Can you do a checklist in Jira?

Yes. Type [] in a work item's description and Jira Cloud turns it into an action item with a checkbox; Atlassian lists "[] for action items" among the description's shortcuts. They are fine for a personal to-do list. They are not a field: JQL cannot find open ones, and nothing stops the work item from moving to Done while some are unticked.

Is there a Jira checklist plugin?

Many. On 5 November 2026 we counted 57 Jira Cloud apps whose main job is a checklist on a work item, with 59,332 installs in all. Three HeroCoders listings (Free, Pro, Enterprise) hold 71.5% of those installs, and TitanApps' Smart Checklists 16.1%. Most are free for up to 10 users.

Can a Jira checklist block a transition to Done?

Not the native action items: our test work item went to Done with two of three unticked. An app can, through a workflow validator. On our site Team Checklist's validator refused the move to Done, even through the REST API, with "Finish the team checklist first: every item must be done (the Team Checklist panel shows what is left)."

Can I search checklist items with JQL?

Native action items only through full-text search on the description (text ~ "runbook"), which cannot tell a ticked item from an open one. Apps add their own JQL fields. On our site Team Checklist's teamChecklistOpen > 0 returned the 6 work items with open items out of 7 with a checklist.

Checklist or sub-tasks?

Sub-tasks when a step needs its own owner, estimate, status or time log. A checklist when the steps belong to one person's piece of work and only need ticking, such as a Definition of Done. Our epic vs story vs task guide shows the hierarchy rules we tested.

Are Jira checklist apps free?

For small sites, mostly. Of the 57 apps, 9 are free listings with no price list (60% of all installs, led by Checklists for Jira (Free)), 39 are free up to 10 users and 9 charge from the first user. A free listing and its paid edition are often separate apps, so moving up is an install, not a switch.

Jira Checklist: Native Action Items vs 57 Apps, Tested

The Definition of Done lives in the description: five lines with checkboxes. The ticket moves to Done on Friday with two of them empty, and nobody notices until the release notes are missing. Nothing was wrong with the checkboxes. Jira just never looked at them.

We tested Jira Cloud’s own checklist on our test site on 5 November 2026, then an app’s, and counted every checklist app on the Atlassian Marketplace the same day.

Short answer: Jira Cloud has native action items: type [] in the description. They are checkboxes in text, nothing more: no JQL field, no progress anywhere, and on our site a work item moved to Done with two of three unticked. For templates, search and a Definition of Done that blocks Done, you need an app. There are 57, and one vendor has 71.5% of their installs.

Jira’s own checklist: action items in the description

Atlassian’s page on describing a work item lists the shortcut: ”[] for action items”. We created PAY-33 with three of them, one ticked, and moved it to Done:

Work item PAY-33, Checklist test: native action items in the description, on our Jira Cloud site, in status Done. The description has three action items: Write release notes is ticked, Update the runbook and Tell support about the change are not.

What we tried	Native action items
Add items	type `[]` in the description; tick in place
Find work items with open items in JQL	no field; `text ~ "runbook"` finds the word, ticked or not
See progress on a board, list or dashboard	not shown
Stop the move to Done while items are open	no: PAY-33 went to Done with 2 of 3 open
Reuse the same list on the next work item	copy and paste

Action items are a good personal to-do list. They are not a process: once there is a team rule (“no Done without release notes”), Jira needs something it can check.

What an app adds, tested on one

We make one of the 57 checklist apps, so we tested ours, Team Checklist, on the same site and day. On PAY-4 it shows “2 of 4 done” in its own panel:

What we tried	Team Checklist
Find work items with open items in JQL	`teamChecklistOpen > 0` returned 6 of the 7 work items with a checklist
Find complete checklists	`teamChecklistComplete = "true"` returned PAY-14 (unquoted `true` is a JQL reserved word)
Search item text	`teamChecklistItem ~ "test"` returned 4 work items
Stop the move to Done while items are open	yes: the REST API got “Finish the team checklist first: every item must be done (the Team Checklist panel shows what is left).” and PAY-33 stayed In Progress
Reuse a list	Templates button: pick a template, add its items

The validator is the part that matters for a Definition of Done. It sits on the workflow’s Done transition, so it also applies to moves made through the REST API, as our test showed. Our Jira workflow guide shows where it sits next to the rules that set the Resolution.

Other apps offer similar features by their own descriptions, from templates to validators. We have not tested them, so the table above is about ours only.

57 checklist apps, counted

We searched the Marketplace API for Jira Cloud apps with seven words (checklist, checklists, to-do list, todo, definition of done, acceptance criteria, task list), kept the 57 whose main job is a checklist on a work item, and read installs and price lists. Template, custom-field, notes, reminder and Todoist apps were left out.

App	Vendor	Installs	Price for up to 10 users
Checklists for Jira (Free) by HeroCoders	HeroCoders	30,128	free listing
Checklists for Jira (Pro) by HeroCoders	HeroCoders	7,774	free up to 10 users
Smart Checklists & Templates for Jira (Free)	TitanApps	4,915	free listing
Smart Checklists for Jira	TitanApps	4,643	free up to 10 users
Checklists for Jira (Enterprise) by HeroCoders	HeroCoders	4,539	paid from the first user
Checklist for Jira (Lite)	Appbox.ai	2,361	free up to 10 users
Multiple Checklists for Jira	SolDevelo	1,056	free up to 10 users
Check It for Jira (Free Issue Checklist)	Plateer	607	free listing
My ToDo Checklist	Addonix	502	free up to 10 users
Didit - Checklists for Jira	Seibert	489	free up to 10 users
All 57 apps		59,332

Bar chart titled 71.5% of Jira checklist installs go to one vendor, from 57 Jira Cloud checklist apps with 59,332 installs. HeroCoders, 3 apps, 42,441 installs, 71.5%; TitanApps, 2 apps, 9,558, 16.1%; Appbox.ai, 3 apps, 2,926, 4.9%; everyone else, 49 apps, 4,407, 7.4%. By price: free listings 60% of installs (9 apps), free up to 10 users 31% (39 apps), paid from the first user 8% (9 apps). 40 of the 57 apps have fewer than 100 installs and 9 have none. Source: Atlassian Marketplace REST API, read 5 November 2026.

What the numbers say:

It is a two-vendor market. HeroCoders and TitanApps hold 87.6% of installs between them.
The free editions are separate apps. Checklists for Jira (Free) has 30,128 installs; its Pro edition, a different listing, 7,774. Moving from one to the other is an install, so check how your checklists carry over before you build a process on the free one.
The long tail is new and thin. 40 of the 57 apps have fewer than 100 installs, and 9 have none yet. Ours, with 87, is one of them.

Three checklists to copy

Paste them as action items, or save them as templates in an app.

Definition of Done (story)
[] Acceptance criteria met and checked by the reporter
[] Code reviewed and merged to main
[] Tests added; CI green
[] Docs or release notes updated
[] Feature flag or rollout plan agreed

Bug fix
[] Reproduced on the reported version
[] Root cause written in a comment
[] Fix covered by a test
[] Verified by someone other than the author

Release
[] Release notes drafted and linked
[] Support told what changes for customers
[] Monitoring and rollback plan checked
[] Announcement scheduled

Checklist or sub-task?

A checklist item is a tick inside one person’s work. A sub-task is a work item: its own owner, status, estimate and time log, visible on the board. Use sub-tasks when steps go to different people or need tracking; use a checklist for a Definition of Done or a short list of steps. Our Jira epic vs story vs task guide has the hierarchy rules we tested, and Jira ticket explained shows what a work item carries.

Where our app fits

Team Checklist is a shared checklist in a panel on the work item, with templates, JQL fields, the “Team checklist is done” workflow validator and an optional sync of your items to Google Tasks. It is free for up to 10 users. If you automate around checklists, our Jira automation examples show what each rule costs in automation steps; the app’s settings include ready rules for a progress comment, moving to Done when the checklist is complete, and a daily overdue email. The 11th user moves most of these apps to a paid tier, which Jira Free plan works through.

How we counted

Atlassian Marketplace REST API v2, /rest/2/addons?application=jira&hosting=cloud&text=..., seven words, up to 100 results each, read 5 November 2026: 93 distinct apps.
Kept 57 whose name or tagline makes a checklist on a work item their main job; left out 36 (templates, custom fields, notes, reminders, recurring work items, Todoist and Basecamp integrations, AI assistants).
Installs: distribution.totalInstalls. Price: each app’s live Cloud price list. “Free listing” means the app has no price list.

Sources

Our Jira Cloud site, 5 November 2026: PAY-33 with native action items, moved to Done; the Team Checklist panel on PAY-4, its JQL fields and its validator on PAY-33.
Atlassian Support: Add files, images, and other content to describe a work item.
Atlassian Marketplace REST API v2, Jira Cloud apps, installs and live price lists, read 5 November 2026.