Key takeaways
- Jira assigns work to people but doesn't plan people: it has no view of who is available, overloaded or on leave across projects.
- Resource planning apps for Jira fall into three groups: people planners (who does what, when), work-structure tools (how work rolls up across projects) and schedule tools (Gantt charts and dependencies).
- Jira Plans, included in Jira Premium and Enterprise, is the natural first step for cross-project plans with team capacity, but it doesn't plan individuals by day.
- Picking the wrong group is the common mistake: a Gantt tool won't tell you Anna is overbooked, and a people planner won't model your critical path.
- ActivityTimeline is a people planner with time off and Jira work logs on one timeline. You can try it free for 30 days.
Resource planning in Jira usually starts with a spreadsheet. Someone lists people down the side and weeks across the top, copies in what Jira says, adds who's on holiday, and by Thursday it's out of date. The Marketplace has dozens of apps that promise to replace that spreadsheet, and they're solving quite different problems.
This list sorts seven of them by the job they actually do, so you can skip the ones that don't match yours.
What does Jira do for resource planning on its own?
Jira gives every issue an assignee and an estimate, and that's where native resource planning ends in most plans. You can filter issues by assignee and add up estimates, but Jira doesn't know anyone's working hours, time off or other projects. Jira Plans, on Premium and Enterprise, adds cross-project plans and team capacity per sprint or iteration, which helps teams; it still doesn't plan individuals day by day.
7 resource planning apps for Jira compared
Prices depend on user tiers and change often; check each Marketplace listing on the day you compare.
People planners
1. ActivityTimeline. One row per person, their Jira issues on the days they're scheduled, time off and bookings on the same row, and a workload indicator that turns red on overloaded days. You plan by dragging issues from a backlog onto people or teams, split work across days or people, and reserve time with placeholders before the Jira issue exists. Timesheets, utilization reports and Planned vs Actual read the same Jira data.
2. Tempo Capacity Planner. Formerly Tempo Planner. Plans individuals and teams in full-time equivalents at project, task or ticket level, with holidays, workloads and Google or Office 365 calendar events. Plan vs actual comes from Tempo Timesheets, a separate app.
Work-structure tools
3. Jira Plans. Formerly Advanced Roadmaps (and before that Portfolio for Jira). Brings issues from several projects into one plan with a hierarchy above epics, dependencies, team capacity per sprint and what-if changes you save back to Jira when ready. Included in Jira Premium and Enterprise.
4. Structure by Tempo. Builds custom hierarchies of Jira issues across projects (initiative, epic, story, task) and rolls up values such as estimates and progress at every level. Good for seeing how work adds up; it doesn't plan people.
Schedule and portfolio tools
5. BigPicture. A portfolio suite with Gantt charts, roadmaps, risk management and a resources module for capacity by team and person. The broadest feature set here, and the longest setup.
6. BigGantt. A Gantt chart for Jira with dependencies, critical path and scheduling. Strong for deadline-driven projects; its resource view is light.
7. TeamBoard ProScheduler. Program and portfolio management across projects with Gantt timelines, resource capacity and time tracking in one app. We compare it with ActivityTimeline in ProScheduler vs ActivityTimeline.
Which resource planning app fits your team?
Ask which question keeps you up at night. "Who is free to take this next week?" is a people-planner question: ActivityTimeline or Tempo Capacity Planner. "How does all this work roll up, and is the epic on track?" is a work-structure question: Jira Plans if you're on Premium, Structure if you're not. "What slips if this task slips?" is a schedule question: BigGantt for a project, BigPicture or ProScheduler for a portfolio.
Many larger teams end up with two: a structure or schedule tool for the plan, and a people planner for the people. Our honest view is that if you can only buy one and your plans keep breaking because of availability, buy the people planner. A perfect Gantt chart doesn't help when half the team is on holiday.
FAQ
Can you do resource planning in Jira without an app?
Only partly. Jira shows assignees and estimates, and Jira Plans (Premium and Enterprise) adds cross-project plans and team capacity per sprint. Planning individual people by day, with time off, needs a Marketplace app.
What is the best resource planning app for Jira?
It depends on the job. For people and availability: ActivityTimeline or Tempo Capacity Planner. For work hierarchy: Jira Plans or Structure. For schedules and portfolios: BigGantt, BigPicture or TeamBoard ProScheduler.
Is Advanced Roadmaps the same as Jira Plans?
Yes. Atlassian renamed Advanced Roadmaps to Jira Plans; it was called Portfolio for Jira before that. It's included in Jira Premium and Enterprise.
Do resource planning apps work on Jira Data Center?
Most of the apps in this list are available for both Cloud and Data Center. Jira Plans is part of Jira Premium and Enterprise. Check each listing for your version.
If your resource plan still lives in a spreadsheet, try ActivityTimeline on your own Jira for 30 days. Start the trial
