Zenhub Alternatives: 6 Estimation Tools Beyond GitHub (2026)
Zenhub's planning poker is a feature, not a product: it comes bundled inside a full GitHub-native project management suite — boards, sprints, roadmaps, AI-assisted workflows — free for up to 50 users on one workspace, then $4.99 per user per month billed annually ($7.50 monthly). That's the catch in both directions. If you're not ready to run all of project management Zenhub's way, you can't just take the poker; and if your issues live in Jira rather than GitHub, none of it applies at all.
These 6 tools give you the estimation ceremony à la carte — for Jira teams, mixed stacks, or GitHub teams that don't want a PM layer.
FOR THE RECORD: Online Planning Poker runs this site and this ranking. All third-party pricing was verified on July 12, 2026 — including the vendor's own annual-vs-monthly split.
The quick comparison
| Tool | Scope | Backlog home | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zenhub for reference | Full PM suite + poker | GitHub only | Free ≤50 users; $4.99/user/mo annual |
| Online Planning Poker Our pick | Estimation only | Jira (or none) | Free unlimited; $19/mo flat |
| Parabol | Meeting suite | GitHub, Jira, GitLab, AzDO | Free tier; $8/active user/mo |
| Kollabe | Poker + retros | GitHub, Jira, AzDO, Linear | Free tier; from $12/mo flat |
| Agile Poker for Jira | Estimation in Jira | Jira only | Free ≤10 users; tiered by instance |
| Planning Poker Online | Estimation only | Jira, Linear, GitHub, AzDO | Free (capped); $30/facilitator/mo |
| PlanningPoker.com | Estimation only | Jira (import/export) | From $14.95/organizer/mo |
Which of these Zenhub alternatives fits your stack
Sort yourself into one of three buckets. Jira shop: the bundled poker was never for you — pick between browser tools with Jira sync (flat pricing) and native Jira apps (instance pricing). GitHub shop, PM elsewhere: you want estimation with GitHub write-back but not a board takeover — Parabol and Kollabe do exactly that. No backlog integration needed: any uncapped free tool ends the discussion.
Online Planning Poker
Our pickEstimation as a standalone ceremony, no platform adoption required: rooms open instantly with no accounts and no caps — unlimited players, rounds, and sessions free — with hidden votes, four deck families, timers, and stats. For Jira teams, the $19/month flat Business plan ($190/year) adds two-way sync, velocity tracking, session history with CSV export, and team rooms. Ten users cost $19/month here versus $49.90 on the suite's annual plan — and nobody has to migrate a single board.
PROS
- + Just the ceremony — no PM migration project
- + Works for Jira shops the GitHub suite can't serve
- + Flat pricing beats per-user beyond 4 people
CONS
- − No GitHub write-back — Jira only
- − No boards, sprints, or roadmaps (by design)
- − Reporting features are paid
Best for: teams — especially Jira-based ones — that want the poker without the platform.
Parabol
GitHub write-backThe strongest answer for GitHub teams leaving the suite but keeping the sync: Sprint Poker pulls issues from GitHub (or Jira, GitLab, Azure DevOps) and pushes estimates back, without owning your boards. Retros and standups come along. Free for 2 teams and 10 meetings monthly; $8 per active user per month after.
PROS
- + GitHub two-way sync without a PM takeover
- + Open source, self-hostable
- + Covers retros and standups too
CONS
- − Higher per-user price than the suite it replaces
- − Accounts for all participants
- − Meeting-suite weight remains
Best for: GitHub-native teams that want estimates on issues, boards left alone.
Kollabe
Flat-rate GitHub syncGitHub sync at a flat price instead of per user: $12/month covers unlimited planning poker with GitHub, Jira, Azure DevOps, and Linear integrations. Free 10-member rooms with no signup handle evaluation; $29/month adds retros and AI tools. For a 20-person org, $12 flat versus $99.80/user-math is the whole argument.
PROS
- + Keeps GitHub sync, drops per-user billing
- + Modern, no-signup basics
- + Linear support as a bonus
CONS
- − Integration is lighter than a native suite's
- − 10-member free rooms
- − Young vendor
Best for: cost-driven GitHub teams that only need the estimation slice.
Agile Poker for Jira
The Jira equivalentIf your backlog actually lives in Jira, Appfire's Agile Poker is the philosophical twin of what you're leaving — estimation embedded where the issues are, with four methods (live, relative, async Wideband Delphi, prioritization), AI insights, and velocity analytics. Free for Jira instances up to 10 users, then tiered on instance size: about $898/year at 25 Jira users.
PROS
- + Same in-platform convenience, Jira edition
- + Async estimation mode
- + Deep analytics
CONS
- − Priced on the whole Jira instance
- − No use outside Jira
- − Overkill for casual pointing
Best for: Jira organizations that liked the embedded-poker idea, wrong platform.
Planning Poker Online
Multi-stack polishWe Agile You's game table covers the widest stack spread of the standalone tools — plugins for Jira, Linear, GitHub, and Azure DevOps — in the category's most polished interface. Free allows unlimited players but caps games at 9 rounds and 5 issues; full use runs $30 per facilitator per month.
PROS
- + GitHub, Jira, Linear, and AzDO in one tool
- + Best-in-class UI
- + Unlimited players per game
CONS
- − Per-facilitator fees stack up
- − Free caps bite in long refinement
- − Hosts must register
Best for: mixed-stack teams (some Jira, some GitHub) with one consistent facilitator.
PlanningPoker.com
The safe pickThe standalone veteran: anonymous voting, timers, custom scales, Jira import/export, free for small teams and from $14.95 per organizer per month beyond. No GitHub story sync — you'd paste stories in — but a brand every stakeholder already recognizes.
PROS
- + Established, procurement-friendly
- + Players free, no accounts
- + Simple to adopt
CONS
- − No GitHub integration at all
- − Per-organizer pricing
- − Jira via file import/export
Best for: teams that decided backlog integration isn't worth complexity.
Frequently asked questions
We only use the poker feature — should we still pay for the suite?
If you're under 50 users, you may not be paying at all — the free plan includes planning poker. The moment the Teams upgrade is on the table for other reasons, though, compare against a $0–19/month dedicated tool doing your actual use case.
What's the GitHub-sync equivalent of Jira's app ecosystem?
Thinner. GitHub has no estimation-app marketplace like Atlassian's, so your options are suites with GitHub write-back (Parabol, Kollabe, Planning Poker Online) or keeping estimates in a standalone tool and letting sprint tooling read story points from issue fields.
We're migrating GitHub → Jira. What survives the move?
Browser-based tools with Jira sync — like this one — work identically before, during, and after, since the ceremony lives outside both platforms. Platform-embedded estimation is what you'd have to re-buy on the other side.
Prices and plan limits verified July 12, 2026 on vendor pricing pages. Corrections welcome.
Estimation that doesn't care where your backlog lives
Free unlimited sessions in the browser — and flat-rate Jira sync when you want estimates written home.