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Hey.

Sprint retros shouldn't end with a Google Doc nobody reads.

There’s a good chance we know why you’re here.

The room will be quiet. Two people will talk. Everyone else will watch the clock. The honest stuff will land in Slack DMs after — where it can’t change anything.

Last sprint you wrote “Improve communication” on a pink sticky. It’s still there. Third sprint. Nobody remembers who owned it.

And you’re the one who copied the Miro template at 4:55pm, then transcribed stickies into Confluence after.

Free for one team, unlimited members. No credit card. No two-week clock.

A live HonestRetro board: anonymous cards in Went well, To improve, and Ideas.
The board, mid-meeting. Names stay off the cards.

Job 1

When the room is quiet and the real talk happens in Slack DMs after.

Cards are anonymous by default. No per-card opt-out. The junior engineer with the actual problem doesn’t have to decide whether it’s safe to put their name on it. The coach is private too. It does not post to Slack. It does not email your manager.

Private AI coach thread turning a vague frustration into a specific card.

Job 2

When last sprint’s Google Doc is the same five problems.

Every commitment gets an owner. Incomplete items carry into the next retro. Sync to Jira or Linear if that’s where work already lives. The sticky that said “Improve communication” can’t quietly disappear by Wednesday.

Cool. See you in two weeks for the exact same list.

Action items with owners, a carried-over item, and Linear and Jira badges.

Job 3

When you’re copying a Miro template at 4:55pm.

Eight phases. That’s the meeting. We group the cards. You run the conversation. We do not have 200 templates. We do not have planning poker. EasyRetro is a better board. Parabol is a better meeting suite. This is for the Wednesday the board wasn’t the problem.

Grouped themes on the retro board during the grouping phase.

One loop. Not four tools.

Standup themes can feed the retro. Retro actions track into the next sprint. That’s the job: the meeting produces a change that is still there next Wednesday.

Coming: capture a frustration from Cursor or Claude Code — it lands as a draft card in the next retro. Not shipping yet.

  1. 01 / 08

    Draft

    Pull in what you said you’d do last time.

  2. 02 / 08

    Check-in

    How is everyone, actually.

  3. 03 / 08

    Reflect

    Anonymous cards. Solo.

  4. 04 / 08

    Group

    Themes. Humans confirm.

  5. 05 / 08

    Vote

    Three votes. No more.

  6. 06 / 08

    Discuss

    Top theme first.

  7. 07 / 08

    Commit

    Owners. Due dates.

  8. 08 / 08

    Closed

    Carries into next sprint.

A board. Not a loop.

Stay where you are, if that’s working.

EasyRetro won by being the easiest board in the room. Keep it if you want 100+ templates and a board up in 30 seconds. Parabol is the better all-in-one if you need poker and the option to self-host. We don’t have poker. We aren’t self-hosted.

Switch if the quiet people never speak, “Improve communication” is still on the board, or you’re the one doing the transcription after.

Run your next retro free.

One team. Unlimited members. No credit card. If the meeting still ends in a document nobody reads, go back. You won’t owe us anything.

Questions teams ask before switching

What is HonestRetro?
HonestRetro is for the scrum master or eng manager who runs the retro. Anonymous cards by default, a private coach before anyone shares, and action items that carry over until they're done. Not a Google Doc. Not a Miro board you transcribe into Confluence after.
How is HonestRetro different from EasyRetro, Parabol, or a Miro board?
EasyRetro is a better board (100+ templates, up in 30 seconds). Parabol is a better meeting suite if you need poker and the option to self-host. We don't have poker. We aren't self-hosted. We win on anonymous-by-default, a private coach before a card hits the board, actions that survive until Wednesday, and a price per team — not per seat.
Is HonestRetro free?
Yes. Free is one team, unlimited members. Unlimited retros, anonymous by default, voting, 8 phases, action items with owners on the board, and 1 AI-coached retro per month. No Slack, Jira, or Linear on Free. Team is $99 per team per month ($79/mo billed annually). Company is $299/month flat for unlimited teams. No two-week trial clock.
Does HonestRetro make retros anonymous?
Yes. Cards are anonymous by default for the entire team. No per-card opt-out. The junior engineer with the best insight doesn't have to weigh office politics.
Can the facilitator or admin see who wrote a card?
No. Not in the product. Cards are anonymous to everyone in the workspace, including the person who started the retro. Facilitators and org admins see the same nameless cards everyone else sees. This is not cryptographic anonymity — we still store the author so you can edit your own card, and a server admin with database access could see that association.
Can HonestRetro help action items actually get done?
Every commitment gets an owner and a due date, syncs to Jira or Linear, and incomplete items carry into the next retro automatically — so the team can't quietly forget them by Wednesday.