Building a collaborative canvas into your product
You need a whiteboard feature inside your SaaS app. tldraw's SDK lets you embed an infinite canvas with multiplayer support in a few hundred lines of code. BoardSnap is not a developer SDK.
Comparison
BoardSnap vs tldraw
BoardSnap vs tldraw
tldraw is a serious open-source canvas for digital drawing. BoardSnap reads the canvas already on your wall.
tldraw has evolved from a sketching toy into a developer-friendly canvas platform with an embeddable SDK. It's excellent for building collaborative diagramming features into products — or using as a standalone digital whiteboard. For reading what's on a physical whiteboard, it's the wrong tool.
The short verdict
Pick tldraw for digital whiteboarding, embedding an infinite canvas in your product, or collaborative diagramming. Pick BoardSnap when there's a physical whiteboard in the room that needs to become an action plan.
Download on the
App Store
Free to start. Pro from $9.99/mo or $69.99/yr.
Feature-by-feature
| Capability | BoardSnap | tldraw |
|---|---|---|
| Physical whiteboard capture | ✓ Yes | — No |
| Reads diagrams from photos | ✓ Yes | — No |
| AI summary from board content | ✓ Yes | AI on digital content only |
| Tri-state action items | ✓ Yes | — No |
| Brand-aware tone | ✓ Yes | — No |
| Offline capture queue | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Open-source | — No | ✓ Yes |
| Embeddable SDK | — No | ✓ Yes |
| Real-time multiplayer | — No | ✓ Yes |
| Infinite canvas | — No | ✓ Yes |
| No account required | — No | ✓ Yes |
| Free tier | ✓ Yes | Fully free |
Where BoardSnap wins
- Captures and analyzes physical whiteboards — something no digital canvas can do
- VisionKit auto-corrects perspective from any angle
- AI reads the board structure and generates a structured summary
- Tri-state action items with subtasks generated from the board
- Brand-aware output and project-scoped memory
- Offline capture queue for rooms without reliable signal
The meeting used a physical whiteboard. The decisions, the diagram, the tasks are on the wall. BoardSnap captures them and produces structured output. tldraw is a digital canvas — it doesn't see the room.
Where tldraw still has an edge
- Open-source with a developer-friendly SDK for embedding in products
- Real-time multiplayer collaboration built in
- Infinite canvas with components, shapes, and freehand drawing
- Computer mode adds AI features for generating and transforming content
- No account required — runs directly in the browser
- Active open-source community with rapid development
You're building a product that needs an embedded collaborative canvas, or you want a high-quality free digital whiteboard for your team. tldraw's SDK is particularly powerful for developers who want to add whiteboarding to their own apps. It's a serious tool with a growing feature set.
Scenarios
Post-whiteboard capture
Your team spent an hour at a physical whiteboard hashing out a product architecture. BoardSnap snaps the board, reads the nodes and arrows, and produces a summary with action items. The team then rebuilds the clean version in tldraw for the engineering wiki.
Remote technical design review
Engineers join tldraw from three locations and sketch the system design together in real time. Everyone can draw, comment, and iterate simultaneously. BoardSnap has no role in a remote session.
Frequently asked
What is tldraw's computer mode?
tldraw's computer mode adds AI features that can generate content, transform shapes, and assist with diagramming based on prompts. These features work on content within tldraw's digital canvas — they don't analyze photos of physical whiteboards.
Is tldraw production-ready for teams?
tldraw is a solid tool for individual and small-team use, and its SDK is production-grade for embedding. The hosted product at tldraw.com is actively developed. For enterprise features like SSO and audit logs, more established tools like Miro or Mural may serve better.
Can I use BoardSnap alongside tldraw?
Yes — a natural workflow: run the in-person session at a physical whiteboard, capture with BoardSnap, and post the structured summary as a reference for the team to rebuild a clean version in tldraw. Capture and creation, in sequence.
Try BoardSnap. Decide for yourself.
Free to start. The first snap takes ten seconds — see how it compares to tldraw.
Free · 1 project, 30 boards
Pro $9.99/mo · everything unlimited
Pro $69.99/yr · save 42%