tldraw vs Ziteboard (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, tldraw grades higher than Ziteboard: 3.2 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
tldraw grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Ziteboard
Lightweight online whiteboard for tutoring and live teamwork
Which one is for you
Pick tldraw if
- Fits if you want to sketch something right now without making an account
- Works for keeping boards as local files with the offline desktop app
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want native phone or tablet apps, as none are listed
- Not for you if you want a tool that sits still, since early SDK versions get tested on tldraw.com
- Not for you if you need open source, because the SDK is source-available and its commercial license price isn't published
- Too light for workshops, with no templates or comments listed
- Watch out: sharing a board from tldraw.com needs you to sign in
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
| 3.2GPAtldrawVery good | 2.2GPAZiteboardFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree. The whiteboard at tldraw.com, an account to save your files, and the offline desktop app all cost nothing. What the company sells is its SDK, licensed to other software makers, and that price isn't published. | 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 | AEverything a person would use is free: the whiteboard with or without an account, cloud files that sync between devices, sharing by link, and the desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux. | CA free Starter plan with 3 owned boards, public boards only and limited data traffic. |
| Features | CFreehand drawing, shapes, arrows, rich text, images and bookmarks on an infinite canvas, with guests joining by link and snapshots you can publish and update. The drawing basics, covered. But the listing shows no templates and no comments, and sharing needs you to sign in first. | CFreehand drawing, shape recognition, math tools, import and live chat. Private boards, full PDF import and backup export are Pro. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record, but there is nothing to set up: open tldraw.com and start drawing, no login asked for. The offline desktop app has no accounts and no server either, so that's download, open, go. | CNo store rating on record. The homepage and the FAQ disagree about whether there are native apps. |
| Platforms and integrations | BBrowser, macOS, Windows and Linux, with plugins that let ChatGPT, Codex and Cursor draw on a board. No native iOS or Android apps are listed, so on a phone or tablet it runs in the browser. | BWeb, iOS and Android plus a Chrome extension, WordPress and an enterprise API. No desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | a free whiteboard with no sign-up | 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: tldraw and Ziteboard. How we grade
Price against what you get
tldraw has no paid plan and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Ziteboard starts at $9 a month and scores 2.3.
tldraw scores higher and starts $9 a month lower. Of the other whiteboard and mind map tools on the chart, none scores higher than tldraw 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
- tldraw also covers diagrams.
At a glance
| tldraw | Ziteboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $9 per month, billed monthly ($85 billed yearly) |
| Free plan | The tldraw.com whiteboard, a tldraw.com account and the tldraw offline desktop app are all free. The tldraw SDK for building canvas products is licensed separately. | 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 | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | tldraw | Ziteboard |
| Price read from | tldraw.com | ziteboard.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
tldraw
- The vendor describes tldraw.com as the flagship demo of its SDK and ships early SDK versions there for testing and evaluation.
- Sharing a board from tldraw.com requires signing in to an account.
- No native iOS or Android apps are listed; on phones and tablets tldraw runs in the browser.
- tldraw is not open source: the SDK is source-available, and using it in a product needs a commercial license whose price is not published.
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
tldraw
- Infinite canvas drawing tools
- Draw freehand, add shapes, arrows and text with rich formatting, and drop in images and bookmarks. The site says it works in browsers on phones, tablets and desktops.
- Accounts and cloud files
- The app works without logging in. Signing in to a free account saves files to the cloud, syncs them between devices and lists them in a sidebar.
- Sharing and multiplayer
- A signed-in owner can invite guests as editors or viewers with a link, keep a file private, or publish a snapshot that can be updated later without a new link.
- tldraw offline
- A desktop app with no accounts and no server. Boards are saved as self-contained .tldraw files, and others on the same local network can join a file.
- Canvas for AI agents
- A plugin for ChatGPT and Codex and an MCP App for Cursor let agents draw on a board, and tldraw offline lets local agents such as Claude Code edit and script files.
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
tldraw
Free$0
The whiteboard at tldraw.com, with or without an account, and the tldraw offline desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux.
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
tldraw
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, tldraw or Ziteboard?
As of Nov 12, 2026, tldraw is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $9 a month for Ziteboard. tldraw is free, and Ziteboard starts at $9 per month, billed monthly ($85 billed yearly).
Which has a free plan, tldraw or Ziteboard?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both tldraw and Ziteboard have a free plan.
Which platforms do tldraw and Ziteboard run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only tldraw lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps and only Ziteboard lists iOS and Android apps and a browser extension. 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.