Data Center to Cloud: what replaces your Jira and Confluence admin tricks
By Kayabyte · Updated 2 November 2026
Short answer: Atlassian ends Data Center on 28 March 2029 (Jira Software, Jira Service Management, Confluence and Crowd; Bitbucket and Bamboo are not included). Most of what Data Center admins built is easy to move to Cloud, but four things people often did with scripts and plugins have no built-in Cloud equivalent: a WIP limit per person, adding a group as request participants, making a group watch a space, and project cost from worklogs. This page links one short guide for each.
Atlassian’s own Data Center end of life page gives the dates (all at 23:59 PST):
- 30 March 2026: end of sale for organizations that have never owned paid Data Center seats.
- 30 March 2028: last day for existing customers to buy new subscriptions, Marketplace apps and expansions.
- 28 March 2029: end of life. Subscriptions and their Marketplace apps expire, and the products become read-only.
Check that page for the latest wording before you plan, because Atlassian can update it.
Where migrations usually get stuck
The Jira Cloud Migration Assistant and the Confluence one move content, users and many settings. They do not move a Groovy script, a custom listener or a plugin’s behavior. If a Data Center admin made something work with a script or a Marketplace plugin, the migration plan has to say what does that job in Cloud. These four come up most often:
- Per-person WIP limits: limit how many items one person can have in progress.
- Adding groups as request participants: put a team on every Jira Service Management request.
- Group watching of spaces: make everyone in a Confluence group watch a space or page.
- Project cost from worklogs: see money, not only hours, per project, epic or version.
Each page says how it was commonly done on Data Center, what Cloud does natively, and the options, including our own app for that job. We make those apps, so that part is disclosed on every page.
About our apps and migration
Our apps are built for Jira and Confluence Cloud on Atlassian Forge and run on Atlassian’s infrastructure. There is no Data Center version of them, so there is nothing to migrate from a Data Center app: you install on your Cloud site and set the rules again. All of them are free for up to 10 users; larger sites see the Atlassian Marketplace listing for pricing.
We’re looking for teams that have exactly one of these problems and are willing to give feedback, see design partners.
FAQ
When does Atlassian Data Center end? Data Center reaches end of life on 28 March 2029 at 23:59 PST, according to Atlassian. New customers could no longer buy it from 30 March 2026, and existing customers can buy new subscriptions, apps and expansions until 30 March 2028.
Which products are affected? Atlassian lists Jira Software, Jira Service Management, Confluence and Crowd Data Center, the Data Center mobile apps and the Marketplace apps for them. Bitbucket and Bamboo are not included.
Does the Cloud migration assistant move scripts and plugin settings? Not scripts or plugin behavior in general. Plan separately for anything that was done with a script or a Marketplace plugin, and check whether the app’s vendor offers a Cloud version and a migration path.
Jira, Confluence and Atlassian are trademarks of Atlassian. Kayabyte is an independent developer and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Atlassian.