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Chandler Severson
Chandler Severson

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Why I Built scrum.host: A Free Tool for Planning Poker and Retrospectives

If you’ve worked on Agile teams, you know how important effective Planning Poker sessions and retrospectives are for keeping everything running smoothly. But I kept running into the same frustrations during these meetings:

  • Planning Poker was either done manually (awkward and slow) or with tools that required sign-ups or subscriptions.

  • Retrospectives were harder than they needed to be—tools were bloated, or gathering and prioritizing feedback wasn’t simple.

I wanted something lightweight and easy to use, but I couldn’t find a tool that fit the bill. So I decided to build scrum.host, a free tool to help teams:

  • Quickly estimate tasks with Planning Poker, no sign-up required.
  • Run retrospectives where team members can share and prioritize feedback anonymously, synchronously or asynchronously.

Why scrum.host?

Here’s what makes scrum.host different from most tools out there:

  • It’s completely free—no subscriptions or hidden fees.
  • There’s no sign-up required, not even to host a room. Just start using it.
  • It’s minimal and focused—designed to do just these two things well, without unnecessary features getting in the way.

How It Helps Teams

  • For Planning Poker: scrum.host simplifies the process of estimating task complexity by giving everyone a straightforward way to participate. No apps, no accounts—just a link to a session.
  • For retrospectives: scrum.host enables anonymous feedback, so team members can be honest without fear. Teams can sort, prioritize, and take action on what matters most.

Looking for Feedback

scrum.host is still evolving, and I’d love your thoughts. Whether you’re running Agile at a startup, a software company, or in education, your feedback can help me improve it.

Check it out here: scrum.host. Let me know what you think!

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