The best replacement is the board that fits the work your team does on it most. Workshops and brainstorms need fast live editing and good templates; product teams need diagrams and wireframes; teaching and creative work suit simpler visual boards. Run one real session on two or three boards before you move everything, and check what you can export.
Picture the last session your team ran on a shared board: sticky notes flying in, someone dragging them into clusters, a quick vote, then a tidy summary nobody has to retype. That's the bar a whiteboard has to clear. Klaxoon sells itself on that kind of engaged, creative teamwork. If you're looking elsewhere, these seven online whiteboards cover the same ground, each with a different idea of what a board is for.
Seven whiteboards grouped by the work
Workshops and brainstorming
Stormboard turns brainstorms into structured data, which suits teams who need outcomes they can track after the workshop. Boardmix covers brainstorming, mind maps and flowcharts with AI help on top.
Secure collaboration for public bodies
Conceptboard puts real-time, remote and secure collaboration first, and names government and education among the teams it's built for.
Product design and documentation
Whimsical calls itself the whiteboard for product builders, with diagrams and wireframes. Lucidspark sits inside a wider suite aimed at documenting how a business works today.
Creative planning and learning
Milanote organises ideas and projects into visual boards for creative work. Padlet makes boards and canvases for visual thinkers and learners, which is why it shows up in classrooms.
Every board, alphabetically
In no particular order, sorted A to Z. Each line reflects how the vendor describes its own tool.
Boardmix
Best for: Teams that brainstorm, mind map and draw flowcharts together live, on a whiteboard the vendor says adds AI and lets you start free.
Conceptboard
Best for: Government, education and business teams that need remote, real-time visual collaboration, with the vendor stressing GDPR compliance and ease of use.
Lucidspark
Best for: Organisations documenting the current state of their business on shared boards, keeping people and AI agents aligned, per the vendor's homepage.
Milanote
Best for: Creative people and teams organising ideas and projects on visual boards with notes, images, links and files, shared with others, says the vendor.
Padlet
Best for: Teachers, learners and creative teams who want simple, good-looking boards and canvases for visual thinking, with a free start named by the vendor.
Stormboard
Best for: Workshop leads who want brainstorms turned into structured, actionable data rather than loose sticky notes, which is the vendor's own angle.
Whimsical
Best for: Product teams designing and documenting with diagrams and wireframes, working alongside colleagues and AI, as the vendor describes it.
Seven boards side by side
| Tool | Type of board | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Boardmix | AI online whiteboard | Brainstorms, mind maps and flowcharts in real time |
| Conceptboard | Secure visual collaboration | Remote collaboration for public sector and education |
| Lucidspark | Whiteboard in a wider suite | Mapping how the business works today |
| Milanote | Visual boards for projects | Organising creative ideas and projects visually |
| Padlet | Boards and canvases | Visual thinking for creative work and learning |
| Stormboard | Data-first workflow whiteboard | Turning workshop notes into structured data |
| Whimsical | Whiteboard for product builders | Diagrams, wireframes and docs for product work |
Live editing and templates decide it
The tool you're leaving puts interactive tools and team engagement at the heart of its pitch. That's the right instinct, and it points to what to test in any replacement: how a team works on the same board at the same time, and which templates and exports come included.
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Live editing sounds simple until ten people join at once. Watch for lag, for cursors that are hard to follow, and for how easily a facilitator can pull everyone to one spot. Templates matter because most teams reuse the same few formats, such as retrospectives, planning sessions and mapping exercises, and rebuilding them by hand eats the first month. Exports matter because a workshop isn't finished until the result is in a document, a task list or a slide someone can act on.
Facilitation tools are the third piece. A timer, a way to hide notes until everyone's added theirs, and simple voting all keep a session moving, and they're a big part of why teams use interactive boards for workshops at all. Check which of these each board includes before you plan your next session around it.
Advice for remote teams switching boards
Look at your old boards before anything else. Sort them into boards still in use, boards worth keeping as a record, and boards you'll never open again. Move the first group by hand or by export, save the second as images or documents, and let the third go. You'll start the new tool with a clean space instead of a cluttered one. Agree a simple naming rule for boards too, so the new space stays easy to search as it fills up.
Then think about who joins your sessions. If clients, students or other outside guests take part, check how they get in and whether they need an account. If it's mainly your own team, depth of features matters more than ease of joining. For a wider view, see my guides to the best online whiteboard tools and to collaboration tools for teams.
Run one real workshop on two boards
Pick a real meeting you'd run anyway this week, such as a retrospective, a planning session or a content brainstorm. Build it from a template in two of the boards on your shortlist, using a free plan or trial where the vendor offers one, and run half the session in each. Keep each half short, so people compare the two boards while both are fresh in their minds.
Afterwards, ask the people who took part three things: was it easy to join, could they follow what was happening, and did they know what happened next? Then export the result from both and see which one gives you something you'd happily send round. That's the board to move to.
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Frequently asked questions
What's an online whiteboard used for?
Teams use them for brainstorming, workshops, planning, mapping processes, sketching product ideas and teaching. Everyone works on the same canvas at once, from anywhere.
Can I move my old boards to a new whiteboard tool?
Usually not directly, as each tool stores boards its own way. Export boards you need as images or documents, and rebuild the few you still use as templates in the new tool.
Do guests need an account to join a board?
It varies by tool and plan. Check each vendor's sharing options, especially if clients, students or partners will join your sessions.
Are online whiteboards safe for sensitive work?
Some vendors highlight security and data protection more than others. Rules vary by country and sector, so check your regulator's guidance and the vendor's own security information.
How many people can work on one board at once?
Limits vary by vendor and plan. If you run large sessions, test with a realistic group before you commit, and watch for lag as more people join.
