Thanks Eoin and team for initiating this RFC. We see native features start to overlap more and more with existing Marketplace solutions and the current trend - its pace and depth - is very concerning for us.
Marketplace vendors have dedicated extensive effort and resources to build specialized solutions that address a wide range of customer use cases. This diversity of capabilities is one of Atlassian’s key differentiators, especially compared to competitors with less mature Marketplaces.
Repeated initiatives that replicate these third-party capabilities erode trust, reduce revenues for vendors in affected space, and can create confusion among customers who rely on existing solutions.
We’ve seen similar warnings in RFC-68: Action Items in Jira, and—in the spirit of constructive collaboration—we’d like to share our asks for Atlassian with you and the community:
1. Focus on core functionalities, minimize overlap
Keep native features foundational to address essential needs, and let app vendors continue delivering advanced or specialized capabilities. In this specific case, please consider which use cases we—and other listed apps—already satisfy effectively, and where there is genuine market demand for native solutions.
2. Extensibility
Provide well-documented APIs or Forge/Connect modules for recurring work features, so we can build seamless user experiences and advanced use cases on top of your groundwork.
3. Packaging
Reserve more sophisticated native functionality for Premium or Enterprise editions and leverage usage limits where appropriate, letting customers benefit from Atlassian’s modular platform without overshadowing specialized Marketplace apps.
4. Early and continued collaboration
Involve key Marketplace vendors early in your discovery, planning, and development phases for features that might overlap with existing solutions. That direct feedback loop fosters trust, aligns roadmaps, and produces better outcomes for our mutual customers. The sooner the better in these situations, and we hope this time our comments won’t come in too late to help shape your approach.
We appreciate the transparency and collaborative spirit you’ve show so far and understand the challenges of balancing native improvements with Marketplace growth.
Our team at Elements will be happy to discuss these ideas further and work with you over the coming months.