Microsoft Whiteboard vs Ziteboard (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Microsoft Whiteboard grades higher than Ziteboard: 3.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Microsoft Whiteboard grades higher on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on features.
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
Ziteboard
Lightweight online whiteboard for tutoring and live teamwork
Which one is for you
Pick Microsoft Whiteboard if
- Fits if your meetings are in Teams and you want everyone drawing on one board
- Works for pen users on a Surface Hub or an iPad
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if your team isn't on Microsoft 365, because a personal account loses cursors and the recycle bin
- Not for you if you want a desktop app on a Mac or Linux, as Microsoft lists neither
- Too light for detailed diagrams and big workshops, with no voting, no timer and image-only export
- Watch out: at work an admin can switch it off, and Copilot features need a separate license
Pick Ziteboard if
- Fits if you run live lessons and need math tools on the board
- Works for tutors who share a board link
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, with 3 owned boards and public boards only
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $9 against $85 for the year
- Watch out: letting people in without registration needs a paid add-on on top of Pro
- Watch out: payment is through PayPal, with bank transfer only on request
How we grade them
| 3.4GPAMicrosoft WhiteboardVery good | 2.2GPAZiteboardFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree, where the rest of this category wants about $8.33 a month. There's nothing to buy with a personal Microsoft account, and at work or school it arrives with your organization's Microsoft 365 tenant. It isn't sold on its own at any price. | CMonthly Pro is $9, or $85 a year, which is about $7.08 a month. That's around the middle of what whiteboards charge. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe web, Windows, iPhone and Android apps are all free with a Microsoft account, and so are the 60-plus templates, with no cap on boards to walk into. Copilot is the one thing that costs extra, needing its own license. | CA free Starter plan with 3 owned boards, public boards only and limited data traffic. |
| Features | CThe basics of a board: pens, a highlighter, sticky notes, shapes, 60-odd templates and Loop components that stay in sync elsewhere. The listing's gaps are plain, though. Personal-account boards lose collaborative cursors, the laser pointer and the recycle bin, export is an image, and there's no voting or timer. | CFreehand drawing, shape recognition, math tools, import and live chat. Private boards, full PDF import and backup export are Pro. |
| Ease of use | B4.6 from 12,309 App Store ratings. It takes a mouse, a finger or a pen, there are templates to start from, and in Teams it's one click to put a board in front of the whole meeting. | CNo store rating on record. The homepage and the FAQ disagree about whether there are native apps. |
| Platforms and integrations | ABrowser, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android and Surface Hub, tied into Teams, Loop, OneNote and OneDrive. The hole is Apple and Linux desktops: Microsoft lists no Mac app, so there it runs in a browser or inside Teams. | BWeb, iOS and Android plus a Chrome extension, WordPress and an enterprise API. No desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | sketching together in a Teams meeting | a simple tutoring whiteboard |
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 Ziteboard. How we grade
Price against what you get
Microsoft Whiteboard has no paid plan and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Ziteboard starts at $9 a month and scores 2.3.
Microsoft Whiteboard scores higher and starts $9 a month lower. Of the other whiteboard and mind map tools on the chart, none scores higher than Microsoft Whiteboard for less, and 16 score higher than Ziteboard 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
- Microsoft Whiteboard also covers templates.
At a glance
| Microsoft Whiteboard | Ziteboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $9 per month, billed monthly ($85 billed yearly) |
| 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. | Starter plan: 3 boards owned, unlimited shared boards and collaborators, 3 basic colors, low-resolution images and first-page PDF import. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Microsoft Corporation | Ziteboard |
| Price read from | microsoft.com | ziteboard.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
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.
Ziteboard
- The Starter plan allows 3 owned boards, public boards only, and limits data traffic unless a Pro user is on the board.
- Inviting people to a board without registration needs a paid anonymous whiteboard add-on on top of a Pro plan.
- The homepage mentions apps for iPad and Android, while the FAQ says no native app is needed; the Android listing is on Google Play.
- Payment is currently through PayPal, with bank transfer available on request.
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.
Ziteboard
- Realtime collaboration
- Unlimited people can share a board live. An integrated chat adds text, audio and video, and the video runs peer to peer.
- Math tools
- A formula editor takes LaTeX or a virtual keyboard, and a graph plotter and interactive compass cover functions and geometry.
- Drawing helpers
- Freehand strokes are smoothed, and rough circles and other shapes are recognized and redrawn. Sticky notes are included.
- Image and PDF import
- Images can be dragged in, and PDF pages or page ranges imported. Free accounts get lower-resolution images and the first PDF page.
- Export
- Boards export as PNG, SVG or PDF; a backup export is a paid feature.
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.
Ziteboard
Starter$0
3 owned boards, unlimited collaborators, public boards only, limited data traffic, low-resolution image import.
One Week Pro$5
one-time payment for one week
All Pro features for a week: unlimited boards, private boards, audio and video chat, custom colors.
Monthly Pro$9
per month, billed monthly
Unlimited boards, private boards, custom colors, highlighter pens, HQ images, full PDF import, backup export and audio and video chat.
Annual Pro$85
per year
The Monthly Pro features, billed once a year.
Teams$8
per user / month for 2-5 users, billed monthly
Pro features for the whole team. Per-user price falls with team size and period: $4.50 at 21-100 users billed yearly.
EnterpriseCustom
Quoted by email: REST API, white label license, single sign-on, encryption and a dedicated server.
Ways to pay less
Microsoft Whiteboard
No public discounts listed.
Ziteboard
- Other savings
Team discounts for longer periods
The team price per user drops with team size and with 6-month, 1-year or 2-year periods, from $8 to $4.50 per user a month on the page's table.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Microsoft Whiteboard or Ziteboard?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Microsoft Whiteboard is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $9 a month for Ziteboard. Microsoft Whiteboard is free, and Ziteboard starts at $9 per month, billed monthly ($85 billed yearly).
Which has a free plan, Microsoft Whiteboard or Ziteboard?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Microsoft Whiteboard and Ziteboard have a free plan.
Which platforms do Microsoft Whiteboard and Ziteboard run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Microsoft Whiteboard lists a Windows app and only Ziteboard lists a browser extension. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. 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.