Sailboat Retrospective Board ⛵️

User Sharon Burns reports that Echometer allows her to show metrics such as burndown charts during the retrospective, giving developers insight into team performance. This helps the team understand progress, whereas Parabol only offers limited visibility of such data.

User Sharon Burns explains that Echometer allows her to add her own questions, choose from templates and rearrange agenda items. This flexibility allows retrospectives to be adapted to the needs of the team, while Parabol offers fewer customization options.

User Sharon Burns emphasizes that Echometer facilitates login and participation: developers can participate without creating an account or using complicated email links, reducing friction and ensuring full participation.

Sharon Burns reports that Echometer tracks past action items and highlights them during the retrospectiveso that the team takes over tracking and progress can be measured. Parabol is missing this Integrated action item trackingwhich makes accountability more difficult.

User Sharon Burns explains that preparing retrospectives in advance ensures that the sessions are structured and relevant. Echometer allows her to create questions, templates and agenda items in advance, which is not as easy or flexible with Parabol.

Sharon Burns describes how interactive icebreakers like "Shoot the Balloons" make retrospectives fun, increase participation and even engage the quieter team members, unlike more traditional icebreakers in Parabol which are often dry or less interactive.

User Sharon Burns explains that Echometer offers unique features such as the team health check and review of past action items. These features provide context and measurable insights and help the team focus on continuous improvement – something that Parabol does not offer as standard.

Sharon Burns emphasizes that Echometer's agenda guides the facilitator step-by-step through the retrospective, reducing confusion and saving time. Parabol, on the other hand, requires more manual effort to manage the flow of activities, which can lengthen sessions.

Sharon Burns (Product Owner) chose Echometer because it offers a more structured and flexible retrospective process, including features such as an integrated agenda, team health checks and better tracking of action items – features that Parabol either doesn't have or implements less effectively.

If an agile team does not yet have much experience with retrospectives, a tool that effectively guides you through the retrospective and offers many templates is recommended:

• Echometer is known not only for being an intuitive online retro board, but also for offering a very effective guided flow through the retrospective. At the same time, Echometer offers whiteboards that can be flexibly integrated into the retrospective. This makes Echometer very beginner-friendly.
• Echometer also has extremely versatile and creative templates for retrospectives and team Health Checks that stimulate team reflection. Inexperienced teams in particular are very grateful for the food for thought in Echometer.

This makes Echometer the best software recommendation for beginners with agile retrospectives or Scrum beginners. By the way, you can try out Echometer for free without logging in: Echometer Try out the retro tool

Echometer's online retrospective software has several strengths and distinguishing features compared to Parabol:

• Integrated whiteboards: Echometer offers the option of flexibly adding further whiteboards in retrospectives. These whiteboards can be used in Echometer to discuss individual topics in a focused manner and derive measures. Parabol does not offer integrated whiteboards in retrospectives.
• Pulse checks: Echometer enables automatic, regular team surveys, so-called pulse checks. This automation of surveys does not exist in Parabol. Feedback can only ever be obtained in Parabol in conjunction with a manually created meeting.
• Team Health Dashboards: Echometer's dashboards serve as a clear mood barometer over time and optionally across multiple teams.
• Remote, hybrid and on-site: Echometer also has a mode for on-site retrospectives. Participants can share feedback and take part in the voting via their smartphone. Parabol, on the other hand, is limited to remote retrospectives.
• Echometer is very beginner-friendly and you don't need to be an experienced Scrum team to conduct effective team retrospectives.

We have already reported on the overlaps between the retrospective tools of Parabol and Echometer here: Comparison Echometer vs Parabol

Together with your agile team, you can see for yourself the strengths of Echometer's Retro Board compared to Parabol by testing the free version of Echometer: Try Echometer (free of charge and without login)

Echometer is better than Parabol for conducting agile retrospectives (also called "sprint retrospectives") because Echometer offers a wider range of features in addition to the retro board that make the lives of Scrum Masters and Team Managers easier:

• Better retro effectiveness: Retrospectives with Echometer are very effective. You can even measure this: At the end of every retrospective in Echometer, the team is asked about the ROTI, i.e. the "Return on Time Invested". This allows you to keep the quality and effectiveness of your retrospectives in Echometer high in the long term. Parabol does not have such a mechanism.
• More flexibility in Echometer: In Echometer, you can use integrated whiteboards during retrospectives to discuss individual topics in a focused way and derive measures for them. You can also create your own whiteboard templates and use them flexibly in your retrospectives. Parabol is not as flexible as Echometer and does not offer integrated whiteboards for retrospectives.
• Long-term team health trends: In Echometer, team development can also be easily tracked over time via the Health Checks team. You can even collect and evaluate overarching metrics in Echometer via Workspace Health.
• Automatic pulse check surveys: In Echometer, you can automate regular team health surveys and rotate topics automatically. In Parabol, you have to manually create a meeting for each data collection.
• It is also not possible to create dashboards of agile pulse surveys as a mood barometer (or Agile / Scrum Health Check) over time.

As a manager, Echometer is therefore probably more effective, more flexible and more time-saving for you than Parabol. Ultimately, of course, your team has to help decide which tool they prefer for retrospectives. So here's an important tip: simply try out both tools with your team. Because both tools have a free plan: Try Echometer for free without login.

By testing the free version, you can see for yourself why Echometer is better than Parabol for agile retrospectives and why many users of both tools speak of Echometer as "by far the best tool for online retrospectives".

The prices of the online retrospective software tool from Echometer and Parabol differ in the way they are billed:

• Echometer charges per team (Pro plan with a monthly subscription of €35 per month)
• Parabol billed per team member (team plan with monthly 8$ per user)

So depending on how big your team is, Echometer's online retrospective software is usually cheaper (even significantly cheaper) than Parabol. Only if your team has 4 or less team members, Parabol is cheaper than Echometer:

• For a team with 9 members, Parabol costs you €72 per month (€37 more expensive than Echometer).
• For a team with 8 members, Parabol costs you €64 per month (€29 more expensive than Echometer).
• For a team with 7 members, Parabol costs you €56 per month (€21 more expensive than Echometer).
• For a team with 6 members, Parabol costs you €48 per month (€13 more expensive than Echometer).
• For a team with 5 members, Parabol costs you €40 per month (€5 more expensive than Echometer).
• Only if your team has 4 or fewer members will Parabol be just as expensive or cheaper for you at €32 than Echometer with a standard monthly subscription of €35 per team.

Tip: If you want to save money on your Echometer subscription, opt for the annual subscription and pay just €29 per month per team.

Note: For the sake of simplicity, we assume a 1:1 exchange rate between USD and EURO. This is because the prices of Parabol are quoted in USD and the prices of Echometer in EURO.

Would you like to test the Online Retro Board from Echometer with your agile team free of charge? No problem: Try Echometer Retro Board for free, without login

Both Echometer and Parabol are very suitable online retrospective software for conducting agile retrospectives.

Both tools include the following functions for online retrospectives:

• Interactive online retro boards that allow grouping and prioritizing feedback
• Integrated tracking of measures from retrospectives
• Surveys: Obtaining anonymous feedback from team members even before the retrospective
• Feedback on a scale for team health queries in the retrospective. The results are automatically recorded on the Retro Board.
• AI support during the retrospective (for example when brainstorming measures)
• Integration with Jira
• Generated icebreakers for retrospectives
• Retro archive, automatic retro summary via email and export of retro results

What distinguishes Echometer and Parabol are the following functions:

• Echometer enables automatic, regular team surveys via so-called pulse checks. This automation of surveys is not possible in Parabol. Feedback can only ever be obtained in Parabol in conjunction with a retrospective.
• Echometer also allows you to create dashboards of agile pulse surveys as a mood barometer over time: For example, the scientifically based query of Psychological Safety or the Spotify Health Check are very good templates for both retrospectives and surveys.
• Echometer offers the option of flexibly adding further whiteboards in retrospectives. These whiteboards can be used in Echometer to discuss individual topics in a focused manner and derive measures. Parabol does not offer integrated whiteboards in retrospectives.
• In addition to the Jira integration, Parabol also has further integrations for GitHub, GitLab, Linear and Azure Dev. Parabol also has messaging integrations with Slack, Teams and Mattermost, as well as a calendar integration with Google Calendar.
• Echometer also has a mode for on-site retrospectives. Participants can share feedback via their smartphone and take part in the voting. Parabol, on the other hand, is limited to remote retrospectives.

Further differences in the functions and target group of Echometer and Parabol:

• In addition to the tool for team retrospectives, Echometer also offers a tool for 1:1 meetings. This means that Echometer is optimized as a software tool for managers of agile teams.
• In addition to the tool for team retrospectives, Parabol also offers software for Sprint Planning (Planning Poker) and Daily Standup Scrum Meetings. This means that Parabol is optimized as a software tool for remote Scrum teams.

Both Parabol and Echometer offer a generous free plan:

• In Parabol, 2 teams are free of charge. Parbol's free plan includes up to 10 meetings per month (including retrospectives, stand-ups, check-ins and sprint poker).
  • The meeting history in the free plan is 30 days in Parabol.
• In Echometer, 1 team is free of charge. In Echometer's free plan, an unlimited number of retrospectives are possible in the first 3 weeks, then 1 retrospective per month. The number of 1:1 meetings is also unlimited in the free plan.
  • In Echometer's free plan, the history for retrospectives is 6 months.

If you are considering trying out the retrospective software tool Parabol in your agile team or scrum team, take a quick look at the online retro tool Echometer first: Echometer Access without login.

Miro is a generic online whiteboard tool while Echometer is an online retrospective tool. However, the flow of online retrospectives differs in both software tools:

• Structure and process of the retros: Both tools have an online retro board. However, Echometer also has a dedicated mode for carrying out online retrospectives. In Echometer, a retro therefore has several steps, whereas in Miro everything takes place on a whiteboard, which can become somewhat confusing.
• Retro templates & preparation: Miro has many templates for retrospectives, but no dedicated mode for online retrospectives. Accordingly, retro moderators need to think very carefully about how they want to structure a retrospective in Miro beforehand. This means that retrospectives in Miro are more time-consuming to prepare, often less structured and less effective than in Echometer.

The specific advantages of Echometer over Miro for conducting online retrospectives are as follows:

• Echometer offers integrated measure tracking with automatic resubmission of open measures in the next retro
• Echometer offers a structured process for preparing the retrospective with many templates and ideas specifically for retrospectives (both for Scrum retrospectives and general team retrospectives)
• Echometer enables the ROTI score to be recorded when the retro is checked out. This provides quantitative feedback on the perceived effectiveness of the retrospective by the participants.

Miro, on the other hand, has many more generic whiteboard functions compared to Echometer's online whiteboard when it comes to designing sticky notes. For some participants in agile sprint retrospectives, the range of functions is even somewhat overwhelming because the functions of Miro go far beyond the basics and are therefore more difficult to use. Echometer's whiteboard is very easy to use in comparison.

So if the use case for the online whiteboard tool Miro is agile retrospectives, it is highly recommended that you at least try out classic sprint retrospective software such as Echometer and evaluate it together as a team: Echometer Retrospective Tool free trial without login

Mural is a generic online whiteboard tool while Echometer is an online retrospective tool.

Both tools can be used as software for Online Retro Board. However, Echometer also has a dedicated mode for conducting online retrospectives in addition to the Retro Board. Mural does not have a dedicated mode for online retrospectives. Accordingly, retrospectives in Mural are more time-consuming, less structured and less effective than in Echometer.

The advantages of Echometer over Mural for conducting agile retrospectives (or Scrum retrospectives) are as follows:

• Echometer offers integrated measure tracking with automatic resubmission of open measures in the next retro
• Echometer offers a structured process for preparing the retrospective with many templates and ideas specifically for retrospectives
• Echometer enables the ROTI score to be recorded when the retro is checked out. This provides quantitative feedback on the perceived effectiveness of the retrospective by the participants.

Mural, on the other hand, has many more generic whiteboard functions compared to Echometer's online whiteboard when it comes to designing sticky notes.

In one respect, Echometer's whiteboard is ahead of the mural whiteboard:

• You can write individual notes face down in Echometer and reveal them later.
• In Mural, however, hidden notes are not a direct function. Instead, you have to use the "bulk mode" to create notes without showing them to the group until the moderator releases them.

So if the use case for the online whiteboard tool Mural is retrospectives, it is highly recommended to at least try out and evaluate classic sprint retrospective software such as Echometer: Echometer Retrospective Tool free trial without login

Neatro and Echometer are both tools for online retrospectives that are very popular with Scrum teams. Both share some similarities, but Echometer is much more sophisticated in the details:

• An online retro board for sharing, grouping and voting on feedback. Both also offer a hidden brainstorming mode for the retro board so that participants do not influence each other when formulating their feedback.
• Neatro and Echometer both have a library of templates for retrospectives. However, Echometer has a wider selection as it includes templates for open retros (more than 50), ideas for Health Checks (more than 100), ideas for icebreakers (more than 50) and whiteboard templates (more than 20).
• Tracking measures from retrospectives works very similarly in Neatro and Echometer: both allow you to create measures based on feedback on the board, mark a due date and define a person responsible. Practical: Echometer also offers the option of having an AI suggest measures for a topic.
• Both Neatro and Echometer offer scale surveys with rating questions. Neatro calls these "radars" and Echometer calls them "Health Checks". The radars in Neatro are far less sophisticated than the Health Checks in Echometer. In Echometer, for example, feedback on Health Checks can be obtained both in the retrospectives and independently of them in team surveys or even in cross-team surveys. Using pulse checks, you can even automate the sending of regular surveys in Echometer.

Key differences between Neatro and Echometer for agile retrospectives:

• Yes, both Neatro and Echometer offer a free plan. However, Neatro's free plan is very limited in its range of functions (e.g. no export of retros) and only allows 10 participants. The free plan from Echometer is more generous and includes all functions as well as an unlimited number of participants.
• In addition to the retro board, Echometer also has integrated whiteboards that can be used flexibly in the retrospective –, for example to examine core causes or to brainstorm measures.

So our tip: If you're thinking about trying out the Neatro retrospective software tool in your agile team, take a look at the Echometer retro tool first: Free Echometer access without login

Both TeamRetro and Echometer offer all the essential functions for preparing and conducting online retrospectives:

• Both TeamRetro and Echometer have an extensive retrospective board for sharing feedback, grouping and voting. However, Echometer also offers integrated whiteboards that can be used flexibly in the retrospective.
• Both TeamRetro and Echometer have integrated Team Health Checks and offer cross-team evaluations.
• Both TeamRetro and Echometer offer random icebreakers for retrospectives.
• Both tools allow the creation and tracking of measures from a retrospective perspective

The main differences between TeamRetro and Echometer are as follows:

• What sets Echometer apart from TeamRetro is its simpler handling and modern design. Users of Echometer report that it is easier in Echometer for all team members to be online quickly and that it is easier for participants to actively take part in Echometer.
• In addition to the Retro tool, TeamRetro also offers Planning Poker. TeamRetro is therefore very focused on Scrum teams. Echometer, on the other hand, also offers a tool for 1:1 meetings in addition to its retro tool and thus focuses more on the managers of agile teams.
• TeamRetro only has a 30-day free trial period, while Echometer offers a permanent free plan.

Both retrospective software from Echometer and Reetro make it possible to conduct interactive online retrospectives:

• Both have a retro board
• Both support Health Checks
• Both support action tracking
• Both support icebreakers

Echometer and Reetro differ as follows:

• Echometer's free plan is more generous than Reetro's free version:
  • Reetro only allows 9 team members in the free plan. Echometer allows an unlimited number of team members in the free plan.
  • Retro only allows 1 Team Admin and one Orga Admin in the free plan. Echometer allows an unlimited number of Team Admins and Orga Admins.
  • Echometer's free plan includes all features: Also the concealment of cards and Health Checks. With Reetro, these features are only available in the paid plan.
• Reetro has a slightly more expensive entry-level price of €32 per month. Echometer's Pro plan starts at just €29 per month.

If you're thinking about trying out the retrospective software tool Reetro, take a quick look at the retro tool Echometer. The special thing about Echometer is that you can simply open the retrospective templates and the retro tool for free and save time without logging in using this link: Echometer Access without login.

Both the Echometer Retrospective software and EasyRetro allow you to conduct interactive online retrospectives. Some features overlap in both tools:

• Both offer a Google login and login via email
• Both offer a retro board for grouping and tuning feedback
• Both offer Jira integration for saving measures

In principle, both tools allow you to carry out good online or remote retrospectives. However, Echometer goes one step further and offers icebreakers, action reviews and a checkout (ROTI score) in addition to the retro board. In addition to the retro, Echometer also has supplementary functions such as team surveys and team Health Check dashboards.

Therefore, as the name suggests, EasyRetro is actually just a very simple retro tool, while Echometer is a more comprehensive team development tool, of which the retrospective is a central part.

Unlike Echometer, EasyRetro only allows a limited number of team members in the free version. With Echometer, the number of team members is unlimited, even in the free plan.

EasyRetro has far fewer features overall than Echometer, for example no integrated online whiteboards and no templates for Health Check – for measuring psychological safety, for example. Finally, the generous free trial version of Echometer is also outstanding.

Tip: If you're thinking about trying out the EasyRetro retrospective software tool, take a quick look at the free version of the Echometer retro tool. The special thing about Echometer is that you can open the retrospective templates and the Echometer retro board immediately, free of charge and without having to log in: Echometer Access without login.

Both the Echometer retrospective software and Retrium make it possible to conduct interactive online retrospectives. In principle, both tool alternatives make it possible to conduct good online/remote retrospectives.

Retrium also has fewer retrospective features than Echometer:

• Retrium, for example, does not have integrated online whiteboards and
• not as diverse templates for retrospectives as Echometer.
• Retrium also lacks the option of obtaining asynchronous feedback via a survey before the retrospective.

Finally, Echometer's generous free trial is also outstanding. While Retrium, unlike Echometer, does not offer a permanent free plan. Retrium is also generally more expensive than Echometer in the paid plans.

If you are thinking about trying out the retrospective software tool Retrium, take a quick look at the free version of the retro tool Echometer. Because the special thing about Echometer is that you can try out the retrospective templates and the retro board immediately (time-saving without login) under this link: Echometer Access without login.

Advantages of using Echometer as agile retrospective software:

• Simplicity: Simple preparation and implementation of retrospectives for the moderator, which saves time
• Team engagement: Users report that the playful approach increases team engagement
• Successful continuous improvement: integrated tracking of long-term trends and follow-up of retrospective measures

Disadvantages of using Echometer as an agile retrospective tool:

• Holistic mapping of retrospectives: The tracking of measures from retrospectives should ideally also take place in Echometer in order to be able to use the full range of functions.
• Opinionated approach: Echometer provides a certain structure for the retrospectives thanks to its psychologically based approach. Adapting this as a moderator can be somewhat cumbersome, as you may have to manually skip steps in the retrospective.
• The free plan only offers one retrospective per month after the initial trial has expired. On the other hand, the Pro version is relatively inexpensive at €29 per team per month.

Echometer is the best software tool for retrospectives compared to alternative retrospective software tools such as Retrium, EasyRetro, Reetro, Neetro and TeamRetro for three reasons:

1. Large selection of creative templates for retrospectives: Users of Echometer confirm that Echometer has a uniquely wide range of retro board ideas.
2. Echometer has a simple and intuitive structure for retrospectives that guides teams through retrospectives using best practices. This also makes Echometer very beginner-friendly.
3. Echometer offers a generous free version.

Users of Echometer particularly appreciate the unique function of Echometer to insert Health Checks into their agile retrospectives: These agile Health Checks make a massive contribution to stimulating team reflection and actively involving every team member in the retrospective.

To summarize, even alternative retrospective software tools such as Parabol do not have the unique features of the Echometer retrospective tool, which are both simple and effective. Therefore, it can be said that Echometer is the best software app for conducting agile sprint retrospective meetings.

The greatest strengths of the Echometer retrospective tool are its impact on time savings, participant engagement and productivity.

• With hundreds of ideas for retrospective templates in combination with the integrated surveys, Echometer makes it very easy to prepare great retrospectives in just a few minutes.
• Thanks to the guided steps and the playful and interactive retrospective board, implementation is child's play, focused and results-oriented at the same time.
• The integrated tracking of measures and team health makes it easier to recognize trends in the team at an early stage and ensure that measures from retrospectives are not forgotten

Combined with the unique features of the agile Health Checks and flexible whiteboards, Echometer is one of the best, if not the best, retrospective tool on the market, even better than the better-known Parabol retrospective tool.