An offline whiteboard that is actually local-first
The copy on your device is the real one. Create, edit and search with no connection, sync free across your devices, and export your whole workspace as a file you own.
An offline whiteboard that is actually local-first keeps the real copy on your device. Gladeboard does: create, edit and search with no connection, free sync across your devices, and your whole workspace exports as one file. Freeform and Obsidian Canvas also work offline; Miro and FigJam are cloud-first.
| Tool | Best for | Works offline | Free plan | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gladeboard | A visual board you can use anywhere | Yes: create, edit and search | Three boards, no card limit | Any modern browser |
| Apple Freeform | Anyone entirely on Apple devices | Yes | Free, built in | Mac, iPhone, iPad |
| Obsidian Canvas | Notes and the links between them | Yes, local files | Free app | Desktop and mobile apps |
| Miro | Live workshops with a team | No, cloud-first | Limited free plan | Web, desktop and mobile apps |
| FigJam | Teams already working in Figma | No, cloud-first | Limited free plan | Web and desktop apps |
Nearly every whiteboard says it works offline. Most mean a cached copy you can read, or edits queued against a cloud version that is still the real one — which you discover on the day the reconnect goes badly.
Gladeboard is local-first, which is the stronger claim: the copy on your device is the board. Creating, editing, arranging and searching all work with no connection, because the network was never in the path. Sync carries changes to your other devices afterwards, and it is free.
- 3
- $8
- 1
Three different things are sold as “offline”
The word covers a lot of ground, and the differences are the whole decision. It is worth being able to tell them apart before you trust any tool with a year of work.
Offline viewing means a cached copy you can look at when the network drops. Read-only, usually silently — you find out it was read-only when an edit disappears.
Offline editing means changes are queued and replayed when you reconnect. Better, and the common case. The catch is that the cloud copy is still the real one, so a long spell offline and a conflict on the way back are somebody’s merge problem, and often yours.
Local-first means the copy on your device is the real one. The app reads and writes it directly, and sync is a separate job that carries changes to your other devices. Nothing degrades when the network goes, because the network was never in the path. That is what Gladeboard is: your boards are never the thing waiting on a connection.
What actually keeps working with the wifi off
All of it, and that is a shorter list than it sounds because most tools have an asterisk here. Creating boards and cards, dragging, resizing and arranging, editing notes and to-dos, importing images from your machine, and searching — including colour search, which reads image palettes on your device and never needed a server in the first place.
What does need a connection is the small and obvious set: loading the app in a browser, syncing to your other devices, fetching a preview for a link you just pasted, and playing an embedded video. Once the board is open, everything on it stays fully usable.
The file is the promise
Offline is a property of the app; ownership is a property of the format. A tool can work beautifully offline and still keep your boards in a private database you cannot open with anything else — which is fine until you want to leave, or until the app stops being maintained.
Any board exports as a poster or as Markdown, and your whole workspace — every board, with the images — exports as a single file you can back up, drop in a project folder, or hand to somebody. That file is a complete copy, and importing it rebuilds everything. Combined with local-first storage that is the actual guarantee: the work is on your machine, in a form you can move, and it does not depend on us continuing to exist.
Sync, without the usual bargain
The normal arrangement is that offline is the free tier’s limitation and sync is what you pay to remove. That gets the trade backwards: it charges you for the network dependency rather than for the capacity.
Sync is included on the free plan here. Three boards, synced across every device you sign in on, free forever, with no card cap. The paid plan lifts the board limit — $8 a month, the only plan you can buy today. Stop paying and nothing is deleted: you drop to free, every board stays readable, editable and syncing, and you just cannot add a new one until you are back under three.
Where it runs
Any modern desktop browser today — and yes, a browser app that keeps working offline is a real thing rather than a contradiction; the board is stored on your device and the app reads it from there rather than fetching it. Native Mac and Windows apps are in private testing, and because the whole workspace exports as a file, your work carries over the moment one lands.
The demo opens the real canvas with no account and nothing to install. If you want to test the claim on this page directly, the honest way is to open it, add a few cards, then turn your wifi off and keep working.
Great tools. Different priorities.
Milanote and Miro are mature cloud products. Gladeboard starts somewhere else: your work belongs on your machine.
Described either of them unfairly? Tell us and we will fix it.
- Keeps working offline, boards held on your device
- Find a reference by its color
- Your whole workspace as one file you keep
- Try the real canvas without an account
- Free plan
Frequently asked
Is there a whiteboard app that works completely offline?
Gladeboard is local-first, so creating, editing, arranging and searching all work with no connection at all. The copy on your device is the real one, not a cache that syncs back.
What is the difference between offline mode and local-first?
Offline mode queues your edits against a cloud copy that stays authoritative, so reconnecting can mean conflicts. Local-first means the copy on your device is the real one and sync is a separate job carrying changes to your other devices.
Can a browser app really work offline?
Yes. The board is stored on your device and the app reads it from there rather than fetching it, so a modern desktop browser is enough — keep a tab open and pull the plug and it carries on. Native Mac and Windows apps are in private testing as well.
What needs a connection?
Loading the app in a browser, syncing to your other devices, fetching a preview for a link you just pasted, and playing an embedded video. Once the board is open, everything on it stays fully usable without one.
Do I have to pay to sync?
No. Sync is included on the free plan across every device you sign in on. The paid plan lifts the board limit from three to unlimited at $8 a month.
Where are my boards stored?
On your device, and in your account if you sign in so they follow you to any browser. Your whole workspace also exports as a single file — every board with its images — that you can back up, move, or import again like any other document.