FocusRetro

FocusRetro is an online retrospective tool for agile, remote, and hybrid teams, built around feedback, blind voting, timers, and action items. Facilitation options include phase timers, locked phases, topic grouping, and moderation controls. Templates include Went Well / To Improve / Action Items, Mad Sad Glad, Start-Stop-Continue, 4Ls, and a blank board. Action items can be assigned owners and due dates, tracked by status, and resurfaced at the start of the next retrospective. FocusRetro lists Jira and Slack integrations. Guests can join a board through an invite link, contribute feedback, vote, and access action items without an account. The free Starter plan includes three personal boards per month, core templates, voting, reactions, phase timers, and action items. A Team plan is listed at $15.00 per month billed monthly and includes one shared workspace, unlimited boards and members, and private or restricted boards with passwords. Business is listed with custom annual billing. Browser traffic is encrypted with TLS, and integration tokens are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. FocusRetro says it does not yet hold SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certifications.

FocusRetro pairs structured retrospective sessions with action tracking and guest participation. Its free Starter plan has a three-board monthly limit, while Team includes a shared workspace and unlimited boards and members.

FocusRetro may suit agile, remote, and hybrid teams that run structured retrospectives and track follow-up actions. Guest access may help teams invite participants who do not have accounts.

FocusRetro is a web app for teams that want retrospective sessions to move from feedback to assigned follow-up. It suits agile groups working remotely or in hybrid settings, especially when guests need to join without accounts. Its strongest case is the link between guided facilitation and action tracking; its main constraint is that the free plan does not provide a shared workspace.

Overview

FocusRetro gives facilitators tools to shape the pace and flow of a retro: phase timers, locked phases, topic grouping and moderation controls. That structure can help a group get from individual input to discussion without relying on an unstructured board, though teams that prefer a looser meeting format may find the controls unnecessary.

Feedback can be anonymous, and participants can vote. Action items can be assigned an owner, due date and status, then brought back at the start of the next retrospective. That return loop is useful for teams that want decisions to remain visible after a meeting rather than treating each retro as a standalone session.

Key features

Templates and facilitation

Teams can start with Went Well / To Improve / Action Items, Mad Sad Glad, Start-Stop-Continue or 4Ls, or use a blank board. The mix covers familiar formats while leaving room to set up a session from scratch. Timers, locked phases and moderation controls give facilitators ways to manage participation and keep the group moving.

Participation and follow-through

Guests can enter through an invite link, contribute feedback, vote and access action items without an account. This lowers the barrier for occasional contributors, while owners, due dates and status make follow-up more concrete for regular teams. FocusRetro also says it provides Jira and Slack integrations.

Security and privacy

Browser traffic is encrypted with TLS, and Jira and Slack integration tokens are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. Team health-check answers are stored as anonymous aggregates rather than connected to identities. Stripe processes payments, so card details do not pass through FocusRetro's servers. The product does not yet hold SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certifications, a consideration for organizations that require those credentials.

Pricing

The Starter plan is free forever and includes three personal boards per month, core retro templates, voting and reactions, phase timers and action items. It is a sensible way to run occasional retros alone, but the personal-board cap makes it a poor fit for ongoing shared team use.

Team costs $15 a month, billed monthly. It adds one shared workspace, unlimited boards and workspace members, private and restricted boards, and board passwords. For a team that wants recurring shared sessions, those collaboration and access controls are the practical reason to pay; the monthly term avoids an annual commitment.

Business uses custom annual billing and includes five workspaces, unlimited boards and workspace members, and admin controls. It is aimed at organizations that need several workspaces and administration features, rather than a single team. A 14-day trial is available. Product and billing support comes from the people who write the code.

Platforms

FocusRetro runs on the web. Its browser-based format fits teams joining from different locations, but it does not offer a separately listed desktop or mobile platform.

Who it's for

FocusRetro is best for agile, remote and hybrid teams that want a facilitated retrospective, low-friction guest participation and action items that carry into the next session. Individuals can use Starter within its monthly personal-board limit. Teams needing shared boards should budget for Team, while organizations that need multiple workspaces and admin controls can consider Business. It is less compelling for teams seeking an unstructured board or organizations that require SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Action items retain owners, due dates and status, then reappear at the next retro, giving teams a clear follow-through mechanism.
• Pros: Guests can contribute and vote without accounts, useful when a session includes occasional participants.
• Pros: The template range, timers and moderation controls support both familiar formats and facilitator-led sessions.
• Cons: Starter is limited to three personal boards per month and does not include a shared workspace, so recurring team use points to the paid plan.
• Cons: Business requires custom annual billing, making it less straightforward to assess than the monthly Team plan.
• Cons: It does not yet hold SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certifications, which may rule it out for some procurement requirements.

Alternatives

Compare retrospective software if you want to weigh several tools before choosing a format and plan.

• RetroStack is worth considering if a free option with no sign-up requirement and web, iOS, Android and Mac availability matters more than FocusRetro's listed facilitation and follow-up features.
• Echometer is another freemium option with a free trial and Linux, macOS, web and Windows support; consider it if those platforms matter to your team.
• Neatro is a web-based freemium alternative with a free plan and trial; consider it if you want to compare another browser-based option.
• Reetro has a free-forever plan covering three teams, up to nine members per team and ten active boards, which may fit a small team prioritizing those caps over FocusRetro's guest access.
• Retrospected offers web and self-hosted options, so it is an alternative to consider if self-hosting is important.
• ScatterSpoke is a freemium web and API option; consider it if API availability is relevant to your choice.
• TeleRetro is a web-based freemium alternative with no free trial, for readers comparing another browser-based plan.
• Ceremonies is a freemium option with web and self-hosted availability, worth considering if self-hosting is a priority.

Verdict

Choose FocusRetro if your agile, remote or hybrid team wants structured retrospectives, account-free guest participation and action items that return for review. The facilitation tools and follow-through give it a clear purpose beyond collecting comments. Look elsewhere if you need a free shared workspace or require SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification.