How to Use Jira Structure: Complete Guide in 2025

In this guide, we’ll explore the challenges of Jira’s default structure, as well as best Jira structure tools. We'll compare Structure for Jira with Planyway, Advanced Roadmaps and BigPicture to help you choose the right tool for your needs. 

Introduction: Challenges with Jira's Default Structure

Jira is a powerful tool for issue tracking and project management, but one of its significant drawbacks is the lack of flexible structure visualization. While users can apply Quick Filters in the Backlog and Board views, Jira does not provide a built-in way to efficiently visualize hierarchical task structures. This limitation creates several challenges:

• Inability to visualize task hierarchies (Initiatives → Epics → Stories → Subtasks).
• A flat, one-dimensional list that makes it difficult to track relationships between tasks.
• Difficulty managing large projects across multiple teams.

Exploring Jira Structure Plugins

1. Planyway for Jira

What is Planyway for Jira?

Planyway for Jira is a powerful visualization tool that provides teams with a clear, structured view of their work. It helps teams overcome Jira’s flat backlog structure by enabling hierarchical task management and visualizing workflow with a comprehensive timeline view all on one page. 

Key Features of Planyway for Jira:

• ✅ Structured Board View – organize Jira tasks into multi-level hierarchies (Epics → Stories → Subtasks).
• ✅ Drag & Drop Task Management – easily move issues across the board to restructure your workflow and schedule them on the timeline.
• ✅ Inline Field Editing – modify due dates, assignees, and other fields directly within the board view.
• ✅ Multi-Board Views – manage multiple projects and teams within a single interface.
• ✅ Gantt & WBS Integration – have Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Gantt-like chart view on the same page.

Use Cases for Planyway for Jira:

• 🔹 Agile Task Management – easily structure Scrum and Kanban boards for team workflows.
• 🔹 Multi-Project Tracking – view and manage tasks across multiple projects on a single board.
• 🔹 Capacity Planning – balance team workloads by tracking available resources.

Pricing for Planyway for Jira:

• Cloud Pricing starts at $3 per user per month and includes all features from board structure to timeline, capacity planning and time tracking, making it an affordable alternative to Structure for Jira. The app is free for teams of up to 10 users.
• Data Center starts at $726 annually for teams up to 50 users.

🚀 Get Started with Planyway for Jira today and take full control of your board structure!

2. Structure for Jira

What is Structure for Jira?

Structure for Jira is a popular plugin that allows teams to visualize, manage, and organize issues in hierarchical structures. It helps project managers and teams structure their work efficiently within Jira, addressing the lack of native hierarchy visualization.

Key Features of Structure for Jira:

• ✅ Flexible Hierarchies – organize Jira issues into multi-level hierarchies.
• ✅ Aggregation & Formulas – create custom roll-ups (e.g., sum time estimates).
• ✅ Automation & Templates – auto-populate structures based on Jira rules.
• ✅ Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) – helps break projects into structured tasks.
• ✅ Gantt Chart Integration – view structured issues on a timeline.

How to Set Up Structure for Jira:

• 1️⃣ Install Structure for Jira from Atlassian Marketplace.
• 2️⃣ Create a New Structure – define custom hierarchies using Epics, Tasks, and Subtasks.
• 3️⃣ Customize the View – use filters, groupings, and formulas to structure your tasks.
• 4️⃣ Manage Dependencies – link issues to track dependencies in the hierarchy.
• 5️⃣ Use Gantt Charts – visualize project timelines with integrated Gantt charts.

Pricing for Structure for Jira:

Cloud Pricing starts at $10 per month for small teams. Data Center & Server Pricing varies based on user count.

3. Advanced Roadmaps for Jira

Advanced Roadmaps is a built-in Jira tool that provides roadmaps and hierarchy visualization but lacks some customization features.

Key Features:

• ✅ Multi-team roadmaps
• ✅ Dependency tracking
• ✅ Capacity & resource planning
• ✅ Predictive forecasting

Pricing for Advanced Roadmaps:

Advanced Roamdaps is a part of Jira Premium plan that starts at $13.53 per user monthly.

4. BigPicture

BigPicture is an advanced project and portfolio management tool that combines Gantt charts, dependency tracking, and SAFe support for structured planning.

Key Features:

• ✅ Gantt charts for project planning
• ✅ SAFe support for Agile frameworks
• ✅ Custom hierarchy visualization
• ✅ Cross-team workload balancing

Pricing for BigPicture:

Cloud version is free for teams up to 10 users. The paid plan starts at $4.74 monthly. The Data Center option is available from $2,350 annualy for teams up to 50 users.

Jira Structure Plugin Comparison: Structure for Jira vs. Planyway vs. Advanced Roadmaps vs. BigPicture

While Structure for Jira is a powerful tool, it has some limitations in flexibility and usability. This is where its competitors provide a better alternative, especially in the following cases:

🚀 Summary of Recommendations:

• Use Structure for Jira if you need a powerful hierarchical issue organization tool with formula aggregation.
• Use Planyway if you prefer an intuitive, drag-and-drop structure editor with Gantt integration.
• Use Advanced Roadmaps for long-term strategy and forecasting across multiple teams.
• Use BigPicture for enterprise-wide planning and SAFe support.

Jira Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) vs. Gantt Chart

When managing large-scale projects, teams often wonder whether to use a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) or a Gantt Chart. Here’s a quick comparison:

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Gantt Chart Views on the Same Page

With Planyway, you don’t have to choose – you get both! Making it easier to visualize work breakdown structures, dependencies, and project timelines. Unlike Structure for Jira, which only provides a flat hierarchy, Planyway ensures a clear, structured approach for project execution.

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to improve Jira hierarchy visualization. While Structure for Jira improves issue visualization beyond Jira’s default views, it lacks some usability features. Planyway for Jira offers a more flexible approach with drag-and-drop task structuring, inline field editing, and integrated Gantt/WBS views.

For enterprises needing advanced planning, SAFe support, or multi-team forecasting, Advanced Roadmaps or BigPicture may be better choices. 

About the Author

Violetta Chernobuk is a skilled content strategist and writer at Planyway, specializing in crafting insightful and engaging articles on productivity and project management. With her keen eye for detail and a deep understanding of user needs, Violetta ensures that every piece of content is both informative and inspiring, helping readers optimize their workflows and stay ahead in their projects.