Introducing Decision Splitter: Make Better Decisions with Weighted Criteria

We've all been there. You're choosing between job offers, comparing apartments, evaluating SaaS tools, or deciding where to move—and you're stuck. Pros and cons lists feel incomplete. Spreadsheets get messy. And asking friends just adds more noise.

That's why we built Decision Splitter—a free, privacy-first tool that turns complex decisions into structured, ranked outcomes.

The Decision Problem

Most people make big decisions using one of these approaches:

Gut feeling — Works sometimes, but biases run deep
Pros/cons lists — Treats all factors as equal (they're not)
Spreadsheets — Powerful but tedious to set up and maintain
Asking around — Adds opinions, not clarity

The real issue? Important decisions have multiple factors with different levels of importance, and our brains aren't great at juggling all of them simultaneously.

A Structured Approach

Decision Splitter uses weighted multi-criteria analysis—a proven decision-making framework used in business, engineering, and research. Here's how it works:

Step 1: Define Your Criteria

List every factor that matters. Choosing a job? Your criteria might be:

Salary
Remote work policy
Growth opportunities
Team culture
Commute time
Tech stack

Step 2: Weight What Matters

Not all criteria are equal. Assign weights from 1 to 5:

Salary → 5 (critical)
Remote work → 4 (very important)
Growth → 4 (very important)
Culture → 3 (important)
Commute → 2 (nice to have)
Tech stack → 3 (important)

Step 3: Score Your Options

Rate each option against each criterion on a 1–10 scale. Some criteria support reverse scoring—like commute time, where lower is better. Toggle it on and the math adjusts automatically.

Step 4: Get Ranked Results

Decision Splitter multiplies each score by its normalized weight, sums them up, and ranks your options. You see exactly which option wins and why.

Multi-Decision Workspace

One of the features we're most excited about: manage multiple decisions in a single workspace.

A sidebar lets you:

Create new decisions
Switch between them instantly
Rename decisions inline
Delete decisions you no longer need

Evaluating job offers AND apartments at the same time? Each gets its own independent criteria, options, and scores.

Privacy First, Always

Your decisions—career moves, financial choices, life plans—are deeply personal. They shouldn't live on someone else's server.

Decision Splitter processes everything 100% client-side:

No accounts — No email, no password, no sign-up wall
No server storage — Data lives in your browser's localStorage
No tracking — We don't see your criteria, options, or scores
No subscriptions — Free forever

Your data survives page refreshes and browser restarts, but never leaves your device.

The Math Behind It

The scoring algorithm is deliberately transparent:

Each criterion has a weight (1–5) and each option has a score (1–10) per criterion
Weights are normalized: weight / sum_of_all_weights
For reverse-scored criteria, scores become 11 - original_score
Each option's total = sum of normalized_weight × score across all criteria
Options are ranked by total score

No black boxes. You can trace exactly why Option A beat Option B.

Real-World Examples

Choosing a New Laptop

Criteria: Price (weight 4, reverse), Performance (5), Battery Life (4), Build Quality (3), Display (3), Portability (3)

Options: MacBook Pro, ThinkPad X1, Dell XPS, Framework 16

Score each laptop against each criterion. Decision Splitter handles the weighted math and shows you which laptop actually fits your priorities best—not just which one has the best specs on paper.

Picking a City to Move To

Criteria: Cost of Living (5, reverse), Job Market (5), Weather (3), Safety (4), Culture (3), Proximity to Family (4)

Options: Austin, Denver, Raleigh, Portland

What seems like an impossible comparison becomes a structured exercise with a clear winner.

Evaluating SaaS Tools for Your Team

Criteria: Price (4, reverse), Feature Completeness (5), Ease of Use (4), Integration Options (3), Support Quality (3), Security (5)

Options: Tool A, Tool B, Tool C

Take the emotion out of vendor selection. Score objectively, weight strategically, and let the data guide the decision.

Built with Modern Tech

Decision Splitter is built on our standard tool template:

Next.js 16 with App Router for fast, modern React
TypeScript in strict mode for reliability
TailwindCSS v4 with custom OKLCH color tokens
shadcn/ui for accessible, polished components
Framer Motion for smooth animations
localStorage for private, persistent data

The entire app loads fast and runs instantly—no spinners, no loading states, no waiting for servers.

Try It Now

Ready to make a better decision?

👉 Try Decision Splitter

Free, fast, and completely private. No sign-up required.

Part of Our Free Tools Suite

Decision Splitter joins our growing collection of free, privacy-first tools:

Favicon Generator — All favicon sizes + manifest in seconds
OG Preview — See how your links look on social media
Screenshot Beautifier — Make screenshots presentation-ready
JSON Formatter — Format, validate, and minify JSON
SplitWise Lite — Split expenses with friends, no sign-up
Theme Contrast Checker — Check WCAG color contrast ratios

All built with the same principles: fast, free, and privacy-first.

What's Next?

We're considering several enhancements:

Export to PDF/CSV — Share your analysis with stakeholders
Comparison charts — Visual bar/radar charts for option comparison
Templates — Pre-built criteria sets for common decisions (job offers, apartments, etc.)
Collaboration mode — Share a decision link for team scoring

Have ideas? We'd love to hear them.

Stop agonizing. Start analyzing. Try Decision Splitter →