Kayabyte

Jira business days apps compared: JQL, Automation and holidays

By Kayabyte · Updated 11 November 2026

Short answer: Jira Cloud counts business days only inside Automation (Monday to Friday, no holidays), and JQL counts calendar days. Three Forge apps add holiday-aware business days: Business Days JQL for Jira (JQL functions, holidays you type in), Business Days & Holidays for Jira (Automation steps and a panel, public holidays for 200+ countries), and Daywise (JQL, searchable fields, Automation steps and a panel, public holidays by country and region).

Disclosure: Daywise is the app we make. We’ve tried to describe all three fairly, including where another one does something ours doesn’t. Facts about the other apps come only from their public Marketplace listings (Business Days JQL 2.1.0, Business Days & Holidays 2.7.0).

Checked on 11 Nov 2026; features change, so check each listing before you decide.

Comparison table

Jira Cloud alone Business Days JQL for Jira Business Days & Holidays for Jira Daywise
Business days in JQL No Yes: businessDaysAgo/FromNow (+ workingDays aliases) Not mentioned on its listing Yes: businessDaysAgo/FromNow
Business days in Automation Yes, Mon to Fri only Not mentioned on its listing Yes: add, count, check Yes: add, count (days or hours), check
Searchable fields No Not mentioned on its listing Not mentioned on its listing Business days open, Business days to due date
Panel on the work item No Not mentioned on its listing Yes: due, overdue, open for, next days off Yes: due, open for, next days off
Public holidays No Typed in, no country presets 207 countries with regions (date-holidays) 200+ countries with regions (date-holidays)
Closures and extra working days No Via your holiday list Yes Yes
Work week and time zone per calendar No Yes, up to 10 named calendars Yes Yes
Working hours (business hours) 9 to 6 assumed Not mentioned on its listing Daily cutoff Yes, per calendar
Calendar per project No No, the query names the calendar Yes Yes, or name it in JQL
Runs on Atlassian Forge, no outside calls n/a Yes Yes Yes

Which one fits

What none of them change

Jira Service Management SLAs use their own calendars, set under SLAs in each service space; these apps don’t change them. For SLA holidays see How to add public holidays to a JSM SLA calendar. Board “days in column” dots and timelines don’t use these calendars either.

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Could we try Daywise? Count business days and hours in Jira with each team's work week, time zone, public holidays and company closures. Use it in JQL such as businessDaysFromNow(5). It is on the Atlassian Marketplace and built on Atlassian Forge, and it makes no calls outside Atlassian. Free for up to 10 users. Listing: https://go.kayabyte.dev/atl/daywise?s=site-ask-jira-business-days-apps-compared

FAQ

Which Jira app adds business days to JQL? Business Days JQL for Jira and Daywise both add businessDaysFromNow() and businessDaysAgo(). Business Days & Holidays focuses on Automation.

Which apps know public holidays without typing them in? Business Days & Holidays and Daywise use the date-holidays project (200+ countries with regions). Business Days JQL uses holiday dates you paste in.

Can I count business hours, not just days? Daywise counts business days or hours with working hours per calendar. Business Days & Holidays has a daily cutoff. Jira Automation assumes 9 to 6.

Do these apps change JSM SLA calendars? No. SLA calendars are configured in Jira Service Management itself.

Jira and Atlassian are trademarks of Atlassian. Business Days JQL for Jira and Business Days & Holidays for Jira are products of their vendors. Kayabyte is an independent developer and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Atlassian or the makers of those apps.