Quick answer: For a free tracker that holds a lot of bugs, use GitHub Issues (no issue cap) or Jira (free for up to 10 users). Linear is free for unlimited members but caps you at 250 non-archived issues; Codecks is free for 5 users and 3 projects. None of those collects crashes or player reports. Bugnet's free plan does (one project, up to 100 reports in total), so a common zero-cost setup is Bugnet for intake plus GitHub Issues or Linear for planning.
Indie budgets are tight, and most bug trackers have a free plan. The catch is always somewhere: a cap on users, issues, projects or reports, or a missing feature you only notice in launch week. Here is what each free plan actually allows as of October 2026, and how to combine them so nothing costs a cent until your game is earning.
What each free plan allows
| Tool | Free plan limits | Collects crashes or player reports? |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Issues | Included with GitHub; no issue cap | No |
| Jira | Up to 10 users | No |
| Linear | Unlimited members, 2 teams, 250 non-archived issues | No |
| Codecks | Up to 5 users, 3 projects, 1 GB | Player feedback via User Reports plugins |
| HacknPlan | Personal plan with core planning and the Game Design Model | No |
| Trello | Free plan available | No |
| Notion | Free plan available | No |
| BetaHub | 1 developer, 1,000 reports per 30 days, 2 projects | Player reports with video; crash capture |
| Bugnet | 1 project, up to 100 bug reports in total, 2 team members | Crashes, errors and player reports, with Steam review sync |
The free planners
GitHub Issues is the most generous on volume: free with your repository, no issue cap, and connected to commits and pull requests. Jira's free plan covers a 10-person team with full workflows. Linear is the nicest to use but its 250 non-archived issue cap fills fast if player reports go straight in. Codecks covers five people with a playful card-based workflow, and HacknPlan's Personal plan includes its Game Design Model. Trello and Notion work as simple boards or databases.
What none of them do is notice a crash, hear from a player who never visits your Discord, or tell you how many people a bug affects.
The free intake tools
BetaHub's free plan is generous on report volume (1,000 every 30 days) for a single developer, with Unity and Unreal plugins, and is built around running beta tests. Bugnet's free plan is smaller on volume (100 reports in total, including repeats of the same bug, across one project and two team members) but broader: SDKs for Unity, Unreal, Godot, GameMaker, Construct 3, Pygame and the web, automatic crash capture with logs and screenshots, an in-game report widget, Steam review sync, a public known-issues page, and connections to GitHub, Linear, Trello, Notion, ClickUp, Asana and more. It is meant for a first project and for evaluating; Studio ($19 a month for the whole team, 10,000 reports) is where a launched game usually lands.
Zero-cost combinations that work
| Situation | Free setup |
|---|---|
| Solo dev, code on GitHub | Bugnet free for crashes and player reports, auto-creating GitHub issues |
| Small team that likes Linear | Bugnet free filtered to high priority, filing into Linear free |
| Small team on a board | Bugnet free adding cards to a free Trello board |
| Big community beta, one developer | BetaHub free for the test, then a launch-ready tracker |
The point of the split is that the planner only receives bugs worth planning, so its free limits last much longer. Create a free Bugnet account to try the intake side.
When to start paying
Pay when a free limit costs you more than the plan would: when reports start getting turned away because you hit a cap during a launch, when a third teammate needs access, or when a second game needs its own project. For broader comparisons see the best bug tracking software for game studios.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free bug tracker for indie games?
For planning, GitHub Issues and Jira's free plan are the most generous on volume and users. For collecting crashes and player reports, Bugnet's free plan covers one project and up to 100 reports. Many indies combine the two.
Is Jira free for indie developers?
Yes. Jira's free plan covers up to 10 users.
What is the catch with Linear's free plan?
Linear's free plan allows unlimited members and 2 teams but caps you at 250 non-archived issues.
Does Bugnet have a free plan?
Yes. The free plan covers one project, up to 100 bug reports in total (repeat reports count), up to 100 uploads and 2 team members, and includes crash capture, the in-game widget, Steam review sync and integrations.
Can a free tracker collect crash reports?
Most free planners cannot. Bugnet and BetaHub capture crashes and player reports on their free plans, and Bugnet can file them into free planners such as GitHub Issues, Linear or Trello.
Free is easy. Free and still useful in launch week takes a little planning.