Best Capacity Planning Software in 2026: 10 Tools Compared for PMOs, CTOs and Directors
Software guide · Updated October 2026
It is 4 p.m. on a Thursday and sales has just closed a deal that starts in three weeks. Someone asks the only question that matters: can we actually staff this? In most organizations the honest answer is “probably,” followed by a weekend of spreadsheet work.
Capacity planning software replaces that “probably” with a number. It compares the work you have committed to, and the work you expect to win, against the hours and skills your people really have, so you can see the gap before it becomes a missed deadline or a burned-out team. Most “best capacity planning software” lists are written by vendors who rank their own product first. We did it differently. We compared 10 tools against the same six criteria and grouped them by who owns the decision: the PMO, the CTO, or the director who signs off on headcount and investment.
The best capacity planning software depends on who owns the capacity decision. Meisterplan is the strongest pick for PMOs that need portfolio-level what-if scenarios, Runn is the best for CTOs and delivery leaders who forecast demand and hiring by role, and Planview is the enterprise choice for directors who plan investment and capacity together.
If your engineers live in Jira, look at Tempo Capacity Planner. If you want capacity planning inside an all-in-one PPM tool at a published price, choose Celoxis. If your main problem is bottlenecks across many shared-resource projects, choose Epicflow.
- Capacity planning software answers “can we take this on?”, not “who is booked on Tuesday?” If a tool cannot model tentative work and compare scenarios, it is a scheduler, not a capacity planner.
- Choose by decision owner. PMOs need portfolio scenarios, CTOs need capacity tied to delivery data, and directors need investment-level trade-offs.
- Check the billing unit before you compare prices. Tools charge per scheduled person, per planned resource, per login, or, in Tempo’s case, per Jira user.
- Published prices start around $7 per person per month for team-level planners. Enterprise suites such as Planview, Planisware and Saviom are quote-based.
- Totals hide shortages. A team that looks balanced overall is often short on one role, so always run the numbers by role and skill.
Editorial note: we never accept payment for placement or rankings. Sign-ups through our links may earn a commission, which funds our research. Read the full disclosure or learn who we are.
The shortlist: best capacity planning software in 2026
| # | Tool | Best for | Decision owner | Pricing from | Try it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meisterplan | Portfolio capacity and project prioritization | PMO | About $600/mo for 50 resources | Free trial |
| 2 | Celoxis | All-in-one PPM with capacity planning | PMO | $10/user/mo (Core) | 14-day trial |
| 3 | Epicflow | Multi-project bottleneck forecasting | PMO | €22.50/user/mo (Growth) | 30-day trial |
| 4 | Runn | Demand forecasting and hiring scenarios | CTO, delivery lead | $7/resource seat/mo | 30-day trial |
| 5 | Tempo Capacity Planner | Capacity planning inside Jira | CTO | $11/mo flat up to 10 Jira users | Free trial |
| 6 | Jellyfish | Engineering capacity from delivery data | CTO | Quote | Demo |
| 7 | Float | Fast visual capacity for growing teams | Delivery lead | $7/scheduled person/mo | 30-day trial |
| 8 | Planview | Enterprise investment and capacity planning | Director, EPMO | Quote | Demo |
| 9 | Planisware | R&D and engineering portfolio capacity | Director, PMO | Quote | Demo |
| 10 | Saviom | Enterprise skills-based workforce capacity | Director, resource manager | Quote | Free trial |
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Tools are grouped by decision owner rather than ranked against each other, because a PMO and a CTO are solving different problems. Prices are list prices checked in October 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on the pricing page before you buy.
What is capacity planning software?
Capacity planning software forecasts how much work your people can deliver over the coming weeks, quarters or years, compares it with the work you have committed to or expect to win, and shows where demand and supply do not match. The output is a decision: hire, delay, re-prioritize, bring in a contractor, or say yes with confidence.
In practice, good capacity planning software does five jobs that a task tracker does not:
- Demand forecasting. Confirmed projects plus tentative or pipeline work, weighted by how likely it is to happen.
- Supply modeling. Real available hours by person, role and skill, after holidays, leave and non-project time.
- Gap analysis. Where you will be over or under capacity, by week or month, and which projects cause it.
- Scenario planning. What happens if a project slips, a deal lands early, or you hire two engineers, tested on a copy of the plan.
- Plan versus actual. Feeding real hours back into the plan so the next forecast is more accurate.
Capacity planning software vs resource management software
| Resource management software | Capacity planning software | |
|---|---|---|
| Main question | “Who is free, and who is overbooked?” | “Can we take this on, and what happens if we do?” |
| Time horizon | Days to weeks | Quarters to years |
| Main user | Resource managers, project managers | PMO leads, CTOs, directors |
| Typical output | Bookings and a conflict-free schedule | Capacity gaps, hiring plans, portfolio trade-offs |
| Example tools | Float, Resource Guru | Meisterplan, Runn, Planview |
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The two overlap, and several tools on this list do both. If your immediate problem is double-booking rather than forecasting, start with our guide to the best resource management software, which compares scheduling tools in depth. If you mainly need to run tasks and deadlines, our best project management software guide is the better starting point.
Capacity planning vs resource planning
Resource planning decides which people and skills a specific project needs. Capacity planning steps back and asks whether the whole organization has enough of those people and skills for everything it has promised. Resource planning feeds capacity planning: the project-level needs add up to the demand side of the capacity plan.
Signs you need capacity planning software
- Projects get approved before anyone checks who will do the work.
- The same senior people are committed to three initiatives at once.
- Hiring happens after the pain starts, not before the demand arrives.
- Quarterly planning takes weeks of spreadsheet reconciliation.
- Leadership asks “can we start this next month?” and nobody can answer with a number.
Is capacity management software the same thing?
Not always. In IT operations, capacity management usually means servers, storage and network load. This guide covers people capacity: hours, roles and skills against project and portfolio demand. If a vendor’s page talks about CPUs rather than consultants or engineers, it is a different category.
Methodology
How we evaluated these capacity planning tools
Every tool was compared against the same six criteria, using vendor documentation, published pricing and verified user reviews checked in October 2026.
Tentative and pipeline work, probability weighting, and how far ahead the plan can see.
Whether you can test a change on a copy of the plan and compare options side by side.
Planning by role or placeholder before names are known, and matching work to skills.
Links to Jira, PPM tools, HR systems and timesheets, so the plan stays current without manual updates.
How fast a team can get value, and how much weekly effort it takes to keep the plan true.
Published price, billing unit, minimums and the add-ons that appear after the demo.
No vendor paid for a place on this list. We grouped the tools by decision owner, because a PMO balancing a portfolio, a CTO planning engineering headcount and a director approving investment should not be reading the same shortlist.
Capacity planning software compared
| Tool | Starts at | Billing unit | Typical horizon | What-if scenarios | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meisterplan | ~$600/mo (50 resources) | Planned resource; users free | Quarters to years | Yes, Pro and above | PMO |
| Celoxis | $10/user/mo | Per user, mixed license types | Weeks to quarters | Confirm by plan | PMO |
| Epicflow | €22.50/user/mo | Per login | Weeks to quarters | Yes, Enterprise plan | PMO |
| Runn | $7/seat/mo | Resource seat; users free | Weeks to a year | Yes | CTO, delivery lead |
| Tempo Capacity Planner | $11/mo up to 10 users | Every Jira user | Weeks to quarters | Limited | CTO |
| Jellyfish | Quote | Quote | Quarters | Yes | CTO |
| Float | $7/person/mo | Scheduled person | Days to months | Basic | Delivery lead |
| Planview | Quote | Quote | Quarters to years | Yes | Director, EPMO |
| Planisware | Quote | Quote | Quarters to years | Yes | Director, PMO |
| Saviom | Quote | Quote | Weeks to years | Yes | Director |
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Best capacity planning software for PMOs
A PMO’s capacity question is portfolio-shaped: which projects can we run this year with the people we have, and what do we drop or delay if something new comes in? These three tools are built for that conversation. If you also need intake scoring, stage gates and portfolio financials, read them alongside our best project portfolio management software guide.
Meisterplan
Meisterplan is the clearest tool on this list for the question every PMO gets asked: which projects can we actually deliver this year, and what happens to the rest if a new priority lands? You rank the portfolio, plan capacity by role across teams, and compare alternative portfolios side by side before anything changes in the live plan.
The pricing model is unusual and worth understanding. Users are free and unlimited on every edition; you pay for the resources you plan, meaning active employees, future hires and planned role capacity. Directory listings put Basic at about $600 a month for 50 planned resources and Pro at about $800 a month, with what-if scenarios arriving on Pro. Above 1,000 resources, Meisterplan quotes a custom price.
Where it wins
- Strong portfolio scenario comparison
- Free, unlimited users for executives and project leads
- Connects to Jira and other delivery tools
Where it falls short
- Plans at initiative level, not daily task level
- Cost scales with headcount, not with usage
Verdict. The best capacity planning software for a PMO that needs to defend portfolio trade-offs with data. Pair it with a scheduler or delivery tool for day-to-day allocation.
Celoxis
Celoxis puts capacity planning inside a full project portfolio management platform, so the PMO plans capacity in the same system where projects are scheduled, costed and reported. That removes the most common capacity planning failure: a separate planning tool that drifts away from the real project data.
Capacity planning, portfolio management and dashboards come with the Core plan at $10 per user per month billed yearly. Job roles arrive on Essentials ($25), intake, risk and project costing on Professional ($35), and strategic portfolio management on Business ($45). Team-member and timesheet licenses cost less, read-only users are free, and the minimum is 5 full-access users. It is also one of the few tools here you can run on-premise.
Where it wins
- Capacity, scheduling and costing in one system
- Transparent pricing with cheaper contributor seats
- Cloud or on-premise deployment
Where it falls short
- More traditional interface than lightweight planners
- Jira and Azure DevOps integrations are add-ons below Enterprise
Verdict. The right pick for a mid-market PMO that wants capacity planning and portfolio control in one tool without an enterprise rollout. Skip it if you only need a standalone forecasting layer.
Epicflow
Epicflow is built for organizations where many projects compete for the same specialists, which is common in engineering, telecom, defense and manufacturing. Its Future Load Graph shows months ahead where committed work will exceed capacity per resource group, and its bottleneck analysis ranks which group is holding the portfolio back. It also predicts which due dates your teams can realistically support.
The Growth plan costs €22.50 per user per month billed annually for 20 to 50 users and up to 50 projects. Enterprise starts at €45 per user per month with a 50-user minimum and adds what-if analysis on a copy of the plan, competence management, portfolio ordering by business value, and cost of delay per task and project. Epicflow licenses people who log in; equipment is planned as capacity, and the Jira interface is a separately priced module.
Where it wins
- Shows the bottleneck, not just the overload
- Puts a price on delay
- Microsoft Project and Primavera P6 connections on Enterprise
Where it falls short
- What-if scenarios need the Enterprise plan
- Methodology takes time for teams new to multi-project flow
Verdict. The strongest choice for PMOs running many interdependent projects on a shared pool of specialists. Lighter portfolios will not use most of it.
Best capacity planning software for CTOs and engineering leaders
Engineering capacity planning has two extra problems. The work lives in Jira, Git and sprint boards rather than in a project plan, and the real constraint is usually one role, such as backend or data engineering, rather than total headcount. These four tools handle that from different angles, from role-level forecasting to capacity built from delivery data. Teams working in agile cadences can find more options in our Agile category, and engineering firms delivering physical projects should also see our engineering project management software guide.
Runn
Runn is the most direct answer to “what should we hire for, and when?” Its capacity chart stacks confirmed and tentative work against availability, so you can see which role runs short in which month. Saved scenarios let you test staffing alternatives, and placeholders let you plan a “senior backend engineer” months before you know who it will be.
Pricing is per resource seat, meaning each person on the planner, not each login, so read-only executives and finance users do not add cost. Lite costs $7 per seat per month and already includes tentative projects, capacity and utilization charts, skills and project financials. Standard at $11 adds timesheets and custom fields, and Advanced is quoted. Plans start at 20 resource seats, and placeholders do not use a seat.
Where it wins
- Clear long-range capacity charts
- Tentative work and scenarios on every plan
- Users are free; you pay for planned people
Where it falls short
- Not a delivery tool, so it depends on integrations to stay current
- 20-seat minimum is steep for very small teams
Verdict. The best capacity planning tool for a CTO or COO who needs to defend a hiring plan with numbers. Keep tasks and sprints in your delivery tool.
Tempo Capacity Planner
If your engineering organization runs on Jira, Tempo Capacity Planner keeps capacity planning where the work already lives. Plans sync with Jira issues in both directions, the quarterly team capacity view shows size, allocation and free capacity in hours or FTE, and generic resources let you map work to a role before the person is hired. Skills and roles help managers staff work that needs a specific expertise.
The pricing has one trap. Your Tempo license must match your Jira license size, so you pay for every Jira user, not only the people you plan. On Jira Cloud it is a flat $11 a month up to 10 users, then $4.39 per user per month for 11 to 100 users, falling at higher tiers. A 100-user Jira site pays about $439 a month. Plan versus actual reporting needs Tempo Timesheets as well.
Where it wins
- Lives inside Jira, so adoption is fast
- Two-way sync between plans and Jira issues
- Low per-user cost at scale
Where it falls short
- Scenario and what-if modeling is limited
- Must license every Jira user
Verdict. The natural choice for Jira-first engineering teams that want person- and team-level capacity without adding a new platform. Look elsewhere for portfolio scenarios.
Jellyfish
Jellyfish is an engineering management platform rather than a planner, and that is the point. Its Capacity Planner calculates what a team can take on in a planning period from ongoing deliverables, historical and current team performance, and planned work, drawing on the data in tools such as Jira and GitHub. You then adjust scope, team size and effort to model quarterly and annual plans, and a separate Scenario Planner tests delivery trade-offs when priorities shift.
For a CTO, that means capacity is grounded in how teams have actually delivered, not in assumed hours. Pricing is on request. The procurement marketplace Vendr reports average annual contracts of around $84,000, which puts it in the budget range of larger engineering organizations.
Where it wins
- Capacity based on real delivery history
- Strong fit for quarterly and annual engineering planning
- Connects engineering effort to business priorities
Where it falls short
- Quote-only and priced for larger organizations
- Engineering-only; not built for cross-functional portfolios
Verdict. The pick for a CTO running many engineering teams who wants capacity grounded in delivery data. Overkill for a single product team.
Float
Float is a scheduling-first tool, and it earns a place here because many teams need clean capacity visibility before they need forecasting. Capacity, time off and project schedules sit on one timeline, so overallocation is obvious without running a report. Teams tend to keep it updated, which matters more than any feature, because a capacity plan nobody maintains is worse than none.
Starter costs $7 and Pro $12 per scheduled person per month, with Enterprise quoted. Pro adds time tracking and estimates versus actuals. Forecasting is where it stops: there is no probability-weighted pipeline and no side-by-side scenario comparison, so growing organizations often keep Float for the weekly schedule and add a planner like Runn or Meisterplan above it.
Where it wins
- Clearest visual schedule in this list
- Capacity and time off from the entry plan
- Low price per person
Where it falls short
- Basic forecasting and scenarios
- Limited financial depth
Verdict. The right first step for a delivery lead whose problem is visibility this month, not modeling next year. Read how it compares with other schedulers in our resource management software guide.
Do we need a new tool if we already use ClickUp, monday.com, Asana or Wrike?
Maybe not yet. Work management tools offer workload views that show who is overloaded on current tasks. What they usually lack is tentative demand, role-level forecasting and scenario comparison across quarters. See how far they go in our ClickUp, monday.com, Asana and Wrike reviews. If your engineers plan sprints in Linear rather than Jira, check integrations carefully before you shortlist; our Linear review covers its sprint and cycle planning.
Best capacity planning software for directors and enterprise leaders
At director and executive level, capacity planning becomes investment planning: which initiatives get funded, which teams grow, and what the organization can deliver across business units over the next one to three years. These three platforms are quote-based and usually need an implementation partner, so budget for services and a rollout measured in months. Our Enterprise category has more large-organization picks.
Planview
Planview Portfolios treats capacity planning as part of investment planning. Capacity work runs alongside prioritization and scenario analysis, so leaders create investment and capacity scenarios, compare them, and approve the plan that fits both the budget and the people available. Its built-in AI assistant, Anvi, can generate planning scenarios, and Planview Hub connects portfolios to delivery tools such as Jira and Azure DevOps.
That breadth is why it suits large EPMOs and CIO offices, and why it is heavy for anyone else. Expect a structured implementation, ongoing administration, and a strong dependency on clean capacity and financial data.
Where it wins
- Capacity and funding decided together
- Deep scenario and strategic planning
- Connects strategy to delivery tools
Where it falls short
- Expensive and complex to implement
- Needs mature processes and clean data to pay off
Verdict. The enterprise benchmark for directors who approve investment and capacity in the same meeting. See how it compares as a full PPM suite in our PPM software guide.
Planisware
Planisware is the specialist for organizations running long, interdependent programs, such as life sciences, aerospace, automotive and engineering-led product development. It simulates capacity across portfolios, models risk-adjusted what-if scenarios before resources are committed, and links effort to detailed costing. Orchestra is its turnkey cloud product for PMOs, and Planisware Enterprise covers the full transformation-scale platform.
Pricing is quote-based; software directories list Orchestra from about $45 per user per month. In one published customer story, Zebra Technologies connected Planisware to its HR system and reported a 33 percent cut in manual resource management effort.
Where it wins
- Unmatched depth for R&D and engineering portfolios
- Long-range capacity and cost modeling
- Lighter Orchestra edition for PMOs
Where it falls short
- Overkill for general business portfolios
- Implementation needs dedicated configuration
Verdict. The specialist choice when your capacity problem is years-long R&D and engineering programs. Most other organizations will be better served by Planview or Meisterplan.
Saviom
Saviom sits between resource management and workforce planning. It combines a multidimensional scheduler with demand forecasting, capacity planning, scenario planning and skills tracking, so a director can see where demand will exceed supply by role, skill and location weeks or months ahead, and decide whether to hire, retrain or redeploy. Bench management helps surface underused specialists before they become a cost problem.
It is highly configurable, which is both the appeal and the cost. Pricing is quote-based by license type and volume, and reviewers consistently mention a learning curve and the need for dedicated admin time. A free trial and demo are available.
Where it wins
- Strong skills and competency planning
- Forecasting across locations and business units
- Detailed utilization analytics
Where it falls short
- Steep learning curve
- Configuration and integrations need dedicated effort
Verdict. A strong fit for large, multi-location organizations that plan capacity by skill rather than by team. Too much for most firms under a few hundred people.
Decision guide
Which capacity planning software fits your role and size?
Two things you already know: who owns the decision, and how many people you plan. Find your cell.
Celoxis Core or Essentials
Capacity and portfolio views at a published price.
Tempo or Float
Lightweight capacity close to where work lives.
Runn Lite
Hiring scenarios without a heavy rollout.
Meisterplan
Portfolio scenarios with free, unlimited users.
Runn Standard
Tentative work and role-level forecasts.
Epicflow
Bottlenecks and cost of delay across shared teams.
Planisware
Deep capacity simulation for complex portfolios.
Jellyfish
Capacity from delivery data across many teams.
Planview or Saviom
Investment, capacity and workforce planning at scale.
Smaller teams still deciding whether they need dedicated software can browse our Startups picks first.
How to calculate team capacity: a worked example
Every tool on this list runs the same basic math. Doing it once by hand shows you what the software needs from you, and why plans based on headcount alone are always too optimistic. Here is an illustrative quarter for a 10-person engineering team with 6 backend and 4 frontend engineers.
| Step | Calculation | Hours left |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Contracted hours | 10 people × 40 hours × 13 weeks | 5,200 |
| 2. Remove leave and holidays | 7 days each × 8 hours × 10 people = 560 | 4,640 |
| 3. Remove non-project time | Meetings, support and on-call at 25% = 1,160 | 3,480 |
| 4. Apply a planning ceiling | Plan to 85% to leave room for surprises | 2,958 |
| 5. Split by role | Backend 6 people = 1,775; frontend 4 people = 1,183 | 2,958 |
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Now add demand. Committed roadmap work needs 1,600 backend hours and 900 frontend hours. A new integration project that is 60 percent likely to go ahead would need 500 backend hours, which counts as 300 weighted hours. Total demand is 2,800 hours against 2,958 hours of plannable capacity, so the team looks fine.
It is not. Backend demand is 1,900 hours against 1,775 available, a shortfall of 125 hours, or roughly 0.4 of a full-time engineer for the quarter. Frontend has 283 spare hours. That is the most common pattern in capacity planning: the total hides the role that breaks. Your options are to delay the integration, bring in a backend contractor, or move a frontend engineer with backend skills, and a good capacity planning tool lets you test each one before you commit.
Why plan to 85 percent instead of 100?
Because unplanned work always arrives: production issues, sick days, urgent requests and estimates that were wrong. Teams that plan to 100 percent of available hours miss dates as a matter of routine. Track planned against actual for a few quarters and adjust the ceiling to your own data.
Key features to look for in capacity planning software
| Feature | Why it matters | Matters most to |
|---|---|---|
| Tentative and pipeline demand | Most capacity surprises come from work you have not signed yet. Without probability-weighted demand, the forecast falls back into a spreadsheet. | CTO, director |
| What-if scenarios on a copy of the plan | You need to test a new project, a slip or a hire without breaking the plan of record. | PMO, director |
| Role, placeholder and skills planning | Lets you plan “two data engineers” before names exist, and shows when “who is free” differs from “who can do this.” | CTO, PMO |
| Capacity views by person, role and team | Managers want the next four weeks by person; leaders want the next four quarters by role. | Everyone |
| Portfolio prioritization | When demand exceeds capacity, the tool should show what to drop or delay, not just that you are over. | PMO |
| Plan versus actual | Without actuals you are managing intentions. Actuals are what make next quarter’s forecast trustworthy. | PMO, CTO |
| Connections to Jira, HR and finance | Every manual sync becomes stale data. Availability should come from HR, effort from delivery tools. | CTO, director |
| Free or cheap viewer access | Capacity plans only change decisions if executives can see them without buying a full seat. | Director |
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AI features are arriving fast, from Epicflow’s resource allocation advice to Planview’s scenario generation. They help you spot patterns sooner, but the core value still comes from clean demand, availability and actuals data. See our AI-powered tools category for more on where AI genuinely helps.
What capacity planning software costs in 2026
Comparing list prices is misleading in this category, because every vendor counts differently. Some charge for each person on the plan, some for each person who logs in, and one charges for everyone in your Jira site. The table below shows each tool’s billing unit and a realistic example.
| Tool | What you pay for | Published entry price | Example monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runn | Each person on the planner; users free | Lite $7, Standard $11 per seat | 50 people on Standard: $550 |
| Float | Each scheduled person | Starter $7, Pro $12 per person | 50 people on Pro: $600 |
| Meisterplan | Planned resources; users free | Basic from about $600 for 50 resources | 50 resources on Basic: about $600 |
| Celoxis | Users, with cheaper team-member seats and free read-only | Core $10, Essentials $25 per standard user | 10 planners on Essentials: $250, plus team-member seats |
| Epicflow | Each person who logs in | Growth €22.50, Enterprise from €45 per user | 50 users on Enterprise: €2,250 |
| Tempo Capacity Planner | Every Jira user | $11 flat up to 10 users, then $4.39 per user | 100-user Jira site: about $439 |
| Planview, Planisware, Saviom, Jellyfish | Quote | Not published | Quote, usually with implementation services |
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Prices are list rates checked in October 2026, mostly on annual billing. Meisterplan figures come from software directory listings of its published packages. For simpler scheduling tools, our resource management software guide breaks down three price bands, and for whole-business platforms see our business management software roundup.
Why does the billing unit matter so much?
Because it decides how cost grows. A 200-person company with 15 planners pays very different amounts if it is charged per planner, per scheduled person or per Jira user. Model your real mix of planners, contributors and viewers before you compare quotes, and ask every vendor for a three-year total including implementation.
Spreadsheet or capacity planning software: when to switch
A spreadsheet is fine while one person owns the plan, everyone works on one or two projects, and nobody asks “what if.” It breaks when several managers plan the same people, when availability changes weekly, or when leadership wants scenarios. Teams that start in a spreadsheet or a database tool such as Notion usually switch once capacity questions take more than an afternoon to answer. Our Notion review covers how far a database workspace can take you first.
A simple rule: once you plan more than about 20 people across more than three concurrent projects, the hours spent maintaining the spreadsheet usually cost more than the software.
How to choose capacity planning software: a checklist for PMOs and CTOs
The right capacity planning tool is the one that answers your hardest planning question, not the one with the longest feature list. Work through these steps before you book a demo.
Write down the decision
“Can we start project X in Q2?” or “How many engineers do we hire next year?” The decision defines the tool.
Name the decision owner
PMO, CTO or director. Each needs a different planning level and horizon.
Set your planning horizon
Four weeks is a scheduling problem. Two quarters or more is a capacity planning problem.
Find where the data lives
Demand in Jira or a PPM tool, availability in HR, actuals in timesheets. List what must connect on day one.
Count people by license type
Planners, contributors and viewers often have very different prices, and some tools charge for people who never log in.
Shortlist two or three tools
Score them with weighted criteria, using our methodology as a starting template.
Pilot with a real scenario
Run one real quarter: add a tentative project, slip a milestone, lose a key person. See which tool shows the impact clearly.
Assign an owner and a cadence
Name who updates the plan and when it is reviewed. Without that, any tool goes stale within a month.
Questions to ask every vendor in the demo
- Show me how a tentative project at 50 percent probability changes the capacity forecast.
- How do you keep a what-if scenario separate from the plan of record?
- How do you show a shortage by role when total capacity looks fine?
- Exactly who counts toward the license: planners, scheduled people, or every user in a connected tool?
- Which features in this demo are not in the plan you are quoting?
Mistakes we see most often
- Buying a scheduler for a forecasting problem. A clean weekly schedule will not tell you who to hire next quarter.
- Planning by headcount, not by role. As the worked example shows, totals hide the role that breaks.
- Keeping two sources of truth. If allocations live in the tool and a spreadsheet, the spreadsheet wins and the tool dies.
- Ignoring the billing unit. It is the most common budget surprise in this category.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best capacity planning software in 2026?
There is no single best tool, because the right choice depends on who owns the capacity decision. Meisterplan is the best for PMOs planning portfolio capacity, Runn is the best for CTOs forecasting demand and hiring by role, and Planview is the strongest enterprise option for directors who plan investment and capacity together.
What is capacity planning software?
Capacity planning software forecasts how much work your people can deliver in a future period, compares it with committed and expected demand, and shows where you will be over or under capacity. It helps leaders decide whether to hire, delay, re-prioritize or take on new work.
What is the difference between capacity planning and resource planning?
Resource planning decides which people and skills a specific project needs. Capacity planning checks whether the whole organization has enough of those people and skills for everything it has committed to, usually over quarters rather than weeks.
Is capacity planning software the same as resource management software?
They overlap but solve different problems. Resource management software focuses on who is booked and free in the coming days and weeks. Capacity planning software focuses on future demand versus supply, scenarios and hiring decisions. Several tools, such as Runn and Epicflow, cover both.
How do you choose capacity planning software?
Start with the decision you need to make and who owns it, then set your planning horizon, map where demand and availability data lives, and count people by license type. Shortlist two or three tools and pilot each with one real quarter and a real what-if scenario.
How much does capacity planning software cost?
Published prices start at about $7 per person per month for tools like Runn and Float, around $600 a month for 50 planned resources on Meisterplan, and €22.50 to €45 per user per month on Epicflow. Enterprise platforms such as Planview, Planisware, Saviom and Jellyfish are quote-based.
Is there free capacity planning software?
Dedicated capacity planning tools rarely have free plans, but most offer trials: 30 days for Runn, Float and Epicflow, and longer trials for some enterprise tools. Work management tools with free plans include basic workload views. Our Free plans category lists the most generous options.
Can you do capacity planning in Excel?
Yes, for a small team with one planner and a short horizon. Spreadsheets break down once several managers plan the same people, availability changes often, or leadership wants what-if scenarios. Most teams switch at around 20 planned people across several concurrent projects.
What features should capacity planning software have?
The essentials are tentative and pipeline demand, what-if scenarios on a copy of the plan, role and skills planning, capacity views by person and role, plan versus actual reporting, and connections to delivery, HR and finance tools.
How does a PMO use capacity planning software?
A PMO uses it to check whether proposed projects can be staffed before approval, to compare alternative portfolios when demand exceeds capacity, and to show leadership which projects to delay or drop. Tools such as Meisterplan, Celoxis and Epicflow are built for this portfolio view.
How do engineering leaders plan team capacity?
Engineering leaders start from available focus hours by role after leave, meetings and support work, then compare them with roadmap and pipeline demand for the quarter. Tools such as Runn, Tempo Capacity Planner and Jellyfish make this repeatable and connect it to delivery data.
Does Jira have capacity planning?
Jira tracks estimates and sprints, but person-level capacity across projects usually needs an add-on or a connected tool. Tempo Capacity Planner runs inside Jira, while Meisterplan, Epicflow and Celoxis connect to Jira from a portfolio level.
Do you get paid for these rankings?
No. Some links earn a commission, but position is set before any commercial conversation and has never been changed at a vendor’s request.
The short version
Choose by who owns the decision, not by the longest feature list
PMOs should shortlist Meisterplan, Celoxis and Epicflow. CTOs and engineering leaders should look at Runn, Tempo Capacity Planner, Jellyfish and Float. Directors planning at enterprise scale belong on Planview, Planisware or Saviom. Whatever you pick, pilot it on one real quarter with a real what-if scenario.
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