Learn what WBO (Whiteboard Online) offers as a free, open source real-time collaborative whiteboard, plus how to use or self-host it.
WBO, short for Whiteboard Online, is a free, open source collaborative whiteboard that lets multiple people draw on the same virtual canvas in real time. It is built and maintained by independent developer Ophir Lojkine, with the code published under the project name whitebophir on GitHub.
The publicly hosted version runs at wbo.ophir.dev and requires no account or sign-up: users simply create a board and share its URL with collaborators to start drawing together, with the board's state automatically saved so work persists between sessions.
Because it is a lightweight, single-developer open source project rather than a funded company, WBO does not have the enterprise features, integrations, or support structure of commercial whiteboard tools, but it offers a genuinely free and self-hostable alternative for simple collaborative sketching.
Real-time collaborative drawing lets any number of connected users sketch on the same board simultaneously, with updates synced live to everyone viewing it.
Persistent board state means drawings are automatically saved, so a board's content survives after users close their browser and can be revisited later using the same URL.
Link-based access control lets users create boards with random, hard-to-guess names, functioning as a lightweight private space without requiring formal accounts or logins.
Basic drawing tools cover freehand drawing, shapes, text, and image insertion, enough for sketching, diagramming, and teaching use cases.
Self-hosting support lets technical users or organizations deploy their own private instance of WBO on their own server, including via Docker, for full control over data and availability.
Multi-language support with translations in more than 15 languages makes the tool accessible to a broad international audience.
WBO is entirely free to use on the public hosted instance at wbo.ophir.dev, with no paid plans, subscriptions, or premium feature tiers.
Because the underlying whitebophir code is open source under the AGPLv3 license, anyone can also self-host their own private instance for free, only incurring their own server hosting costs.
There is no enterprise or commercial pricing tier, reflecting WBO's nature as an independent open source project rather than a commercial software company.
Yes, WBO is completely free to use on the public hosted instance, and the underlying code is open source so anyone can self-host it for free as well.
No, WBO does not require an account or sign-up. You simply create a board and share its URL with collaborators.
WBO is built and maintained by independent developer Ophir Lojkine under the open source project name whitebophir.
Yes, the whitebophir code is open source under the AGPLv3 license and can be deployed on your own server, including via Docker.
Boards can be created with a random, hard-to-guess name so they function as a private space accessible only to people who have the link, though there is no formal login-based access control.
WBO is commonly used for teaching, brainstorming, quick diagramming, and general collaborative sketching where a lightweight, free tool is sufficient.
WBO is much simpler and entirely free, but it lacks the templates, integrations, and enterprise features found in commercial whiteboard platforms like Miro or FigJam.