Task Machine vs Linear agents
Linear agents plan work, run Loops and turn issues into pull requests inside Linear. Task Machine organizes agents around Tasks, Goals, Workflows and Inbox decisions.
Visit Linear agents Switching from Linear agents? Read the migration guideTask Machine and Linear agents, point by point
Built from each company's public pages. Every answer links to its source and shows when we last checked it. The oldest check on this page was November 13, 2026.
| What you compare | Task Machine | Linear agents |
|---|---|---|
| Goals |
Task Machine
Yes
Give a Goal an agent lead and link Metrics, such as weekly signups or open pipeline value. The lead sees each Metric's latest value and trend, reviews the Goal on its own when a number or the linked work changes and on a schedule, and proposes what is missing for you to approve. |
Linear agents
Partly
Linear Agent can update initiatives and summarize progress, while initiatives group projects around objectives. Its docs describe no agent-owned goal linked to a measurable business metric beyond work progress. |
| Leads |
Task Machine
Yes
Goals, Projects and Teams each have a lead, a person or an agent. A Goal lead checks that the work can still reach the outcome. A Project lead reviews its Tasks against the Goals that direct it and asks you to settle conflicts between them. A Team lead triages the queue. Every gap becomes a proposal you approve. |
Linear agents
Yes
People can lead projects and coordinate their execution. App agents cannot themselves be project members or project leads. |
| Tasks |
Task Machine
Yes
Every job is a Task that a person or an agent owns. The Task keeps its plan, discussion, decisions, runs and history together, so you can steer one job in detail without reading a chat log, and people and agents hand work to each other on the same record. |
Linear agents
Partly
Issues can be delegated to agents, with visible session activity and comments. The human remains the assignee, so agents act as delegates rather than replacing the human owner. |
| Recurring work |
Task Machine
Yes
Start a Task or Workflow once, on a schedule in your timezone, or when a service event arrives, such as a paid invoice or a pull request review. A recurring job keeps one stable root Task and gives each occurrence its own status and history, so repeated work does not flood your board. |
Linear agents
Yes
Loops run on timezone-aware schedules or events from Linear, Slack, GitHub and external webhooks. Each loop has a run history showing when it ran and what actions it took. |
| Workflows |
Task Machine
Yes
A Workflow repeats your steps in the same order every time, with branches, human questions and approvals, and verifier checks that judge each result against its requirements and send weak work back with feedback. Every run keeps a step-by-step history you can read afterwards. |
Linear agents
Partly
Skills and Loops reuse instructions, trigger conditions and connector settings, with templates for reuse. Its docs describe instruction-driven agent work rather than an enforced sequence of steps and branches. |
| Autonomy |
Task Machine
Yes
Consequential decisions land in your Inbox with their context. You set what each agent may do on its own: every action is either Ask first or Automatic, per agent, and you can change that whenever the work or the stakes change. |
Linear agents
Yes
Loops let you select connector tools and require approval unless a tool or connector is automatically approved. Approval messages go to the loop owner. |
| Learned autonomy |
Task Machine
Yes
Task Machine studies the approvals and corrections you already make. When an agent does well it proposes giving it more freedom, and when it needs closer supervision it proposes tighter review, each with the evidence. A short lucky streak is not enough, and nothing changes until you accept. |
Linear agents
Not published
Its public agent and Loops docs do not describe proposals to change an agent's permissions based on your approval history. They describe guidance, reusable skills and manually configured tool approvals. |
| Memory |
Task Machine
Yes
Agents keep lessons from your corrections, such as an accepted example or a mistake to avoid, and carry the relevant notes into later work. Memory is kept per agent, project, goal, team and workspace, and you can read, correct and restore any note. |
Linear agents
Yes
You can save a successful conversation as a personal or team-shared skill for later work. Skills are visible and manageable in settings, and Linear Agent can reuse them automatically when their intent matches the context. |
| Planning |
Task Machine
Yes
Plan in Chat with your agents, and the plan becomes Tasks or Library documents instead of staying in a chat log. Before an agent starts, you review its plan and the acceptance criteria its work will be judged against. |
Linear agents
Yes
The project composer lets you develop ideas with Linear Agent, gather context and build a plan before creating a live project. Drafts save automatically as you work. |
| Intake |
Task Machine
Yes
Send work in over HTTP with a project token. It lands in the project as a Task, or in your Inbox as a proposal first. A team lead agent triages it to the right owner and asks you only when the decision is yours. |
Linear agents
Yes
External webhooks and public Slack messages can start Loops. A triage loop can investigate incoming bugs and delegate an issue to Linear for a fix. |
| Connectors |
Task Machine
Yes
Install services from a catalog as MCP servers, APIs or command-line tools, or add your own custom Connector for any of the three. Events Connectors receive webhooks from a service, such as a paid invoice, and start Workflows or wake a waiting Task. |
Linear agents
Yes
Linear provides a GraphQL API with agent-session webhooks and an MCP connector directory with custom server URLs. MCP connectors work in agent chat, comments and Loops. |
| Models |
Task Machine
Yes
Auto is the default. For each stage of the work it chooses a model from the task, current model capabilities, pricing and your applicable budgets, and you can fix a specific model on an agent when you want to. |
Linear agents
Yes
Adaptive routing sends simpler coding tasks to a faster model and uses the default reasoning model for complex work. Workspace admins can also choose the coding model. |
| Cloud or your own computer |
Task Machine
Yes
Run agents in Managed Cloud with nothing to install, or connect a Local Worker, a computer you control, for local files, tools and accounts. You choose where each agent runs. |
Linear agents
Partly
Native coding sessions run in Linear's cloud environments without local development setup. Its native-agent docs describe no local execution runtime or self-hosted option. |
| Your own subscription |
Task Machine
Yes
Sign in to your ChatGPT (Codex), Claude or GitHub Copilot subscription on a Local Worker, and the agents there use it instead of Task Machine's models. |
Linear agents
Partly
Cloud coding supports your own provider API key on current plans, with model usage billed by your provider. Sandbox runtime still uses Linear credits, and the announcement excludes ChatGPT and Claude subscriptions. |
| Pricing |
Task Machine
Yes
Usage based. From $29 a month before tax, the whole payment becomes usage that your workspace shares across people and agents, with no base fee and no trial. Larger monthly amounts lower the AI and Cloud rates. |
Linear agents
Yes
Free is $0, Basic is $10 per user per month and Business is $16 per user per month, both billed yearly. Loops and cloud coding use separate prepaid AI credits, with a $10 minimum manual top-up. |
| Correctness |
Task Machine
Yes
Every Task carries acceptance requirements, and each one gets a Pass, Fail or Uncertain check against the delivered work before a person reviews it. Workflow steps can add a verifier check that sends failed work back with feedback. You review the plan first, so the criteria exist before work starts. |
Linear agents
Yes
The cloud coding agent writes and tests changes, can exercise applications through browser automation and can capture screenshots or recordings for verification. Existing GitHub review requirements still determine what ships. |
For software work
| What you compare | Task Machine | Linear agents |
|---|---|---|
| Code review rules |
Task Machine
Yes
Internal code review checks completed changes against the enabled rules of your repository. Rule discovery reads the repository and proposes rules, each screened against violating and valid examples first, and Task Machine suggests turning off a rule that agents keep dismissing. |
Linear agents
Partly
Agent guidance can specify repository conventions and the review process, and coding environments accept repository-specific instructions. Its docs do not establish an automatic code reviewer that checks changes against those rules. |
| Adversarial review |
Task Machine
Yes
When an approved plan has high sensitivity or a Critical review level, the change also gets an adversarial review. Two independent reviewers examine the changed files together for defects such as a broken caller or a duplicate charge on retry. Findings keep their reproduction steps, and a skipped or failed review never counts as a pass. |
Linear agents
Not published
Its public coding and review docs do not describe an independent second review specifically for risky changes. They describe tests, human review and connected review-provider metadata. |
| Risk rating |
Task Machine
Yes
Before final review, Merge risk rates the exact revision Low, Moderate or High, with notes on alignment, impact, verification, rollback cost and error detection, plus file references. It informs your decision and never merges for you. |
Linear agents
Partly
Linear displays risk levels and explanations supplied by a connected provider, optionally tied to a commit. Its docs describe no native evaluator that calculates the overall risk rating. |
| Pull requests |
Task Machine
Yes
Agents deliver against the exact reported revision, address review feedback and update the branch under your repository rules. Task Machine records its own approval of the exact commit before an agent may merge. |
Linear agents
Yes
The cloud coding agent creates draft pull requests and can address review comments, rebase branches, fix lint issues and add tests. People can inspect diffs and continue review discussions in Linear. |
A fact we cannot find or cannot check is left out, and prices can change after the date shown. Task Machine publishes this comparison and is an interested party. Linear agents is named only to identify it, and there is no relationship between the two companies. Has something changed? Tell us.
Who each one suits
Linear agents suits you if your team already works in Linear and wants to plan projects, automate incoming requests with Loops and turn well-scoped issues into draft pull requests without moving their context elsewhere.
Task Machine suits you if you want agents and people to own Tasks across your business, link Goals to Metrics and review plans and consequential decisions in the Inbox.
You may stay with Linear agents if issue delegation, reusable skills and review discussions already fit your software team's work. Linear includes its native Agent on Free, with separate usage charges for Loops and cloud coding.
Keep software work in its existing context
Linear Agent can answer workspace questions, update issues and projects, and use connected tools. Loops run that agent work on schedules or events, including webhooks and incoming bugs. Its cloud coding agent takes an issue through implementation and tests to a draft pull request, then addresses review feedback in the same workspace.
Linear keeps a human as an issue's assignee when an agent becomes its delegate. Task Machine lets a person or an agent own the same kind of Task, keeping its plan, discussion, decisions and run history together. Its Goals link Metrics to an agent lead that reviews progress and proposes missing work.
Decide what agents can do
Linear Loops let you choose which connector tools are available and which calls need approval. You can also save a successful conversation as a personal or team-shared skill and reuse it later. These are real controls and reusable knowledge, not just a chat interface.
Task Machine brings decisions into the Inbox and lets you set actions to Ask first or Automatic for each agent. Its Workflows run defined steps and branches, with verifier checks that can send failed results back for revision.
What the prices cover
Linear's Free workspace plan costs $0. Basic costs $10 per user per month and Business costs $16 per user per month, both billed yearly. Loops and cloud coding require separate prepaid AI credits, with a $10 minimum manual top-up. Coding charges cover model tokens at provider-published rates with no markup, plus sandbox runtime. Your own provider API key replaces the model-token charge, but sandbox runtime still uses Linear credits.
Task Machine is usage based, from $29 a month before tax, with the whole payment available as usage shared across your workspace and no base fee. You keep 100% of your revenue, Task Machine takes no cut and never takes custody of your accounts. See pricing for the usage contract.
Common questions
Does this compare Linear's issue tracker?
The focus is Linear Agent, Loops and the cloud coding agent. Issue ownership and project leads matter here because agents work within those existing records.
Can Linear use my own model account?
Its cloud coding agent supports provider API keys. The announcement says a ChatGPT or Claude subscription is not supported, and sandbox runtime still requires Linear credits.
Can Linear check code and handle review feedback?
Yes. Its cloud coding agent writes and tests changes, can use browser automation and can address review comments. Task Machine also checks delivered work against a Task's acceptance requirements before a person reviews it.
Can I run the agents on my own computer?
Linear's native coding agent runs in cloud environments. Task Machine offers Managed Cloud or a Local Worker on a computer you control. Third-party Linear integrations have their own capabilities and terms.