Comparison

Zoho Writer 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

Zoho Writer

Create and edit documents with a clean, distraction-free interface. Collaborate with others in real-time, import and export various file formats, and access your work across all devices. Your changes are automatically saved and synced.

Highlights
  • Create and edit documents
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Import/export MS Word, PDF, ODT
  • Sync across devices
  • Offline access
  • Automatic saving
Features
Read full description

Simple, slick word processing app to create and edit documents, and collaborate on them with your friends. Sync docs across devices and access them wherever you go.   Writer is carefully designed to create a clean, blank paper-esque writing experience across your smartphone, tablet and computer. And it's free forever! Collaborate with your team - Join discussions, even when you're away from your desk. Add your thoughts to documents, reply to friends' comments, or just appreciate them by clicking "like."   Work with multiple formats - Import and edit your existing Microsoft Word documents. Take stories off your world by exporting it as an MS Word, PDF, ODT, HTML, or TXT file.   Get access to the full-blown web version - One of the best advantages of using Writer is that it features a powerful word processor on the web. It's incredibly easy to jot down notes on the move, and continue working on it on the web when you're back to your desk. Create beautiful looking documents - Format your documents. Add images, tables, and more. Work offline - Apart from a "Make available offline" option, 20 of your most recent documents will available offline by default too!   Forget saving documents - Forget clicking save, and manual back up. Your changes are saved and synced across all your devices as you make them. What's stopping you now? Get started. Write away!

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

Zoho Writer4 screens
Microsoft Whiteboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Microsoft Whiteboard at 4.6 against Zoho Writer's 2.9. Microsoft Whiteboard also leads on ratings volume (12K vs 136). Zoho Writer's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 weeks) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

Microsoft Whiteboard holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Microsoft Whiteboard has 12K ratings behind it against 136, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 30% of Zoho Writer's written reviews are positive against 36% of Microsoft Whiteboard's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zoho Writer ships an update every 3 weeks, Microsoft Whiteboard every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Zoho Writer versus Microsoft Whiteboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZoho WriterMicrosoft Whiteboard
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.9 (136 ratings)4.6 (12K ratings) — better
Positive reviews29.8% of reviews36.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings13612K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size132 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZoho CorporationMicrosoft Corporation

Customer experience

Zoho Writer

All ratings136 ratings
Positive40.4%
Neutral14.0%
Negative45.6%
Written reviews151 reviews
Positive29.8%
Neutral13.2%
Negative57.0%

Microsoft Whiteboard

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

User reviews

Zoho Writer

From 136 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface design
  • 🔒 Privacy-focused alternative to Google Docs
  • 📝 Good font variety and formatting options
  • 💾 Automatic document saving
  • 🌐 Cross-platform functionality (desktop, mobile, web)

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing
  • ⚠️ Severe data loss issues
  • 🐢 Significant lag and slow typing response
  • ❌ Missing core formatting features on mobile
  • 🔐 Permission and access errors

Microsoft Whiteboard

From 12K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Convenient collaboration
  • 💡 Versatile canvas
  • 🎨 Good customization options

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and unstable
  • 🤯 Poor UI/UX design
  • 🔍 Lack of basic features
  • 🔌 Connectivity issues
  • 💤 Laggy performance

Bugs and requests

Zoho Writer

Reported bugs

23 issues
  • App crashes on document open
  • Cursor jumps randomly in document
  • Keyboard disappears during typing
  • Punctuation disappears after saving
  • Text erased or goes missing
Show 18 more
  • Undo function behaves erratically
  • Diacritics cause app crashes and data loss
  • Apple Pencil input causes immediate crashes
  • Documents fail to load with permission errors
  • Data migration errors on new accounts
  • Offline mode loses documents on sync
  • Lag increases with document size
  • Copy-paste corrupts text formatting
  • App freezes on tutorial screen
  • Documents deleted after app update
  • Sync fails to reflect web version changes
  • Microphone input text disappears
  • App locks up during formatting operations
  • Blank page display in read mode
  • Random extra spaces between words
  • Cursor placement in middle of words
  • Update failure notifications
  • App crashes when using WorkDrive integration

Requested features

18 requests
  • Dark mode for mobile app
  • Text wrapping around images
  • Adjustable image sizing
  • Cover page and page formatting options
  • Document list view (not just icon view)
Show 13 more
  • Search within document contents
  • Ability to save to specific folders
  • Multi-select for batch operations
  • Select all functionality
  • Landscape view support
  • Split-screen iPad support
  • Cloud import from Dropbox/OneDrive
  • Track changes feature
  • Outline navigation on mobile
  • Font size customization
  • Margin adjustment controls
  • Document templates
  • Alphabetical document sorting

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

Zoho Writer

No in-app purchases

None

Microsoft Whiteboard

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Zoho Writer free?
Zoho Writer 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, Zoho Writer or Microsoft Whiteboard?
Microsoft Whiteboard is rated higher. Zoho Writer averages 2.9 out of 5 from 136 ratings, while Microsoft Whiteboard averages 4.6 from 12K ratings.
Do Zoho Writer or Microsoft Whiteboard have ads?
Neither Zoho Writer nor Microsoft Whiteboard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zoho Writer or Microsoft Whiteboard?
Zoho Writer ships an update every 3 weeks, and Microsoft Whiteboard every 6 weeks. Most recently, Zoho Writer was updated on September 7, 2026 and Microsoft Whiteboard on September 24, 2026.

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