Spreadsheets
Good at: free, flexible, everyone knows how.
Leaves out: any rhythm, any owner, any quality bar. Nobody is ever told anything.
Why OKRGoal
Every OKR tool stores objectives. This one runs them.
There are four common ways to run OKRs. Each one does something well. Here is what each does, what it leaves out, and where OKRGoal is different.
Four ways organisations run OKRs today
OKR trackers
Good at: a tidy place for objectives, progress bars, dashboards.
Leaves out: they wait to be visited. Quality, rhythm and the close are left to people to remember.
Project tools with goals
Good at: linking goals to the work people already track.
Leaves out: the OKR method itself. Goals become one more field on a task.
Consultants
Good at: the method, the workshops, the facilitation.
Leaves out: the weeks between visits. The method leaves with them.
Side by side
| What it does | Spreadsheet | Typical OKR tracker | OKRGoal and OpenOKR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stores objectives and key results | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Checks quality as you write | No | Sometimes, with a template or an AI suggestion | Twenty-six checks, each citing its rule |
| Blocks a weak set from publishing | No | Rarely | Six gates you set to block, warn or off |
| Guided planning cycle | No | Rarely | Eight phases, completion computed from the work |
| Runs the weekly session | No | Usually reminders only | Four steps, votes, blockers, commitments, digest, streak |
| Escalates late check-ins | No | Sometimes | A visible ladder, every step recorded |
| Marks stale goals honestly | No | Rarely | “Outdated” overrides whatever was claimed |
| KPIs and OKRs in one system | Separate sheets | Sometimes | Driver trees, health bands, recovery OKRs |
| Closing diagnostic | No | No | Strategy problem or rhythm problem, from real check-ins |
| Check in from chat | No | Slack or Teams, sometimes | Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, Telegram, email |
| Your own AI agent can use it | No | Rarely | MCP, with consent and your permissions |
| Works with AI off | Yes | Depends | Every rule is code |
| Open source | No | Rarely | AGPL-3.0 |
| Self-host, every feature | It is a file | Rarely | No seat limit, no licence key |
| Single sign-on without an enterprise plan | No | Rarely | On every plan |
| Export everything | Yes | Usually CSV | The whole workspace, with history |
“Typical OKR tracker” describes the category as we see it, not any one product. If your tool does more, good: check the rows that matter to you.
Six things that set OKRGoal apart.
-
01
The method is public, and the product is held to it.
Every rule lives in one document, and a test fails the build when the code disagrees with it.
-
02
Every message cites a rule.
You can open the rule behind any nudge and argue with it.
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03
Every rule runs with the AI switched off.
The AI drafts and words things. The rules decide.
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04
Two AI teammates come with every workspace and are never billed as seats.
They propose by default, and a person approves.
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05
It is yours.
Open source, every feature on every plan, self-host free, and export everything in either direction.
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06
It is built by people who coach OKRs for a living.
OKR Institute has coached OKR rollouts since 2017, and built OKRGoal and OpenOKR on what it learned.
Honestly, it is not for everyone.
- You want a project-management suite. OKRGoal has initiatives, a board and documents, deliberately OKR-shaped. It has no Gantt charts, sprints or time tracking. Keep your project tool and link its work to key results.
- You want goals with no method around them. If you want a list of objectives and nothing else, a spreadsheet is fine. The Lightweight profile is the closest we get.
- You need a native mobile app today. The web app works on a phone, and so do the chat channels, but there is no app in the stores yet.
- You need custom fields and custom workflows. Not in the first version. They are designed for, and come later.
Bring last quarter with you.
Upload a spreadsheet of goals, key results, KPIs, initiatives or tasks, confirm the mapping, see a dry run, then import. Every derived number is recomputed, and anything that cannot map cleanly is named in the report.
Mapping confirmedDry runImport
Column mapping
ObjectiveGoal
Key resultKey result
Start, TargetBaseline and target
Dry run
Goals42
Key results126
KPIs9
2 rowsCould not map cleanly. Named in the report.
Import