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Productivity · head to head

FigJam vs Microsoft OneNote

FigJam logo

FigJam

Productivity

Free online whiteboard for teams

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Microsoft OneNote logo

Microsoft OneNote

Productivity

Microsoft's free-form notebook, free with a Microsoft account and synced through OneDrive

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: FigJam organization and Enterprise tiers are billed annually only, with no monthly billing option; Microsoft OneNote notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
  • They diverge on capability: FigJam covers Infinite whiteboard, Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FigJam and Microsoft OneNote actually diverge.

Attributes where FigJam and Microsoft OneNote differ
AttributeFigJamMicrosoft OneNote
PlatformsWeb, Windows, Macos, Ios, AndroidWeb, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows
Founded20121975

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in FigJam

  • Infinite whiteboard
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Sticky notes
  • Drawing tools
  • Shapes
  • Widgets
  • Templates
  • Voting

Only in Microsoft OneNote

  • Free-form page canvas
  • Notebook hierarchy
  • Indexed handwriting
  • Audio recording
  • Web clipper and Outlook capture
  • Shared notebooks
  • Cross-platform clients
  • Tags and cross-notebook search

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

FigJam

  • Teams running collaborative brainstorming and whiteboarding sessions bundled into an existing Figma plannot Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft OneNote

  • Handwritten notes on a pen tablet that you still need to find months later by searching for a word you wrote.not FigJam
  • Lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time.not FigJam
  • A team already inside Microsoft 365 that needs a shared notebook without buying anything or seeking approval.not FigJam
  • Collecting mixed material such as screenshots, clippings and sketches on one page, where a document editor would force a linear structure.not FigJam

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

FigJam

  • Organization and Enterprise tiers are billed annually only, with no monthly billing option
  • Free Starter plan caps AI credit usage at 150 credits per day and 500 per month, well below the 3,000 monthly AI credits on a Professional full seat

Microsoft OneNote

  • Notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
  • Personal notebooks consume OneDrive quota, which is 5 GB on a free Microsoft account, so a notebook full of scans, images and recordings quietly exhausts the whole account including the space Outlook needs for mail.
  • Sync happens at section level and conflicts are resolved by placing both versions on the page, so simultaneous edits to a large or media-heavy section produce duplicated content that somebody has to merge by hand.
  • Search behaves differently across clients, so what the Windows desktop app finds inside handwriting, images and attachments is not necessarily what the browser or mobile version finds, and the same query gives different answers on different devices.
  • There is no relational structure, no database and no properties, so anything that needs a table of records with fields has to be maintained by hand or moved elsewhere, and OneNote's own tables cannot be queried or filtered.

Pricing, plan by plan

FigJam

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Unlimited editable boards
    • Basic tools
    • Unlimited viewers
  • Paid$5/month
    • Everything in Free
    • Advanced templates
    • Moderation tools

Microsoft OneNote

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft OneNote review.

Which should you pick?

Choose FigJam if

  • You need infinite whiteboard.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Macos, Ios, Android.
  • You also want real-time collaboration.
FigJam review

Choose Microsoft OneNote if

  • You need free-form page canvas.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
  • You also want notebook hierarchy.
Microsoft OneNote review

Questions people ask

Is FigJam or Microsoft OneNote better?
Neither clearly leads. FigJam starts at Free and Microsoft OneNote at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FigJam or Microsoft OneNote?
FigJam starts at Free and Microsoft OneNote at Free.
Does FigJam or Microsoft OneNote run on more platforms?
FigJam runs on Web, Windows, Macos, Ios, Android. Microsoft OneNote runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
Can I use FigJam for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is FigJam best used for?
FigJam is most often used for teams running collaborative brainstorming and whiteboarding sessions bundled into an existing figma plan. Of those, teams running collaborative brainstorming and whiteboarding sessions bundled into an existing figma plan is not what Microsoft OneNote is typically brought in for.
What can FigJam do that Microsoft OneNote cannot?
FigJam covers Infinite whiteboard, Real-time collaboration, Sticky notes, Drawing tools. Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Notebook hierarchy, Indexed handwriting, Audio recording.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

FigJam: Is FigJam included with Figma or sold separately?

FigJam is included at no additional cost with all Figma plans, from the free Starter plan through Enterprise.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: Is OneNote really free?

Yes. The application is free with a Microsoft account, with no time limit and no feature gate. What you may end up paying for is the OneDrive storage the notebooks consume.

FigJam: How many AI credits does each Figma plan include for FigJam?

The Professional plan includes 3,000 AI credits per month, Organization plan includes 3,500 AI credits per month, and Enterprise plan includes 4,250 AI credits per month. Starter (free) does not include AI features.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: Can I keep notebooks off Microsoft's cloud?

The Windows desktop app can keep local notebooks, but they will not sync to other devices and any shared access requires OneDrive or SharePoint.

FigJam: What can I do with FigJam's open sessions feature?

FigJam allows anyone to join open sessions for 24 hours without needing a Figma account, and you can create unlimited open sessions across your team.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: How do I get my notes out?

Section by section as a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document. A OneNote package preserves a whole notebook but only for another copy of OneNote. Third-party converters exist and the page layout usually does not survive them.

FigJam: What diagramming capabilities does FigJam include?

FigJam includes advanced shapes for technical diagramming such as AWS, GCP, Azure, and Kubernetes components, plus standard diagramming tools and connectors. All these features are available on every paid plan.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: Which version should I install?

Microsoft consolidated onto a single OneNote application on Windows after retiring the Store version, so install the one distributed with Microsoft 365 rather than looking for an alternative.

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