What is the best on-premise Jira alternative after the end of Jira Data Center?

In short:

1. Atlassian is ending its last self-hosted offering: Jira Data Center has not been sold to new customers since March 30, 2026, and its licenses will become read-only on March 28, 2029, five years after the end of Jira Server (February 15, 2024).
2. 2026 ranking of on-premise Jira alternatives: 1. GLPI (Teclib), 2. iTop (Combodo), 3. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, 4. EasyVista. These are the four service desk solutions that still offer an on-premise version.
3. GLPI is a complete open source alternative to Jira Service Management: service desk, IT asset management and CMDB in a single tool, license-free use under GPL v3, and 24 service providers listed in the French government’s SILL catalog.
4. Atlassian Cloud is billed per agent, from 20 to 51.42 dollars per month at Jira Service Management list prices, after a 5 to 7.5% increase in October 2025.

Finding an on-premise Jira alternative that runs on in-house servers has become a concrete project for IT departments. In September 2025, Atlassian announced the end of life of Jira Data Center, its last on-premise offering, in favor of Atlassian Cloud. Organizations that want to keep their tickets in house therefore have until 2029 to switch tools.

This comparison covers the service desk side, meaning Jira Service Management (JSM) and IT support ticket management. Agile tracking for development teams, covered by Jira Software, calls for different tools and criteria: they are detailed in the comparison of the best project management software.

Comparison of on-premise Jira alternatives in 2026

Prices are the list prices published by vendors in October 2026, before volume discounts.

End of Jira Server and Jira Data Center: Atlassian’s timeline

February 2024: the end of Jira Server

Jira Server, Atlassian’s historical perpetual license, has been unsupported since February 15, 2024. Since that date, its installations no longer receive security fixes. Customers then had two options: migrate to Atlassian Cloud or move to Jira Data Center, the on-premise edition designed for large organizations.

From 2026 to 2029: the gradual phase-out of Jira Data Center

In September 2025, Atlassian closed this second option. The official timeline has three dates.

• March 30, 2026: end of sales of Jira Data Center and related Marketplace apps to new customers.
• March 30, 2028: last date for existing customers to buy new licenses, license expansions or apps.
• March 28, 2029: end of life. Data Center licenses and related app licenses expire and become read-only.

The vendor justifies this choice by cloud adoption across its installed base.

“With 99% of our 300,000+ customers already benefiting from Atlassian’s Cloud platform, and nearly all of our new customers choosing the cloud.” Source: Atlassian, Data Center end of life announcement, 2025

For a Data Center customer, the consequence is straightforward: after March 28, 2029, the instance can still be viewed but can no longer process new tickets. The only path offered by Atlassian is the cloud.

When can an on-premise solution complement or replace Atlassian Cloud?

Per-agent pricing on Atlassian Cloud

Jira Service Management Cloud is billed per agent, meaning per person who handles tickets. The Free plan covers 3 agents, the Standard plan costs 20 dollars per agent per month, the Premium plan 51.42 dollars, and Enterprise is sold on quote.

For a support team of 50 agents, the list price amounts to 12,000 dollars per year on Standard and 30,852 dollars per year on Premium, before volume discounts.

These prices change over time. On October 15, 2025, Atlassian raised Jira Service Management cloud prices by 5% on the Standard plan and by 7.5% on the Premium and Enterprise plans, according to the vendor’s pricing update notes. Atlassian Cloud subscription prices are revised periodically, which should be factored into the forecast budget.

By contrast, an on-premise tool shifts the cost to hosting, operations and support. The total cost of ownership then depends on existing infrastructure and in-house skills, but it does not grow mechanically with the number of agents.

Data sovereignty and regulatory constraints

Atlassian Corporation has been a US company since its redomiciliation to Delaware, effective in October 2022. It is therefore subject to the CLOUD Act, a 2018 US law that allows US authorities to request data held by a US provider, including outside US territory.

In Europe, the GDPR governs transfers of personal data outside the European Union. A service desk holds a lot of it: names, email addresses, workstations, incident histories linked to each employee.

Atlassian offers data residency in Europe and is preparing Atlassian Isolated Cloud, a single-tenant offering announced for 2026. These options reduce exposure; the company remains subject to US law, a point to assess against each organization’s compliance policy.

Hosting policies in large organizations and the public sector

Some large organizations require in-house hosting of certain data under their security policy: defense, healthcare, energy, industries working on sensitive contracts. For them, a US SaaS service desk is not an option.

The French public sector has a reference point: the SILL (interministerial base of free software), published by the French digital agency DINUM on code.gouv.fr, which lists the free software used and recommended in French administrations. GLPI has been listed since 2018 and iTop since 2022.

Criteria for choosing an on-premise Jira alternative

The first criterion is the durability of the self-hosted version. The Jira Data Center case shows that a proprietary vendor can withdraw its on-premise offering from its catalog. An open source license guarantees that the code remains available and usable, even if the vendor’s strategy changes.

The second criterion is the licensing model. An open source tool is used without a license, and the budget goes to hosting and vendor support. A proprietary tool charges licenses per technician or per agent, like Atlassian Cloud.

The third criterion is functional coverage. A replacement for Jira Service Management must cover the core ITIL processes: incidents, requests, problems and changes, with measured SLAs. The current version of the framework is ITIL (Version 5), published by PeopleCert in early 2026.

The fourth criterion is IT asset management. In JSM, the CMDB runs through Assets. The replacement tool must link each ticket to the workstation, server or software involved, otherwise the team loses part of its diagnostic information.

The fifth criterion is vendor support and the network of integration partners, which shape the migration and long-term operations. The comparison of the best open source ITSM software details these criteria for the ITSM market, cloud included.

GLPI, a complete on-premise Jira alternative

GLPI is open source IT service management software published by the French company Teclib, under the GPL v3 license. It combines an ITIL-compliant service desk and IT asset management in a single tool, and extends to other business services (ESM), such as human resources or facilities. Version 12, released on October 7, 2026, is the current major version.

GLPI On-Premise and GLPI Network On-Premise: two ways to self-host

GLPI On-Premise is the open source version, downloaded and installed on the organization’s own servers. Its use requires no license, and the open source license does not cap the number of technicians.

GLPI Network On-Premise adds a vendor subscription to the same on-premise installation. Sold by an integration partner, it provides the vendor’s contractual guarantee and level 3 support, with tiers based on the number of managed assets. The partner’s services are not included in the subscription.

For organizations that do not want to run the infrastructure, GLPI Network Cloud is also available, hosted by Teclib at OVHcloud. GLPI offers both a cloud and an on-premise version.

What GLPI takes over from Jira Service Management

The main building blocks of Jira Service Management have a native equivalent in GLPI.

Key features

• Security: GLPI 12 records open sessions, allows administrators to revoke them and requires identity confirmation for sensitive administrative actions.
• Compliance: a Data and privacy menu centralizes retention and purge rules, useful for GDPR.
• Integrations: GLPI 12 introduces version 3 of its high-level API, alongside previous versions.

iTop, ServiceDesk Plus and EasyVista: the other on-premise alternatives

iTop, the CMDB-centric open source ITSM

iTop is developed by the French company Combodo, under the AGPL v3 license. Version 3.3 was released in September 2026. The tool covers the service desk, change management and a highly configurable CMDB, which is its main strength.

iTop feeds its CMDB through data collectors, while GLPI has its own inventory agent. iTop has been listed in the SILL since 2022, with 6 service providers.

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, a self-hosted version from a proprietary vendor

ServiceDesk Plus is published by ManageEngine, a division of the Indian company Zoho Corporation. It is still available on premise in three editions: Standard for the service desk, Professional with asset management, and Enterprise with the CMDB and advanced ITSM practices.

The Standard edition is free for up to 5 technicians. Beyond that, on-premise prices start at 13 dollars per technician per month on Standard, 27 dollars on Professional and 67 dollars on Enterprise, according to the vendor’s price list.

EasyVista, the French vendor focused on large enterprises

EasyVista, a French vendor, combines service desk, CMDB and asset management in a single database, for large organizations. Its on-premise offering sits alongside a SaaS offering, with the Move2SaaS support service for customers who wish to migrate. Pricing is on quote.

Which on-premise Jira alternative for which type of organization?

Public administration

A public administration looks for an open source tool already deployed elsewhere in the public sector and backed by identified providers. GLPI ticks these three boxes: it has been in the SILL since 2018, more than 20 public organizations declare usage or a referent there, and 24 providers are listed.

Mid-size and large enterprises that refuse the cloud

A mid-size or large enterprise expects full ITIL coverage, built-in asset management and a contractual guarantee. GLPI Network On-Premise meets this need with level 3 vendor support, and EasyVista suits those looking for a single vendor with contractual support.

Organizations whose developers stay on Jira Software

An organization can keep Jira Software for its developers and move only the service desk away from Atlassian. The link between a ticket and a development bug then goes through an API integration.

SME with a small support team

With fewer than 5 technicians, the Standard edition of ServiceDesk Plus is enough to get started. To also manage IT assets in the same tool, GLPI covers both from installation.

Migrating from Jira Service Management to an on-premise ITSM

Migrate before 2029, not in 2029

A service desk migration takes several months to prepare: tool selection, configuration, data migration, technician training. Starting the project in 2028 leaves little room, especially since existing customers can no longer expand their Data Center licenses after March 30, 2028.

The recommended timeline is to choose the tool in 2026 or 2027, run it alongside Jira on a pilot scope, then switch over before license expansions end.

What can be migrated and what must be rebuilt

Tickets and their history can be migrated. Jira can export tickets as CSV from its search, or extract them through its REST API. On the GLPI side, the Data Injection plugin imports CSV files, and the API allows comments and attachments to be migrated by script.

Reference data can be migrated too: users, groups, ticket categories. In GLPI, users are synchronized from the organization’s LDAP directory, which avoids recreating them.

Workflows, automations and Marketplace apps must be rebuilt, because their logic is specific to Jira. It is an opportunity to sort out the rules accumulated over the years.

SLAs must be redefined: calendars, levels and escalations need to be reconfigured.

Mistakes to avoid

1. Waiting until 2028 to start the project: the end of license expansions on March 30, 2028 reduces room for maneuver if the support team grows during the migration.
2. Trying to replicate Jira exactly: each tool has its own logic, and rebuilding workflows identically loses the benefits of the change.
3. Forgetting asset management: leaving Jira is an opportunity to link tickets to the actual equipment inventory.
4. Not checking the on-premise roadmap: it is worth checking the on-premise roadmap of each vendor, whoever it is, before committing.

Frequently asked questions