Planning Poker Alternatives: 6 Estimation Apps and Tools for 2026
"Planning Poker®" is both the technique's registered name (a trademark of Mountain Goat Software) and, on the Atlassian Marketplace, Appfire's estimation app for Jira: a solid real-time voting table with private votes, support for 30+ simultaneous players, moderated or ad-hoc games, and historical reference issues. Like its Marketplace peers, it bills your entire Jira instance — free up to 10 users, then $730/year at 25 users, $2,920 at 100 (rates effective July 1, 2026) — regardless of how many people actually hold cards.
Whether you're pricing your way out of that app or just hunting for a better way to run the ceremony, here are 6 options compared on cost, features, and where your estimates end up.
DISCLOSURE: this page is published by Online Planning Poker, ranked #1 below. Tier prices come from Appfire's own published pricing updates; everything was checked July 12, 2026.
The quick comparison
| Tool | Runs | Free tier | Paid pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planning Poker® by Appfire for reference | Inside Jira | Jira instances ≤ 10 users | $730/yr at 25 users, tiered |
| Online Planning Poker Our pick | Browser + native Jira app | Unlimited, everyone | $19/mo flat or $190/yr |
| Agile Poker for Jira | Inside Jira | Jira instances ≤ 10 users | $898/yr at 25 users, tiered |
| SprintPoker | Inside Jira | Jira instances ≤ 10 users | ≈ $0.84/user/mo (11–100) |
| Planning Poker Agility | Inside Jira | Everything — app is free | None |
| Planning Poker for Jira (We Agile You) | Inside Jira | Jira instances ≤ 10 users | Per user via Atlassian |
| Planning Poker Online | Browser | 9 rounds, 5 issues per game | $30/facilitator/mo |
How we judged these Planning Poker alternatives
Three axes matter. Billing scope: instance-tiered apps charge for every Jira seat; per-user apps charge less; browser tools charge the team, or nothing. Who can vote: in-Jira apps require a Jira license per participant — a real constraint when product or client stakeholders join. Ceremony fit: a focused voting table suits most teams; async modes and analytics justify higher tiers only if you'll use them.
Online Planning Poker
Our pickThe same real-time table experience, unshackled from Jira licensing: rooms are free and unlimited with no accounts for anyone — including stakeholders who don't have (and shouldn't need) a Jira seat. Private votes, simultaneous reveal, Fibonacci/T-shirt/Powers-of-2/custom decks, timers, and statistics. The $19/month flat Business plan ($190/year) syncs estimates two-way with Jira and adds velocity tracking, session history with CSV export, and persistent team rooms — and there's a native Jira app on the Marketplace when in-issue estimation matters.
PROS
- + $190/year flat vs $730+ instance tiers
- + Anyone votes by link — no Jira seat needed
- + Free tier is fully usable, not a 10-user cliff
CONS
- − Estimation happens beside Jira, not inside it (unless you add our app)
- − No moderated multi-game management like the incumbent's
- − Sync features are paid
Best for: teams that want the ceremony's cost tied to the team, not the Jira contract.
Agile Poker for Jira
The upgrade pathAppfire's flagship — the step up rather than sideways. Roughly $170/year more at the 25-user tier buys four estimation methods (including async Wideband Delphi), AI-assisted effort suggestions, and velocity/capacity analytics. If you're already inside the Appfire billing relationship and hitting the simpler app's limits, this is the intended destination.
PROS
- + Async estimation across time zones
- + Deepest analytics on the Marketplace
- + Same vendor — trivial migration
CONS
- − Highest tier prices in this comparison
- − Same instance-wide billing logic
- − Most teams use one of the four methods
Best for: distributed teams whose async estimation genuinely replaces meetings.
SprintPoker
Modern challengerAgile Pulse's next-generation app undercuts both Appfire products: about $0.84 per user per month for 11–100 user instances (free below that, 30-day trial) with real-time and async sessions, AI complexity insights, reference-issue matching, and a quick per-ticket estimation mode. A 25-user instance pays ≈$252/year — a third of the incumbent's tier.
PROS
- + Async + AI at the lowest in-Jira paid price
- + Quick estimation inside individual tickets
- + Cloud Fortified certification
CONS
- − Young app with a smaller track record
- − Still counts the full instance's users
- − Analytics lighter than the flagship's
Best for: teams that want async and AI features without flagship-tier invoices.
Planning Poker Agility
Free foreverThe zero-budget answer inside Jira: Agile Pulse's original app is completely free with unlimited use — private voting, automatic reveal, Fibonacci/time-based/custom scales, backlog and kanban support, Cloud Fortified. It's maintained but feature-frozen-ish, since new development flows to its paid successor above.
PROS
- + $0 regardless of instance size
- + Handles the core ceremony competently
- + No trial clocks or tier anxiety
CONS
- − No async, no analytics, no AI
- − Successor app gets the new features
- − Voting still requires Jira seats
Best for: teams replacing a paid tier with "good enough, free, still in Jira".
Planning Poker for Jira
147k MAUWe Agile You's app ("Planning Poker – Story Point Estimations") is the crowd's choice, claiming 147,000+ monthly active users: a lively real-time table with consensus indicators, estimates auto-saved to issues, four deck types, dark theme, and GDPR/ISO 27001 credentials. Per-user pricing via Atlassian (free under 10 users; exact tiers on the Marketplace calculator).
PROS
- + Largest user base of any Jira estimation app
- + Playful, well-liked table UX
- + Compliance paperwork enterprise teams ask for
CONS
- − Opaque pricing until you run the calculator
- − One method, modest analytics
- − Instance-wide user counting again
Best for: teams that trust install counts and want the popular pick.
Planning Poker Online
Browser flagshipThe polished browser-side counterpart from the same vendor as #5: unlimited players per game, CSV import, plugins for Jira, Linear, GitHub, and Azure DevOps. Free games cap at 9 rounds and 5 issues; Premium is $30 per facilitator per month. The appeal over in-Jira apps: non-Jira participants join freely, and the interface is the category's best.
PROS
- + No Jira seats needed to vote
- + Slickest UI in estimation
- + Multi-platform plugins
CONS
- − Steep per-facilitator pricing
- − Free caps end long sessions early
- − Hosts register even on free
Best for: teams leaving in-Jira estimation for the browser with a single paid facilitator.
Frequently asked questions
Isn't "Planning Poker" just the name of the technique?
Both. The technique name is a registered trademark of Mountain Goat Software, licensed by tools like Appfire's app; the ceremony itself — private estimates, simultaneous reveal, discussion, consensus — is universal and works identically in every tool on this page.
What's the cheapest way to keep estimating on Jira issues?
Free: Planning Poker Agility inside Jira, or this site's free tier with manual point entry. Cheapest paid sync: $19/month flat here regardless of instance size, or ≈$252/year for SprintPoker at 25 users if you want to stay fully in-Jira.
Do estimates transfer if we switch apps?
Story points live on the Jira issue field, not in the app — every tool here reads and writes the same field. Switching costs you session history inside the old app, not the estimates themselves.
Tier prices from vendor-published July 2026 rate cards, checked July 12, 2026. PLANNING POKER® is a registered trademark of Mountain Goat Software, LLC.
Run the ceremony free — with or without Jira
Unlimited rooms and players in the browser, flat-rate Jira sync when you want it, and a native Jira app if you'd rather stay inside.