Retrospective Lab vs. Retrium — the alternative that gets your action items done
Retrium is an established retrospective tool, strong in structured facilitation and enterprise security. But teams that want action-item follow-through, prefer not to pay per team room, or want their data kept in Europe run into limits.
In this comparison we place Retrospective Lab and Retrium side by side honestly — including the points where Retrium wins — so you can make the choice that fits your team.
| Feature | Retrospective Lab | Retrium |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 1 facilitator, 3 retros/month, unlimited participants | No free plan, trial only |
| Pricing model | Per facilitator, unlimited participants | Per team room |
| Transparent price online | Yes, on the site (enterprise: contact sales) | Yes: ± €34/team room/mo (enterprise: contact sales) |
| Action tracking (owner, status, deadline) | Yes, with dashboard | Left standing, no status |
| Sprint KPI dashboard (% on time) | Velocity, defect flow, action tracking | Not available |
| Team health checks | Spotify, Radar, Happiness | Separate assessments |
| Working Agreements | Built-in (Pro) | Not available |
| Planning Poker | Roadmap | Not available |
| Jira integration | Coming soon | Yes |
| Slack/Teams integration | Roadmap | Limited |
| AI features | Roadmap | Limited |
| EU hosting | Always, app and data | Primarily US |
| GDPR data processing agreement | Yes | Available, data in US |
| Languages | 4 (NL, EN, ES, DE) | English only |
| Guests without account | Yes | Yes |
Free plan
Retrospective Lab
1 facilitator, 3 retros/month, unlimited participants
Retrium
No free plan, trial only
Pricing model
Retrospective Lab
Per facilitator, unlimited participants
Retrium
Per team room
Transparent price online
Retrospective Lab
Yes, on the site (enterprise: contact sales)
Retrium
Yes: ± €34/team room/mo (enterprise: contact sales)
Action tracking (owner, status, deadline)
Retrospective Lab
Yes, with dashboard
Retrium
Left standing, no status
Sprint KPI dashboard (% on time)
Retrospective Lab
Velocity, defect flow, action tracking
Retrium
Not available
Team health checks
Retrospective Lab
Spotify, Radar, Happiness
Retrium
Separate assessments
Working Agreements
Retrospective Lab
Built-in (Pro)
Retrium
Not available
Planning Poker
Retrospective Lab
Roadmap
Retrium
Not available
Jira integration
Retrospective Lab
Coming soon
Retrium
Yes
Slack/Teams integration
Retrospective Lab
Roadmap
Retrium
Limited
AI features
Retrospective Lab
Roadmap
Retrium
Limited
EU hosting
Retrospective Lab
Always, app and data
Retrium
Primarily US
GDPR data processing agreement
Retrospective Lab
Yes
Retrium
Available, data in US
Languages
Retrospective Lab
4 (NL, EN, ES, DE)
Retrium
English only
Guests without account
Retrospective Lab
Yes
Retrium
Yes
In-depth comparison
Do your action items get left behind?
Retrium is excellent at facilitating the retro itself: structured techniques, voting rounds, and timeboxing. But once the session ends, the action items are left standing — without an owner, deadline, or status tracking.
Retrospective Lab gives every action item an owner, a deadline, and a status, and shows in a KPI dashboard what percentage is completed on time. That connects retro outcomes to measurable sprint numbers: from insight to action to evidence.
💡If you want retrospectives to actually lead to improvement, follow-through is not an extra — it is the core.
Per team room vs. per facilitator
Retrium publishes its prices right on its site: ± €34 per team room per month (Business: ± €626 per room per year; only Enterprise goes through sales). Credit where it is due — that is transparent. But costs do scale with every team you add: five team rooms cost ± €170 per month. Retrium bills in dollars; the amounts on this page are converted at the July 2026 exchange rate.
Retrospective Lab charges per facilitator: from €27 per month for unlimited teams and unlimited participants, or €79 flat (Team) with up to 5 facilitators — where five team rooms at Retrium come to ± €170 per month.
💡Both tools show their price online; the difference is in the model. Per facilitator scales more favourably than per team room as soon as you facilitate more than one team.
Data location and GDPR
Retrium hosts primarily on US infrastructure. A data processing agreement is available, but your retro data is processed outside the EU.
Retrospective Lab runs exclusively on European servers — application and data. For teams in education, government, healthcare, or finance, EU data residency is not a detail but a requirement.
💡Is GDPR a genuine requirement and not just a checkbox? Then choose a tool whose data never leaves the EU.
Where Retrium is stronger: facilitation and enterprise
Honesty first: Retrium is strong in structured facilitation for large groups and in enterprise security such as SSO and fine-grained access control. For very large or highly regulated organizations, those are significant advantages.
Retrium also offers a Jira integration and limited Slack/Teams support today. At Retrospective Lab, the Jira integration is coming soon; Confluence, Slack, Teams, and Trello are on the roadmap, as are AI features. Retrospective Lab deliberately chooses depth on follow-through, price, and EU hosting.
💡Looking for maximum process guidance and enterprise SSO? Then Retrium is the better choice. Is it about follow-through, price, and EU data? Then Retrospective Lab.
Choose Retrium if…
- •You facilitate very large or highly regulated teams and want maximum process guidance
- •SSO and extensive enterprise access control are essential today
- •Slack/Teams notifications or AI features are essential right now
- •EU data residency is not a requirement for your team
Choose Retrospective Lab if…
- ✓You want action items to get done — with owner, deadline, and a KPI dashboard
- ✓You want a per-facilitator price that does not scale with the number of teams, with unlimited participants
- ✓You want to keep your data in Europe (GDPR, government, healthcare, finance)
- ✓You want team health checks and sprint analytics built in
- ✓Your team works (partly) in Dutch, Spanish, or German
Frequently asked questions
Is Retrospective Lab a good alternative to Retrium?+
Yes, especially if you want retrospectives to lead to real improvements. Retrium is strong in facilitation and enterprise security, but action items are left standing there without an owner or status. Retrospective Lab gives every action item an owner, deadline, and KPI dashboard, charges per facilitator instead of per team room, and hosts your data in the EU.
What can Retrospective Lab do that Retrium cannot?+
Action tracking with owner, deadline, and a dashboard that shows what gets completed on time; a per-facilitator price with unlimited participants that does not scale per team room; EU hosting with GDPR-compliant processing; team health checks; and an interface in four languages.
What does Retrospective Lab cost compared to Retrium?+
Retrospective Lab costs €27 per facilitator per month, or €79 flat for teams of up to 5 facilitators — participants free. Retrium charges ± €34 per team room per month (converted from dollars; Enterprise on request): with five teams that is ± €170 per month, versus €79 flat at Retrospective Lab. Retrospective Lab also has a free plan with 3 retros per month.
Is Retrium or Retrospective Lab better for large organizations?+
For very large or highly regulated organizations that mainly seek structured facilitation and enterprise security such as SSO, Retrium is a strong choice. If it is mainly about following up on improvement actions, a price that does not scale per team room, and EU hosting, Retrospective Lab fits better — also at larger scale, thanks to unlimited participants per facilitator.
Where is my data stored — in the EU or the US?+
Retrospective Lab runs exclusively on European servers, application and data. Retrium hosts primarily in the United States. For European teams with data residency requirements, that is often the decisive difference.
Do I need to migrate my Retrium data to switch?+
No, you do not need a migration project. You start with a clean setup and prepare a first retro in a few minutes with one of the 70+ templates. You can leave existing boards in Retrium for reference.
Ready to compare with your own team?
Start free — no credit card, no time limit. One facilitator, 3 retros per month free, all templates.