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RICE Calculator

How it works ↓

Score each feature on four factors and let the list rank itself — so priority is a number, not whoever talks loudest.

RICE = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) ÷ Effort Free Saves in your browser
/ THE TOOL

Score your backlog

Add each initiative, score it, and watch the ranking reshuffle live. Set a capacity to see what fits this quarter, then export or share the result.

0 features ranked
person-months / quarter Optional — draws a line where your team runs out of room.
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/ HOW IT WORKS

What the score means

You estimate four things for each initiative, multiply the first three, divide by the effort, and sort. Higher means do it sooner. It rewards reach and honest confidence and penalises heavy lifts — which is why a small, obvious feature often beats a big, exciting one.

THE RICE FORMULA
(Reach × Impact × Confidence) ÷ Effort = RICE score

Reach a number

How many people this affects in a set period — say, users per quarter. Use a real count, not a feeling.

Impact 3 → 0.25

How much it moves the needle per person. Massive 3, High 2, Medium 1, Low 0.5, Minimal 0.25.

Confidence % sure

How much you trust your estimates. High 100%, Medium 80%, Low 50%. It discounts wishful thinking.

Effort person-months

Total work across product, design and engineering. The one factor that divides — so cost is felt directly.

One honest caveat: RICE is a guide, not a verdict. The score is only as good as your estimates, so keep them consistent and use it to start the conversation, not end it.

What is a good RICE score?

There's no universal "good" score — RICE is only meaningful relative to your own list. Use it to rank initiatives against each other, where a higher number means higher priority. A 600 is only good if your other options score lower.

What's the difference between RICE and ICE?

ICE scores Impact, Confidence and Ease and skips Reach — it's faster but rougher. RICE adds Reach and divides by Effort, which makes it more reliable when initiatives reach very different numbers of people.

How do I estimate Reach?

Count how many people the initiative affects in a fixed period — for example, users per quarter — using real numbers from analytics. Use the same period for every item so the scores compare.

Why did a small feature beat an important one?

That's RICE doing its job. A feature with huge reach and high confidence can outrank a high-impact one that reaches few people or takes far more effort. The score forces those trade-offs into the open.

/ Go deeper

Master the method, not just the math.

The full RICE guide walks through estimating each factor with real examples — one of 151 frameworks on PM Mapped.

Read the RICE guide → Browse all 151 →