How to calculate sprint capacity
Calculate a realistic sprint commitment with a clear formula, a two-person example, and checks for time off and skill coverage.
Start with the next sprint’s availability
Sprint capacity is an estimate of the work your team can take on during a specific sprint. It changes when teammates are away, supporting another team, or handling work outside the sprint. Begin with availability, then compare the result with planned work and your team’s recent delivery.
Calculate capacity in four steps
- Choose your dates. For a two-week sprint, enter 14 calendar days. New plans count Monday through Friday inside those dates.
- Set each person’s baseline points for a full sprint of that length. Use your own planning history; points are not comparable across teams.
- Subtract unavailable weekdays and apply a capacity multiplier for partial allocation. A multiplier of 0.5 means half the remaining baseline capacity.
- Add the adjusted member values, then compare the total with the effort of your work items.
Member capacity = baseline points × (weekdays − PTO) / weekdays × multiplier
A worked two-week example
A sprint from Monday October 12 through Sunday October 25, 2026 contains 10 weekdays. These are illustrative team-specific point values, not productivity benchmarks.
| Teammate | Baseline points | PTO weekdays | Multiplier | Adjusted points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex | 20 | 2 | 1 | 16 |
| Sam | 15 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| Total | 35 | 2 | — | 31 |
If the backlog contains 34 points, it exceeds this estimate by 3 points. That is a reason to discuss scope, dependencies, and uncertainty. It is not a reason to raise someone’s baseline until the numbers fit.
Choose the appropriate mode
Member-based mode performs the calculation above. Team-average mode repeats the velocity you supply. Sprint-specific mode uses a separate final value for each sprint. In the last two modes, make availability adjustments yourself; PTO still informs risk checks but does not change the entered capacity.
Check what the total cannot tell you
Review required skills and dependencies before committing. A spare 10 points elsewhere does not solve the absence of the only person who can perform a database migration. Also leave room for uncertainty according to your team’s experience; this tool does not impose a universal buffer.
New plans assume a Monday–Friday schedule and do not fetch public holidays. Older saved plans retain the original calendar-day denominator. Baseline points do not automatically scale when you change sprint length. Read the full methodology, use the sample team template, or compare capacity and velocity.