Best Whiteboard Apps for Remote Brainstorming

Remote brainstorming used to mean everyone talking over each other on a video call while one person shared their screen and typed notes. Whiteboard apps fixed that. They give distributed teams a shared visual canvas where everyone can draw, add sticky notes, build diagrams, and vote on ideas — at the same time.

But which one should you actually use? I’ve run workshops and brainstorming sessions on all the major platforms, and the differences matter more than you’d think. Here’s what works, what’s overpriced, and what’s surprisingly good for free.

What Makes a Good Whiteboard App

Most whiteboard apps look similar on the surface — an infinite canvas with shapes, text, and sticky notes. The real differences show up when you’re running an actual session with 10+ people:

• Real-time performance — Does it lag when multiple people are drawing simultaneously? This makes or breaks the experience.
• Templates — Starting from a blank canvas is intimidating. Good templates (retrospectives, user story maps, mind maps, SWOT analysis) save 15 minutes of setup.
• Facilitation tools — Timer, voting, presenter mode, cursor tracking. These turn a chaotic canvas into a structured workshop.
• Integration with your workflow — Can you pull in tasks from your PM tool? Export results to Jira, Asana, or Notion? Push sticky notes to your project management tool?
• Pricing model — Some tools charge per editor, some include viewers free, some limit boards on free plans.

Best Whiteboard Apps Compared

1. Miro — Best for Features and Templates

Miro is the market leader for a reason: it does everything. The canvas is fast even with dozens of participants. The template library has 2,500+ options covering everything from sprint retrospectives to customer journey maps to technical architecture diagrams. And the integration list is massive — Jira, Asana, Slack, Monday.com, Notion, Figma, and more.

The facilitation tools are where Miro really shines. The voting feature lets participants dot-vote on sticky notes. The timer keeps workshops on track. Presenter mode lets you guide everyone’s viewport through the board. “Talktrack” records your narration over a board walkthrough, which is great for async reviews.

The free plan gives you 3 editable boards with unlimited team members. That’s enough for a trial but tight for ongoing use. The Starter plan ($8/member/month) adds unlimited boards, voting, timer, and video chat. The Business plan ($16/member/month) adds SSO, guest access for external collaborators, and advanced attention management.

The frustrations: Miro’s free plan limits you hard. The moment you hit 3 boards, you’re either deleting old work or paying. The interface can feel cluttered — the toolbar has so many options that new users get lost. And performance can dip on boards with thousands of objects, especially if multiple people are moving things around.

If your team also uses Slack alternatives like Microsoft Teams, Miro’s integration works well there too — you can embed boards directly in channels.

Best for: Teams that run regular workshops and need deep facilitation features.
Pricing: Free (3 boards); $8/member/month (Starter); $16/member/month (Business).

2. FigJam — Best for Design Teams

FigJam is Figma’s whiteboard tool, and if your team already uses Figma for design, it’s a no-brainer. The canvas feels identical to Figma — same zooming, panning, and shortcuts. Widgets, stamps, and emoji reactions make sessions feel more alive than the dry sticky-note experience on other platforms.

What sets FigJam apart: it’s fun to use. The stamp tool lets participants react with emojis directly on the canvas. The music widget plays lo-fi beats during brainstorming. The voting widget handles prioritization. It sounds gimmicky, but these touches make remote workshops feel less sterile.

FigJam is free for unlimited boards with up to 3 files. Figma’s Professional plan ($15/editor/month) includes FigJam with all features. If you’re already paying for Figma, FigJam is included — so it’s effectively free for existing Figma users.

The limitations: FigJam’s template library is smaller than Miro’s. It doesn’t have Miro’s depth of facilitation tools (no built-in timer, limited presenter controls). Integration options are growing but still trail Miro — the Jira and Asana connectors exist but feel basic. And if your team doesn’t use Figma, the pricing makes less sense.

For design teams doing video calls while whiteboarding, FigJam’s audio feature lets you chat without a separate tool — up to 50 people in a FigJam audio room.

Best for: Design teams already using Figma who want an integrated whiteboard.
Pricing: Free (limited); included in Figma Professional ($15/editor/month).

3. Excalidraw — Best Free and Open-Source Option

Excalidraw is the tool I keep coming back to for quick diagrams and brainstorming. It’s free, open-source, runs in the browser, and has a hand-drawn visual style that makes everything look intentionally informal. No account required — just open excalidraw.com and start drawing.

The simplicity is the feature. There’s a small toolbar with shapes, text, arrows, and a freehand draw tool. No templates, no widgets, no voting — just a canvas. Real-time collaboration works through shareable links (Excalidraw+ adds persistent rooms and other features for $7/month).

What makes Excalidraw special: the hand-drawn aesthetic. Diagrams look like whiteboard sketches, which takes the pressure off making things “look right.” This is surprisingly effective in brainstorming — people contribute more freely when the visual style says “this is a draft.” The library of pre-made shapes (uploaded by the community) covers flowcharts, wireframes, icons, and more.

Excalidraw is also embeddable. Notion, Obsidian, and various developer tools support Excalidraw embeds. For developers and technical teams, this makes it the default for architecture diagrams and technical sketches. You can even self-host it if data privacy is a concern.

The downside: there are no facilitation tools. No voting, no timer, no presenter mode. For structured workshops with 10+ people, you’ll want something else. For quick brainstorming with 2-5 people or solo diagramming, Excalidraw is perfect.

Best for: Developers, small teams, and anyone who wants a free whiteboard without signing up.
Pricing: Free (open source); Excalidraw+ from $7/month for extras.

4. Mural — Best for Enterprise Workshops

Mural positions itself as the “enterprise-grade” whiteboard, and the feature set backs that up. It’s built around structured collaboration: guided workflows, built-in methods (design thinking, agile retrospectives, strategy workshops), and facilitator controls that Miro matches but doesn’t exceed.

The facilitator “superpowers” are Mural’s strongest feature. You can summon all participants to your viewport, lock sections of the board, set up timed activities, hide and reveal content, and run anonymous voting. For professional facilitators running workshops with executives, these controls matter.

The free plan gives you unlimited members but only 3 murals. The Team+ plan ($9.99/member/month) adds unlimited murals, visitor access, and integrations. The Business plan ($17.99/member/month) adds SSO, advanced facilitation features, and Microsoft 365 integration.

Mural’s template library is curated rather than massive — fewer options than Miro, but each one is well-designed and comes with facilitator instructions. The “method recipes” guide you through workshops step-by-step, which is great for people new to facilitating remote sessions.

The cons: Mural’s canvas feels slightly slower than Miro’s, especially with complex backgrounds. The interface is less intuitive for casual users — it’s clearly designed for structured workshops, not quick sketches. And the pricing is higher than Miro for similar features.

Teams that already use team communication tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams can embed Mural boards directly in channels for easy access during meetings.

Best for: Enterprise teams and professional facilitators running structured workshops.
Pricing: Free (3 murals); $9.99/member/month (Team+); $17.99/member/month (Business).

5. Microsoft Whiteboard — Best for Microsoft 365 Users

Microsoft Whiteboard is free with any Microsoft account and deeply integrated into Teams. During a Teams meeting, you click the whiteboard icon and everyone in the call gets a shared canvas. No links to share, no separate accounts — it just works within the Microsoft ecosystem.

The feature set is basic but improving. You get sticky notes, shapes, text, inking (great for tablet/pen users), templates, and reaction stickers. The Loop components integration lets you embed whiteboard content in other Microsoft apps. For Teams-first organizations, the zero-friction access is valuable.

Where Microsoft Whiteboard lags: the template library is small, there are no facilitation tools like voting or timers, and the canvas performance is mediocre compared to Miro or FigJam. The web version works fine; the desktop app (Windows only) is slightly better for pen input. No Mac desktop app exists.

For teams already deep in Microsoft Teams vs. Slack territory who chose Teams, the built-in whiteboard adds enough value to skip a separate tool — at least for casual brainstorming. For serious workshops, you’ll want something more powerful.

Best for: Microsoft 365 organizations that want a built-in whiteboard without extra cost.
Pricing: Free with Microsoft account; full features in Microsoft 365 plans.

6. Lucidspark — Best for Diagramming and Brainstorming Combined

Lucidspark is the whiteboard tool from the makers of Lucidchart. If your team already uses Lucidchart for flowcharts and technical diagrams, Lucidspark adds the freeform brainstorming layer. The two tools share a visual language, and you can convert Lucidspark brainstorms into structured Lucidchart diagrams.

The brainstorming features are solid: sticky notes with voting, emoji reactions, timer, tagging, and a “gather” button that brings everyone’s view together. The standout is the “Sort into groups” feature — after brainstorming, you can drag sticky notes into groups and the tool helps organize them with AI-powered clustering.

Free plan: 3 editable boards. Individual plan ($7.95/user/month) adds unlimited boards. Team plan ($9/user/month) adds collaboration features. Enterprise pricing is custom and includes Lucidchart bundled.

The downsides: Lucidspark isn’t as widely adopted as Miro, so you’ll have fewer integration options. The canvas doesn’t feel as responsive as Miro or FigJam with many concurrent users. And the pricing gets confusing if you’re also buying Lucidchart separately — the bundle discount isn’t always clear.

For teams that do a lot of diagramming alongside brainstorming, the Lucidchart-to-Lucidspark pipeline is genuinely useful. You brainstorm on Lucidspark, then formalize ideas into process flows on Lucidchart. No other combo offers that as smoothly.

Best for: Teams that need both brainstorming and structured diagramming.
Pricing: Free (3 boards); $7.95/user/month (Individual); $9/user/month (Team).

Tips for Running Better Remote Whiteboard Sessions

Having a good tool is only half the battle. Here’s what I’ve learned from running hundreds of remote workshops:

• Set up the board before the meeting — Pre-populate templates, add sections, write prompts. Nobody wants to watch you set up during the call.
• Use a timer — Brainstorming without time pressure produces less, not more. Give people 5 minutes to add sticky notes silently, then discuss.
• Silent brainstorming first — Have everyone add ideas simultaneously before discussing. This prevents the loudest person from anchoring the conversation.
• Limit the canvas — An infinite canvas sounds great but leads to scattered content. Use frames or sections to focus attention.
• Follow up in your PM tool — Action items from a whiteboard session should end up as tasks. If your whiteboard integrates with your PM tool, use that. Otherwise, assign someone to transfer the outcomes.

Bottom Line

Miro is the safest choice for most teams — it has the deepest feature set and largest template library. FigJam is the pick for design teams already on Figma. Excalidraw is perfect if you want something free and simple without creating accounts. And if your company runs on Microsoft 365, Microsoft Whiteboard is already there waiting — just don’t expect it to rival Miro for serious workshops.

For teams building out their remote work toolkit, a whiteboard app fills the gap between video conferencing and project management. It’s where ideas happen before they become tasks.