If you’re planning on building a custom AI Rovo Agent, you have two choices.
The first is to create your agent using Atlassian Forge, which requires coding, and a fairly high level of technical proficiency. The second is to use Atlassian’s Rovo Studio, which enables you to build your custom agent using Natural Language prompts.
But when it comes to choosing Atlassian Forge vs Rovo Studio, which is right for you?
Let’s look at the differences between Forge and Studio in more depth – and help you understand how to build the exact custom Rovo Agent your team needs.
What is Atlassian Forge?
Launched in 2021, Forge is Atlassian’s Cloud app development platform, originally created for teams to develop Atlassian Marketplace apps for products like Jira or Confluence.
With hosted infrastructure, storage, and as part of the Atlassian ecosystem, Forge is an ideal platform for developers to create apps to extend and enhance native Jira, JSM and Confluence functionality.
Now, with the arrival of Atlassian Rovo in the past two years, teams are also turning to Forge to build custom AI Rovo Agents.
It’s worth mentioning Atlassian Connect here, which was the previous framework for app development. Atlassian began phasing Connect out some time ago, launching a pathway in 2024 to incrementally migrate Connect Marketplace apps to Forge. App vendors can now no longer publish Connect apps to the Atlassian Marketplace.
What is Atlassian’s Rovo Studio?
Rovo Studio was announced back in 2024, and was created as a no-code platform to help less technical teams create their own custom Rovo Agents.
Since its launch, Rovo Studio has evolved significantly. Billed by Atlassian as your ‘AI builder’, you can also now create and manage automations, company hubs, Service Agents, and assets from within Studio.
Studio actually runs on Forge, so teams still benefit from enterprise-grade security and hosting infrastructure.
And… what is a custom Rovo Agent?
We’ve mentioned custom Rovo Agents a few times in this piece, so let’s make sure we’re covering all the basics.
Currently, Rovo comes with c. 20 out-of-the-box (ootb) Rovo Agents. Each is designed to fulfil a distinct use case, such as summarising meeting minutes, or drafting release notes.
For more specific, unique requirements, you can create a custom agent. The scope here is huge; here at AC, we’ve developed custom agents that can do everything from picking up failed request routings from Virtual Agents in JSM, to intelligently prioritising workloads across multiple platforms.
Essentially, if you can dream it, you can build a custom Rovo Agent for it. But when should you use Studio? And when is Forge a better alternative?
Time to jump into our Atlassian Forge vs Rovo Studio comparison.
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Atlassian Forge vs Rovo Studio: How do they compare?
As one of Rovo’s core capabilities, Search is designed to centralise and connect knowledge across various third-party applications.
With over 50 connectors now available, Rovo integrates with a swathe of third-party apps, which means you can pull in data from everything from your project management tooling to your CRM.
Connecting these data sources subsequently dismantle the data silos that often exist across enterprises, where knowledge can be hard to find – let alone make real use out of.
Rovo Search saves teams time searching for the data they need, and ensures knowledge can be mined effectively and securely from multiple sources.
Since Atlassian Team ’25 Europe, Search has undergone further enhancements.
Usability
The big selling point of Rovo Studio has always been that you can create a custom Rovo Agent without needing to use any code. You can develop an agent simply by using Natural Language prompts. Ease of use is another big selling point: When Rovo Studio was launched, Atlassian celebrated the fact that a custom Agent could be built in less than 20 minutes! (Admittedly, we haven’t managed to beat this record yet…)
Developing in Forge, meanwhile, requires knowledge of Javascript or Typescript. Atlassian advises that it is also useful to be familiar with React for building user interfaces, and HTML/CSS for styling. In terms of usability, the Forge CLI will feel familiar to anybody who has used a Command Line Interface before.
Put very simply, Rovo Studio was launched as a no-code development platform, whereas Forge requires coding skills. This, in turn, meant that you would generally use Rovo Studio for simple Agent use cases, and turn to Forge to develop more complex custom Agents.
Recently, however, Atlassian announced Rovo Studio updates that change things slightly. Studio is still a no-code platform, but has now been enhanced to enable greater complexity and scope.
Integrating with other tools
Whereas Rovo Studio was initially positioned as the space to build simple custom Agents, and Forge would be where you’d develop more sophisticated ones, Atlassian has recently rolled out some notable changes in Studio. (Do note, some of these are not yet in GA.)
Rovo Studio now enables you to design and test scenarios, and build Agents that combine multiple Skills (as opposed to just one). You’ll also soon be able to pull in skills from your wider tech stack (think Figma, Hubspot or Canva, for example), for custom Rovo Agents that can fulfil even broader use cases. You can still achieve both of these things without code.
Previously, you would have had to use Forge to integrate your Rovo Agents with non-Atlassian tools.
Automation rules also mean that it is now possible to perform an API call within a Rovo Agent and pass the response as a prompt to an Agent you built within Rovo Studio.
For more complex use cases and integrations, however, Forge is probably still has the edge.
Looking for custom Rovo Agent inspiration? Or looking for a partner who truly understands how to turn an AI Agent idea into a reality? Visit our Rovo Agent Use Case Library to learn how we create custom agents for our clients and teams here at AC!
Atlassian Forge and Rovo Studio pricing
As a core component of Rovo, Studio is included in all Standard, Premium and Enterprise plans. It cannot be purchased as a standalone product itself.
Atlassian Forge runs consumption-based pricing, which means teams pay only for what they use. Atlassian did release a pricing update recently, which is due to come into play in January 2026, but this still includes what is described as a ‘generous’ monthly usage allowance. We’d agree that it’s generous; many teams will still find they don’t exceed the threshold, and that Forge continues to be free (or very low cost) to use.
In essence, both Studio and Forge are low to no-cost options.
Forge vs Studio: What’s our verdict?
We’ve been building custom Rovo Agents in both Atlassian Forge and Rovo Studio for some time now. Both platforms have enabled us to build powerful custom AI Agents within the Atlassian ecosystem, for both our own internal use here at AC, and for our clients.
It really comes down to two things: Your team’s coding capabilities and your use case (for us, the latter is the clincher).
Forge at a glance:
Atlassian’s app development platform, primarily designed for building Atlassian Marketplace apps and custom Rovo Agents
Suitable for software developers and engineers
Must have knowledge of Javascript and, ideally, React
Excellent for complex use cases
USP: Managing highly complicated, multiple APIs and integrations
Studio at a glance:
Part of the Rovo offering, and designed for teams to create custom Rovo Agents, and to manage automations, hubs and assets
Suitable for citizen developers
No coding required
Excellent for quickly and easily creating new Rovo Agents
USP: You can build solely by using Natural Language prompts
Our top tip?
Here at AC, we’d recommend that you try making everything you can – without code – in Studio first. Prompt, tweak, test.
Starting off simple in Rovo Studio, in tandem with in-built things like Jira automation, can massively reduce the complexity of your project.
You can then move over to Forge to add the final layer of complexity (if required).
Looking for more guidance around Rovo?
Whether you choose to build your in Rovo Studio or Forge, you might benefit from the AI expertise and skills of a trusted Atlassian Consultancy.
As Atlassian Platinum Solutions partners, and with a wealth of custom Rovo Agents under our belts (created in both Rovo Studio and Forge), we’re a safe pair of hands to help you maximise value from your Rovo Agents.
Talk to us today to find out how we can shape your AI Agent strategy and start turning some of your ideas into action!
