How Planning Poker Works

Planning Llama is free, anonymous planning poker (also called scrum poker) for agile teams — estimate story points together in real time, with no sign-up. Here's how a session works.

1

A room is created for you

When you open Planning Llama, a unique room is created automatically — no sign-up, no account, no configuration needed. You'll land straight in the session, ready to start your sprint planning or backlog refinement immediately.

2

Invite your team

Share the room link by copying it from the header, or tap the Share button to display a scannable QR code your team can point their phone at. Anyone who opens the link joins instantly with a nickname of their choice — no accounts or passwords required.

3

Add items and run your planning session

Use the + Add button to queue up the items you want to estimate — give each one a title, optional ticket ID (e.g. JIRA-123), and description. The Sessions panel on the right shows your queue, the currently active item, and completed history at a glance.

Each player picks a card representing their estimate — story points, a T-shirt size, or whatever scale you've chosen. Cards stay hidden until everyone has voted, then reveal all votes at once so there's no anchoring bias. Discuss the spread, reset, and move on to the next item in your queue.

4

Track your estimation history

Every revealed vote round is recorded in the Sessions panel. You can see each item's average score, whether the team was unanimous, and expand any entry to view individual votes. Stats across all completed sessions — total count, average score, most-picked value, and unanimous rate — are shown at a glance.

5

Customise your deck

Choose between Fibonacci, T-shirt sizes, or define your own custom card values in Settings. Changes apply to everyone in the room immediately, so you can switch scales mid-session without missing a beat.

What is planning poker?

Planning poker is an agile estimation technique used in sprint planning and backlog refinement. Each team member secretly selects a card representing their effort estimate — commonly Fibonacci numbers (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21) or T-shirt sizes (XS, S, M, L, XL). All cards are revealed at the same time, preventing the anchoring bias that occurs when team members hear each other's estimates before voting.

When estimates differ significantly, the team discusses their reasoning — often surfacing hidden complexity or overlooked requirements. After discussion, the team votes again until consensus is reached. This iterative process produces more accurate, team-owned estimates compared to top-down sizing.

Why use online planning poker?

Remote and hybrid teams need a shared, real-time space to run estimation sessions. Online planning poker tools like Planning Llama replicate the physical card experience in a browser tab — no physical cards, no whiteboard, no need to be in the same room. Team members across different time zones can join the same session from their own device and vote simultaneously.

Planning Llama is designed to be as low-friction as possible: open a room, share a link, and your team is estimating within seconds. There are no accounts to manage, no invitations to send, and no data stored after the session ends.

Tips

  • Use Spectator Mode (in the user menu) if you're facilitating but not voting.
  • Use the Sessions panel to pre-load your entire backlog before the meeting starts.
  • Bookmark a room's link to reuse it across multiple sprint planning sessions.
  • Install Planning Llama as a PWA from your browser menu for a native app feel on desktop and mobile.
  • Try T-shirt sizes (XS–XL) for high-level backlog sizing, and switch to Fibonacci for detailed sprint planning.
  • Empty rooms that are never voted in are cleaned up automatically — active rooms persist as long as they're in use.