Figjam vs Microsoft Whiteboard

March 10, 2025 | Author: Adam Levine
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Figjam
FigJam is a free online whiteboarding and collaboration tool you and your team can use to brainstorm and organize ideas.
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Microsoft Whiteboard
The collaborative digital canvas in Microsoft 365 for effective meetings and engaging learning.

FigJam and Microsoft Whiteboard are both digital whiteboarding tools, which is a fancy way of saying they let people scribble, drag things around and argue about ideas in real time without the hassle of physical markers drying out. They both have sticky notes (because the digital age can’t quite let go of the joy of pretending to peel and slap paper squares), drawing tools for when words fail and a general enthusiasm for making collaboration look like a well-organized mess. No matter which one you use, there will always be at least one person in the meeting gleefully doodling in the corner while everyone else tries to have a serious discussion.

FigJam, birthed in 2021 by the good folks at Figma, is the younger, quirkier sibling in this equation, clearly designed for people who spend an inordinate amount of time debating the shade of a button. Its natural habitat is among UI/UX designers, product teams and anyone who enjoys the occasional emoji reaction in their brainstorming sessions. Being web-based, it insists on a stable internet connection, presumably to encourage users to remain in civilization rather than attempting to ideate from a cave in the Scottish Highlands. It is also highly optimized for Figma integration, ensuring that no design meeting is ever free from someone dragging in a rogue prototype at an inconvenient moment.

Microsoft Whiteboard, on the other hand, has been around since 2018, giving it a bit of a head start in the noble art of digital scribbling. Unlike its artsy cousin, it was forged in the fires of corporate necessity, where every great idea must be immediately saved to OneDrive and formatted into an Excel report. Its superpowers include handwriting recognition and shape conversion, because nothing says "serious business" like automatically turning a wobbly triangle into something that looks like it belongs in a geometry textbook. It even works offline, because Microsoft understands that not every meeting takes place within five feet of a Wi-Fi router, though one might question why such meetings exist at all.

See also: Top 10 Visual Collaboration software
Author: Adam Levine
Adam is an expert in project management, collaboration and productivity technologies, team management, and motivation. With an extensive background working at prestigious companies such as Microsoft and Accenture, Adam's in-depth knowledge and experience in the field make him a sought-after professional. Currently, he has ventured into entrepreneurship, owning a thriving consulting and training agency where he imparts invaluable insights and practical strategies to individuals and organizations, empowering them to achieve their goals and maximize their potential. You can contact Adam via email [email protected]