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Create your first Jira project and board (2026)

5 min read

What you’ll have at the end

A Jira site on the Free plan, with one team-managed space made from the Kanban template. You'll see its board, with your first work item on it as a card, moved from the first column to the last.

Jira now calls a project a space, and an issue a work item. This guide uses Atlassian's current words, as its help pages print them.

Before you start

You’ll need

  • An email address you can open, ideally your work email
  • A computer with a web browser
  • A name for your first space, such as your team's or project's name
  • The title of one piece of work to track, such as "Draft the launch checklist"

What it costs. Atlassian's sign-up page says Jira is free for up to 10 users, with no credit card needed. Atlassian also sells Standard, Premium and Enterprise plans.

Atlassian's sign-up page says Jira is "free for up to 10 users - no credit card needed." If any screen asks you for card details or to choose a paid plan, this guide stops there. Whether to pay is your decision.

This guide uses the Kanban template because, as Atlassian's getting-started guide says, with Kanban "you can start tracking work on the board right away." The Scrum template asks you to create and start a sprint first; see the end of this guide.

Atlassian's plans page says it may deactivate Free Jira sites that aren't used.

If you already use Jira at work, a Jira admin may have turned off space creation. Atlassian's help says that if you see Create space next to Spaces, you can create one.

Steps

  1. 1. Open the Jira sign-up page

    On a computer, go to atlassian.com/try/cloud/signup?bundle=jira-software&edition=free. The page shows Get started with Jira. If you already have Jira, choose Log in, sign in, and go to step 4.

  2. 2. Enter your email and click Sign up

    Type your email in Work email and click Sign up. Atlassian says a work email helps it find your teammates. You can instead continue with Google, Microsoft, Apple or Slack.

  3. 3. Verify your email and finish setting up your site

    Atlassian emails you asking you to verify your email address. Please open that email and follow its link, then follow the on-screen steps to set up your Jira site. If the email doesn't arrive, Atlassian suggests checking your spam folder for an email from noreply@mailer.atlassian.com, then going back to the login screen to resend it.

  4. 4. Hover over Spaces and select Create space

    In Jira, hover over Spaces in the sidebar on the left, then select Create space.

  5. 5. Choose the Kanban template

    Jira opens its template library. Templates are grouped by use case or by Jira app. Find Kanban and select Use template.

  6. 6. Choose team-managed

    In Choose space type, choose team-managed. Atlassian's help says team-managed spaces suit independent teams who want to control their own way of working.

  7. 7. Give your space a name

    Type a name for your space, such as your team's or project's name.

  8. 8. Click Create

    Click Create. Jira creates your new space.

  9. 9. Look at your board

    In your new space, open its board. Atlassian's help says a board "displays your team's work as cards you can move between columns." Each column is a stage of your work. Atlassian's Kanban template page gives To Do, In Progress and Done as examples.

  10. 10. Click Create (+) at the top

    Click Create (+) in the navigation bar at the top of the screen. You can also press C. A small dialog opens.

  11. 11. Check the space

    At the top of the dialog, Space and work type shows the space and the type of work item. Please check it shows your new space. If it doesn't, select it and choose your space.

  12. 12. Type a Title

    Type a short title for your work item in Title, such as "Draft the launch checklist". You can add a Description if you like.

  13. 13. Create the work item

    Click the create button at the bottom of the dialog. Atlassian says your new work item appears directly on the board if your space doesn't use a separate backlog, or in your backlog if it does.

  14. 14. Drag the card to the next column

    On the board, drag your work item's card from the first column into the next one, as you would when you start the work.

  15. 15. Drag the card to the last column

    When the work is finished, drag the card into the last column. Your first work item has now moved across the whole board. This guide ends here.

If something looks different

  • Atlassian's two help pages describe step 5 and step 6 in a different order. On some screens you choose team-managed first, then select Change template and choose Kanban or Scrum. Please make the same two choices either way: team-managed and Kanban.
  • If your work item went to a backlog instead of the board, open the backlog. Atlassian's kanban backlog help says to drag work items from the Backlog section when you're ready to work on them.
  • If you chose Scrum instead, Atlassian's getting-started guide says to "create and start a sprint to begin tracking work". Starting a sprint isn't covered in this guide.
  • If you don't see Create space, a Jira admin on your site may have turned it off. Please ask them.
  • Atlassian has renamed several things. Older pages and videos may say project instead of space, issue instead of work item, and Summary instead of Title.

Would you rather learn Jira Cloud on the free plan, which runs in a browser tab properly? There’s a free six-session course.

Related guides

Sources

Alongrail isn't affiliated with Atlassian.