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Whimsical

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Panel rating · 6 judges · How to read the stars

Category median

Sovereignty: 1 of 6 dimensions proven

0–5 in half steps. 5 means the rubric's top anchor is met on the evidence.

by Whimsical, Inc. · whimsical.com

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Whimsical: AI-assisted analysis on whats-best.ai Whimsical: AI-assisted analysis on whats-best.ai (dark)

Add ?theme=dark to the image address for dark backgrounds. The badge shows the category and the month of the latest evaluation, and EU-Made where that is the product’s provenance. It never shows a score.

Whimsical at a glance

Vendor
Whimsical, Inc.
Headquarters
Incorporated in United States source, captured 1 Nov 2026
Data hosting
Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026
Free plan
Yes, per the vendor’s own page source, captured 1 Nov 2026
Panel verdict
The AI panel rates Whimsical 2.5/5, the mean of 6 judges. Whimsical is an online whiteboard. how scores are made
As of
Vendor pages captured 1 Nov 2026; evaluated by the panel 1 Nov 2026. all sources

Whimsical alternatives, European ones first →

Read this page as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.

The Microsoft 365 Admin

Weighted verdict

Runs Microsoft 365 and Teams for a machine builder with 2,400 staff and found 600 free whiteboard accounts on company addresses, boards shared publicly by link among them. Has to decide between the whiteboard that comes with Teams and a licensed one. Wants single sign-on, SCIM, domain capture of the existing accounts, sharing rules set once for everyone, audit logs in the SIEM, retention rules, and an AI that can be switched off until legal has read the terms.

Same scores as the panel view — this lens weights them the way this judge cares.

Scored by The Microsoft 365 Admin

Panel median The Microsoft 365 Admin This judge’s scores over the panel median. Each label opens its reasoning below.
Scores per criterion, in stars out of 5
Criterion Panel median The Microsoft 365 Admin
Canvas, templates & content 3 of 5 3.5 of 5
Workshop facilitation & participation 2 of 5 2 of 5
Integrations, import & export 3 of 5 3 of 5
Sharing, permissions & administration 3 of 5 3 of 5
Security, AI controls & deployment 2 of 5 2 of 5
European sovereignty 1.5 of 5 1.5 of 5
Pricing transparency 3.5 of 5 3.5 of 5

Canvas, templates & content

How this is scored

What can be put on the board and how fast: an infinite canvas, sticky notes, text, shapes and connectors, freehand drawing and pen input, frames and sections, images, files, documents and video embedded on the board, tables, mind maps, diagrams and flowcharts, a template library for workshops, retrospectives and planning, own templates for the organisation, search across boards, performance on large boards, and AI that clusters, summarises or generates content.

0 — Not a whiteboard; there is no shared canvas to put content on.

3 — A shared board with sticky notes, text, shapes and drawing; templates, embeds, diagrams and large boards are basic or not described.

5 — An infinite canvas with sticky notes, shapes and connectors, frames, images and files on the board, a template library for workshops, retrospectives and planning, own templates saved for the team, and the board usable on desktop, browser and tablet with pen input.

8 — Diagrams, mind maps, tables and kanban on the same board, embeds of live documents and video, templates managed centrally for the organisation, search across all boards, documented limits for large boards (objects, participants), and AI that clusters or summarises notes with its data use stated.

10 — A canvas a whole organisation builds on: structured data on the board (cards linked to records, custom fields), smart diagramming with shape libraries for named notations, offline work with conflict-free sync described, board performance at stated scale, and every content type exportable with its structure.

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The Microsoft 365 Admin

The infinite canvas with sticky notes, connectors, frames, image upload and video embeds is documented, and the template library is genuinely deep — nine categories including retrospectives, meetings, brainstorming and workshops, plus UML, ER, swimlane and fishbone diagrams and AWS and Azure icon sets — with custom templates on every plan and AI that generates diagrams and mind maps. We found no public information on search across boards, centrally managed template libraries, stated limits for large boards, or the AI's data use. 1 3 9 10 14

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Workshop facilitation & participation

How this is scored

What it takes to run a session on the board: guests who join without an account, a timer, voting and dot voting, a private or anonymous mode for notes, bringing everyone to the facilitator's view (summon, follow), a presentation or frame mode, locking objects, reactions, breakout areas, an agenda or session plan, built-in audio or video or the call apps the board runs inside, participant limits, and accessibility for participants (keyboard, screen reader, contrast).

0 — No real-time collaboration; only one person can work on a board at a time.

3 — Several people edit the same board in real time and see each other's cursors; facilitation tools and guest access are basic or not described.

5 — Guests join by link without an account, a timer, voting, bringing participants to the facilitator's view, a presentation mode through frames, locking objects, and comments with mentions.

8 — A private or anonymous mode for brainstorming, voting with results and export, breakout areas or assigned frames, a session agenda or facilitator panel, the board running inside Teams, Zoom or Webex meetings, participant limits per session stated, and an accessibility statement for the board.

10 — Facilitation that a large event runs on: hundreds of participants per board with stated limits, facilitator controls over who may edit what and when, session recordings or summaries with their data use stated, a published accessibility conformance report (WCAG), and facilitation features documented step by step.

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The Microsoft 365 Admin

Real-time multiplayer editing, a timer visible to everyone on the board, and configurable sticky-note voting with results shown are documented step by step, and anonymous commenting or editing by link can be extended to people without an account. We found no public information on bringing participants to the facilitator's view, a presentation mode, locking objects, breakout areas, participant limits, or accessibility for participants. 1 11 12 15

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Integrations, import & export

How this is scored

How the board connects to the work around it and whether the content can leave: apps for Teams, Zoom, Webex, Slack and Google or Microsoft files, a two-way sync with Jira, Azure DevOps or other work tools, embedding boards in Confluence, SharePoint or intranets, a documented REST API and webhooks, import from Miro, Mural or other boards and from CSV or images, and export as PDF, image, CSV of the notes or an editable file another tool can open.

0 — No integration and no export of any kind; content can only be viewed on the vendor's board.

3 — Export as image or PDF and a few named integrations; an API, imports and structured export are basic or not described.

5 — Apps for at least Teams or Zoom and Slack, an integration with Jira or another work tool, embedding a board in other tools, export as PDF, image and CSV of the notes, and a documented API.

8 — A two-way sync with Jira or Azure DevOps that keeps cards and issues aligned, a REST API with webhooks covering boards and items, import from other whiteboards documented, an export in an editable or open format, and a marketplace or app framework for extensions.

10 — Integration and exit both complete: an API that can read and write everything the board holds, a full account export in an open format that another tool imports with structure kept, SDKs or an embeddable board for own applications, and the export and deletion on termination documented.

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The Microsoft 365 Admin

Migration into Whimsical is the best-documented part: import guides for Miro, Mural, FigJam, Lucidchart, Lucidspark, Visio, Microsoft Whiteboard and more, with the Miro transfer detailed down to which formatting survives; Slack, GitHub, Jira smart links, Linear, Notion and Google Docs are named, boards embed into Confluence, Trello, Asana and others, and export covers image and Markdown plus PDF through the browser print dialog. We found no public information on a documented API with webhooks, CSV export of notes, a two-way sync with Jira or Azure DevOps, or an app marketplace. 2 13 14 15

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Sharing, permissions & administration

How this is scored

Who can see and change a board and how the organisation controls it: sharing by link with expiry and password, guest and external-user rules, roles per board, project and team, default sharing settings set by the admin, single sign-on (SAML, OpenID Connect), user provisioning (SCIM), domain capture and control of shadow accounts, audit logs, content retention and legal hold, transfer of boards when a person leaves, and admin reports.

0 — No accounts or permissions; anyone with a board's address can see and edit it, with no way to restrict it.

3 — Boards are shared with named people or by link with view or edit rights; admin controls, SSO and audit are basic or not described.

5 — Roles per board and per team, link sharing that can be restricted or switched off, guest access controlled by the admin, single sign-on with SAML, a user and board admin console, and boards transferred when a person leaves.

8 — SCIM provisioning, domain capture of existing accounts, sharing policies set centrally (no public links, guests only from allowed domains), audit logs exportable to a SIEM, retention rules and legal hold, data classification labels on boards, and admin roles split by scope.

10 — Administration that a regulated organisation can sign off: every sharing and access setting the admin controls listed with its effect, complete audit trails with a stated retention, eDiscovery and export for investigations, delegated administration across subsidiaries, and every control documented in the help centre.

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The Microsoft 365 Admin

The Business tier publicly includes SAML single sign-on and SCIM provisioning with setup guides for Okta, Entra ID and JumpCloud, domain-based auto-join into the workspace, admins able to block creation of new workspaces on the domain, and an organisation's right to claim all its content — the exact levers I need to round up 600 shadow accounts. What I could not find is a sharing policy set once for everyone, audit logs exportable to a SIEM, retention rules or legal hold, or admin roles split by scope. 3 7 16 17 18

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Security, AI controls & deployment

How this is scored

How the content of the boards is protected and where the product can run: encryption in transit and at rest, customer-managed encryption keys, a dedicated or private-cloud tenant and an on-premises edition, AI features that the admin can switch off and that do not train on customer boards, which AI providers process board content, data loss prevention, deletion of boards and accounts with stated periods, and whether individual activity (logins, contributions, time on board) is tracked and shown to managers, with a statement for works councils. Who processes the data and where, and the certifications, are scored under sovereignty.

0 — Content is not protected in transit, or boards are used for the vendor's own purposes by default with no way to opt out.

3 — Encryption is mentioned and the product is described as secure or GDPR-compliant; AI use, deletion and deployment options are basic or not described.

5 — Encryption in transit and at rest stated, AI features that the admin can switch off, a statement that customer content is not used to train AI models, deletion of boards and accounts with a stated period, and a security page describing the measures.

8 — Customer-managed keys or a dedicated tenant, a private-cloud or on-premises edition documented, the AI providers that process board content named with their location, data loss prevention or classification controls, individual activity tracking described with what managers can see, and a statement or template for works council agreements.

10 — Protection that can be verified: client-side or end-to-end encryption for boards with the method published, an on-premises or sovereign-cloud edition with feature parity stated, no AI processing outside the customer's chosen region, a published penetration test summary, and every security and AI control listed with its effect.

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The Microsoft 365 Admin

Encryption in transit (TLS 1.2 or better) and at rest (AES-256), yearly third-party penetration testing, SOC 2 Type II, encrypted backups with point-in-time recovery and two-factor authentication are all stated on a public security page, but there is no stated period for deleting boards and accounts and the pages describe no deployment option beyond AWS hosting in the United States. AI exists under supplementary AI terms, yet we found no public information on an admin switch to turn it off or a statement that customer boards do not train the models — which is what my legal team needs before anyone switches it on. 3 4 6 7

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European sovereignty

How this is scored

Who the contracting entity and the parent company are, where boards, files and user data are stored and processed, and who the subprocessors are (hosting, CDN, real-time collaboration servers, AI providers, email, support and payment tools). Independently sourced by the sovereignty pipeline; boards hold personal data of participants and often of customers, so the whole chain counts, not only the database. An on-premises or self-hosted edition the customer runs on its own European servers counts as the customer's chain, whatever the vendor's seat.

0 — Non-EU vendor and contracting entity, hosting unstated, subprocessors unnamed, and no data processing agreement offered.

3 — A privacy policy and a data processing agreement exist, but hosting location is unstated or non-EU and the subprocessors are not listed.

5 — EU hosting available and an EU contracting entity or EU representative, but parts of the chain (AI features, CDN, real-time servers, email, support, payment) run through non-EU providers without a stated safeguard, or EU residency is an option of the top tier only.

8 — EU hosting on named infrastructure, EU contracting entity, subprocessors listed with their locations, a data processing agreement published, and security certifications (ISO 27001, BSI C5, SOC 2) stated — or an on-premises edition documented that keeps every board on the customer's own servers.

10 — Sovereign end to end and evidenced: European ownership, entity, hosting and every subprocessor including AI, or an on-premises or open-source edition with no call home, data export and deletion documented, and certifications published with their scope rather than implied.

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The Microsoft 365 Admin

The contracting entity is Whimsical, Inc. in Denver under Delaware law, the services are hosted in and provided from the United States on AWS, and a data processing agreement is published and incorporated by reference with a subprocessor list referenced but not shown. We found no public information on EU hosting or a European contracting option, so boards holding participant and customer data would sit under US hosting and US law. 3 6 7 8

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Pricing transparency

How this is scored

Whether a buyer can compute the real annual cost from public pages alone: price per user and tier, how guests, viewers and external participants are counted, limits of the free plan (number of boards, objects, members), which features (SSO, SCIM, audit logs, EU data residency, AI credits, on-premises) cost extra, the enterprise tier's price or minimum, annual versus monthly billing, minimum seats and term.

0 — No public prices at all; every customer is a sales call.

3 — A starting price or a free plan exists, but how cost scales with users, guests or features is unclear.

5 — Tiers are public with their price per user and main inclusions, but at least one commonly needed piece (SSO, EU data residency, guests, AI credits, the enterprise tier) is unpriced or "on request".

8 — Every tier priced publicly with its scaling rule (members, guests, boards), free-plan limits stated, add-ons and AI credits priced, the on-premises or dedicated edition's cost or licence stated, minimum seats, term and VAT treatment stated.

10 — Complete price computability: annual cost derivable for a given team size, guest count and feature set, with every add-on, setup, support and AI fee and the cancellation and data-return terms published.

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The Microsoft 365 Admin

All three tiers are priced publicly — Free at $0, Pro at $10 per Month per Editor, Business at $20 per Month per Editor — with SAML SSO and SCIM included in Business, guests and viewers free and unlimited on every plan, free-plan limits of 50 board objects and 50 doc blocks per month, annual billing saving 17%, VAT paid by the customer, and cancellation at any time. We found no public information on AI pricing or credits, or a minimum seat count. 3 7 16

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European sovereignty — proven facts

1 of 6 dimensions proven

Built only from facts shown on the vendor's own pages. A dimension we could not prove is left open, not scored as zero.

Hosting location Not determined ⚠ unverified — uncited Report an error
Hosting options Not determined — uncited Report an error
Open source Not determined — uncited Report an error
Data processing agreement Not determined — uncited Report an error
Transfer impact assessment Not determined — uncited Report an error

Questions about Whimsical

Is Whimsical European?

No. whats-best.ai classifies Whimsical as Rest of world. Its vendor, Whimsical, Inc., is incorporated in United States, per the vendor’s page captured 1 Nov 2026.

Where does Whimsical store data?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026.

Does Whimsical have a free plan?

Yes. Whimsical has a free plan, per the vendor’s page captured 1 Nov 2026.

What are the best alternatives to Whimsical?

As of 1 Nov 2026, the panel rates Miro (3.5/5), Collaboard (3.5/5) and Klaxoon (3/5) highest among the other 12 Online Whiteboard products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is Collaboard (UK / wider Europe). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: how scores are made. The full list, with European products first: Whimsical alternatives.

Where this could be wrong

What we left out

A claim that does not survive our checks costs us the claim, not the page. This is what was taken off this one.

Do you know more about Whimsical? Tell us Report an error on this page

Sources (18)

The pages every claim on this page was read from — each one checked, dated, and kept verifiable.

  1. 1 Vendor homepage whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  2. 2 Integrations page whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  3. 3 Pricing page whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  4. 4 Security / trust page whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  5. 5 Security / trust page (trust centre) trust.whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  6. 6 Privacy policy whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  7. 7 Terms of service whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  8. 8 Data processing agreement (dpa) whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  9. 9 Canvas, templates & content — found from sitemap whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  10. 10 Canvas, templates & content — found from sitemap whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  11. 11 Workshop facilitation & participation — found from sitemap whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  12. 12 Workshop facilitation & participation — found from sitemap whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  13. 13 Integrations, import & export — found from sitemap whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  14. 14 Integrations, import & export — found from sitemap whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  15. 15 Sharing, permissions & administration — found from sitemap whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  16. 16 Sharing, permissions & administration — found from sitemap whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  17. 17 Security, AI controls & deployment — found from sitemap whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  18. 18 Security, AI controls & deployment — found from sitemap whimsical.com Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →