Enter your backlog, velocity and sprint length to get the number of sprints and a range of release dates rather than a single guess.
Sprints needed = backlog points ÷ velocity, rounded up. A 120-point backlog at an average velocity of 24 points takes 5 two-week sprints, about 10 weeks. Using your slowest and fastest recent sprints (18 and 30 points) gives a release range of 4 to 7 sprints, not a single date.
Enter the story points left in the backlog and your team's velocity as three numbers: the lowest, the average and the highest points per sprint from recent sprints. Add the sprint length in weeks and the start date of the first sprint. An optional hours-per-point ratio converts the backlog to hours.
Showing a range is deliberate: one velocity figure produces one date, and that date is rarely met. For the method with more detail, read how to calculate sprint count. For work that is planned task by task rather than in points, use the task time estimator.
sprints = ⌈ backlog ÷ velocity ⌉
weeks = sprints × sprint length last sprint ends = start + weeks × 7 − 1 days
hours = points × hours per point points = hours ÷ hours per point
The calculation is done three times, with the minimum, average and maximum velocity. The end date is the last day of the last sprint, counting the start date as the first day of sprint 1. Sprints run back to back with no gap.
Each example uses numbers you can load into the calculator above; the results match the tool exactly.
Starting Monday 2 November 2026 the last sprint ends Sun 27 Dec 2026 (fast), Sun 10 Jan 2027 (expected) or Sun 7 Feb 2027 (slow). At 6 hours per point the backlog is 720 hours.
The gap between fast and slow is 12 weeks, which is the honest uncertainty in the plan.
Velocity is the number of story points a team finishes in a sprint. Use the last three to six sprints, and exclude sprints distorted by holidays or incidents. The lowest and highest of those sprints are the minimum and maximum; the mean is the average. Points are relative sizes, not hours, so velocity from one team cannot be compared with another team's.
The hours-per-point ratio is optional and personal. If your team completes 24 points in a two-week sprint of 4 people at 6 productive hours a day (240 hours), the ratio is 10 hours per point. Treat it as a rough translation for budgeting, not a promise.
Divide the backlog in story points by the team's velocity and round up. 120 points at 24 points a sprint is 5 sprints.
Multiply the sprints needed by the sprint length and add that many weeks to the start date. Use minimum and maximum velocity to get a range of dates.
Use the average of the last three to six sprints for the expected case, and the lowest and highest of them for the range.
Multiply points by an hours-per-point ratio from your own history. Story points are not hours, so the ratio only works for the team that produced it.
Story points are often Fibonacci numbers such as 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 13. Add the points of all backlog items to get the backlog, then divide by velocity as above.
Update the backlog figure and the calculator updates the plan. Rerun it every sprint; a forecast is more useful when it is refreshed.
Last updated 19 October 2026. Last reviewed 19 October 2026. Reviewed by Umesh Manral. Formulas and tests: methodology.