| Feature/Aspect | Scrum | SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) |
| Primary Scope | Designed for small, organising teams (typically 3-9 members). | Designed for large enterprises to scale Agile practices across multiple teams, programs, and portfolios (can involve hundreds or thousands of people). |
| Focus | Delivering high-quality software/products iteratively and incrementally within a single team. | Aligning large numbers of Agile teams around shared business goals, coordinating work across dependencies, and delivering value at an enterprise level. |
| Framework Type | A lightweight, empirical process framework. | A comprehensive knowledge base of organizational and workflow patterns, integrating Agile, Lean, and Systems Thinking principles. |
| Prescriptiveness | Less prescriptive, providing a flexible set of rules, roles, and events. Teams have more autonomy to adapt. | More prescriptive, offering detailed guidance on roles, events, and artifacts across multiple levels (Team, Program, Large Solution, Portfolio). This provides structure and consistency at scale. |
| Team Structure | Three core roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team. | Builds upon Scrum teams but introduces additional roles at higher levels, such as Release Train Engineer (RTE), Product Management, System Architect, Epic Owner, and Lean Portfolio Management. |
| Planning Cadence | Sprint Planning: Typically 1-4 weeks (common is 2 weeks). | Program Increment (PI) Planning: A large-room event every 8-12 weeks where multiple teams on an Agile Release Train (ART) align on shared objectives, dependencies, and deliverables for the upcoming PI. Teams also conduct shorter iteration (Sprint) planning within each PI. |
| Timeboxes/Iterations | Sprints: Fixed-length iterations, usually 1-4 weeks. | Iterations: Typically 2 weeks within a PI. SAFe also uses PIs (Program Increments) as larger timeboxes for planning and delivery across multiple teams. |
| Backlogs | Product Backlog: Managed by the Product Owner. Sprint Backlog: Managed by the Development Team for a single Sprint. | Team Backlog: For individual teams. Program Backlog: Managed by Product Management for an ART. Solution Backlog: For Large Solutions. Portfolio Backlog: For strategic initiatives managed at the portfolio level. |
| Dependency Management | Teams largely self-organise and manage dependencies within their small scope. May struggle with complex inter-team dependencies. | Provides explicit mechanisms and roles (e.g., Release Train Engineer, PI Planning) to identify, visualize, and manage dependencies across multiple teams and Agile Release Trains. |
| Continuous Improvement | Sprint Retrospective: At the end of each Sprint, the team inspects its process and adapts. | Inspect & Adapt (I&A) Workshop: A structured event at the end of each PI to reflect on the program’s performance and identify improvements. Individual teams still conduct Sprint Retrospectives. |
| Alignment | Primarily driven by the Product Owner’s vision and direct team collaboration. | Emphasizes strong alignment across all levels of the organization through shared vision, strategy, and coordinated planning events like PI Planning. Information flows both top-down and bottom-up. |
| Customer Focus | Delivers increments frequently to gather rapid customer feedback. | Aims to deliver value to customers at scale by aligning all teams and programs with strategic objectives and customer needs. |
| Cost & Overhead | Relatively low overhead, suitable for startups and smaller projects. | Requires more investment in training, roles, and coordination, suitable for large enterprises with the resources to implement it. |
| Flexibility | High flexibility, teams can tailor practices to their specific needs. | Less flexible due to its prescriptive nature, which provides standardization but may limit individual team autonomy compared to pure Scrum. |