Google introduced final 12 months that help for Jamboard units and apps will finish as of October 1, 2024, with entry to the app and all Jamboard knowledge ending on the finish of 2024. Google Jamboard delivers easy-to-use collaborative drawing capabilities to individuals who use Google Workspace by means of a mixture of Jamboard apps and a Jamboard gadget. The Jamboard apps can be utilized with out shopping for a Jamboard gadget and work on the internet, iOS, iPadOS and Android units and in Google Meet.
People who use Jamboard units or apps might want to search options. For {hardware} choices, Google’s announcement beneficial both the Series One Board 65 (priced round $9,000) or the Series One Desk 27 (priced round $2,000), each by Avocor. Google introduced that three software program options — FigJam by Figma, Lucidspark by Lucid Software and Miro — can be built-in to work with Series One units, with import choices for Jamboard content material accessible by March 2024.
Top Jamboard opponents and options: Comparison desk
People who use the Jamboard apps, impartial of the Jamboard gadget, could take into account a variety of software program options. The following six choices all help visible collaboration and may function appropriate replacements for Jamboard.
FigJam by Figma: Best for pleasant design
Image: FigJam
Figma, a collaborative interface design software firm, launched FigJam (Figure A) in 2021. FigJam helps drawing instruments, shapes, stickers, notes, textual content, connectors and stamps, together with part and desk administration options. You may additionally import photos or insert hyperlinks to net sources, together with shared Google Drive information. Cursor chat allows an ephemeral dialog with collaborators that disappears once you exit the mode, whereas the remark system permits standard feedback on content material anyplace on the board. FigJam provides just a few extra options than Jamboard, delivered with a cleanly designed consumer interface, as you may count on.
Figure A: Screenshot displaying the interface of a brand new, clean FigJam board on a Chromebook. Image: Andy Wolber/TechRepublic
Figma’s possession deserves point out since Adobe, a artistic content material big, introduced an settlement to accumulate Figma in September 2022; nonetheless, the deal was terminated in December 2023. While possession doesn’t straight have an effect on product options, the truth that Figma as soon as sought to merge with a bigger firm could sign a long run potential for acquisition.
ProsCons
FigJam app is obtainable on the internet (and GoogleWorkspace Marketplace) and iPad.No devoted FigJam iPhone or Android app.
Clean design.No offline mode.
More options than Google Jamboard.
Free version is obtainable to college students and educators.
Pricing
Figma provides 4 FigJam pricing plans: Starter, Professional, Organization and Enterprise.
Starter, which is free and allows you to create as much as three Figma and three FigJam information, with limitless private information and limitless collaborators, amongst different options.
Professional, $3 per editor/month billed yearly ($36/12 months per consumer), contains all Starter options and provides limitless FigJam information, open periods, sharing permissions, workforce libraries, voting and extra. Students and educators could entry this version totally free.
Organization, $60 per editor per 12 months, contains all Profesional options plus organization-wide libraries, centralized content material administration, unified admin and billing choices, and extra.
Enterprise, $60 per editor per 12 months, contains all Organization options, plus devoted workspaces, superior design programs and visitor entry controls, together with many different consumer administration and safety features.
Miro: Best for enterprise integrations
Image: Miro
Miro (Figure B), previously generally known as RealtimeBoard, offers a strong set of options all centered round visible collaboration. Standard drawing instruments can be found to attract, add shapes (together with flowchart and Unified Modeling Language symbols), sticky notes and textual content, together with many templates. Miro additionally permits you to add an enormous number of content material sorts, together with photos, spreadsheets, tables, kanban, code blocks, charts, diagrams and extra. Timer, voting, chat, video chat and notes allow you to collaborate with others in varied methods in your board content material.
Figure B: Screenshot displaying the interface of a brand new, clean Miro board on a Chromebook. Image: Andy Wolber/TechRepublic
Miro permits you to current your board to different individuals a number of methods. The Talktrack characteristic permits you to report a video along with your webcam (inset in a circle on the display screen) as you navigate and focus on the board. The ensuing video is saved and could also be shared. Alternatively, it’s possible you’ll current both all the board, which hides many menus to emphasise your content material or current frames, which lets you outline and navigate chosen sections of content material so as. Business and Enterprise editions supply entry to facilitation instruments to help actions resembling voting and including sticky notes or reactions.
ProsCons
Miro app is obtainable on the internet (andGoogle Workspace Marketplace), macOS,Windows, iPhone, iPad and Android.No offline mode.
Very full-featured.
Diverse varieties of content material could be added.
Useful number of presentation choices.
Pricing
Miro provides 4 pricing plans for skilled use: Free, Starter, Business and Enterprise.
Free, which incorporates one workspace with three editable boards, 5 Talktracks, entry to templates and help for integrations.
Starter, $96 per member per 12 months paid yearly. This plan provides limitless boards, high-resolution exports, collaboration with limitless guests on public boards, limitless Talktracks, limitless challenge folders, Private Mode sticky notes, model historical past, assembly options (e.g., timers, voting and video chat) and personal boards.
Business, $192 per member per 12 months paid yearly. This plan contains all Starter options, plus limitless boards for each workforce and consumer, safe collaboration with limitless friends on personal and workforce boards, superior form entry, enhanced assembly options (e.g., breakouts and voting) and extra.
Enterprise, which requires contacting gross sales for pricing. This plan contains all Business options plus added safety, compliance, administration and reporting capabilities, together with premium help.
Students, educators and academic establishments could entry completely different Miro pricing plans.
Student accounts are free and help as much as 10 workforce members, availability for 2 years, limitless boards, one workspace with limitless initiatives, limitless exterior guests, amongst different options.
Educator accounts are free endlessly and help all scholar options, plus help for as much as 100 workforce members, together with entry to coaching and discussion board sources.
Institution accounts can be found at a 50% low cost from commonplace pricing and embody all scholar and educator options, plus further administrative and consumer administration options, together with help.
SEE: How to make use of Miro as your whiteboard in a digital assembly
Lucidspark by Lucid Software: Best for experimental AI
Image: Lucidspark
Lucidspark (Figure C) offers a board on which you will draw and add photos, shapes, sticky notes, textual content and features. The feedback and activity system lets board collaborators not solely touch upon particular board content material but in addition assign work to a colleague. To help rationalization, it’s possible you’ll outline body areas and designate paths, in order to point out sections of the board in sequence. Visual actions templates help varied varieties of sorting, ranking and board engagement, together with further timer and voting instruments.
Figure C: Screenshot displaying the interface of a brand new, clean Lucidspark board on a Chromebook. Image: Andy Wolber/TechRepublic
Lucidspark additionally provides menu customization and an experimental AI characteristic. Customize the left-side on-screen menu with a Tool pinning characteristic to point out solely the choices you choose. For instance, if you happen to not often want Jira integration, it’s possible you’ll unpin that possibility and it’ll not show on-screen, though you should still entry it from the More menu. And a Collaborative AI possibility generates concepts from an entered immediate. For instance, a immediate of “Best features of Lucidspark” created a 3×3 set of sticky notes, every stuffed with two or three phrases describing options resembling “Integrated Video Chat,” “Seamless Integrations” and “Presentation mode.”
ProsCons
Lucidspark app is obtainable on the internet (and Google Workspace Marketplace) and Android.Team or Enterprise version accounts are required to make use of cell app on iOS or iPadOS.
Customizable menu for quick entry to most-used choices.No offline mode.
Collaborative AI to generate concepts.
Significant variety of supported app integrations.
Pricing
There are 4 Lucidspark plans: Free, Individual, Team and Enterprise.
Free, which incorporates three editable boards, limitless shapes, drawing, emoji reactions, commenting, presentation mode, primary visible actions to assemble suggestions and combination outcomes, amongst different options.
Individual, $7.95 per consumer monthly billed yearly ($95.40/yearly per consumer). This plan provides limitless editable boards, 1 GB of storage, premium visible actions to assemble suggestions and combination outcomes, and extra.
Team, three workforce consumer licenses for $27 monthly billed yearly ($324/yearly for the 3 licenses, which is $108/consumer per 12 months). This plan provides superior controls for visible actions, chat, revision historical past and versioning, voting, a timer and facilitator instruments, amongst different options.
Enterprise licenses require contacting gross sales. This plan provides entry to Lucidchart for diagramming and provides Team Spaces, many app integrations and entry to numerous consumer administration and safety features.
Educators could entry a variant of the Team plan totally free; this offers lecturers and college students entry to the cell app and plenty of Team options at no cost. An optionally available improve to a paid workforce plan for schooling provides centralized account administration, audit logs and entry to precedence help.
Image: Microsoft Whiteboard
Microsoft Whiteboard: Best totally free use
Microsoft Whiteboard (Figure D) is free, but it surely does require a Microsoft account to view, create or collaborate on boards; subsequently, this selection could take advantage of sense for people or organizations who already use different Microsoft companies, resembling Microsoft 365.
Figure D: Screenshot displaying the interface of a brand new, clean Microsoft Whiteboard board on a Chromebook. Image: Andy Wolber/TechRepublic
Microsoft Whiteboard provides a regular set of instruments that features a pen, highlighter, ruler, notes, emoji-style reactions, textual content and shapes. You may additionally add photos to a board. Plus, Microsoft Whiteboard provides numerous templates for all kinds of brainstorming, planning, assembly and studying actions. You could customise the board background colour and choose from a set of 9 background grid designs. And there’s an included timer. Share the hyperlink to offer collaborators entry to all of those instruments, too.
ProsCons
Microsoft Whiteboard is obtainable on the internet,iPhone, iPad and Android, in addition to forMicrosoft Surface Hub and Microsoft Teams Rooms units.Not accessible within the Google Workspace Marketplace.
Free.Must sign up with a Microsoft account.
Significant number of templates for enterprise makes use of,resembling brainstorming, challenge planning and assembly actions.No offline mode.
Focused set of instruments.
Pricing
Microsoft Whiteboard is free, though you have to sign up with a Microsoft account to make use of it. A Microsoft account could also be obtained totally free.
Zoom Whiteboard: Best for Zoom conferences
Image: Zoom Whiteboard
The Zoom conferencing platform provides Zoom Whiteboard (Figure E), which can be used both with an online assembly or individually. For anybody with an present Zoom account, Zoom Whiteboard deserves consideration.
Figure E: Screenshot displaying the interface of a brand new, clean Zoom Whiteboard board on a Chromebook. Image: Andy Wolber/TechRepublic
Zoom Whiteboard provides numerous templates for brainstorming, diagramming, assembly, schooling or leisure; or, it’s possible you’ll merely create a brand new clean board. The system contains instruments resembling pens, shapes, traces, textual content, sticky notes and feedback. You could add photos and PDFs to your board or add a thoughts map, desk, kanban board or playing cards. In explicit, playing cards allow you to assign duties and monitor each dates and activity standing. Zoom boards additionally allow you to create a number of pages. As a presentation help, it’s possible you’ll add frames round your board content material, then set up and current the frames in sequence. The timer and laser pointer could also be helpful throughout displays or collaborations as nicely.
ProsCons
Available as a part of Zoom on the internet (and Google Workspace Marketplace), macOS, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android.Zoom Whiteboard provides secondary performance to net conferences.
Large variety of templates for enterprise makes use of, resembling brainstorming and diagramming.No offline mode
Support for a number of pages inside a board.
Frames to order presentation sequence.
Pricing
Three Zoom Whiteboard editions can be found: Whiteboard Basic, Whiteboard and Whiteboard Plus.
Whiteboard Basic, which is included with Zoom One Basic and Zoom One Pro, contains three concurrent editable boards owned and 25 MB of storage, together with all core drawing, annotation, picture and collaboration options.
Whiteboard, $24.90 per consumer per 12 months, and could also be added to both the Zoom One Basic or Zoom One Pro plan. This plan provides limitless concurrent editable boards owned and 1 GB of storage, together with model historical past and momentary lock options plus shared folders and private labels.
Whiteboard Plus, $70 per consumer per 12 months and could also be added to both Zoom One Basic or Zoom One Pro plans, provides limitless storage and help for private and organizational templates. Also, Zoom Whiteboard Plus is included as a part of Zoom Rooms plans.
SEE: How to make use of the brand new Zoom Whiteboard for hybrid conferences
Image: Apple Freeform
Apple Freeform: Best for Apple gadget customers
Freeform (Figure F), a visible collaboration instrument by Apple, is included with present units that run iOS, iPadOS and macOS. The app is free, though solely individuals who use Apple units could use it. For instance, Freeform can be a superb possibility for a classroom the place a trainer and college students all use iPadOS or macOS units, however wouldn’t be appropriate for a state of affairs the place collaborators may use Windows, ChromeOS or Android units.
Figure F: Screenshot displaying the interface of a brand new, clean Freeform board on iPad. Image: Andy Wolber/TechRepublic
Freeform provides quite a few writing and drawing kinds, together with a pen, pencil, highlighter, crayon, ink and watercolor choices. On units that help an Apple pencil, it’s possible you’ll leverage the system’s built-in handwriting recognition system, Scribble, to transform pencil strokes into textual content. Freeform permits you to add notes, hyperlinks, shapes and typed textual content. You could use a digital camera to seize a photograph or add a picture, video, audio file or PDF to a board. Freeform works offline, so you should use it to seize concepts nearly anyplace. Freeform permits as much as 100 individuals to collaborate on a board, and it might be used with Messages or FaceTime.
ProsCons
Available on present iPhone, iPad and macOS units.Available solely on Apple units.
Can create and work offline.
Works nicely with Apple Pencil, Messages and FaceTime.
Wider vary of drawing instrument kinds (e.g., watercolor, inkand crayon) in comparison with most of the different options on this article.
Pricing
Freeform is obtainable as one of many default apps on all fashionable Apple units, together with iPhone, iPad and macOS programs.
Best enterprise software program
More Jamboard options to think about
Beyond the six companies lined above, many different collaborative drawing choices exist. Google suggests Google Drawings or Google Slides may meet some wants. Other companies that will advantage consideration embody Canva Whiteboard, Conceptboard, Excalidraw, Explain Everything, Inko, Pear Deck, Pencil Spaces, Sketchboard or Whiteboard.chat.
Methodology
The first three companies — FigJam by Figma, Miro and Lucidspark by Lucid Software — are included as a result of Google particularly recommends these as options to Google Jamboard. All three will supply some sort of import instrument to let you protect present Jamboard content material.
The remaining three choices had been chosen due to the widespread use of Microsoft, Zoom and Apple instruments within the schooling group — a major consumer of Jamboard apps. If you and your collaborators use Apple {hardware}, Freeform is smart as a substitute for Jamboard. If you and your collaborators have present Microsoft or Zoom accounts, then both of these respective companies may serve you nicely.
The creator signed and actively examined every of the companies for testing functions, and has actively used and lined Google Jamboard since its inception. Each of the screenshots was taken throughout this experimentation. We depend on vendor web sites for pricing.