Can I onboard Jira users without using licenses?

[Md_ Abrarul Huda]

Can I give limited permission to users in Jira without spending my licenses? Those users would just be able to view the tickets but not do anything in jira. Is there a way to do this?

[Akriti Sagar]

Hi @Md_ Abrarul Huda,

In Jira, every person who needs access to a Jira project (even just for viewing issues) must have a license. There isn’t currently a way to give users "view-only" access without consuming a license.

A couple of workarounds you might consider:

• Public/Anonymous Access: If your Jira instance is on Jira Software or Jira Service Management Cloud and your project is set to "open," you can allow anonymous users to view issues without logging in. However, this exposes your data to anyone with the link, so it’s usually not recommended for internal/confidential projects.

• Dashboards or Reports: You can export or share Jira dashboards, filters, or CSV reports outside Jira (via Confluence, emails, or external tools) so stakeholders can still see progress without needing a license.

• Service Management (JSM) Portal: If your use case is more about stakeholders raising requests or tracking progress, JSM customers (portal users) are free and do not require Jira licenses. They only see what’s submitted via the portal, not the full Jira project.

So in short: licenses are required for any logged-in Jira user, but depending on your use case, you might leverage anonymous access, exports, or JSM portals to avoid using up Jira Software/Work Management licenses.

[David Freitez]

Hi @Md_ Abrarul Huda ,

The way to control access is throuh licensing, the other option is very wide which consists in allowing public access to a project, which is not having control at all. 

Here is another community question regarding the matter so you can further check the replies (link).

Hopefully this answers your question, if so, please consider marking it as the answer.

Kind Regards,
David