Best Free Online Whiteboard Tools for Teaching and Brainstorming

An online whiteboard gives students and teams a shared visual space to think out loud together — whether they are in the same room or on opposite sides of the world. Here are the best free options available right now.

Miro

Miro is the most feature-rich online whiteboard. Its infinite canvas supports sticky notes, mind maps, diagrams, voting, timer-facilitated activities and over 300 templates — from design sprints to retrospectives to lesson plans. The free plan includes three editable boards, which is enough for most teaching scenarios. Miro integrates with Google Drive, Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

Padlet

Padlet is the easiest whiteboard to use with students. Each Padlet is a shared board where participants post notes, images, links and videos. The interface is intuitive enough that students with no prior experience can contribute in under two minutes. Free for three Padlets. Excellent for: KWL charts, exit tickets, gallery walks and class discussions.

Google Jamboard

Jamboard is Google's digital whiteboard, tightly integrated with Google Workspace. Students can add sticky notes, draw with a stylus, insert images and use a laser pointer. Free for all Google accounts. Note: Google has announced Jamboard will be discontinued — check migration options to FigJam or Miro.

FigJam

FigJam (by Figma) is a collaborative whiteboard designed for creative and product teams. Its templates cover brainstorming, diagrams, retrospectives and meeting facilitation. Free for up to three active files — well-suited for older students in design or technology courses.

Stormboard

Stormboard structures brainstorming with templates designed around specific facilitation frameworks — SWOT analysis, Lean Canvas, meeting agendas and more. The free plan allows five active stormboards. Particularly useful for structured group activities rather than free-form brainstorming.

Lino

Lino is a simple sticky-note board with no account required to post. Boards (called "canvases") can hold sticky notes, photos and videos. Free with no time limit. Its simplicity makes it popular in primary school settings.

Microsoft Whiteboard

Microsoft Whiteboard is free for all Microsoft/Outlook account holders and integrates directly into Microsoft Teams. Its AI features include automatic shape recognition (draw a rough circle and it snaps to a perfect circle) and content generation from prompts.

Which tool should you choose?

• Young students, quick activity: Padlet or Lino
• Complex facilitation, structured templates: Miro or Stormboard
• Google Workspace school: Jamboard (until closure) → FigJam
• Microsoft 365 school: Microsoft Whiteboard
• Design or tech students: FigJam

Classroom uses for online whiteboards

• Think-Pair-Share: students post their individual response, then group similar ideas by colour.
• Gallery walk: create six Padlets on different subtopics; groups rotate and add to each.
• Concept mapping: use Miro's sticky notes and connectors to build a class knowledge map.
• Exit ticket: ask students to post one thing they learned and one question on a Padlet before leaving.