Microsoft Whiteboard vs Stormboard
We give Microsoft Whiteboard a 3.8 GPA and Stormboard a 3.4, out of 4.0. Microsoft Whiteboard grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. Stormboard grades higher on features. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Microsoft Whiteboard
Free collaborative canvas built into Microsoft 365 and Teams
Stormboard
Sticky-note digital whiteboard with built-in reports
How we grade them
| 3.8GPAMicrosoft WhiteboardExcellent | 3.4GPAStormboardVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AIt's free. There's nothing to buy with a personal Microsoft account, and at work or school it comes with your organisation's Microsoft 365 tenant. It isn't sold on its own at all. | BBusiness is $8.33 a user a month billed annually ($100 a year), or $10 monthly, which is bang on typical for this category. Annual subscriptions are non-refundable and skip the free trial. StormAI on Business is only a 30-day trial before an Enterprise upgrade. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe web, Windows, iOS and Android apps are all free with a Microsoft account, and so are the 60-plus templates. The one thing that costs extra is Copilot, which needs its own license. | BPersonal is free with no credit card, and it has pre-made templates, voting, tasks and a timer. But it's 5 open Storms with up to 5 users in each, Office and Google files are view-only, and the Word, PowerPoint and Excel reports are left out. |
| Features | BPens, a highlighter, sticky notes, shapes, more than 60 templates and Loop components that stay in sync elsewhere. Solid basics. But personal-account boards lack collaborative cursors, the laser pointer and a recycle bin, and the export is an image. | AText, image, video, file and whiteboard sticky notes sorted into template sections, with voting, comments, tasks and a timer. There are 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 | A4.6 from about 12,300 App Store ratings. It works with a mouse, a finger or a pen, and in Teams it's one click to share a board with the whole meeting. | BWe have no App Store rating on record, so a B is as high as this goes. The 250-plus templates give most meetings a starting shape, and the free plan needs no credit card. |
| Platforms and integrations | ABrowser, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android and Surface Hub, tied into Teams, Loop, OneNote and OneDrive. There's no Mac or Linux app, mind. On those it runs in a browser or inside Teams. | 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 | sketching together in a Teams meeting | 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: Microsoft Whiteboard and Stormboard. How we grade
Where they differ
- Microsoft Whiteboard is free. Stormboard starts at $8.33 per user / month, billed annually ($100 a year).
- Stormboard also covers tasks and reports.
At a glance
| Microsoft Whiteboard | Stormboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $8.33 per user / month, billed annually ($100 a year) |
| Free plan | Free with a personal Microsoft account or a Microsoft 365 work or school account. Boards made with a personal account lack collaborative cursors, the laser pointer and a recycle bin. | 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 | Microsoft Corporation | Stormboard |
| Price read from | microsoft.com | help.stormboard.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Microsoft Whiteboard
- Teams meetings where participants sketch on one shared board
- Organizations on Microsoft 365, where it is enabled by default
- Schools: free for students and educators through Microsoft 365 A1
- Pen and touch devices such as Surface Hub and iPad
Stormboard
- Facilitated workshops that need to end in a written report
- Agile teams planning with Jira, Rally or Azure DevOps
- Teams that co-edit Office or Google files inside a board
- Small groups: the free plan allows 5 users in each Storm
Worth knowing
Microsoft Whiteboard
- Microsoft lists apps for Windows, iOS, Android and Surface Hub but none for Mac or Linux, where Whiteboard runs in a browser or in Teams.
- Boards made with a personal account are stored in Azure and lack collaborative cursors, the laser pointer, the roster, a recycle bin and retention policies.
- Whiteboard is not sold on its own: work and school use depends on the organization's Microsoft 365 tenant, where an admin can turn it off.
- Copilot features need a separate Microsoft Copilot license.
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
Microsoft Whiteboard
- Infinite canvas with ink and sticky notes
- Pens, a highlighter, an eraser and a lasso sit alongside sticky notes, text, images and shapes, and the canvas works with a mouse, a touchscreen or a pen.
- Whiteboard in Microsoft Teams
- A board can be shared in a Teams meeting, chat or channel and stays available afterwards. The meeting organizer can put other participants in read-only mode.
- Templates
- More than 60 free templates give a starting structure for exercises such as brainstorming, sprint planning and project development.
- Loop components
- Microsoft Loop components can be placed on a board and stay in sync with the same component in chats, meetings, emails and documents.
- Copilot in Whiteboard
- Copilot suggests ideas as sticky notes, sorts notes into categories and summarizes a board. It requires a Microsoft Copilot license.
- Automatic saving and share links
- Boards save to the Microsoft cloud automatically, a share link invites others to collaborate, and a board can be exported as an image or sent to a OneNote class notebook.
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
Microsoft Whiteboard
Free$0
The web, Windows, iOS and Android apps with a free Microsoft account. Work and school access comes with an organization's Microsoft 365 tenant, not as a separate purchase.
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
Microsoft Whiteboard
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.
