How to Migrate from Jira to Orangescrum Without Data Loss

Why Teams Are Moving from Jira to Orangescrum

Jira is powerful, but for a lot of teams that power comes at a cost – per-user pricing that climbs every time you add a hire, a licensing model that punishes growth, and a configuration overhead that often needs a dedicated admin just to keep boards usable. If you’ve been quietly pricing out alternatives, you’re not alone.

Orangescrum was built as a direct answer to that problem: flat-rate pricing with unlimited users, self-hosted or cloud deployment, and a simpler day-to-day experience for teams who just want to plan, track, and ship work. The one thing that stops most teams from actually making the switch isn’t the tool itself – it’s the fear of losing years of project history in the process.

This guide walks through exactly how to migrate from Jira to Orangescrum without losing tasks, comments, attachments, or user assignments, so you can move with confidence instead of crossing your fingers.

Before You Start: What “Without Losing Data” Actually Means

A safe migration isn’t just about getting tasks to appear in the new tool. It means preserving:

Project and task titles, descriptions, and statuses
Task assignees and reporters
Comments and activity history
Attachments and file links
Due dates, priorities, and custom fields
Sprint or milestone structure, where applicable

Keep this checklist next to you throughout the migration. It’s your definition of “done” – and it’s what you’ll use to verify success at the end.

Step 1: Audit Your Jira Instance

Before exporting anything, take stock of what you actually have. Open Jira and list out:

Every active project you need to migrate (archive or skip anything genuinely dead)
Custom fields in use across those projects
Issue types (Story, Bug, Task, Epic, etc.) and how they map conceptually to task types
Active users and their roles, so permissions can be recreated in Orangescrum
Any automation rules or workflows that don’t have a direct import equivalent

This audit usually takes less time than people expect, and it prevents the most common migration mistake: discovering a forgotten project three weeks after cutover.

Step 2: Export Your Data from Jira

Jira allows project-level exports in CSV or JSON format from the admin settings area:

Go to Jira Settings → System → External System Import (or Project Settings for a single project export)
Choose CSV export for a straightforward field-to-field migration, or JSON if you need to preserve more complex relationships
Select the fields you want included – at minimum: summary, description, status, assignee, reporter, priority, labels, and comments
Download the export file and keep a backup copy somewhere safe before doing anything else

Tip: Export one project first as a test run. It’s much easier to troubleshoot formatting issues on 50 tasks than on 5,000.

Step 3: Map Jira Fields to Orangescrum

This is the step that determines whether your migration feels seamless or messy. Jira and Orangescrum don’t use identical field names, so a bit of mapping up front saves cleanup later.

Migration Step	Jira Side	Orangescrum Side
1. Export	Export projects as CSV/JSON via Jira admin settings	N/A – this is prep work
2. Map fields	Confirm issue types, statuses, custom fields	Match to Orangescrum task types, task statuses, custom fields
3. Import	N/A	Use the free Jira migration tool or CSV importer to bring in projects, tasks, and users
4. Verify	Spot-check exported record counts	Confirm task counts, attachments, and comments match
5. Cutover	Set to read-only or archive	Go live as the team’s active workspace

A few mapping notes worth calling out:

Jira “Epics” map cleanly to Orangescrum Projects or Milestones depending on how granular your structure is
Jira “Story Points” can be mapped to Orangescrum’s custom fields or task estimates
Multiple Jira issue types can be consolidated into Orangescrum’s simpler task-type structure – this is a good opportunity to simplify, not just replicate

Step 4: Use the Orangescrum Jira Migration Tool

Rather than manually re-creating hundreds of tasks, Orangescrum offers a free Jira migration tool designed to import your exported data directly – projects, tasks, assignees, comments, and attachments included.

Log in to your Orangescrum account and navigate to the migration/import section
Upload your Jira export file (CSV or JSON, depending on what you exported)
Review the auto-suggested field mapping and adjust anything that didn’t match automatically
Run the import on your test project first
Once verified, import the remaining projects in batches rather than all at once

Importing in batches – rather than a single giant migration – makes it far easier to catch and fix an issue before it repeats across your entire Jira history.

Step 5: Verify Before You Cut Over

Once each batch is imported, check it against your original checklist:

Do task counts in Orangescrum match the exported counts from Jira?
Are assignees correctly mapped to the right Orangescrum users?
Are comments and timestamps preserved, not flattened or reordered?
Do attachments open correctly and belong to the right task?
Are custom fields showing the right values, not blank or mismatched?

Only after this verification should you move a project’s team over to working in Orangescrum full-time. Keep Jira in read-only mode for a few weeks as a safety net — most teams find they never need to go back to it, but having the option removes any pressure to rush.

Step 6: Communicate the Switch to Your Team

A technically perfect migration can still fail if your team doesn’t know how to use the new tool on day one. Before cutover:

Share a short walkthrough of Orangescrum’s interface, especially anything that differs from Jira’s board/backlog layout
Confirm each team member’s login and permission level ahead of time
Set a clear “as of this date, all new tasks go in Orangescrum” cutoff to avoid work being tracked in two places
Designate one person as the point of contact for migration questions during the first week

Common Migration Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)

Migrating everything at once

Large, single-pass migrations make small errors hard to spot. Batch by project or team instead.

Skipping the field-mapping step

Assuming Jira and Orangescrum fields will line up automatically leads to lost context – always map explicitly, even for fields that seem obvious.

Not backing up the original export

Keep your raw Jira export files even after a successful migration. If a discrepancy turns up weeks later, you’ll want the source data on hand.

Forgetting inactive users

Old tasks assigned to deactivated Jira accounts can cause import errors. Reassign or account for these before exporting.

Why Orangescrum Is Built for This Transition

Beyond the migration tool itself, teams moving off Jira tend to land on Orangescrum for a few structural reasons:

Flat-rate pricing with unlimited users – no per-seat cost creep as the team grows
Cloud or self-hosted deployment, so data residency and infrastructure control stay in your hands
A simpler task and project structure that reduces the admin overhead Jira often requires
Built-in AI Chat and MCP Server support for teams standardizing on AI-assisted workflows

None of that matters, though, if the migration itself is risky. That’s the reason the import tooling exists – to make the switch a non-event for your team’s day-to-day work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I lose my Jira comment history when migrating?

No. When you export with comments included and use the Orangescrum migration tool, comment history is preserved and attached to the correct task.

Can I migrate just one project first?

Yes – this is the recommended approach. Migrate a single project as a test, verify it thoroughly, then move the rest in batches.

What happens to Jira automation rules?

Automation rules don’t transfer automatically, since Jira and Orangescrum handle workflow automation differently. Recreate critical rules manually in Orangescrum after migration.

Is the Jira migration tool free?

Yes. Orangescrum provides the Jira migration tool at no additional cost as part of the platform.

How long does a typical migration take?

For most small-to-midsize teams, a well-planned migration – audit through verification – takes anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days, depending on project volume and how much custom-field mapping is required.

Final Thoughts

Migrating away from a tool your team has used for years always feels riskier than it actually is. The real risk isn’t the move itself — it’s moving without a plan. Audit what you have, export it deliberately, map your fields with intention, migrate in verified batches, and keep Jira on standby until you’re confident. Do that, and switching from Jira to Orangescrum becomes a controlled, low-drama upgrade rather than a leap of faith.

Ready to see what a lighter, flat-rate alternative to Jira looks like for your team? Start your free Orangescrum trial and use the built-in migration tool to bring your projects over in an afternoon.