Jira desktop app: every option for Mac and Windows (2026)

Atlassian does not sell a desktop app for Jira. It shipped one for Mac in 2019 and stopped supporting it in February 2022. Atlassian now points everyone to the browser and the mobile apps, so a real desktop Jira on Mac or Windows means a third-party app.

This page lists every option that exists in 2026, what each one costs, and which of them need your Jira administrator to install something. Starlie is one of the options and we make it, so we have marked it clearly and named the trade-offs of the others fairly.

• Does Jira have an official desktop app?
• What happened to Jira Cloud for Mac
• Every option, compared
• How each option works
• How to choose, by role
• Frequently asked questions

Does Jira have an official desktop app?

No. Atlassian ships Jira Cloud as a web app, plus official iOS and Android apps. There is no first-party Mac or Windows client.

People keep asking for one. The public feature request JRACLOUD-78044 “Jira desktop app” has over 1,000 votes and sits at status Gathering Interest, which carries no delivery commitment. Source: jira.atlassian.com, JRACLOUD-78044.

So if you want Jira in a window with its own icon in the Dock or the taskbar, someone other than Atlassian has to build it.

What happened to Jira Cloud for Mac

Atlassian did build one. It showed Jira Cloud for Mac at Apple’s WWDC in June 2019 and shipped it the same year, built on Mac Catalyst. That is the Apple technology that turns an iPad app into a Mac app.

It lasted under three years. In its sunset notice Atlassian wrote: “Starting in February 2022, we are sunsetting support of the Jira Cloud for Mac app. The app will still be usable, however we won’t ship any new features, updates, or respond to in-app support tickets.” The same notice told existing users they could keep the app, with a warning: “The app may be disabled at any time in future.” Atlassian recommended the web browser and the native mobile apps instead. Source: Atlassian Community, “Sunsetting the Jira Cloud for Mac App”.

An app that gets no updates falls behind the Jira Cloud API it talks to over time.

Every option, compared

How each option works

Atlassian web and mobile

The browser is the full product: every field, every admin screen, every Marketplace app. Nothing is missing, because this is where Atlassian builds. The cost is that Jira lives in a tab among forty tabs, it reloads when you switch to it, and the browser eats the keyboard shortcuts you would want. Jira does have its own shortcut set — press ? to see it — and we list the documented keys on our Jira keyboard shortcuts page.

Desktop App for Jira

This is the closest thing to a full desktop client that covers both Mac and Windows. The app itself is a free download from the Mac App Store and the Microsoft Store. The App Store seller is Infosysta DWC LLC, and the Marketplace connector is listed under Futurate. The catch is on the server side: it only works if the paid Desktop Connector for Jira add-on is installed on your Jira instance. That is a decision for your Jira administrator, and on a large instance it is a procurement conversation, not a download. It talks to Jira over the REST API with an API token on Cloud, or a personal access token on Data Center.

Site wrappers

Tools like WebCatalog take any website and put it in its own window with its own icon. It works for Jira, it is quick, and it is honest about what it is. What you get is the Jira web app in a frame: the same load times, the same layout, the same browser-shaped keyboard. If your only problem is that Jira gets lost among your tabs, this solves exactly that problem and nothing else.

Starlie

Starlie is our native macOS client for Jira Cloud, written in SwiftUI rather than wrapped from a web page. It needs no add-on on your Jira instance: you sign in with Atlassian OAuth 2.0 and your Jira data goes directly between your Mac and Atlassian’s API. It covers the work you do all day:

• ⌘K to jump to any issue.
• Full JQL search with autocomplete and syntax highlighting.
• Your sprint as a native list, or a kanban board you drag cards across.
• A Structure window that shows epics, stories and subtasks as one tree.
• Native notifications and a star list in the menu bar.

It is Mac only, and it is a client. Jira stays your backend, and your workflows and permissions are unchanged.

How to choose, by role

1. You are a developer who lives in the keyboard. A wrapper will disappoint you, because the keyboard stays the browser’s. You want a native client with a command palette and real JQL. That means Starlie on a Mac, or Desktop App for Jira on Windows if your admin will install the connector.
2. You are a project manager who works across boards and reports. Keep the browser for anything that touches configuration, reports or Marketplace apps, and use a desktop client for the daily loop: triage, sprint board, comments. Two tools, one for depth and one for speed.
3. You are the admin who has to approve installs. The dividing line in the table is the column that matters to you. A site wrapper and Starlie change nothing on your instance — Starlie uses OAuth, so access follows the user’s existing Jira permissions. Desktop App for Jira does need an add-on on the instance, so it needs your review and your budget.
4. You are shopping for a different tool entirely. Some teams want a desktop app because the tool itself feels slow, not because of the window. If that is the real question, read Linear vs Jira before you migrate. A native client fixes the speed. A migration is an organisational project.

What a desktop client does not fix

No third-party app makes Jira’s configuration simpler. Custom fields, workflow schemes and permission schemes still live on the Atlassian side, and every client you install reads and writes through the same API. Deep admin work belongs in the browser. Everyday work — searching, moving cards, replying to a comment, creating a subtask — is what a desktop app makes faster.

One more practical point: any client that stores a token or a cache on your machine is a security question for your team. Ask where the data goes, ask whether the vendor is between you and Atlassian, and ask what happens if the vendor stops shipping. Atlassian’s own 2022 sunset is the reason those are fair questions.

Frequently asked questions