The best free planning poker tools in 2026
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Most planning poker tools do the same core job: everyone picks an estimate in private, then the team reveals together. Where they differ is what "free" really means: how many people can join, whether players need accounts, whether estimates sync with Jira, and whether there are ads. We compared seven popular tools on exactly those points.
Full disclosure: we make Pointwalk, so we're not neutral. We've tried to be fair. Every fact about another tool comes from that tool's own website, checked on 24 October 2026, and we say plainly where each one beats us.
Comparison table
| Tool | Free plan | Paid from | Accounts needed | Jira support | Ads | Free player limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pointwalk | Yes, every feature | Optional A$1.99 per session to remove ads | None for players; the host gives an email for the summary | Two-way on the free plan (Jira Cloud only) | Yes, ad-supported (A$1.99 removes them for a session) | 30 per session |
| Kollabe | Yes: 4 planning poker meetings and 4 retros a month, 7-day history | US$12 per space per month (no per-user fees) | None needed for the free host or guests | Two-way (writes the estimate on reveal), Jira Cloud, paid plans only | No ads on any plan | 10 members per room |
| Parabol (Sprint Poker) | Yes: 2 teams, 10 meetings a month, 30-day history | US$8 per active user per month | Facilitator needs an account; players join as team members | Two-way (JQL import, estimates sync back); Server/Data Center on Enterprise | None seen | Unlimited users (2 teams) |
| PlanITpoker | Yes: unlimited rooms and stories | $20/month (PlanIT Premium, unlimited participants) | None needed; an optional free account secures your rooms | Import only (OAuth search, or XML/CSV import); no write-back mentioned | None seen | 7 participants |
| planningpoker.com | Yes (Basic) | $14.95/month (Standard, 10 players) | The host registers; players can join as guests | Sync back via an Application Link a Jira admin sets up; XML import is Pro-only | Sponsored banner on free games | 5 players |
| Planning Poker Online | Yes, with limits: 9 voting rounds and 5 voted issues per game; free games are blocked after 6 weeks | $30 per facilitator per month | None for players; the host needs an account | Web integration discontinued; a paid Jira Cloud Marketplace app writes story points back | None seen | Unlimited players |
| TeamRetro | A free planning poker room (no account, no Jira); the full product is a 30-day trial | US$250 a year per team (up to 25 members) | None in the free room | Two-way on paid plans (also Azure DevOps, GitHub, Linear) | None seen | No stated limit in the free room |
Prices are as each site shows them: "US$" where the site names the currency, "$" where it doesn't. "None seen" means the vendor doesn't mention ads and we didn't find any. We also looked at Scrumhub, but its website wasn't reachable when we checked, so we've left it out.
Quick picks
- Pointwalk: Best if you want free Jira write-back and no accounts, and your team likes a bit of play.
- Kollabe: Best if you want planning poker, retros and standups in one ad-free tool and are happy to pay for Jira sync.
- Parabol (Sprint Poker): Best for teams that want one open-source tool for every agile meeting and don't mind accounts.
- PlanITpoker: Best for small teams (up to 7) who want the simplest possible board and don't need Jira write-back.
- planningpoker.com: Best if you want the original brand, need up to 50 players and will pay for it.
- Planning Poker Online: Best for paying Jira Cloud teams who want estimation inside Jira itself.
- TeamRetro: Best for larger organisations that need SOC 2, SSO and EU hosting and will pay per team.
The tools, one by one
Kollabe
Free plan: yes: 4 planning poker meetings and 4 retros a month, 7-day history. Free player limit: 10 members per room. Jira: two-way (writes the estimate on reveal), Jira Cloud, paid plans only. Decks: fibonacci, T-shirt; custom decks on paid plans.
Where it's stronger than Pointwalk:
- It has no ads on any plan, including Free.
- It does retros and standups as well as planning poker, all in one tool.
- It supports async voting, so people can estimate before the meeting.
- Paid plans connect to GitHub, Azure DevOps and Linear as well as Jira, and Enterprise adds SAML SSO.
Read the full Kollabe vs Pointwalk comparison.
Parabol (Sprint Poker)
Free plan: yes: 2 teams, 10 meetings a month, 30-day history. Free player limit: unlimited users (2 teams). Jira: two-way (JQL import, estimates sync back); Server/Data Center on Enterprise. Decks: fibonacci, five fingers, T-shirt, custom scales.
Where it's stronger than Pointwalk:
- It's a full agile meeting suite: retros, standups and async check-ins as well as Sprint Poker.
- It's open source, with a self-hosted option on Enterprise.
- It writes estimates back to Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps and Linear, and supports Jira Data Center on Enterprise.
- It connects to Slack, Microsoft Teams and Mattermost.
PlanITpoker
Free plan: yes: unlimited rooms and stories. Free player limit: 7 participants. Jira: import only (OAuth search, or XML/CSV import); no write-back mentioned. Decks: several built-in decks.
Where it's stronger than Pointwalk:
- It's well established and widely used: the vendor says over 90,000 developers use it.
- It's very quick to start: no sign-up, one screen, nothing to learn.
- We saw no ads on the free plan.
- It's from the team behind EasyRetro, if you also want a retro tool.
Read the full PlanITpoker vs Pointwalk comparison.
planningpoker.com
Free plan: yes (Basic). Free player limit: 5 players. Jira: sync back via an Application Link a Jira admin sets up; XML import is Pro-only. Decks: fibonacci, modified Fibonacci, powers of 2, T-shirt; custom decks on paid plans.
Where it's stronger than Pointwalk:
- It's the original: Mountain Goat Software, Mike Cohn's company, owns the Planning Poker® trademark.
- Pro supports up to 50 players.
- It tracks velocity across games.
- Paid plans import from TFS, Rally and VersionOne as well as Jira.
Read the full planningpoker.com vs Pointwalk comparison.
Planning Poker Online
Free plan: yes, with limits: 9 voting rounds and 5 voted issues per game; free games are blocked after 6 weeks. Free player limit: unlimited players. Jira: web integration discontinued; a paid Jira Cloud Marketplace app writes story points back. Decks: fibonacci, modified Fibonacci, powers of two, T-shirt, time, custom.
Where it's stronger than Pointwalk:
- It has a Jira-embedded app for teams who want to estimate without leaving Jira (paid, through the Atlassian Marketplace).
- It shows an ISO 27001 certification badge.
- It has the widest choice of decks, plus custom decks.
- It supports async voting and Linear write-back.
TeamRetro
Free plan: a free planning poker room (no account, no Jira); the full product is a 30-day trial. Free player limit: no stated limit in the free room. Jira: two-way on paid plans (also Azure DevOps, GitHub, Linear). Decks: ten built-in scales plus custom.
Where it's stronger than Pointwalk:
- It has enterprise compliance: SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and US or EU regional hosting.
- It offers SSO/SAML and SCIM.
- It covers retros and team health checks as well as estimation.
- It has a large integration list, including Slack, Microsoft Teams, Confluence, a REST API and webhooks.
Pointwalk
Pointwalk is a free online planning poker tool for Scrum and agile teams that syncs story points with Jira Cloud. Players join with a six-letter code and need no account. Each player walks a character to their estimate in secret, and the reveal replays everyone's walk at once. It's free for up to 30 people per session, and Jira Cloud write-back is part of the free plan.
Where Pointwalk is weaker:
- It's ad-supported. You can remove ads for one session for A$1.99, but Kollabe has no ads on any plan, and we saw none on several of the others.
- It's planning poker only: no retros, standups or async voting. Kollabe, Parabol and TeamRetro all bundle these.
- It works with Jira Cloud only. Parabol Enterprise supports Jira Data Center, and several tools connect to GitHub, Azure DevOps or Linear.
- There's no long-term history. Session data is deleted within 24 hours, and the host's summary email is the record.
- It has no custom decks, SSO or compliance certifications. TeamRetro (SOC 2) and Planning Poker Online (ISO 27001) are better fits for strict IT requirements.
- It's newer than PlanITpoker or planningpoker.com, so there are fewer reviews to go on.
How we compared them
We looked at what a team gets without paying: whether there's a free plan, the player limit, whether players or the host must sign up, whether estimates can sync back to Jira, and whether the free plan shows ads. We read each vendor's pricing, features and Jira integration pages on 24 October 2026. Where a vendor's own pages disagreed, or didn't say, we've said so rather than guess. If something here is out of date, email support@matthewratcliffe.com.au and we'll fix it.
New to planning poker? Start with what planning poker is and how to run it, or print a free deck of cards for in-person sessions.
Questions
What is the best free planning poker tool?
It depends on what you need for free. For Jira Cloud write-back with no accounts, Pointwalk. For the simplest board with up to 7 people, PlanITpoker. For an ad-free tool that also does retros, Kollabe. For a full open-source agile meeting suite, Parabol.
Which free planning poker tools work with Jira?
Pointwalk writes story points back to Jira Cloud on its free plan. PlanITpoker imports Jira issues. Kollabe, Parabol, TeamRetro and Planning Poker Online's Jira app write estimates back, but Kollabe, TeamRetro and Planning Poker Online's Jira app are paid.
Which planning poker tools need no sign-up?
Pointwalk, PlanITpoker and Kollabe's free plan need no account for the host or players (Pointwalk asks the host for an email so it can send the summary). Planning Poker Online and planningpoker.com let players join as guests, but the host registers.
Do free planning poker tools have ads?
Some do. Pointwalk is ad-supported, with an optional A$1.99 ad-free session. planningpoker.com shows a sponsored banner on free games. Kollabe says it has no ads on any plan. We saw none on the others.
