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Think free tools save money? Hidden inefficiencies in Planning Poker can cost Agile teams over $14K annually. Discover a smarter alternative with Smart Guess

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## Case example: One minute saved during story estimation for a 200-member  dev-organization
### What is the $ value of that?

Notice that with Smart Guess, teams save more than one minute, as explained below.

Inspired by the following question posted on the Atlassian Community: ["Help me find an estimation tool that my IT admins will approve "](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-Software-questions/Help-me-find-an-estimation-tool-planning-poker-agile-poker-that/qaq-p/1488138). Let's use the information from the article and make assumptions to estimate the cost of lost time. Let's say:

- 200 members (10% of 2000 employee company) take part in story estimation on average/week
- 60 minutes for story estimation/week on average per dev-team 

Let's calculate the value of one minute, to understand the cost of lost time vs. a tool that saves time.

### How much time can the company save by selecting a better solution?
A better solution that manages to save only 1 minute during story estimation will save:
- 200 planning users/week   * 1 minute saving/meeting * 4 estimation meetings/month = 800 minutes saved / month
-   Which is:  800 minutes / 60minutes per hour = 13,3 hours saved /month
-   Which is: 13.3 hours/month * 12 months/year = 160 hours saved / year

### Let's calculate the value of 160 hours saved/year:
- According to [Clockify](https://clockify.me/working-hours), there are: 1757 working hours/per year in the US
- According to [Statista.com](https://www.statista.com/chart/22030/average-tech-worker-salary-in-us-cities/), the average tech salary in the US per year is: $124.000
- $124.000 / 1757 hours = $70 / hour average salary

In addition, according to [this study](http://web.mit.edu/e-club/hadzima/how-much-does-an-employee-cost.html) total cost of an employee in the US, taking taxes and benefits into account is 1.25-1.40 times the base salary.

### One minute saved pays thousands of dollars every year
At a critical place in your process, one minute saved pays back a considerable amount every year:
- 160 hours saved/year * $70 / hour average tech salary = $11.200 saved / every year (not including taxes and benefits)
- **$14000 - $15680 saved / every year** (including taxes and benefits)

### With Smart Guess, teams are saving much more than 1 minute
Only looking at the Scrum master job, then all of the following tasks are removed:
1. No "estimation session" to create
2. No "estimation backlog" to create
3. No importing of stories into the planning poker tool
4. No invites/links to send team-members 
5. No exporting story points back into Jira

Skipping all these tasks saves more than one minute of Scrum master's time. In addition:

> When our team started using Smart Guess, the story estimation effort dropped significantly, powered by one-click estimates within the Jira issue. 
> The most significant relief was our development team began giving estimates when browsing the backlog. Without anyone asking them to do so! 

### Conclusion
So given this, even though a better solution might cost a couple of thousand dollars/year, it has the potential to pay back multiple times every year. This is why Smart Guess was built to work perfectly with the Jira Issue and the Jira Backlog - optimizing the flow of work for everyone taking part in story estimation.

The Hidden Cost of Free Planning Poker: How Teams Lose $14K+ Yearly

Even small improvements in flow save hundreds of hours. Keep your team productive, predictable, and happier with Flow Analytics built right into Jira.  

> “Our retros are now about improvements, not firefighting. Smart Guess changed everything.”  

*Free trial available — no credit card needed 💡*  

Deliver Faster. Stress Less.

Turn Jira data into insights you can act on. Spot bottlenecks, track cycle time, and forecast delivery with confidence — all inside Jira.  

> “Smart Guess gave us instant visibility into our process. It’s the first time we’ve felt in control of delivery.”  

*Now available with a free trial — no budget approval needed 🚀*

See Your Team’s Flow Clearly

Make cycle time, throughput, and WIP visible without spreadsheets or consultants. Smart Guess Flow Analytics shows where work really gets stuck — so you can act early.  

> “We cut weeks off our cycle time after seeing where work was really getting stuck.”  

*Free 30-day trial — see your flow in action 🔍*  

Uncover Bottlenecks Before They Hurt Delivery

Try One-Click Planning Poker you run from the Jira Backlog and you will never look back.

"After trying many tools in Jira, we landed on Smart Guess. It's the best app ❤️ we've ever used!"

Now available for free — no budget approval needed! 🚀


Transform your Planning Poker

Run one-click Planning Poker directly from the Jira Backlog and never look back. Estimate faster, collaborate better, and keep everyone aligned.  

> “After trying many tools in Jira, we landed on Smart Guess. It's the best app ❤️ we've ever used!”  

*Now available for free — no budget approval needed 🚀*  

Transform Your Planning Poker

using contentList for cta messages


https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1225496/

Free app

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Forever Free. No setup. One Click—Planning Poker you run directly from the Jira backlog. Including
- **Fully featured Planning-** & [Async -Poker](/solutions/async-planning-poker/)
- **Fully configurable** [Card decks](/blog/configurable-card-decks/)
- **Role-based controls**, [Team lead, Observer, etc.](/blog/smartguess-role-based-controls-observing-leading-sharing/)

Perfect for two teams - up to 31 story estimates/week.

Everything in Free included, plus:
- **Unlimited Estimates:** No limits, no boundaries.
- **Silent Estimation:** Estimate large backlogs fast.
- **Atlassian Fortified:** Enhanced security and reliability.
- **Free Demo and Trial:** Experience the Pro Plan before committing.


Smart Guess can be used from within the Jira Backlog

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Silent Estimation by Smart Guess allows teams to estimate large number of stories faster

A free tool costing more than $14.000/year in lost time - is that a free tool?

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