Meet TeamRetro

Yes and no: You can use Metro Retro for free if you do not exceed a certain number of board objects on the retro board(digital whiteboard) and have a maximum of 30 people in the team. After that, however, you will have to pay for the Metro Retro Tool. Prices start from either $25 per host or $6 per team member per month on a basic plan.

Meanwhile, MetroRetro’s alternative – TeamRetro, is free for 30 days. Pricing for a single team is $25 with additional discounts for additional teams. There is no limit on the number of team members. See here for pricing information.

To add a sticky note in MetroRetro as part of your online brainstorming session, first click on the board that you want to participate in. Next, click on the side panel or bar and choose the sticky note that you want to add. Then click on the region you want to add the sticky note to. You can choose the colour of the note and resize it to fit your text in. When adding a sticky note, be sure not to cover up someone else’s sticky note. When moving to another topic or region you have to change the colour, unless this has been preset by the facilitator.

On the other hand, to add a Sticky Note or idea in TeamRetro, simply click in the region you want to add an idea to and start typing. Hit enter and it can be shared anonymously or with your initials. The colour is auto-adjusted and you can also comment on ideas.

MetroRetro can only integrate with Google workspace at the moment while its alternative, TeamRetro, can integrate with a wide range of applications including Jira, Asana, Trello, and many more. See the full list of integrations here.

To cancel your subscription, you will have to go to the billing management page in your account and cancel from there. You will then be downgraded to the free plan automatically.

MetroRetro has taken some measures for app security, privacy and data protection. Data is stored in the EU (Amsterdam) via the US service “Digital Ocean”. Access to the infrastructure is protected from intruders by public/private keys and/or 2FA. A full overview of security, privacy and data protection measures can be found on the company’s website.

MetroRetro’s alternative – TeamRetro, is Soc2 Type2  and GDPR compliant and can be hosted in either in the US or the EU. Detailed information can be found here.

To add a vote to an idea, you have to select the voting tool from the side panel and left click on the on the sticky note you want to vote for. All votes are seen by everyone. If you want to remove a vote you have cast, right click and your most recent vote will be removed. You can zoom in and out of the board as needed to find the item you want to vote for. Note that your idea may be moved by others depending on which position it was moved to. When all votes have been completed, the facilitator can end the round of voting.

On the other hand, voting in TeamRetro is a separate step and you simply click + or – on the idea to vote. All votes are always independent to reduce bias and the votes are automatically tallied and ordered. You can talk through all the votes with ideas in presentation mode, starting with the top voted idea.