Step 6: Invite your team

In PlanIT, go to Settings → Team → Invite Members. Add your team members by email. They'll receive an invitation and can set up their accounts in a few minutes.

Brief your team before they log in. A five-minute Slack message covering these points prevents most confusion:

• "We're moving from Jira to PlanIT. Your active issues are already there."
• "The current iteration in PlanIT matches our current sprint."
• "Use PlanIT for all new work starting today. Jira is read-only for historical reference."
• "If you use Claude or Cursor, here's how to connect the MCP integration: [link to setup guide]"

Step 7: Handle historical data

Old closed issues don't need to be in PlanIT. Leave them in Jira and treat Jira as an archive. If someone needs to reference an old issue, they can look it up in Jira using the issue key.

For issues from the last one to three months that might be relevant to ongoing work, you can migrate them at low priority over the first week — a few at a time when you have spare minutes. These aren't urgent.

Common migration questions

What happens to Jira integrations we depend on?

List your critical Jira integrations before migrating. Common ones like GitHub (branch/PR linking) are available in PlanIT. For less common integrations, check the PlanIT integrations page or contact support before committing to the migration.

Can we run Jira and PlanIT in parallel during transition?

Yes, but keep the parallel period short — one to two weeks maximum. Running two systems in parallel creates the problem you're trying to solve: context split across tools. Decide on a hard cutover date and stick to it.

What about our Jira custom fields?

Most custom fields in small team Jira setups are workarounds for things PlanIT handles differently. Story points become effort estimates in iterations. Components become labels. Epic links become milestone associations. Work through your custom fields one by one and find the PlanIT equivalent — in most cases it exists and is simpler.

Will our team resist the change?

Resistance is usually proportional to the disruption. If you do the migration work before your team logs in (active issues already there, iteration set up, MCP integration configured), the first experience is "everything is here and it's simpler" rather than "I have to do setup work." Front-loading the migration work significantly reduces pushback.

What to expect in the first two weeks

Week 1: Some muscle memory friction as people adjust to the PlanIT interface. A few questions about where things are. The MCP integration surprises people who hadn't used it before — expect comments like "wait, Claude can see my issues now?"

Week 2: The new workflow starts to feel normal. Teams that adopt the MCP integration typically report the biggest change: AI coding sessions start with better context, status updates happen automatically, and the project record is more complete than it was in Jira.

The main thing teams report missing from Jira is the deep customization — custom workflows, advanced reporting, and enterprise features. If those were critical to your team's workflow, PlanIT may not be the right move. But if you were using a small fraction of Jira's features and spending significant time on its overhead, the migration is usually worth it within the first month.

See the pricing page for a full plan comparison, or sign up free to run the migration on the free tier before committing.