RICE Score Calculator

A score ranks ideas inside one list. It is not a forecast of users or revenue, and a score from another list or another team cannot be compared with yours.

Check the top of the list against your goal before you commit. RICE favours cheap ideas with wide reach: in the example, dark mode comes first because it is cheap and touches everyone, although it barely changes anything for each person.

Low confidence is a reason to research, not only a lower score. If an idea sits low mainly because you are unsure, a few interviews or a quick test can be worth more than building the top item.

• Reach: people or events per period, the same period for every idea. Example: 5,000 active users would see dark mode in a quarter.
• Impact: a fixed scale so that people mean the same thing. Example: a checklist that clearly helps new users finish setup is medium (1); a colour theme is minimal (0.25).
• Confidence: 100% when data supports all three estimates, 80% when some of it does, 50% when it is mostly a guess. Example: a Slack integration requested by a few loud customers is 50%.
• Effort: everyone's work until the idea ships, in person-months or your own unit. Example: bulk CSV import takes three person-months.

Score = reach × impact × confidence ÷ effort, with confidence as a fraction (80% is 0.8).

Onboarding checklist from the example: 2,000 × 1 × 0.8 ÷ 2 = 800.

Ideas with equal scores share a rank (2=), and the one entered first is listed first. The score keeps full precision and is shown with up to one decimal.

Which reach period should I pick?

The one your plans use: a quarter is common. The period only labels the column. What matters is using the same period for every idea on the list.

Person-months or story points?

Either works if the whole list uses the same unit. Person-months are easier to compare across teams; story points are fine inside one team that already estimates in them.

Why does confidence only go down to 50%?

Below 50% an estimate is a guess, and a number would pretend otherwise. If you are that unsure, research the idea first and score it afterwards.

RICE or ICE?

RICE separates reach from impact and uses real units, so it suits ideas with measurable reach. ICE is quicker: three 1 to 10 ratings. Use ICE for a first sort and RICE when the choice matters.

How often should I rescore?

When you learn something that changes an estimate, and at least when you plan the next period. Old scores quietly go stale as the product and its users change.

Can I trust a score of 1,250?

Trust the order more than the number. A score multiplies four estimates, so small changes move it a lot. Use it to start a discussion about the top items, not to end one.

A worked example and the mistakes that break RICE: RICE prioritization explained

• RICE scoring
• prioritization framework

• ICE score calculator

  A quicker ranking with impact, confidence and ease from 1 to 10.

• TAM, SAM and SOM worksheet

  Estimating market size bottom-up with a realistic range.