Sketchboard

Sketchboard is a collaborative visual workspace for remote and hybrid teams that combines sketch-style diagrams, freehand drawing, images, text and comment boxes that behave like real-time chat.

The paid plans of Sketchboard include more than 1,000 shapes, PDF and SVG export, image upload and board versioning, and a presentation tool is part of the free plan. The Team plan adds a Slack integration and password-protected sharing. Sketchboard describes public view-only boards with a limit on simultaneous viewers, from 5 on the free plan to 100 on Business.

The terms of service identify the provider as Sketchboard, formerly 7scales Oy, in Espoo, Finland, and Finnish law governs the agreement. On its GDPR page Sketchboard calls itself a European company based in Finland.

The security page states that Sketchboard is hosted in Google Cloud Platform facilities in Belgium and Amazon Web Services facilities in Ireland, with daily backups and a minimum of TLS 1.2. Sketchboard names no certification, and neither the terms nor the privacy policy give a business ID or street address.

Sketchboard Starter costs USD 6 per month or USD 60 per year for one editor with unlimited boards.

Sketchboard Team costs USD 20 per month or USD 200 per year for 5 editors, and Sketchboard Business costs USD 39 per month or USD 390 per year for 10 editors with SSO and unified billing; extra editors are USD 5 per month on those two plans.

The free plan allows 3 boards and up to 5 users. Sketchboard is good value for a five-person team that mainly draws diagrams. Buyers who need a full imprint, a certificate or a European-owned cloud should look higher up this ranking.

What Sketchboard does well

• Sketchboard Team costs a flat USD 20 per month for 5 editors, with unlimited free viewers.
• Sketchboard Business includes SSO at USD 39 per month for 10 editors.
• Sketchboard stores data inside the EU, in Belgium and Ireland.
• The free Sketchboard plan allows 3 boards and up to 5 users.
• Sketchboard offers discounted plans for educational institutions and nonprofits on request.

Where Sketchboard falls short

• Sketchboard runs on Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services rather than a European-owned provider.
• The Sketchboard terms and privacy policy give no business ID or street address for the company.
• Sketchboard names no security certification on its security page.
• Sketchboard mentions no self-hosted or on-premises edition and prices only in USD.

Standout feature. Sketchboard is priced per team rather than per seat, so five editors cost USD 20 per month on the Team plan and ten cost USD 39 on Business.