Decision Matrix
Weigh options against what matters.
Free to use · No sign-up needed
Compare options against the things that actually matter
Some decisions resist a coin flip. Three flats, four job offers, five laptops, and every one of them is better in some way and worse in another. A decision matrix is the oldest trick for these: name what you care about, say how much you care about each thing, then score every option on every one.
The value is rarely the number that comes out. It is the argument you have with yourself while filling it in. Deciding that price matters five and colour matters one is the actual decision; the grid just does the arithmetic afterwards.
How to use it
- Name your options down the left. Add a row for each one you are genuinely considering.
- Name your criteria across the top: the things that will make one option better than another.
- Drag each criterion's weight to say how much it matters, from one up to five.
- Score every cell from one to five. Five means this option is excellent on that criterion.
- Read the ranking underneath. It updates as you type, so nothing needs submitting.
Good uses
- Choosing between flats or houses, where price, commute and light all pull in different directions.
- Job offers, where salary is the easy number and everything that matters more is not.
- Buying something expensive after a week of tabs you have not closed.
- Picking a supplier, a venue, or a tool for a team, where you need to show your working to someone else.
- Settling a group decision by agreeing the weights first and the scores second.
Reading the result
Each option gets a total and a bar showing how close it came to the leader. A bar at full width is the winner; one at half width scored half as well. Watch the gaps rather than the numbers. Two options within a few percent of each other are, for practical purposes, the same option, and you should pick whichever you would rather defend later.
When the answer feels wrong
If the grid picks something and you find yourself looking for a reason to change a score, that reaction is the most useful thing on the page. You have a preference you have not written down yet. Add the missing criterion, give it a weight, and score it honestly. The matrix is a way of finding out what you think, not a way of being told.
Questions people ask
- How is the score worked out?
- Each cell is multiplied by its column's weight, and the row is added up. An option scoring five on a criterion weighted three contributes fifteen. The option with the highest sum sits at the top.
- What do the weights actually mean?
- They are how much you care, relative to the other columns, on a scale of one to five. A criterion weighted five matters five times as much as one weighted one. The absolute numbers do not matter, only the ratios between them.
- What if two options tie?
- Both are marked as winners and neither is nudged ahead. A tie is real information: it usually means you have not found the criterion that actually separates them.
- Does my grid get sent anywhere?
- No. Everything is worked out in your browser and nothing is stored on our servers. Copy share link puts the whole grid inside the link itself, so only the people you send it to can read it.
- How many options and criteria can I add?
- Ten options and eight criteria. Past that a matrix stops helping and starts hiding the decision, and the grid gets too wide to read on a phone.