Parabol vs Stormboard (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Parabol and Stormboard share a 2.6 GPA, both have a free plan, and Parabol starts cheaper, at $8 a month for each person against $8.33 a month for each person.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Parabol grades higher on the free plan. Stormboard grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Parabol
Retrospectives, standups and sprint poker for agile teams
Stormboard
Sticky-note digital whiteboard with built-in reports
Which one is for you
Pick Parabol if
- Fits if your agile team wants retros, standups and poker in one app
- Works for small groups, since the free plan allows unlimited users
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 2 teams, 10 meetings a month and 30 days of history
- Pricey if many people join, as Team is billed per active user
- Skip it if you need SAML SSO, SCIM or Jira Data Center, all Enterprise only
- Watch out: no desktop or mobile apps are listed on the pages we read
Pick Stormboard if
- Fits if your workshops need to end in a written report people can edit
- Works for sprint planning in Jira, Rally or Azure DevOps with changes synced back
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're staying free, with 5 open Storms of 5 users and view-only Office and Google files
- Skip it if you want the AI on a regular plan, as StormAI on Business is a 30-day trial before an Enterprise upgrade
- Not for you if you want a desktop app on a Mac, because only a Windows one is listed
- Watch out: the 30-day trial needs a card and covers monthly plans only, and annual plans aren't refundable
- Too light for work on a phone, as the vendor calls its phone app a companion with limited features
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAParabolGood | 2.6GPAStormboardGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$8 per active user a month, which is the category's middle, and it rises with how many people take part. | CBusiness is $8.33 a user a month billed annually ($100 a year), or $10 monthly, which is the exact middle of this category. Annual subscriptions are non-refundable and skip the free trial, and StormAI on Business is a 30-day trial before an Enterprise upgrade. |
| Free plan and trial | BStarter is free for up to 2 teams, 10 meetings a month and unlimited users, with 30 days of history. One team could live on it. | CPersonal is free with no credit card, with pre-made templates, voting, tasks and a timer. But 5 open Storms of 5 users each is a cap you'll hit, Office and Google files are view-only, and the Word, PowerPoint and Excel reports are left out. |
| Features | BRetros, standups, sprint poker, Team Health checks and AI prompts, plus links to the backlog tools. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the meeting job. | BText, image, video, file and whiteboard sticky notes sorted into template sections, with voting, comments, tasks and a timer, and more than 250 templates. A Storm exports as an editable Word, PowerPoint, Excel or Google report, and changes mirror back to Jira, Rally and Azure DevOps. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You choose templates and set up teams before the first meeting. | CNo store rating on record, and the work here is building the board itself: sections to lay out, notes to sort, a template to pick from more than 250. The free plan at least needs no credit card, so you can poke at it before deciding. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it connects to Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Linear, Azure DevOps, Slack, Teams and Mattermost. | AWeb, Windows, iOS and Android, with Jira, Azure DevOps, Rally, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, Google Drive and Zapier hooked in. There's no Mac app, and Stormboard itself calls the phone app a companion with limited features. |
| Best for | retros, standups and sprint poker in one app | workshops that have to end in a written report |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Parabol and Stormboard. How we grade
Price against what you get
Parabol starts at $8 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Stormboard starts at $8.33 a month for each person and scores 3.0.
Stormboard scores higher, and starts $0.33 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other whiteboard and mind map tools on the chart, 6 score higher than Parabol for less, and 2 score higher than Stormboard for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Parabol is open source, according to its own site.
- Stormboard also covers whiteboard and reports.
At a glance
| Parabol | Stormboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8 per active user / month | $8.33 per user / month, billed annually ($100 a year) |
| Free plan | Starter: up to 2 teams, 10 meetings per month, unlimited users and 30 days of meeting history. | Personal plan: 5 open Storms with up to 5 users in each, pre-made templates, basic reports and exports, and view-only Microsoft Office and Google Drive files. No credit card is needed. |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial on monthly subscriptions only; a credit card is required |
| Web | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Parabol | Stormboard |
| Price read from | parabol.co | help.stormboard.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Parabol
- The free Starter plan is limited to 2 teams and 10 meetings per month, with 30 days of history.
- The Team plan is priced per active user per month, so the bill moves with how many people take part.
- SAML SSO, SCIM and the Jira Data Center and self-managed GitLab integrations are Enterprise only.
- Parabol runs in a browser; the pages read list no desktop or mobile apps.
Stormboard
- The Personal plan allows 5 open Storms with 5 users each, and Microsoft Office and Google Drive files are view-only on it.
- Substorms, idea grouping, folders, and the Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Google reports all need the Business plan.
- SAML single sign-on, audit logs and the Surface Hub app are Enterprise-only, and StormAI on Business is a 30-day trial before an Enterprise upgrade.
- The vendor lists apps for Windows, iOS and Android but no Mac app, and describes the phone app as a companion with limited features.
Key features
Parabol
- Retrospectives
- Teams add anonymous suggestions, group them, vote and create tasks as they go, with discussion threads that document the conversation.
- Other meeting formats
- Standups, team check-ins and sprint poker run in the same app, and more than 90 meeting templates are included.
- Team Health checks
- Recurring, research-backed health checks with anonymous answers and trends. The vendor lists it on the Team and Enterprise plans.
- AI assistance
- AI discussion prompts and related discussions are on every plan; meeting summaries, group suggestions and icebreakers are on the paid plans.
- Backlog and chat integrations
- Tasks can be sent to Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Linear or Azure DevOps, and meeting reminders and summaries can go to Slack, Microsoft Teams or Mattermost.
Stormboard
- Storms built from sticky notes
- A workspace, called a Storm, holds text, image, video, file and whiteboard sticky notes on an infinite canvas divided into sections. Index card notes open a Substorm on paid plans.
- Templates and section types
- More than 250 templates are included. On Business and Enterprise, a section can become a calendar, spreadsheet or matrix, and customized templates can be saved for reuse.
- Reports and exports
- A Storm exports as an editable Word, PowerPoint or Excel report, or as Google Docs, Slides or Sheets. These need Business; Personal has word cloud, votes and tasks exports.
- Two-way agile integrations
- Integrations with Jira, Rally and Azure DevOps mirror changes made in Stormboard back to the tracker, for backlog and sprint planning and for showing dependencies.
- Voting, tasks and timer
- Participants can vote on ideas, comment, and assign a task to a sticky note, and an assigned-tasks report lists owners and due dates. A timer is included on every plan.
- StormAI
- StormAI builds a template from a stated goal, suggests ideas, and summarizes sticky notes or groups them by theme or sentiment. Business customers get a 30-day trial of it.
Plans
Parabol
Starter$0
Up to 2 teams, 10 meetings per month, 30 days of history, 2 custom templates and 3 AI retrospective summaries.
Team$8
per active user / month, billed monthly
Unlimited teams, meetings, history and custom templates, private teams, Team Health, AI summaries and icebreakers.
EnterpriseCustom
Annual contract with user tiers, SAML SSO, SCIM, org admin role, uptime SLA and optional on-prem or single-tenant hosting.
Stormboard
Personal$0
5 open Storms, 5 users per Storm, one administrator per Storm, pre-made templates, and word cloud, votes and tasks exports.
Business$8.33
per user / month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)
Unlimited Storms, Substorms, idea grouping, folders, custom templates, Office and Google reports, and live co-editing of Office and Google files.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds SAML single sign-on, a single-tenant option, audit logs, the Surface Hub app, volume pricing, priority support and a dedicated account manager.
Ways to pay less
Parabol
No public discounts listed.
Stormboard
- Annual discount
2 months free with annual billing
Business is $8.33 per user a month billed annually ($100 a seat per year) against $10 billed monthly. Annual subscriptions are non-refundable and do not include the free trial.
- Nonprofit
25% off annual plans for nonprofits
Certified non-profit organizations get 25% off annual plans by choosing a plan and then contacting Stormboard. The discount does not apply to monthly billing.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Parabol or Stormboard?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Parabol is cheaper to start with: $8 a month for each person, against $8.33 a month for each person for Stormboard. Parabol starts at $8 per active user / month, and Stormboard starts at $8.33 per user / month, billed annually ($100 a year).
Which has a free plan, Parabol or Stormboard?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Parabol and Stormboard have a free plan.
Which platforms do Parabol and Stormboard run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Stormboard lists Windows, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.