Product prioritization

RICE and ICE prioritization calculator

Score your features, then get a ranked Now, Next, Later list instead of a debate. Switch between RICE for defensible roadmap decisions and ICE for fast idea triage.

RICE = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) ÷ Effort. Best when you can estimate real reach and effort.

Priority order

Now, Next, and Later are relative to your top-scoring item: Now is 66% or more of the top score, Next is 33 to 65%, Later is below 33%. They rank what you entered against each other, not against an absolute bar.

Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.

Scoring a few features by hand is the start. Running it across your whole product is the system.

Auto RICE · 16 databases Product Management OS A solo PM command center. RICE auto-scores every initiative, with discovery, delivery, and stakeholder tracking all connected. $21 one-time ICE scoring · OKRs to tasks Product Strategy & Roadmap OS Eight connected databases. ICE prioritizes the roadmap, every feature traces to an OKR, Now/Next/Later replaces fake timelines. $16 one-time Best value · 10 systems Startup Founder Bundle Both PM systems plus eight more, the full founder stack from strategy and fundraising to launches, in one workspace. $39 one-time

How RICE scoring works

RICE forces a feature to earn its place with four numbers instead of one opinion. You estimate how many people it reaches, how much it moves them, how sure you are, and how much work it takes. The formula does the rest.

RICE = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) ÷ Effort

Reach is the number of people affected in a chosen period, like users per quarter. Impact is a weighted score: massive is 3, high is 2, medium is 1, low is 0.5, minimal is 0.25. Confidence is a percentage that discounts guesswork: 100% high, 80% medium, 50% low. Effort is the cost in person-months. Dividing by effort is what keeps cheap, high-value work at the top.

A login feature reaches 1,200 users a quarter, massive impact (3), 80% confidence, 4 person-months of effort.
RICE = (1200 × 3 × 0.8) ÷ 4 = 720

How ICE scoring works

ICE is the faster, rougher cousin. Three numbers, each rated 1 to 10, no units to estimate. It is built for triaging a long list of raw ideas before any of them deserve a real RICE analysis.

ICE = Impact × Confidence × Ease

Impact is how much it matters, Confidence is how sure you are, Ease is how quickly you can ship it. Ease replaces effort and runs the same direction as the others, so a higher number is always better. Multiply the three and rank.

Which one should you use

Use ICE early, when you have a pile of ideas and need to cut it down fast without pretending you know exact reach. Use RICE later, when you can put real numbers on reach and effort and you need a ranking you can defend to a team or a board. Many teams triage with ICE, then RICE the survivors.

The trap to avoid

A score is a tie-breaker, not a boss. RICE and ICE exist to end the loudest-voice problem and give you a defensible starting order. They do not see dependencies, strategic bets, or timing. Use the ranking to start the conversation from evidence, then apply judgment. A feature can be worth building at a low score because it unblocks three others, and the math will never tell you that.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good RICE score?

There is no universal cutoff, because scores depend on your reach and effort scales. What matters is the ranking relative to your other features, not the absolute number.

Why divide by effort in RICE?

Dividing by effort turns the score into value per unit of work. It is what stops a huge, expensive feature from automatically beating a small, high-leverage one.

Can I use this for non-product decisions?

Yes. RICE and ICE work for any list of competing options where you can estimate impact and cost, from marketing experiments to internal projects.

Does the calculator store my features?

No. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is saved or transmitted. Refreshing the page clears it.

RICE and ICE are estimation frameworks, not exact measurements. Your impact, confidence, and effort inputs are judgment calls, so treat the ranking as a structured starting point for discussion rather than a final decision. Strategy, dependencies, and timing still require human judgment.