Linear and Worktable: what's the same, what's different
What you'd gain, what you'd give up, and when Linear is still the better choice.
Karo
7 min read
Linear is where a lot of product teams track and ship their work, and this year it became a place where coding agents pick up issues and open pull requests. Worktable is built for working with agents too, but on a different part of the job. They overlap more than you might expect, so it's worth discussing how.
I built Worktable, so read this with that in mind. I've tried to be straight about where Linear is the better tool, because for some work it clearly is.
The short version
- Linear is a fast, polished system for teams to plan and ship work: issues, projects, cycles, and docs attached to them. Agents are teammates there. You can delegate an issue to Cursor, Codex, Devin, or Linear's own agent, which can run Claude Code or Codex in Linear's cloud and open a pull request.
- Worktable is a much younger workspace for you and the agents you already use, for the research, planning, and documents around the work. Their edits appear in front of you (labeled as theirs), you can leave comments for them to fix and resolve, and you can talk with several of them in threads. Your work is files on your own machine or server, and it's open source and free to run yourself.
- You can use both. An agent connected to both can read your research in Worktable and file the resulting issues in Linear.
In one line: Linear is where a team's agents ship the work. Worktable is where you and your agents work out what the work is.
What they have in common
- Documents with Markdown shortcuts, tables, code, and Mermaid diagrams.
- Agents like Claude Code and Codex connect over MCP, including unattended with a key or token.
- Agent work is visible: Linear marks text an agent wrote in its docs, and Worktable labels each version with who made it.
- Comments that can be replied to and resolved.
- A free way to start.
Side by side
| Linear | Worktable | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writing | Docs attached to projects, issues, and teams. Real-time co-editing. | Docs that stand on their own. Can be stored as Markdown files. | Worktable for standalone docs. Linear for specs next to the work. |
| Organizing | Teams, projects, initiatives, cycles, triage | Spaces, folders, Start here pins, search across Spaces and records, temporary docs that archive themselves | Linear for delivery. Worktable for research and planning. |
| Connecting an agent | Linear's own agent is included. Outside agents join as app users, or connect over MCP with OAuth or an API key. | No agent of its own. One setup command for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and others, with local tokens or a hosted Cloud connection. | Even for your own agents. Linear if you'd use its agent. |
| Custom views and tools | Custom views of issues. No custom code inside Linear. | The agent builds HTML tools that read and update your records, in a sandbox | Worktable |
| Agents working on their own | Delegated issues become coding sessions in Linear's cloud. Loops run on a schedule or an event. Paid in AI credits. | Always-on agents you connect, such as OpenClaw, pick up messages and reply. No built-in schedules. | Linear, paid in AI credits |
| Structured information | Issues with fixed fields (status, priority, estimate, labels), projects, cycles, custom views. No custom fields. | Record collections with your own schemas and relations, and a table with filters, grouping, and sums | Linear for issues. Worktable for anything else. |
| Talking with agents | Mention an agent in a comment, Slack, or Teams. Sessions show its plan and questions. | Threads with several of your own agents. Mention or assign the one that should answer. | Worktable for a whole project. Linear for a single issue. |
| Sharing | Real-time teamwork. Private teams and guests on Business. Slack, GitHub, and Zendesk integrations. | View-only public links. One owner per workspace. | Linear, if you work with a team |
| Diagrams and drawing | Mermaid in docs. No drawing canvas or handwriting. | Mermaid with a fullscreen viewer. Drawings you can sketch by hand, including with Apple Pencil, that agents can see and edit. | Worktable |
| Seeing what an agent changed | Issue activity, agent-marked text and restore points in docs, and a review screen for pull requests | Edits appear in open docs live. History labels each version with who made it and is kept indefinitely by default. | Linear for code. Even for documents. |
| Owning your work | Linear's cloud, in the US or EU. Issues export as CSV. Docs copy out one at a time. | Files on your computer or your own server, or Cloud. One export file restores docs, records, comments, threads, and history. | Worktable |
| Devices and offline | Native apps on Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and the web. Offline is a failsafe. No Linux app. | Mac app (Apple Silicon), command-line install on Mac or Linux, Cloud in any browser. Built to be used online. | Linear |
| Giving an agent feedback | Comments on issues and docs. Mentioning an agent starts its work. | Comments on a passage. Your agent works through open ones and resolves them. | Even |
| Source code | Closed source | Open source | Worktable |
| Cost | Free up to 250 issues. Basic $10 and Business $16 per user per month (yearly). Coding sessions and Loops use AI credits. | Free to run locally or self-host. Cloud is $7.99/month in early access. Your agent subscription is separate. | Worktable for one person. Linear for a team. |
Where Linear is better
Running delivery as a team
Triage, cycles, projects, initiatives, SLAs, and customer requests, all connected to Slack, GitHub, and support tools. Many people work in it at once, with private teams and guests on Business. Worktable has one owner per workspace and isn't an issue tracker.
Agents that ship code
Delegate an issue to Linear's agent and it runs Claude Code or Codex in a sandbox Linear manages, tests the change, and drafts a pull request you can review inside Linear. Cursor, Codex, Devin, and other agents can take issues too, and agents don't count as paid seats. Worktable doesn't run code or open pull requests.
Agents working on their own
Loops run agent workflows on a schedule or when something happens, like drafting a weekly update or tidying triage. There's nothing to install or keep running. In Worktable, an agent acts when you run it, unless you connect an always-on agent such as OpenClaw yourself.
Every device, and polish
Linear has native apps on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, and it's known for being fast. Worktable runs on Mac and Linux and in any browser, and it's early.
Where Worktable is better
Documents and research that stand on their own
In Linear, docs hang off a project, issue, or team, and there's no bulk export of them. In Worktable, research, briefs, and decisions live in Spaces and folders as first-class documents, alongside the data and drawings they use. Each Space has Start here pins for the brief and current plan, so you and the next agent know where to begin.
Tracking anything, with your own fields
Linear issues have a fixed set of fields, which keeps teams consistent but doesn't fit everything. In Worktable, a record collection can be venues, candidates, sources, or requests, with the fields and relations you choose. Agents can query and update them reliably.
Tools your agent builds
On top of those records, your agent can build an HTML tool: a weighted comparison, a budget calculator, a planner. It reads and updates the records with your permission and runs in a sandbox with network access off by default. Linear doesn't run custom code inside the app.
Drawing and handwriting
Worktable has drawings you can sketch by hand, including with Apple Pencil on an iPad, alongside shapes, arrows, text, and images. Agents can look at a drawing and edit specific parts of it, so a whiteboard sketch can become a flow your agent refines. Linear docs render Mermaid but have no drawing canvas.
Talking with several agents about a whole project
Threads keep conversations with your agents in the workspace, either general or tied to one Space. A thread can include several agents: mention one to get its attention, or assign a message to the one that should answer. In Linear, agent conversations happen on a single issue or in Slack.
Keeping agent output tidy
Agents produce a lot of drafts, notes, and scratch work. In Worktable a doc can be temporary: it archives itself a week after its last change unless you keep it. Archived docs stay searchable and can be restored.
Your work stays yours
Worktable keeps your work as files on your computer or your own server. The code is open source under the AGPL, and one export file carries docs, records, comments, threads, and history into another Worktable. Linear is cloud-only, and its export is a CSV of issues.
Matters of taste
Agents in their cloud or on your machine
Linear runs agents for you: it picks the sandbox, bills for compute in credits, and keeps everything in one place. Worktable has no agents of its own, so your agents run wherever you run them, on the subscriptions you already have.
A team system or your own workspace
Linear is designed so a whole team works the same way, with fixed fields and shared workflows. Worktable is designed around one person and their agents, so the structure is whatever the work needs.
Using both
These two fit together naturally. Keep research, planning, and decisions in Worktable, and ship in Linear. An agent connected to both can read the brief and records in Worktable, then file or update the issues in Linear. Just decide which tool owns anything that changes. There's no sync between them.
Trying it
Bring one real piece of work. Have an agent research and plan it, give it feedback, and come back a few days later. Pick the tool that makes that loop feel clearer.
Prices and features as of October 2026.