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Current/Past Pricing (2020)
In 2020 we paidwe paid about $49,910 in licensing fees:
- $17,500 to renew Jira's 2000 user license.
- $13,100 to renew Confluence's 2000 user license.
- $19,310 to renew various plugins, notably Tempo, EazyBI and ScriptRunner.
These prices were artificially low, as we are on an 'advantaged' (grandfathered) plan that escaped the 2019 price increases.
Plugins are not considered here as their costs are dwarfed by the base costs, but 2x increases moving to Cloud can be assumed (e.g. 20% for Tempo Timesheets, 600% for JETI).
Summary: Future Pricing
The three options Atlassian make available to us are:
Summary: Future Pricing
The three options Atlassian make available to us are:
- Stay with Server as long as possible, then migrate to Stay with Server as long as possible, then migrate to DC (option 1).
- Migrate to DC soon to get ourselves a 'advantaged' (grandfathered) license (option 2).
- Migrate to Cloud (option 3). Cloud may not be possible for us due to GDPR compliance and lack of certain plugins. See discussion below.
Here are the anticipated prices for each option, taking into account projected user growth and various short-term discounts. There are two DC columns rows because the price for DC will be different (for a while) if we act before Feb 1, 2021 and get on a 'grandfathered' / advantaged plan to escape the 15-180% price hike coming then.
Our base licensing spend (Jira + Confluence) will thus increase 10x increase10x or 11x from its current $30$49,600 910 to 
Recommendations
The least disruptive move would be to move to Data Center, assuming we can afford it (the 'DC, after Feb 1, 2021' column). Moving early will lock in some discounts. Just be aware that DC is an annual subscription, not a perpetual license like Server, and that DC won't last forever (see blog post Betting on Atlassian DataCenter?). As happened with Server, DC is likely to undergo constant price increases to 'squeeze' larger customers onto Cloud.
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We now show how the numbers above are derived. Note: the primary source of calculations is a spreadsheet, which I unfortunately cannot publish due to containing Partners-only information:
How many users?
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Jira's renewal date would be May 06, July 2021, and Confluence's would be Aug 17, February 2021.
But, but renewing early before the price increase, we can save a bit of money. This is "Option 3: Renew on server early and lock in your existing price".
So prior to Feb 2, 2021 we should:
- Renew Jira till Jul 4, 2021, for $2$17,600500.
- Renew Confluence till Feb 2022, for $2,000.Renew plugins, for $2,773. $13,100
2022
Jira will be due for renewal in May 2022, and Confluence in Aug 2022.
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- $25,200 for Jira (annual price for the 20002001-10,000 user tier)
- $15,100 for Confluence (annual price for the 502501-2000 user tier)
2023
A user tier upgrade resets the maintenance clock, so our 100-user licenses would expire in Jan 2023. We would again pay:
- $25,200 for Jira (annual price for the 20002001-10,000 user tier)
- $15,100 for Confluence (annual price for the 502501-2000 user tier)
(assuming Atlassian don't increase the prices again – something we might want to protect against by renewing for 24 months in 2022)
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Summary – Server then DC, 2021-2025+
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jira | $17,500 | $17,500 | $25,200 |
| $25,200 |
| $210,000 | $210,000 | $255,000 | $255,000 | |||||
Confluence | $13,100 | $13,100 | $15,100 | $15,100 | $84,000 | $84,000 | $84,000 | $84,000 |
| Total | $30,600 | $30,600 | $40,300 | $40,300 | $294,000 | $294,000 | $339,000 | $339,000 |
|---|
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Server plugin licensing
Plugin licensing for Server will increase by 50% as we move from the 2,000 to 10,000 user tier, followed by a jump as we move to DC:
| Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Option
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Option 2: Move to Data Center early (before 2/Feb/2021)
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| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jira | $38,800 ($52,800, the current price of 2000-user DC | $91,100 assuming 2000-3000 users | $91,100 (2000-3000 users) | $121,400 (3001-4000 users) | $121,400 (3001-4000 users) | $151,800 (4001-5000 users) | $151,800 (4001-5000 users) |
| Confluence | $16,000 ($30,000 current 1001-2000 user DC license of less crossgrade discount of $10,480) | $34,500 assuming 501-1000 users | $60,700 (1001-2000 users) | $60,700 (1001-2000 users) | $60,700 (1001-2000 users) | $60,700 (1001-2000 users) | $60,700 (1001-2000 users) |
| Total | $54,800 | $125,600 | $151,800 | $182,100 | $182,100 | $212,500 | $212,500 |
Plugin prices for DC
Comparing Option 1 (Server for 3 years, then DC) and Option 2 (DC only)
Is it worth moving to DC now just to get on the 'advantaged' license plan?
So while moving to DC now will costs $221,000 more over 3 years, each subsequent year we save money, breaking even in 2025, and saving $126,500 in 2026 and beyond.
It appears not. We would need to retain our 'advantaged' price tier until 2026 to break even, and it is unlikely to last that long. Atlassian's stated goal with the 'advantaged' tier is to "ease Will Atlassian keep us 'advantaged' till at least 2025? I'm not sure that's a good bet. Atlassian's stated goal with the 'advantaged' tier is to "ease users into list prices over time". I have questioned how long the easing process will go for, but have received no reply.
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Jira uses 413Gb of disk space, over the 250Gb limit for Cloud 'Standard', so we'd need a 'Premium' Cloud subscription.
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The table below shows the plugins we currently have, and whether there are Cloud equivalents.
Note that Cloud editions of plugins are often limited vs. their Server counterparts. Our biggest plugin worry is ScriptRunner for Jira. Although technically available on Cloud, ScriptRunner is so drastically limited on Cloud that most of our ScriptRunner-based customizations will not be possible.
Also, each plugin available in Cloud will have its own migration story. E.g. Tempo currently has no data importer.
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n/a
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Atlassian Access
Atlassian Access is Atlassian's centralized user database for Cloud. It is required if we wish to sync with existing LDAP. Access also provides 2FA, SSO, SAML and other advantages.
Cloud pricing
Cloud pricing can be obtained from Atlassian's Cloud pricing calculator for Jira and Confluence. There is no equivalent pricing table that I can find (the Future cloud pricing tables 'New Price New License' column would apply, but there is no table for Cloud Premium). It is best to pick 'Annual' billing cycle, as this works out cheaper per year and also is required for 'loyalty discounts' (more on them below).
Loyalty Discounts
Atlassian is offering a Cloud loyalty discount for users migrating from Server or DC to Cloud. The discount schedule is:
- Before July 1, 2021: 55%
- Before July 1, 2022: 40%
- Before July 1, 2023: 20%
thereafter full price.
So our yearly pricing with Cloud would be:
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Cloud pricing
Cloud pricing can be obtained from Atlassian's Cloud pricing calculator for Jira and Confluence. There is no equivalent pricing table that I can find (the Future cloud pricing tables 'New Price New License' column would apply, but there is no table for Cloud Premium). It is best to pick 'Annual' billing cycle, as this works out cheaper per year and also is required for 'loyalty discounts' (more on them below).
Loyalty Discounts
Atlassian is offering a Cloud loyalty discount for users migrating from Server or DC to Cloud. The discount schedule is:
- Before July 1, 2021: 55%
- Before July 1, 2022: 40%
- Before July 1, 2023: 20%
thereafter full price.
So our yearly pricing with Cloud would be:
| Year | Discount | Jira Tier | Jira Base Cost | Jira Cost | Confluence Tier | Confluence Base | Confluence Cost | Access Cost | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55% | 1801-2000 | $151,500 | $68,175 | 601-800 | $27,500 | $12,375 | $32,500 | $113,050 |
| 2022 | 40% | 2001-2250 | $169,000 | $101,400 | 801-1000 | $33,500 | $20,100 | $35,000 | $156,500 |
| 2023 | 20% | 2501-2750 | $204,000 | $163,200 | 1001-1200 | $39,500 | $31,600 | $40,000 | $234,800 |
| 2024 | 3001-3250 | $239,000 | $239,000 | 1001-1200 | $39,500 | $39,500 | $45,000 | $323,500 | |
| 2025 | 3501-3750 | $274,000 | $274,000 | 1201-1400 | $45,500 | $45,500 | $50,000 | $369,500 | |
| 2026 | 4001-4250 | $309,000 | $309,000 | 1201-1400 | $45,500 | $45,500 | $50,000 | $404,500 | |
| 2027 | 4501-4700 | $344,000 | $344,000 | 1201-1400 | $45,500 | $45,500 | $60,000 | $449,500 |
(Note: figures are from Atlassian's spreadsheet. Prices for Access diverge slightly from the website)
Cloud Plugins
The table below shows the plugins we currently have, and whether there are Cloud equivalents.
Note that Cloud editions of plugins are often limited vs. their Server counterparts. Our biggest plugin worry is ScriptRunner for Jira. Although technically available on Cloud, ScriptRunner is so drastically limited on Cloud that most of our ScriptRunner-based customizations will not be possible.
Also, each plugin available in Cloud will have its own migration story. E.g. Tempo currently has no data importer.
Cloud plugins are generally more expensive than Server. E.g. our 2021 plugin spend would go from $19,310 to $89,148:
Atlassian Access
Atlassian Access is Atlassian's centralized user database for Cloud. It is required if we wish to sync with existing LDAP. Access also provides 2FA, SSO, SAML and other advantages.
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(Note: figures are from Atlassian's spreadsheet. Prices for Access diverge slightly from the website)
Please see the summary at the beginning for comparison of these three options, and my recommendations.
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