Native Jira Clone vs. Clone Expert – Feature Comparison

Jira includes a basic clone function, but its options are limited.
This page compares Jira’s native cloning with Clone Expert for Jira — feature by feature — so you can see exactly what’s available out of the box and what additional flexibility Clone Expert offers.

    Feature / Area Native Jira Clone Clone Expert for Jira
    Scope of cloning ✅ Clone a single issue; optionally include sub-items ✅ Clone any issue type or full hierarchy; select/deselect individual child issues and sub-tasks
    Field editing during cloning ❌ Only Summary, Assignee and Reporter for the main issue (child items inherit original values) ✅ Edit any fields in the preview table – Summary, Assignee, Reporter, custom fields, dates, work type, etc.
    Prefix in Summary ✅ “CLONE” prefix automatically added to all cloned items ✅ User can decide whether to add a prefix/suffix or leave it blank. More details under this link.
    Sub-tasks ✅ Can include or exclude all sub-tasks at once ✅ Can include/exclude globally or deselect individual sub-tasks. Read more here.
    Child work items (Epics) ✅ Can include or exclude all child items ✅ Include child items and select exactly which ones to clone. Also, clone only children without the epic
    Attachments ✅ ✅
    Comments ✅ ✅
    Links ✅ ✅
    Watchers ✅ ✅
    Custom fields ✅ (if configured to be cloned) ✅ Dynamically add fields in Additional fields. Edit directly in the preview table
    Cross-project cloning ❌ Clone only into the same project ✅ Choose destination project + cloning strategy (children to original projects vs. all to destination project)
    Change work type / issue type ❌ Clone keeps the same type as original ✅ Change issue type within the same hierarchy level (e.g. Story→Task) before cloning
    Bulk edit before cloning ❌ ✅ Bulk overwrite, prefix, suffix, find & replace, date shifts
    Add new items to cloned set ❌ ✅ Add new work item before cloning. Appears at the end of the table, linked to the top-level item
    Templates ✅ Clone Jira’s native templates without customization ✅ Clone Jira’s native templates with full customization before cloning (single issue or full hierarchy)
    Placeholders (dynamic variables) ❌ ✅ Use dynamic placeholders in text fields to auto-fill values at clone time
    Quick Clone ❌ ✅ One-click cloning with default settings
    Advanced Roadmaps (+1, +2, +3 above Epic) ❌ ✅ Support for Initiative, Capability, Program etc. in Jira Cloud Premium / DC with Advanced Roadmaps. More you can read here
    Clone children to existing parent ❌ ✅ “Clone child work items to an existing parent” option – choose parent from dropdown
    User interface ❌ Standard clone dialog ✅ Rich interface with dynamic preview table, checkboxes and saved preferences
    Link between original and clone ❌ Not configurable ✅ Create a link between original and cloned items. Choose relationship type

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