Can you limit plugin use to certain groups?

[Camiren Hamilton]

I have a JIRA instance for 2000 users. I want to purchase plugins but only for a certain subset of those users. Can I purchase only the amount of licenses I need?

[Remie Bolte · Accepted solution]

It depends. If the add-on is using the "Paid Via Atlassian" method the license is bound to the JIRA license. The vendor will also not be able to provide you with an alternative. If the add-on is "Paid via Vendor" you might be able to make a deal with their sales team. They can generate the license themselves and this is usually not bound to the JIRA license.

[Phil Merricks]

This is fundamentally the blocking reason I avoid using ANY apps with Jira.  It's incredibly frustrating to be limited in this way.  Additionally functionality that's hidden behind the 'enterprise' use case, when in fact it's smaller businesses that would benefit most greatly from the increased process functionality, automation and workflow.

[Remie Bolte]

That doesn't really make sense, does it? I would really balance A) the costs of the app against B) the value it creates in terms of increased process functionality, automation and workflow.

Also, most app vendors will have decent pricing for the lower tiers (10-50 users), although that might depend on how valuable the add-on actually is even for smaller teams in terms of increased productivity.

Either way, I would strongly advise you to keep an open mind and make a decision per app instead of a dogmatic approach against all apps. Also, if you really object an app pricing model, you might be surprised what may happen by simply reaching out to the vendor. Vendors can still make custom pricing using promotion codes, which they may be persuaded to do if you make a good argument ;)

[Phil Merricks]

I'm not really sure how it doesn't make sense.  Your whole comment makes very little sense to a small, agile company looking for every advantage to work faster and smarter.  I admire you if you have the luxury of being able to call up several app developers to negotiate price.  I don't care to bid on apps, I prefer transparent, fair, simple pricing and a self-serve app store with instant access.  I think most people do.  Charging per seat for an entire team for an app that will only be used by 10% of them hardly seems fair now does it?

I actually began doing this.  I quickly realised there's a dependency chain where one app (E.G. Planning Poker) only becomes useful to us if another app (Portfolio) is able to be licensed to a group of users rather than the entire instance.

A vendor I called up actually suggested I install a server instance with <10 users, and just run the apps I want there.  If the Jira Import/Export flow wasn't so fraught with weird errors this might have worked.

[Carlos Botero]

While this is an old forum message, it is among the first answers that I got from a Google Search.

If you are still interested in this, the good news is that there is already a Feature Request in Atlassian's Jira which is currently "Under Consideration".

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRASERVER-59932?_ga=2.250207682.531979720.1573660213-15688529.1557906612

Add your vote to this feature to let know Atlassian that this is something really wanted!

[Stine Søndergaard]

And for Jira Cloud here: https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-59932

[Camiren Hamilton]

Thank you!

[Camiren Hamilton]

Thank you!

[Jobin Kuruvilla [Adaptavist]]

It depends on the plugins. Most ones, including all of those that implement Atlassian marketplace licensing, needs a license for the same number of users as in the JIRA license.

[Joe Pitt]

I doubt it. How would you limit the use of the plugin function from a subset of the users? JIRA can't do that out of the box. It probably looks at the same pool of users, those that can logon, under the covers to know if the license is valid as JIRA does.