If you've worked in an Agile team, you know how important estimation is. Without it, projects can run over budget, timelines stretch endlessly, and teams feel the strain. That's why so many Agile teams turn to Planning Poker, a popular Jira plugin to improve their estimation process.
But let's be honest: no tool is perfect. While Planning Poker has its strengths, it also comes with its share of frustrations. For instance, you may have experienced duplicate participants showing up in your sessions, estimates mysteriously disappearing, or challenges with adapting it for remote or asynchronous estimation. These little issues can hold you back, especially when your team is already juggling deadlines and workloads.
The good news is, there are alternatives. After reading through reviews on Reddit, G2, Capterra, and Atlassian Community forums, we've identified three tools that not only integrate with Jira but also address some of the weaknesses of Planning Poker. Whether your team needs more flexibility, smarter features, or a better fit for remote collaboration, these tools will have your team look forward to estimation sessions again.
Top 3 Planning Poker Alternatives for Jira
1. Agile Poker for Jira
Agile Poker for Jira is a comprehensive estimation toolkit that improves Agile planning in Jira. It offers multiple estimation methods—including Planning Poker, Magic Estimation, and Wideband Delphi—to accommodate various preferences and project needs.
What It Does Well
- Multiple Estimation Methods: You can choose from multiple estimation techniques, allowing them to select the method that best fits their workflow and project requirements.
- Jira Integration: As a native Jira plugin, Agile Poker ensures that all estimations are directly linked to Jira issues, streamlining the planning process.
- Support for Remote and Co-located Teams: The tool facilitates both synchronous and asynchronous estimation sessions, making it suitable for distributed teams operating across different time zones.
Where It Might Fall Short
- Complex Interface: Some users have reported that the interface can be overwhelming, particularly for those new to Agile estimation tools.
- Session Persistence Issues: There have been instances where users encountered errors related to session persistence, requiring them to restart estimation sessions.
How It Works
Consider a software development team spread across multiple continents. Coordinating live estimation sessions is challenging due to time zone differences. With Agile Poker's asynchronous estimation feature, team members can participate in estimation sessions at their convenience. Each member reviews user stories and submits their estimates independently. The tool then aggregates these estimates, highlighting any significant discrepancies. This approach allows the team to identify and discuss outliers without the need for real-time meetings, thus maintaining momentum in the planning process.
Compatibility and Integration
Agile Poker is built exclusively for Jira, ensuring seamless integration. All estimation data is stored within Jira, providing a centralized location for project information. This tight integration eliminates the need for external tools, reducing context-switching and enhancing productivity.
Best For
Agile Poker is ideal for Agile teams looking for a flexible and integrated estimation solution within Jira. It's particularly beneficial for organizations with distributed teams that require support for both synchronous and asynchronous estimation sessions. Teams that value a variety of estimation techniques and deep integration with their existing Jira workflows will find this tool especially useful.
2. Rally
What It Is
Rally is a Jira plugin is for those who want to streamline their estimation processes, particularly in distributed or asynchronous work environments. Rally stands out with its focus on flexibility, accuracy, and supporting various team workflows.
What It Does Well
- Asynchronous Estimation: Rally is built for distributed teams. Instead of requiring live sessions, it allows users to set estimation deadlines, enabling team members to contribute within the stipulated timeframe.
- Fibonacci-Based Estimation: Rally simplifies task sizing with Fibonacci sequence estimation, making it intuitive and consistent across teams.
- Detailed Task Insights: Rally provides breakdowns for how long tasks would take based on team members’ experience levels, enabling realistic and efficient task allocation.
- AI-Assisted Planning: Rally leverages AI to suggest estimates, analyze workloads, and provide insights that improve planning accuracy.
- Capacity Planning: Rally’s Assign feature helps Agile leaders distribute tasks effectively by visualizing workload capacity and team availability.
- Collaborative Features: You can chat directly around Jira work items, eliminating the need for external tools and keeping conversations focused on actionable tasks.
- Integrated Workflow with Jira: Rally integrates deeply with Jira, allowing users to pull Jira work items directly into Rally for planning, chatting, or estimation.
What Makes it Unique
What sets Rally apart is its ability to facilitate multiple Agile practices within Jira. For example:
- Async Work: Distributed teams can estimate tasks or discuss work asynchronously, maintaining engagement without scheduling conflicts.
- Comprehensive Planning: From estimation to capacity planning, Rally offers end-to-end support for Agile workflows.
- Focused Collaboration: The chat feature enables task-specific discussions, reducing the noise of generalized communication tools.
These features make Rally more than just an estimation tool; it’s a complete Agile assistant.
Where It Might Fall Short
- Jira Exclusivity: Rally is exclusively for Jira users. If you're not using Jira will need to look for alternative solutions.
- Specialized Focus: While Rally is great for estimation, planning, and collaboration, teams looking for a broader project management suite might require additional tools.
How It Works in
Imagine your team is planning a sprint with tasks of varying complexity. Here’s how Rally can help:
- Pull Jira Work Items: Sync tasks from Jira into Rally seamlessly.
- Set Deadlines: For distributed teams, Rally allows you to set an estimation deadline, enabling asynchronous contributions.
- Estimate & Plan: Team members estimate using the Fibonacci sequence, while Rally’s AI suggests refinements.
- Discuss & Align: Use Rally’s chat feature to address outliers and align on final estimates.
- Capacity Planning: Use Rally’s capacity planning tools to visualize workloads and assign tasks efficiently.
Compatibility and Integration
Rally’s integration with Jira ensures all activities—estimation, planning, and discussions—remain within your existing workflows. No exporting or importing data, just seamless collaboration.
Best For
Rally is ideal for:
- Co-located and distributed teams working asynchronously.
- Agile teams that need advanced planning and capacity management.
- Teams looking to consolidate their Agile processes within Jira.
3. Scrumpy Planning Poker
What It Is
Scrumpy Planning Poker is a lightweight, browser-based tool designed to simplify task estimation for Agile teams. It integrates with Jira, making it a great option for teams that want a simple, straightforward planning poker solution.
What It Does Well
- Ease of Use: Scrumpy is simple to set up and use. It doesn’t require heavy onboarding or steep learning curves, making it accessible even for non-technical team members.
- Multiple Deck Options: You can choose between various estimation decks, including Fibonacci, T-shirt sizes, and custom decks, ensuring flexibility for different estimation styles.
- Real-Time Collaboration: The tool supports real-time sessions, enabling you to collaborate effectively during live estimation meetings.
- Jira Integration: Scrumpy allows users to sync Jira stories, ensuring estimates are tied directly to their corresponding work items.
Where It Excels
- Cost-Effective: Scrumpy offers a free tier with basic features, making it appealing for small teams or those with budget constraints.
- No Installation Needed: Being browser-based, Scrumpy eliminates the need for installation or maintenance, making it a convenient choice for teams on the go.
- Minimalistic Approach: Scrumpy focuses on estimation without adding complex features, which some teams prefer over more robust tools like Rally.
Where It Falls Short
- Limited Async Support: While Scrumpy is great for real-time sessions, it doesn’t cater well to asynchronous teams, which can be a dealbreaker for distributed teams working across different time zones.
- Feature Limitations: Beyond estimation, Scrumpy doesn’t offer advanced planning features like capacity management, AI-powered suggestions, or built-in collaboration tools.
- Scaling Issues: As you grow and your estimation needs evolve, Scrumpy’s minimalistic approach might not scale effectively compared to other tools like Rally.
How It Works
Suppose your team is conducting a sprint planning meeting in real-time:
- Setup a Session: Open Scrumpy in a browser, create a session, and share the link with your team.
- Pull Jira Stories: Import work items directly from Jira into Scrumpy.
- Collaborate Live: Team members vote on estimates using the selected deck.
- Sync Estimates: Once finalized, estimates are updated back into Jira, streamlining the workflow.
Compatibility and Integration
Scrumpy’s integration with Jira ensures that estimation data flows seamlessly between tools. However, its feature set is limited to estimation, meaning that you may need to rely on additional tools for other Agile processes.
Best For
Scrumpy Planning Poker is best suited for:
- Small teams looking for a no-cost or low-cost estimation tool.
- Teams that conduct synchronous estimation sessions.
- Teams that prefer a simple, no-frills approach to planning poker.
While Scrumpy Planning Poker provides a straightforward and accessible solution, it lacks the depth and versatility offered by tools like Rally. For teams needing advanced planning capabilities or asynchronous support, Rally is a better fit. However, for teams focused solely on estimation without requiring additional features, Scrumpy remains a viable alternative.
Conclusion
When it comes to planning poker for Jira, finding the right tool can improve your Agile workflow. The right estimation tool, especially the one you want to replace Planning Poker with should address your team’s unique needs—whether that’s seamless integration to Jira, async estimation, other Jira collaboration features, or simply a smoother experience than your current tool. The tools we shared above can help you improve your estimation process and support team collaboration.
