Frequently Asked Questions

Scopeslab is an AI-powered workload estimation platform that transforms raw project requirements into standardized, auditable estimates using COSMIC ISO 19761 methodology. We help project owners and freelancers eliminate estimation disputes through objective, defensible measurements.

Scopeslab serves two primary audiences:

• Project Owners: Validate requirements, understand true scope, and get objective estimates before hiring developers
• Freelancers & Agencies: Generate defensible estimates backed by ISO standards to justify pricing and avoid scope disputes

No. Our platform is designed for both technical and non-technical users. Simply upload your requirements in plain language, and our AI handles the analysis. The reports are clear and understandable for all stakeholders.

COSMIC (Common Software Measurement International Consortium) is an ISO 19761 standard for measuring functional size of software. It's used globally by governments, enterprises, and consultancies for objective, auditable project estimation. Unlike subjective methods, COSMIC provides consistent measurements regardless of who performs the analysis.

Our estimates achieve ±10% accuracy, backed by 443+ calibration records from real-world projects. Accuracy depends on requirement completeness - the more detailed your requirements, the more accurate the estimate. Our AI gap detection helps identify missing information before estimation.

CFP is the unit of measurement in COSMIC methodology. It represents the functional size of software based on data movements (Entry, Exit, Read, Write). Our platform calculates CFP for your project and converts it to estimated hours using calibration data from similar projects.

Our estimation considers:

• Team Experience: Familiarity with the tech stack
• Technology Maturity: Stability of frameworks/tools
• Requirement Clarity: Completeness of specifications
• Integration Complexity: Number of external systems
• Quality Requirements: Testing, security, performance needs

Yes! Our Free tier includes unlimited AI system analysis, gap detection, requirement decomposition, and analysis documents. You only pay when you need COSMIC workload estimation and professional reports.

Starter ($25/project): One-time payment per project. Includes 3 revisions (4 total runs). Best for occasional users (1–3 projects/year).

Pro ($40/month): 5 projects/month, 3 revisions each. Best for freelancers estimating 3–8 projects/month.

Studio ($99/month): 15 projects/month, 5 revisions each, team seats, white-label reports. Best for agencies.

Yes. Both Starter and subscription plans include revisions. Update your requirements and request a new estimation run within your revision allowance.

We offer a 7-day money-back guarantee for Starter purchases. If you're not satisfied with the estimation quality, contact support for a full refund. Subscription refunds are prorated for unused time.

We support PDF, DOCX, TXT, and MD (Markdown) files. You can upload multiple files for a single project, and our AI will consolidate them automatically.

AI analysis typically takes 2-5 minutes depending on document size and complexity. COSMIC estimation is instant once you validate the analysis. Total time from upload to final report: 15-30 minutes including your review.

You receive three main deliverables:

• Quotation Report: CFP breakdown, hour estimates by role, complexity analysis (PDF/CSV)
• Gap Analysis: Missing requirements, ambiguities, clarification questions
• Requirement Pack: Structured functional modules, user stories, traceability matrix

Yes. All reports are exportable to PDF for client presentation and CSV for further analysis in Excel or other tools.

Absolutely. We use enterprise-grade encryption (AES-256) for data at rest and TLS 1.3 for data in transit. Your requirements are never shared with third parties or used to train public AI models. See our Privacy Policy for details.

COSMIC methodology is technology-agnostic. Our platform supports estimation for any software project regardless of tech stack (web, mobile, desktop, embedded, etc.). Our calibration database includes data from diverse technologies.

Yes. While COSMIC is often associated with waterfall, it works perfectly for Agile. Use it to estimate epics/features before sprint planning, validate story point estimates, or provide clients with initial project scope estimates.

No. Scopeslab provides an objective baseline backed by ISO standards. Experienced developers should still review and adjust estimates based on team-specific factors. Think of it as a second opinion that prevents gross under/over-estimation.

COSMIC (Common Software Measurement International Consortium) ISO 19761 is an international standard for measuring functional software size, first published by ISO in 2003 and updated multiple times since. It measures software in CFP (COSMIC Function Points) units by counting data movements between the software and its users or other software layers. The standard is formally recognized and applied in over 50 countries by governments, defense agencies, enterprises, and software consultancies who require objective, reproducible project size measurements.

A CFP is the fundamental unit of measurement in COSMIC methodology. Each individual data movement — an Entry, Exit, Read, or Write — equals exactly 1 CFP. To illustrate: a feature as straightforward as "user login" involves multiple data movements: an Entry for credentials submitted by the user, a Read to retrieve the user record from the database, and an Exit to return the session token to the client. The total CFP count for a project is the sum of all such data movements across all functional processes.

COSMIC defines four data movement types that together describe every interaction a piece of software performs:

• Entry (E): Data moved from outside the software into a functional process — for example, a user submitting a form or an API receiving a payload.
• Exit (X): Data moved from a functional process to the outside world — for example, rendering a screen, sending an API response, or generating a report.
• Read (R): Data retrieved from persistent storage within a functional process — for example, the result of a database query.
• Write (W): Data written to persistent storage — for example, a database insert, update, or delete operation.

COSMIC addresses the core weaknesses of informal estimation methods. It is objective — measurements are based on observable data movements defined in requirements, not on team opinion. It is repeatable — two trained practitioners measuring the same software independently will arrive within ±10% of each other. It is auditable — every CFP count traces directly back to a documented requirement. And it is internationally standardized — the same method applies across teams, companies, and countries. Story points, by contrast, are team-relative and non-transferable: a "5" on one team has no meaning on another, making external benchmarking impossible.

Our AI reads your uploaded documents (PDF, DOCX, TXT, or Markdown), identifies functional user requirements within the text, and decomposes them into discrete functional processes. Each functional process is then mapped to its constituent data movements (Entry, Exit, Read, Write) to produce a CFP count. A gap detection pass runs concurrently to flag requirements that are ambiguous, contradictory, or missing information needed for reliable measurement — giving you the opportunity to clarify before the final estimate is generated.

The Functional Enhancement Factor (FeFa) accounts for technical complexity that is real but not directly captured by functional size measurement alone — such as non-functional requirements including security hardening, strict performance constraints, or deep integration complexity with legacy systems. FeFa is applied as a multiplier to the base CFP-derived effort estimate, with a range of 0.8 (less complex than baseline) to 1.5 (significantly more complex). This ensures the final estimate reflects the true delivery effort rather than the raw functional size.

The five Project Factors modify the base CFP-to-hours conversion ratio to reflect the specific context of your project:

• Team Experience Level: Familiarity of the delivery team with the relevant domain and technology stack.
• Geographic Distribution: Whether the team is co-located or distributed across time zones, which affects coordination overhead.
• Technology Maturity: Stability and documentation quality of the frameworks and tools in use.
• Stakeholder Alignment: Degree of agreement among stakeholders on scope, priorities, and acceptance criteria.
• Regulatory Compliance Requirements: Whether the project must satisfy formal compliance obligations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOX, FDA), which add verification and documentation effort.

The AI Productivity Factor (AIPFa) is a Scopeslab proprietary adjustment that modifies effort estimates when AI-assisted coding tools are part of the development stack — for example GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or Claude Code. When these tools are declared in the project configuration, AIPFa typically reduces the estimated development effort by 20–40% depending on the project type, the proportion of code that can be AI-generated, and the team's proficiency with those tools. This ensures estimates reflect the actual economics of modern AI-augmented development rather than purely traditional baselines.

The Calibration Database is the empirical foundation of Scopeslab's estimation engine. It contains 443+ real-world project data points, each recording the measured CFP count alongside the actual delivery hours reported at project completion. These records are organized into 79 complexity tiers across 14 industry groups — including web applications, mobile apps, APIs and microservices, ERP systems, IoT platforms, and more. When your project's CFP count and contextual factors are known, the engine locates the most comparable historical records and derives a productivity rate (hours per CFP) calibrated to that specific profile.

Scopeslab estimates achieve ±10% accuracy, verified against live project deliveries tracked through to completion. This is substantially better than the industry average for informal estimation methods, which typically yield ±35–50% variance. Accuracy is highest when uploaded requirements are comprehensive and unambiguous; our gap detection feature is specifically designed to help you reach that threshold before committing to an estimate.

Yes, permanently. Stage 1 — which includes requirement ingestion, AI-driven functional decomposition, gap detection, and the structured requirement output — is free with no time limit and no credit card required. You only pay when you proceed to Stage 2 and request the COSMIC-based workload estimate with the full deliverable report package. This means you can validate whether your requirements are estimation-ready before committing any budget.

A revision is a re-estimation triggered by changes to your project requirements. If scope expands, features are removed, or requirements are clarified, you update your uploaded documents and request a new COSMIC estimation run — that counts as one revision. The Starter plan includes 3 revisions per project, which covers typical scope negotiation cycles. The Pro plan includes unlimited revisions for all subscribed projects, making it suitable for projects with evolving requirements throughout their lifecycle.

Yes. The Studio plan includes white-label report generation, allowing you to produce estimation reports branded with your company name, logo, and contact details — ready for direct client delivery. This is designed for freelancers and agencies who want to present ISO-backed estimates under their own brand rather than referencing a third-party platform. Contact contact@scopelabs.work for Studio plan access and custom volume arrangements.

Yes. All project data is stored with AES-256 encryption at rest and full isolation per user account — no project data is accessible across accounts. We never use your uploaded requirements or project content for AI model training, fine-tuning, or any purpose beyond generating your estimate. Documents uploaded for analysis are processed transiently and are not retained beyond your active session unless you explicitly choose to save the project within the platform. See our Privacy Policy for the full data retention schedule.

Only you. Your project content is accessible exclusively through your authenticated account. Scopeslab staff do not access project content during normal operations — access by support personnel is only possible with your explicit, documented permission in the context of a support request you have initiated. All such access events are logged and auditable. We do not sell, share, or license project data to any third party under any circumstances.

Email us at contact@scopelabs.work. We respond within 24 hours on business days. Subscription users get priority support with faster response times.

Yes. We offer COSMIC methodology training and estimation consulting for enterprise clients. Contact contact@scopelabs.work for custom packages.