Comparison

Pencil Box vs Microsoft Whiteboard

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pencil Box

Unleash your creativity with a versatile drawing tool. Select from various brushes, pens, and shapes, customize their properties, and utilize layers for complex designs. Import and export your artwork seamlessly.

Highlights
  • Multiple drawing tools (airbrush, pen, pencil, line, shapes)
  • Adjustable tool color, size, and transparency
  • Layer support with transparency and visibility control
  • Import drawings from Mail and iTunes
  • Export drawings via iTunes
  • Sync tool preferences with iCloud
Features
Read full description

Pencil Box is a useful drawing tool that allows you to display your artistic talent. You can: - choose your preferred tool - airbrush - pen - pencil - line - rectangle - ellipse - eraser - control tool color, size, and transparency - add layers and control layer transparency and visiblity - import and export drawings via iTunes - import drawings from mail - sync tool preferences between devices using iCloud Pencil Box is an active development. New features are always in the works.

About

Microsoft Whiteboard

This app offers a freeform digital canvas for individuals and teams to brainstorm, create, and collaborate visually. It supports touch, type, and pen input, allowing for seamless real-time teamwork from anywhere. Your work is automatically saved to the cloud for easy access across devices.

Highlights
  • Infinite freeform canvas
  • Real-time team collaboration
  • Touch, type, and pen support
  • Pre-built templates
  • Shapes and lines library
  • Sticky notes and notes grids
  • Automatic cloud saving
Read full description

Update : The App performance has been significantly improved & there are also a ton of other features which have been added. Check out the “What’s new” section for more details!! Microsoft Whiteboard provides a freeform intelligent canvas where individuals & teams alike can ideate, create, and collaborate visually via the cloud. Designed for touch, type & pen, it lets you write or draw as smoothly as you would with ink, you can even type in text, add sticky notes or notes grid to express your ideas & use reactions to visually communicate your thoughts. It enhances teamwork by allowing all team members to edit the canvas in real time, no matter where they are. Get started quickly by inserting a pre-built template or draw your own flowchart using our expansive shapes library. No matter what your use case, we have the right set of tools for you and all your work stays safe in the cloud, ready to be picked back up from another location or device. -- Create freely, work naturally – Microsoft Whiteboard provides an infinite canvas where imagination has room to grow: draw, type, add a sticky note or a notes grid, move them around – it’s all possible. The touch-first, pen-first interface frees your ideas from the keyboard, and the intelligent inking technology transforms your doodles into great-looking shapes and lines that can be copied, pasted and combined with other objects. Moreover, you can also, ink on your sticky notes & text boxes and magically see the ink get converted to text using Apple Scribble functionality (on iPads with Apple Pencil). --Collaborate in real time, wherever you are— Microsoft Whiteboard brings every member of a team together working from their own devices across the globe. On the Whiteboard canvas, you can also see what your teammates are doing in real time and start collaborating on the same area. It’s about getting everyone on the same page – or board. --Save automatically, resume seamlessly – Forget having to take photos of your whiteboards, or marking them with “Do Not Erase.” With Microsoft Whiteboard, your brainstorming sessions are saved automatically to the Microsoft cloud, so you can pick up where you left off, whenever – and wherever – inspiration strikes next. What’s new: • Improved App Performance & Reduction in crashes which has been a strong customer ask. • Modern look and feel: 1. Streamlined user experience - an unobtrusive app UI maximizes your canvas space. 2. Creation gallery - a highly discoverable, simple way of finding and using objects and features in the application. • Interactive content features: 3. 40+ customizable templates – get started quickly and collaborate, brainstorm, and ideate with brand new templates. 4. Shapes & Lines - Choose from an expansive library of shapes & lines to visually collaborate & ideate with your team members 5. Reactions - provide lightweight, contextual feedback with a set of fun reactions. • Inking features: 6. Apple Scribble – Ink on text boxes & sticky notes and see your ink strokes magically convert to text (on iPads with Apple pencil) 7. Ink arrows – smoothly draw single and double-sided arrows using ink to better facilitate diagramming. Dichiarazione di accessibilità: https://www.microsoft.com/it-it/accessibility/declarations

Screenshots

Pencil Box4 screens
Microsoft Whiteboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Microsoft Whiteboard at 36% against Pencil Box's 0%. Microsoft Whiteboard also leads on ratings volume (12K vs 1). Pencil Box's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 weeks). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pencil Box holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Microsoft Whiteboard has 12K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 0% of Pencil Box's written reviews are positive against 36% of Microsoft Whiteboard's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pencil Box ships an update fortnightly, Microsoft Whiteboard every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Pencil Box versus Microsoft Whiteboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPencil BoxMicrosoft Whiteboard
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.6 (12K ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews36.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings112K — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS10.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFays Lane LabsMicrosoft Corporation

Customer experience

Pencil Box

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Microsoft Whiteboard

All ratings11,067 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral3.4%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews352 reviews
Positive36.1%
Neutral13.1%
Negative50.9%

Bugs and requests

Pencil Box

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Microsoft Whiteboard

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent crashes and freezes
  • Unsaved work loss
  • Unreliable sync and loading
  • Inconsistent behavior across devices

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add offline support
  • Improve palm rejection
  • Implement handwriting recognition
  • Allow font and color customization
  • Add locking/anchoring options
Show 1 more
  • Enhance sharing and export capabilities

In-app purchases

None

Pencil Box

No in-app purchases

None

Microsoft Whiteboard

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pencil Box free?
Pencil Box is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Microsoft Whiteboard free?
Microsoft Whiteboard is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pencil Box or Microsoft Whiteboard?
Pencil Box is rated higher. Pencil Box averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Microsoft Whiteboard averages 4.6 from 12K ratings.
Do Pencil Box or Microsoft Whiteboard have ads?
Neither Pencil Box nor Microsoft Whiteboard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pencil Box or Microsoft Whiteboard?
Pencil Box ships an update fortnightly, and Microsoft Whiteboard every 6 weeks. Most recently, Pencil Box was updated on October 23, 2026 and Microsoft Whiteboard on October 24, 2026.

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