Sprint Burndown Calculator
Predict whether your Agile team will finish a sprint on time by analyzing completed story points against days elapsed. Use it mid-sprint to spot velocity issues before the deadline.
About this calculator
A sprint burndown calculator measures how quickly a team is consuming its committed story points and projects whether all work will be completed by the sprint's end. The core idea is to derive a daily velocity — how many points are completed per working day — and then extrapolate that rate over the remaining days. The formula used here is: projected completion % = round((completedPoints / daysPassed) × workingDaysLeft / totalSprintPoints × 100). If the result is 100 or above, the team is on track or ahead of schedule. Values below 100 signal a shortfall, prompting the Scrum team to discuss scope reduction or impediment removal. Monitoring this number daily gives the team an early warning system rather than a last-day surprise.
How to use
Suppose a sprint has 40 total story points. After 3 days, the team has completed 12 points, and 7 working days remain. Plug in: completedPoints = 12, daysPassed = 3, workingDaysLeft = 7, totalSprintPoints = 40. Daily velocity = 12 / 3 = 4 points/day. Projected points = 4 × 7 = 28 additional points. Projected completion % = round(28 / 40 × 100) = 70%. The team is on pace to complete only 70% of the sprint, so the Scrum Master should facilitate a conversation about scope or resourcing immediately.
Frequently asked questions
What does a sprint burndown percentage below 100% mean for my team?
A projected completion percentage below 100% means your current velocity is insufficient to finish all committed story points before the sprint ends. It does not automatically mean the sprint will fail — the team can re-negotiate scope, remove blockers, or temporarily increase capacity. The earlier this signal appears, the more options the team has. Scrum retrospectives should examine root causes like unplanned work or underestimated stories.
How is sprint velocity calculated in a burndown chart?
Sprint velocity in this context is calculated as completedPoints divided by daysPassed, giving an average points-per-day rate. This simple average assumes work is distributed evenly, which is often an approximation. More sophisticated tracking tools may weight recent days more heavily. Regardless of method, the key insight is whether the current pace is sustainable through the remainder of the sprint.
When should I use a sprint burndown calculator versus a burnup chart?
Use a sprint burndown calculator when you want a quick, real-time health check on whether the team will finish the sprint as committed. A burnup chart is better when scope changes frequently, because it separately tracks total scope and completed work, making scope creep visually obvious. For stable sprints with fixed scope, burndown gives faster, simpler feedback. Many teams use both together for a complete picture.