A free Parabol alternative for retrospectives

Parabol's free Starter plan is generous for small teams. If you have hit its limits on teams, meetings or history and mostly use Parabol for retros, here is how ProstoRetro compares, and when Parabol is still the better tool.

Start a free retro

What Parabol is and who it suits

Parabol is an open-source meeting tool for agile teams. Retrospectives are its best-known feature, but standups, check-ins and sprint poker run in the same place. Unlike several retro tools, it has a permanent free plan, called Starter, so a small team can use it for months without hitting anything.

Its strengths are real, and worth listing before any comparison:

• Several meeting types in one tool. Retrospectives, standups, check-ins and sprint poker, with Team Health checks on paid plans.
• A structured retro. Reflect, group, vote, discuss, with anonymity on by default, facilitated icebreakers, a timer and a meeting summary on every plan.
• Integrations, even on Starter. The free plan includes seven integrations. Parabol connects to Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Linear, Azure DevOps, Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Mattermost and Google Calendar.
• Open source and auditable. Parabol's code is public, and it lists SOC 2 Type II compliance.
• Enterprise options. SAML SSO, SCIM user provisioning, an org admin role, Jira Data Center and self-managed GitLab integrations, and optional on-premises hosting.
• Plenty to start from. More than 90 meeting templates, unlimited users on Starter, and AI discussion prompts on the free plan.

If your team runs standups and planning poker in Parabol and relies on the Jira or GitHub integration, a retro-only tool won't replace it. This page is for teams that mainly use Parabol for retrospectives and have run into the edges of the free plan.

Where Parabol's free plan stops

As of October 2026, Parabol's pricing page lists these limits for Starter:

• Up to 2 teams per company. A third team needs a paid plan.
• Up to 10 meetings a month.
• 30 days of meeting history. Longer history needs a paid plan.
• Up to 2 custom templates.
• Some AI features are outside Starter. AI grouping suggestions and AI icebreakers need a paid plan, and AI meeting summaries are limited on Starter.
• Private teams and Team Health checks need a paid plan, and SAML SSO and SCIM are Enterprise features.

There is no trial clock: Starter stays free. The limits only start to matter once you grow past them, usually by adding a third team, holding more than ten meetings in a month, or wanting to reread a retro from two months ago.

Where ProstoRetro is different

ProstoRetro does one thing: team retrospectives. It is free, and every feature is available to every team. These are the differences a Parabol user will notice:

• No monthly cap, and the history stays. Hold a retro whenever your team needs one. Past retros stay with your team instead of falling out of a 30-day window, so last quarter's action items are still there when you want to check whether they worked.
• Teams are not counted per company. Each facilitator signs in and sets up their own team, so a new team in the department doesn't run into a company-wide limit.
• No sign-up for participants. Parabol invitees create an account, and its invite links expire. In a ProstoRetro room open to "Anyone", the default for new teams, people type a name and join. That suits a stakeholder or a contractor who won't make an account for one meeting. Only the facilitator signs in, with Google or email.
• AI grouping included. Parabol's Starter leaves out AI group suggestions. ProstoRetro offers to group similar cards and names the groups, suggests action items during discussion and writes a short summary of the retro.
• A session that keeps time. Set a meeting length and the app splits it across the phases and discussion topics, running the timers for you.
• Action items that come back. Each action item has an owner and a due date. Owners get an email a week after the retro and another just before the due date, and the next retro begins with a review of what is still open.

The retro itself will feel familiar: anonymous cards (on by default, chosen per card), cards hidden while people write, anonymous voting, polls and built-in icebreakers. There are 19 ready templates, including Start Stop Continue, 4Ls and the Sailboat, and custom templates with up to five columns. Browse them all in the retrospective template library.

Parabol vs ProstoRetro at a glance

Checked against Parabol's own pricing page and support pages as of October 2026. The Parabol column describes the free Starter plan unless it says otherwise.

Start a free retro

When Parabol is the better choice

Parabol is likely the better fit if:

• You need integrations. Parabol connects to Jira, GitHub, Linear, Azure DevOps, Slack and Microsoft Teams, and Starter already includes seven integrations. ProstoRetro has no integrations.
• You run more than retros. If standups, check-ins and sprint poker belong in the same tool, Parabol does all of them. ProstoRetro focuses on retrospectives.
• You need enterprise controls. SAML SSO, SCIM, an org admin role or on-premises hosting are available from Parabol. ProstoRetro has no SSO and no enterprise admin.
• Open-source code matters to your security review. Parabol's code is public and auditable.
• You fit comfortably inside Starter. Two teams, ten meetings a month and a 30-day look-back are enough for many teams. If that is you, there is no pressing reason to switch.

Comparing more than one tool? See how ProstoRetro compares with EasyRetro, TeamRetro and Retrium.

How to switch from Parabol

Old meetings stay in Parabol: nothing can be imported. What you move is the habit, and the open action items:

1. Save what you need from Parabol first. Starter keeps 30 days of meeting history, so copy open action items and any retro notes you want to keep before they leave that window.
2. Sign in with Google or email. A team is ready for you straight away, with no organization or team count to set up.
3. Pick the same format. If you ran Start Stop Continue, Mad Sad Glad or 4Ls in Parabol, choose the same one from the ready templates. If you built your own template there, create a custom template with the same prompts as columns.
4. Drop the invitations. Instead of inviting people one by one, put the room link in the calendar invite for the retro. With the room open to "Anyone", people join with a name; restrict the room when only signed-in people or team members should get in.
5. Bring the open items with you. Add the action items you saved from Parabol during the first retro, each with an owner and a due date, so the email reminders cover them too.

FAQ

Does ProstoRetro limit meetings or history?

No. Your team can hold as many retros as it needs, and past retros don't drop out of a 30-day window. Every feature on this page is available to every team.

Do participants have to sign up?

Not if the room is open to "Anyone", the default for new teams: they type a name and join. A room restricted to signed-in users or team members asks people to sign in. The facilitator always needs an account, created with Google or email.

Does ProstoRetro integrate with Jira, GitHub or Slack?

No. It has no integrations of any kind, no API and no file export. If your retros feed Jira or GitHub issues, or you want standups and sprint poker in the same tool, Parabol is the better fit.

Can I use my Parabol template in ProstoRetro?

You can recreate it: turn its prompts into the columns of a custom template, up to five of them. Your team can then pick it for any retro. For a walkthrough of a whole session, read how to run a great retro.