How customizable is Jira Server

[Matt Steadman]

So this is a very broad question. Our company is currently in the beginning stages to see if a switch from Jira Cloud (which is what we are currently using) to the server editon makes sense for us. We are really attracted to the idea of how much more customizable the server editon is from the Cloud edition. From my initial searches it pretty much seems that the server side of Jira is capable of "if you can dream it, it can be possible to pull off in Jira Server". I am wondering if this is pretty much true with using a combination of these: out of the box, plug ins, or hiring a develepor to create the specific tools we require?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Accepted solution]

In the sense you've just phrased it, it's not customisable at all.  As a JIRA admin, you have very little more power over the setup than you had as an admin of a Cloud instance.

But, on server, you do get System admin (which does not really affect the front end config hugely, as that's your JIRA admin's job, but does mean you can do *anything* you want with it).  But this includes installing *any* add-on you want, and writing your own, disabling modules, and, if you want, talking to the OS admins about hacking the files that serve up the pages or even hacking the core code and recompiling it.  That's why you can do anything you want on Server - you have complete control.