Best whiteboard software for Canadian small businesses

A Smithville shop does not need an infinite canvas priced like a design agency. It needs a board a remote contractor can mark up, a guest who is not forced onto a paid seat, and an honest CAD or USD sticker. US “best Miro alternative 2026” lists skip the bill: GST/HST on SaaS, Jamboard being gone, and the fact that Microsoft 365 may already include Whiteboard.

This comparison is five options shops actually open: Miro (USD-style seats, confirm tax), FigJam (Figma) (Figma Collab or Full — not a standalone SKU), Microsoft Whiteboard (free; shop use rides Microsoft 365 CAD), Lucidspark (named Jamboard successor; confirm the live USD card), and Explain Everything (USD explainer video). Whiteboard software prices checked against public vendor pages, 6 September 2026.

Who this page is for

• A Canadian SMB quoted Miro Starter or a Figma Collab seat who needs official USD, not a blog conversion.
• Anyone already paying Workspace or Microsoft 365 who is about to buy a fourth whiteboard.
• A shop still looking for Jamboard in Meet — the app ended 31 December 2024.
• Not a facilitation-certification pitch. Not a hands-on lab.

Snapshot (public pages, 6 September 2026)

Miro — USD-style seats, guest rules decide the plan

Official miro.com/pricing (6 September 2026): Free: $0, 3 editable boards, unlimited members. Guest and visitor roles are not on Free — invitees become Members. Starter: $8/member/month billed yearly — unlimited and private boards, visitor editing, timer, voting. The page lists 20% off annual. Business: $20/member/month billed yearly — unlimited guests, SSO. 14-day Business trial. Enterprise: custom, from 30 members. Regional data hosting listed as EU, US, AU, and JA — not Canada. miro.com/pricing retrieved 6 September 2026 printed unlabelled dollars. Treat as USD-style stickers and confirm checkout. No Canada CA$ seat showed up on that retrieve. Source: https://miro.com/pricing/.

Official Miro help “Taxes”: prices exclude Sales Tax / GST / VAT. Tax follows the company billing address. The GST section on that article names Australia and New Zealand. Canada is not named. Confirm tax on the Canadian invoice at checkout. Source: Miro Taxes.

Buy Starter when a client must edit without becoming a Member, or when the workshop needs a timer and a vote. Stay on Free for three internal boards. Do not buy Miro for the same huddle that already lives on Teams or Meet if Whiteboard or FigJam is already in the suite.

FigJam — a Figma seat, not a standalone whiteboard SKU

Official figma.com/pricing: Official FAQ: you cannot buy FigJam as a standalone SKU. A Collab seat is FigJam + Slides + Buzz. A Full seat includes FigJam + Design. Starter: Free, limited. FigJam engagement features sit on the compare table. Professional, billed yearly (official USD): Full $16/month, Dev $12/month, Collab $3/month. Professional, billed monthly (official USD): Full $20, Dev $15, Collab $5. Organization and Enterprise are annual-only on the official page. Confirm the live widget. Official figma.com/pricing FAQ: prices in USD. A geo retrieve can print GBP — use the USD toggle and confirm checkout. No published CA$ Figma SKU. Source: https://www.figma.com/pricing/.

Official Figma help “Sales tax and VAT”: Canada GST/HST is added when the team or organization address is in Canada. A GST/HST ID exempts going forward. PST/QST for BC, MB, SK, and QC. Website prices exclude tax. Source: Figma sales tax and VAT.

Already paying Figma Full for design: FigJam is on that seat. Buying Miro beside a Full seat is a second canvas for the same sticky. A contractor who only needs the workshop is a Collab seat at US$3/month billed yearly — confirm GST/HST on the invoice. FigJam is not a replacement for the inbox.

Microsoft Whiteboard — free marker, 365 is the shop seat

Official Microsoft Whiteboard product page: free with a Microsoft account. Enabled by default for most Microsoft 365 tenants. The same board opens from the Teams share tray and the Whiteboard app (Windows 11, iOS, web, Surface Hub). No separate Whiteboard CAD SKU. Paid shop use rides the existing Microsoft 365 Canada seat. Official Learn: admins turn Whiteboard on or off in the Microsoft 365 admin centre. Fluid-backed boards also need Set-SPOTenant -IsWBFluidEnabled. Teams meeting policy can hide the share-tray entry without turning the app off. Sources: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-whiteboard/digital-whiteboard-app; https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/whiteboard/manage-whiteboard-access-organizations.

If you already pay Microsoft 365, Whiteboard is in the habit. Business Basic CAD $9.50/user/month paid yearly, plus applicable tax — microsoft.com/en-ca SharePoint business compare Confirm the live CAD widget. Seat math lives on Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 in Canada. A no-Teams SKU still has the Whiteboard app; the share-tray habit is the with-Teams meeting.

Lucidspark — named Jamboard successor, confirm the live card

Official Workspace blog (28 September 2023): Google will leverage partners instead of a first-party whiteboard. Named partners: FigJam by Figma, Lucidspark by Lucid, and Miro. Integrations listed for Calendar, Meet, and Drive. Official Lucid help “Lucidspark Plans”: Free (limited access), Individual, Team, and Enterprise (Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite combining Lucidchart and Lucidspark). lucidspark.com/pricing and lucid.co/pricing purchase-flow config retrieved 6 September 2026 printed Currency USD. Public dollar cards did not print cleanly in that retrieve. Confirm the live card. Sources: https://lucidspark.com/pricing; https://help.lucid.co/hc/en-us/articles/360058103411-Lucidspark-Plans.

Pick Lucidspark if the shop already lives in Lucidchart, or if a Workspace admin pointed you at Google’s named partners and you want Lucid rather than Miro. Do not paste a third-party dollar as Lucid’s list. Confirm the live card and tax at checkout.

Explain Everything — explainer video, not the offsite

Official explaineverything.com/pricing: Commercial Free $0 — 3 projects, 1 slide, 3-minute video, 1:1 collab 15 minutes, 500 MB. Pro $7.49 USD/month billed yearly or $9.99 USD/month. Team is the same per user. Unlimited projects, 20 GB, collab up to 8, no time limit on Pro. Education Advanced $69 USD/year — classroom / Promethean. Not the SMB workshop default. explaineverything.com/pricing prints USD. Recording and explainer video first. Not a 50-person Miro workshop. Source: https://explaineverything.com/pricing/.

Buy Pro when the job is a recorded walkthrough a client watches once. Stay on Free for three short clips. A 20-person remote workshop still belongs on Miro Starter or FigJam, with the call on video conferencing.

Jamboard is gone — there is no Google whiteboard SKU

Official Jamboard Help: the Jamboard application reached end of life on 31 December 2024 across web, iOS, Android, and Google Meet devices. After that date you cannot access the app. Jams were converted to PDFs in Q1 2025. Official Learning Center: the 55-inch Jamboard device reached end of life on 1 October 2024 (AUE 30 September 2024). Official Workspace blog (28 September 2023): Google will leverage partners instead of a first-party whiteboard. Named partners: FigJam by Figma, Lucidspark by Lucid, and Miro. Integrations listed for Calendar, Meet, and Drive. Sources: Jamboard application end of life; Jamboard device end of life; Workspace blog.

Workspace still includes Meet, Drive, and Docs. It does not include a first-party jam. Install a Marketplace partner or stay on Microsoft Whiteboard if the shop is already on 365. Meet clocks and recording live on video conferencing software for Canadian small businesses.

When Workspace or Microsoft 365 already covers the board

• You pay Microsoft 365 with Teams: Whiteboard is the default. Do not buy Miro for the same share-tray huddle.
• You pay Workspace: Meet is the call. The canvas is FigJam, Lucidspark, or Miro — Google named those three. Meet: Starter 100 participants; Standard recording, noise cancellation, 150 participants; Plus attendance tracking, 500 participants
• You already pay Figma Full: FigJam is on the seat. A Collab seat is cheaper than a second Miro Starter for contractors who only edit the jam.
• Seat math: Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 in Canada.

When free is enough

• Three internal boards, no client guests: Miro Free.
• Already on a Microsoft account, no facilitation toolkit: Whiteboard.
• Already in Figma Starter: FigJam until someone outside the file needs a Collab seat.
• Three short explainer clips: Explain Everything Free. Pro at $7.49 USD/month yearly when the 3-minute / 1-slide wall hits.
• Guest editing, voting, or a client who must not become a Member: Miro Starter or FigJam Collab. That is the workshop line.

A practical pick

1. Already on Microsoft 365 with Teams: stay on Whiteboard. Do not buy Miro for the same huddle.
2. Already on Figma: FigJam on the Full seat, or a Collab seat at US$3/month yearly for workshop-only people. Confirm GST/HST.
3. Need guest workshops, timers, and votes, and you accept USD: Miro Starter at $8/member/month yearly on the official card — confirm checkout and tax.
4. Coming off Jamboard and already in Lucidchart: Lucidspark. Confirm the live USD card.
5. The job is a recorded explainer, not a 20-person offsite: Explain Everything Pro at $7.49 USD/month yearly.
6. One person, three boards, no guests: Miro Free or Whiteboard. That is enough.
7. The work is who owns Friday, not the sticky: project management software for Canadian small businesses.
8. You still need the meeting link: video conferencing software for Canadian small businesses.