Freeform

Apple's free whiteboard app for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro, synced through iCloud.

Verified facts: 4 of 4
Alternatives ranked: 5
Approved reviews: 0
Visits sent from here: 0

About Freeform

Freeform is Apple's built-in canvas app, available free on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro. You can sketch with Apple Pencil or your finger, add sticky notes, shapes, text, photos, videos, audio, PDFs, documents and web links, and arrange them on an infinite board. Scenes help you present parts of a board in order, and diagramming tools add connectors and alignment guides. Boards sync through iCloud, and you can invite others to collaborate in real time through Messages or a link, with FaceTime calls started from the board. Freeform is now also part of Apple Creator Studio, a subscription that adds premium content and intelligence features, but creating, editing and collaborating on boards do not require it. It is limited to Apple devices and Apple accounts, which rules it out for mixed teams, and it lacks the templates, voting and integrations of business whiteboards. For individuals and families on Apple hardware, it is a capable free option.

Best for: People on iPhone, iPad and Mac who want a free sketching and planning canvas.

What works

Free and preinstalled on Apple devices
Excellent Apple Pencil support
Real-time collaboration through iCloud

Why people leave

Apple devices and accounts only
No templates, voting or business integrations
Collaborators also need Apple devices

Top Freeform alternatives

See all 5

1
Milanote
Cross-platform visual boards for creative projects.
66.5
2Al
Allume
Nested boards and strong Pencil support on iPad and Mac.
62.6
3
Miro
Works on every platform, for teams outside the Apple ecosystem.
59.6
4
Microsoft Whiteboard
Free with Microsoft accounts, with Windows and Teams support.
57.2
5
tldraw
A free browser canvas anyone can join with a link.
55.3

Why people left Freeform

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Freeform: common questions

Is Freeform free?

Yes, Freeform is free to use.

Is Freeform open source?

No, Freeform is not open source.

What platforms does Freeform run on?

Freeform is available for iOS and macOS.

What are the best alternatives to Freeform?

The highest-ranked Freeform alternatives right now are Milanote, Allume and Miro. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 Freeform alternatives

Freeform facts

4 of 4 verified

Subscription: Not required for boards; Checked Oct 25, 2026apps.apple.com(opens source in a new tab); “Creating, viewing, and editing boards in Freeform, as well as collaborating in real time, does not require a subscription.”
Platforms: Vision Pro, Mac, iPad, iPhone; Checked Oct 25, 2026apps.apple.com(opens source in a new tab); “And with iCloud, all your boards stay in sync, whether you’re on your Apple Vision Pro, your Mac, your iPad or your iPhone.”
Creator Studio: Optional premium bundle; Checked Oct 25, 2026apps.apple.com(opens source in a new tab); “Freeform is now part of Apple Creator Studio”
Content types: Photos, video, audio, PDFs, links; Checked Oct 25, 2026apps.apple.com(opens source in a new tab); “Add photos, video, audio, documents, PDFs, web links, stickies”