Wait Time Calculator

Divide the number of people in line by how many you serve per minute. With 30 people in line and 3 stations that each take 2 minutes per guest, you serve 1.5 guests a minute, so the last person waits about 20 minutes. That rule is Little’s Law. To predict a wait before the line forms, this calculator uses the Erlang C queueing model, which works from your estimated demand, the time it takes to serve each guest and the number of stations. Once guests are in line, NextMe shows each one a live estimated wait based on how fast your line is actually moving.

Multiply the guests you expect per hour by the minutes each one takes, then divide by 60. That’s the minimum number of stations that can keep up. 45 guests an hour at 5 minutes each is 3.75 stations’ worth of work, so you need at least 4. At that level stations are busy 94% of the time and every burst of arrivals builds a line, so plan for stations to be busy no more than about 80 to 85% of the time at your peak.

In a physical line, guests hold their place by standing in it. In a virtual queue, they hold their place from their phone. With NextMe, guests join by scanning a QR code or opening a link, get a text when it’s their turn, and follow their place in line on a branded Virtual Waiting Room page, with no app to download. Most teams run a hybrid: a short physical line stays full so there’s never a gap, and everyone else waits wherever they like.

A virtual queue doesn’t make serving each guest faster, so the total wait stays about the same. It changes where guests spend that wait: exploring an event, shopping or sitting in their car instead of standing in line. It can also raise throughput, because staff stop managing the line and there’s always someone ready at the front. At San Diego Comic-Con 2025, Marvel’s photo activation set a target of 40 attendees an hour and served 55 with NextMe, 37.4% above target. See the Marvel case study.

When a crowd arrives at once, the last person in it waits as long as it takes to serve everyone ahead of them: the size of the crowd divided by how many guests you serve per minute. 30 guests at 4 stations taking 5 minutes each means the last one waits about 38 minutes. Adding stations is the only way to shorten that. A virtual queue changes what the surge looks like: with NextMe, the crowd joins from their phones, your physical line stays at its cap, and texts call guests back in order. On LEGO’s Build the Thrill tour, NextMe handled stops where about 1,000 guests arrived in a single day. See the LEGO case study.

Yes. Event lines are part art, part science: demand is hard to predict, surges come at doors and session breaks, and every activation runs differently. NextMe’s events team gives personalized recommendations for your stations, physical line and virtual queue, white-glove service from planning to wrap, and on-site support on the day. Brands including Marvel and LEGO have run activations with NextMe. Talk to our events team.

Start with a rough guess and check how sensitive the answer is. Take expected attendance, estimate the share of people who will want your experience, and divide by the hours you’re open. Your busiest hour will be well above that average, so round up. This calculator shows the wait at half and double your guess, so you can see whether a wrong guess means a short line or one that keeps growing. If double your guess breaks the line, plan for a virtual queue or more stations.

NextMe has a free plan with up to 100 text messages a month. Paid plans start at $49.99 a month billed annually (Starter, which adds the Virtual Waiting Room and self check-in), and Business is $79.99 a month billed annually. You can try the paid features free for 14 days, and enterprise pricing is custom. See pricing.

It’s a planning estimate. It assumes guests arrive at random through the hour, serve times vary around the average you enter, everyone waits for the next free station, and nobody leaves the line. Appointments, VIP lanes, uneven serve times and guests who give up will change the real numbers, so check it against a count of your own line. Once you’re running, NextMe’s analytics show your actual wait times and throughput.