Retrospective Tools

Parabol vs RetroTeam

A side-by-side look at scores, pricing, features and integrations to help you pick the right retrospective tool.

Parabol logo

Parabol

7.4

Open-source agile meetings for retros, poker, standups and check-ins

Parabol is an open-source agile meeting platform spanning retrospectives, sprint poker, team check-ins and recurring team health checks, with deep backlog sync to Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps and Linear, recurring meeting series, Zoom and Google Meet transcript capture, a scoped GraphQL API, and a built-in knowledge base (Pages) that auto-publishes every meeting summary and runs AI queries across past retros.

Full review →
RetroTeam logo

RetroTeam

4.6

AI-first retro tool the vendor is winding down

RetroTeam is a focused, AI-first retrospective app — capture, group, vote, act, with Jira hand-off — that its vendor has announced it is winding down while the team moves to an unrelated interview-coaching product.

Full review →

Summary

Parabol scores 7.4 overall and is best for distributed agile teams that want one open-source tool for retros, poker and team health checks. It offers a free tier.

RetroTeam scores 4.6 overall and is best for nobody adopting today — the vendor has announced it is winding down. Existing teams should export their PDF reports and pick a replacement. It offers a free tier.

Parabol leads on retro toolkit, fun factor, AI & insights, integrations, open platform and enterprise-grade. RetroTeam leads on value.

Across our eight scoring dimensions, Parabol edges ahead with an overall score of 7.4. That said, the right pick depends on your team — see the dimension-by-dimension breakdown below.

Scores compared

Parabol
Ease of Use8.5
Retro Toolkit9.0
Value5.0
Fun Factor7.0
AI & Insights8.0
Integrations9.0
Open Platform5.0
Enterprise-grade8.0
RetroTeam
Ease of Use8.5
Retro Toolkit5.0
Value9.0
Fun Factor4.0
AI & Insights6.5
Integrations2.5
Open Platform0.5
Enterprise-grade1.0
DetailParabolRetroTeam
CategoryAll-in-One AgileRetrospectives
Team sizeAnySmall
Free tierYesYes
Free limitUnlimited users, 2 teams, 10 meetings/month, 30-day history, 2 custom templates, 3 AI retro summaries per team1 team, 10 users, 10 boards, 10 AI credits
Starting price$8/active user/mo$10/mo
Est. 3 teams × 8 people$192/mo$30/mo (Pro — 5 teams, 50 users; Premium's 2-team / 20-user cap doesn't fit 3 teams of 8)
EnterpriseYesYes
Founded20152022
HQRemote (San Diego, CA)Oakland, California, US
Data residencyUnited States · European Union · Self-hostedUnited States
LanguagesEnglish onlyEnglish only
Export formatsCSV · EmailPDF
Features5422
Integrations81

Feature & integration comparison

Side-by-side checklist across features, integrations and security. Hover a note for details.

CapabilityParabolRetroTeam
Features
Custom templates✓note✓note
Anonymous input✓✓
Health Checks✓note—
Action tracking✓✓
Async mode✓—
Whiteboard——
Independent voting✓✓
Polling——
Icebreaker games——
Agile Estimations✓—
Team Kudos——
AI grouping/clustering✓note✓
AI action items—✓
AI Summaries✓note✓
Team Insights✓note✓
In-meeting AI assistant——
Action dashboard✓✓
Integrations
Asana——
Azure DevOps✓—
Basecamp——
ClickUp——
Confluence✓note—
GitHub✓—
GitLab✓—
Jira✓✓note
Linear✓—
Microsoft Teams✓—
Monday.com——
Notion——
Shortcut——
Slack✓—
Trello——
Security & Privacy
SOC 2✓—
GDPR✓✓note
SSO / SAML✓note—
SCIM provisioning✓note—
ISO 27001——
On-premises✓note—
Public API✓—
Webhooks✓note—
MCP server——

Parabol — pros

  • + Open source (AGPL-3.0) with Docker/Kubernetes self-host, on-prem and air-gapped deployment, plus a DoD Iron Bank hardened container (IL4 via Platform One, IL5 via Arcus)
  • + 40+ meeting templates plus poker, check-ins and team health in one tool
  • + Strong backlog write-back to Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps and Linear
  • + CSV export of reflections, groups, votes and threads, and a public GraphQL API with scoped personal access tokens, both on <em>every</em> plan
  • + Recurring retro series with a real recurrence rule and Google Calendar sync, plus an opt-in facilitator rotation queue

Parabol — cons

  • − Free Starter capped at 2 teams, 10 meetings/month, 30-day history and 3 AI summaries per team; AI grouping and Team Health need the paid Team tier
  • − No native whiteboard, presentation mode or screen-share mode
  • − Team Health, as of Oct 2026: 5 Likert questions per check across 5 fixed categories, trend limited to the last five checks in one series (no standalone history view), org-wide reporting still "coming soon", no export of health scores
  • − Webhooks stop at Mattermost/MS Teams notification URLs — no general event subscriptions and no MCP server
  • − English-only UI; no Trello, Asana, ClickUp or Notion integration

RetroTeam — pros

  • + Tight, opinionated retro flow — capture, AI group, vote, act — with a timer on every stage
  • + AI grouping suggestions are accept/reject per card, not applied over your head
  • + Flat plan pricing: $30/mo covers 5 teams and 50 users, well under per-seat rivals
  • + Participants join by link with no account required
  • + Org-wide action dashboard with owner, status and due date, plus one-way Jira links

RetroTeam — cons

  • − <strong>The vendor has announced RetroTeam is winding down</strong> — the same team has moved to ChannelPulse, an unrelated interview-coaching product
  • − No published shutdown date and no migration path; the only export is a PDF report, with no API, webhooks or MCP to pull history out another way
  • − Jira is the only integration — no Slack, Teams, GitHub, Linear or Azure DevOps
  • − No health checks, recurring retros, scheduling, async mode or kudos
  • − No SSO, SCIM, SOC 2 or audit logs, and hosting is US-only with no EU residency option

Keep comparing

Not sure which to pick? Read our guide on how to choose a retrospective tool.