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A simpler choice for teams that use YouTrack's core, but not its entire configuration surface.

YouTrack is a strong, close competitor: issues, agile boards, time tracking, a knowledge base, reports, self-hosting and an MCP server. Nothing Left covers that core with far fewer settings, fixed roles and one documented surface for people and agents.

Join the betaSee the comparison

Keep issues, time and project knowledge together-with fewer settings to maintain.

YouTrack in its own words

Feature by feature, dated and sourced.

Each YouTrack cell links to the JetBrains page it was checked against; each Nothing Left cell to its manual. Where YouTrack goes further, the table says so.

YouTrack column last verified against its own pages on . Product names are trademarks of their owners.

Feature by feature, dated and sourced. Nothing Left compared with YouTrack, by capability.
CapabilityNothing LeftYouTrack
Planning
Issues and searchYesIssues with subtasks, links, custom fields and attachments. One query language for the search bar, saved views, board filters, reports and the agent’s search tool.Search manualYesCustom fields with input validation, a query language with suggestions, saved and shared searches, commands, bulk editing and field-level permissions.YouTrack: task tracking
Agile boardsYesSprints, backlog and boards with columns by status, priority or type, swimlanes, WIP limits and a sprint burndown.Sprints, backlog and boardsYesScrum and Kanban presets or custom boards, swimlanes, WIP limits, sprint planning, burndown and cumulative flow.YouTrack: agile boards
Knowledge baseYesA private, markdown knowledge base per project. Issue keys in an article link both ways. No public or anonymous access.Knowledge base manualYesArticles per project with access settings per article; a knowledge base can be opened to anonymous readers through the guest account.YouTrack Help: access to articles
Delivery
Time trackingYesEstimates and spent time on the issue, subtasks rolled up, date ranges, work types, a timesheet and a time report. No timer.Time trackingYesEstimates and spent time, timesheets, three preconfigured time reports, logging from JetBrains IDEs and integrations with time-tracking apps.YouTrack: time tracking
ReportsYesNine reports over issues and logged time, each exportable as CSV and readable by an agent with the same numbers.Reports manualYes20 configurable reports across issue distribution, timelines, time management and state transitions, plus Gantt charts.YouTrack Help: reports
Workflow scriptingNoDeliberately left out: there are no transition rules and any status can follow any status. Automations are status rules fired by git events, resolved subtasks and duplicate links, not scripts.Automations manualYesA no-code workflow constructor and JavaScript workflows, with on-change, on-schedule and action rules.YouTrack Help: workflow constructor
HelpdeskNoNo ticket intake from email or web forms, and no external reporters.YesHelpdesk projects take tickets from email and online forms, with support agents, SLAs and two-way notifications to external reporters.YouTrack Help: helpdesk projects
VCS integrationYesGitHub and GitLab, including GitHub Enterprise and self-managed GitLab: commits, branches and pull requests link to issues by key, with review and CI state on the issue. No commands in commit messages, and no Bitbucket.Development manualYesGitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and more: commits and branches link to issues, commit messages can carry commands, pull-request status shows on the issue.YouTrack Help: VCS integrations
Agents
MCP serverYesBuilt in. The server is a client of the public REST API, so every capability in the web app has a tool. Personal access tokens with scopes.MCP tool referenceYesCloud and Server 2026.2: search, create and update issues, comments, articles and work items as the signed-in user, by OAuth or a permanent token.YouTrack Help: MCP server
Hosting and pricing
HostingYesAGPL-3.0 code, the same build as the hosted service, with seat and storage limits as settings. Guides for Docker Compose and AWS.Self-hosting guideYesCloud, or Server installed from a ZIP archive or Docker image. A Cloud team can move to Server.YouTrack Server: installation
Free seatsYesBeta: no subscription charge for any team size. The first 20 members of every organisation stay free permanently once billing exists.Limits and billingYesFree for up to 10 users, with 3 helpdesk agents, on Cloud and Server. Larger teams buy user packs.YouTrack: pricing and licensing
Yes
Built in and documented.
Limited
Present, with a narrower scope than the row suggests; the note says how.
Planned
Not available today; on the public roadmap or announced.
No
Not available.

One bug, three everyday steps, in both products.

On 8 Oct 2026, Alex Lee finds the open invitation work, logs the afternoon on ACME-12and ties the fix to the decision behind it. Nothing Left is drawn with fictional data. YouTrack’s side is its own documented steps, each linked to the page that says so, rather than screenshots.

2. Log time

Nothing LeftLog the afternoon on ACME-12

ACME/Issues/ACME-12
BugMajor

Invite link blank after it expires

Add spent time

Date
8 Oct 2026
Time spent
1h 25m
Type
Development
Status
In Progress
Estimation
2h
Spent time
1h 45m of 2h

Alex Lee logged 1h 25m, Development8 Oct 2026, 4:38pm

  1. Choose Add spent time below the comment box or beside Spent time in the sidebar.
  2. Write the time the way you would say it, pick the date and keep the project’s default work type.
  3. An agent with the time:write scope does the same through log_time.

YouTrackDocumented steps

  1. Choose Add spent time on the issue, or add a work item from your timesheet.YouTrack Help: add spent time
  2. Enter the spent time as 1h 25m, the work date and the work type.YouTrack Help: add spent time
  3. Or type a command in the documented shape add work Testing Today 2h 45m, or log from a JetBrains IDE.YouTrack: time tracking

3. KB reference

Nothing LeftTie the fix to the decision behind it

ACME/Knowledge base/Decisions

Decision record · Published 2 Oct 2026 · Alex Lee

Invitation links and expiry

An expired invitation link explains itself and offers a new one. First seen in ACME-12(resolved), resolved 8 Oct 2026, 4:40pm.

Page
/projects/ACME/articles/invitation-links-and-expiry
For agents
article://ACME/invitation-links-and-expiry

On ACME-12, under Referenced by

Invitation links and expiry

  1. Write ACME-12 anywhere in the article and it links to the issue, struck through once the issue is resolved.
  2. ACME-12 lists the article under Referenced by, even if the article came first.
  3. An agent attaches the article as article://ACME/invitation-links-and-expiry.

YouTrackDocumented steps

  1. Type the issue ID in an article; a matching ID becomes a link to the issue.YouTrack Help: issue mentions
  2. The issue lists the article under Inward Mentions.YouTrack Help: issue mentions
  3. If customers should read it too, grant the guest account read access to articles.YouTrack Help: access to articles

Nothing Left views are hand-drawn with fictional data. YouTrack steps are paraphrased from its documentation as of the matrix date above.

Less to configure, on purpose.

YouTrack is a deep, mature tracker, and much of its strength is how far it can be configured. Nothing Left makes the opposite trade: fewer settings, decided defaults, and the same surface for people and agents.

  • Restrained setup

    A new project starts with statuses, priorities, types, work types and a board. There are no transition rules to design and no workflows to maintain: any status can follow any status.

    Issues manual

  • Fixed roles

    Org Owner, Org Admin, Project Admin, Contributor and Observer. No role editor and no permission schemes, so who can do what is the same in every project, and every cell of the matrix is tested.

    The permission matrix

  • Markdown first

    Descriptions, comments, time notes and articles are stored as markdown. The editor shows a formatted view or the source, and an agent reads and writes the same text.

    Issues manual

  • Documented parity

    The MCP server is a client of the public REST API, and its tool reference is generated from the code. A capability missing from the API is missing from the tools too, so the gap shows instead of hiding.

    MCP tool reference

  • AGPL-3.0 code

    The source is public and the hosted service runs the same build you can run yourself. Plans are limit presets, not feature gates.

    AGPL-3.0 licence

  • Free while it is in beta

    No subscription charge for any team size during beta. When billing arrives, the first 20 members of every organisation stay free forever, with notice before any charge beyond them.

    Pricing

Switching, with you reviewing every mapping.

Both products speak MCP, so one agent can read your unresolved YouTrack work and recreate the supported parts here: projects, members, tags and issues. It is a guided move by prompt, not a one-click importer.

  1. Connect one agent to both. YouTrack’s MCP server on one side; a Nothing Left personal access token on the other, with only the scopes the move needs.
  2. Read the unresolved work. The agent lists what is still open in YouTrack, with its states, fields, tags and people.
  3. Review the field mapping. States, priorities, types and custom fields are proposed side by side. Anything without a match is named, not guessed.
  4. Check for duplicates. Issues already in Nothing Left, by title or by the YouTrack ID carried in the description, are flagged before anything is created.
  5. Review permissions. Each person lands in one of five fixed roles. You approve who becomes a Project Admin, a Contributor or an Observer.
  6. Create, then report. Projects, invitations, tags and issues are created through the documented tools, as you. The agent reports what it skipped.
A review-first migration prompt
Read the unresolved issues in my YouTrack project (#Unresolved). Before you create anything in Nothing Left, show me:
- the project you would create, with its key
- each YouTrack user mapped to a Nothing Left member, or an invitation and its role
- how states, priorities, types and custom fields map, and which have no match
- the tags you would create or reuse
- any issue that already exists in Nothing Left with the same title or YouTrack ID
Wait for my approval. Then create the issues in batches of 20, put the YouTrack ID at the top of each description, and list everything you skipped and why.

What the agent uses

On this side, documented tools that act with your role and your token’s scopes. On the YouTrack side, its own MCP server with your permissions there.

  • create_project
  • invite_member
  • create_issue
  • add_tags
  • search_issues

What to expect

  • Issues are created by you, now. Their full history, original timestamps and workflow state stay in YouTrack.
  • Attachments, time records and articles are not part of the prompt above; move them only once the issues are right.
  • For a bulk move, use the generic CSV import. A native YouTrack importer is not built.
Connecting an AI agentYouTrack’s MCP server

Which one fits your team.

Not a verdict from a seat count. The question is how much of YouTrack’s depth your team uses every week, and whether the rest is worth maintaining.

Stay with YouTrack if…

  • Your process runs on scripted workflows: on-change rules, schedules and JavaScript automation.
  • You run a helpdesk with external reporters, email intake and SLAs in the same tool.
  • Commit messages should carry commands, your code lives in Bitbucket, or your developers work from JetBrains IDEs.
  • Customers read a public knowledge base that lives beside your issues.
  • You rely on richer reporting: 20 configurable reports, state-transition analysis and Gantt charts.

Choose Nothing Left if…

  • You use issues, boards, time and a knowledge base, and want fewer settings to keep in shape.
  • Five fixed roles and no transition rules are a relief, not a limit.
  • Your descriptions and articles should stay plain markdown that people and agents edit alike.
  • Agents should reach everything the web app does, with tokens you scope and revoke.
  • You want AGPL-3.0 code you can run yourself, the same build as the hosted service.

Compare what you pay for YouTrack.

YouTrack is selected, starting from its lowest paid plan. Replace that with your current bill and see what the beta takes off it. Check your plan on YouTrack’s own pricing page; nothing you type leaves this page.

The calculator is not available in this browser right now. Reloading the page may bring it back. The short version: during beta the subscription is zero, whatever you pay today.

Currently using

Check your plan on YouTrack's pricing page

Currency

You know

members

Digits only, such as 1250, 1,250.50 or 1.250,50.

Filled in from YouTrack's lowest paid plan: US list price, billed monthly, checked 11 Oct 2026. Higher plans cost more, and annual or volume pricing differs. Replace it with your invoice figure.

Current subscription spend
-
Nothing Left subscription during beta
$0
Illustrative subscription spend avoided during beta if you replace and cancel the current plan
-

Enter what you pay today to see the comparison.

Monthly subscription only, in the currency you chose, with no exchange conversion. Filled-in prices are US list prices for each tool's lowest paid plan, billed monthly, checked 11 Oct 2026; they apply in USD only. Migration effort, add-ons, storage and any future seat pricing are outside this comparison. Product names are trademarks of their owners.

Questions from YouTrack teams.

MCP, migration, public articles, automation and cost. Short answers here, the rest in the manual.

YouTrack has an MCP server too. What is different?

Both let an agent work as a signed-in person. YouTrack’s server, in Cloud and Server 2026.2, covers issues, comments, articles, projects, users and work items. Nothing Left’s server is a client of its own public REST API, so every capability in the web app has a tool, and personal access tokens narrow it by scope and project. MCP tool reference

Can we bring our YouTrack issues across?

Yes, with review. An agent connected to both can read your unresolved issues and recreate projects, members, tags and issues through MCP once you approve the mapping. Issues are created by you, now; their full history stays in YouTrack.

Generic CSV import is the bulk fallback. There is no native YouTrack importer.

Can our knowledge base stay public?

Not in Nothing Left. Every project’s knowledge base is private to its members, with no public or anonymous access. If customers read articles in YouTrack today, keep that part where it is. Knowledge base manual

We use workflows and commit commands. What would we lose?

Both. Nothing Left has no workflow engine and no commands in commit messages. It does link commits, branches and pull requests from GitHub and GitLab to issues, and its automations set an issue’s status when a branch is created, a pull request opens or merges, or the last subtask is resolved. Those are status rules from a fixed list, not scripts: any status can still follow any status. If on-change scripts, schedules or commit commands carry your process, YouTrack is the better fit. Automations manual

YouTrack is free for small teams. Is price the reason to switch?

It should not be the only one. YouTrack is free for up to 10 users; Nothing Left charges no subscription during beta for any team size, and its first 20 members stay free when billing arrives. Compare the work first, then the bill. Pricing

Can we self-host, as with YouTrack Server?

Yes. The code is AGPL-3.0, and a self-hosted install runs the same build as the hosted service, MCP included. Seat and storage limits are settings you choose. Install guides cover Docker Compose and AWS. Self-hosting

Ask something else

Try it on one project first.

Join the beta, create a project and move a handful of open YouTrack issues with an agent. Keep both running until you know which fits.

Join the betaSee pricingRead the agent setup guide