Archboard vs Claude Whiteboards

Archboard is built for diagrams that have to match a system. The canvas ships domain node packs (Kubernetes, C4, cloud, network, flowchart, UML, and the rest of the built-in catalog), so a load balancer, a VPC, a subnet, a queue, and a PostgreSQL database are typed nodes with ports, not rectangles with a label. Importers turn Kubernetes YAML, Docker Compose, Terraform, CloudFormation, SQL, and Mermaid into editable diagrams. The document is structured JSON with a public schema, and snapshot export (SVG, PNG, JPEG, PDF) matches what you drew. Your team and the AI agents you connect through MCP edit the same canvas live, with cursors.

Claude Whiteboards, released in beta on November 10, 2026, is a different kind of surface. It is a shared infinite canvas inside Claude: Claude turns a spoken or typed plan into blocks, arrows, sections, tables, and marker sketches, and a team rearranges them together with live cursors. Its shape set is general purpose, twelve kinds such as rectangle, diamond, database, queue, and cloud, with no Kubernetes, C4, or cloud packs and no importer for infrastructure files. A shared timer and vote stickers support retrospectives and planning sessions. A finished board becomes a document or a deck, downloads as a PNG, or moves to Lucid, Miro, or Vani by Zoho. Archboard does not sell timers, voting, or meeting facilitation.

We ran one prompt through both on November 11, 2026: a web app on AWS with a CDN, a load balancer, three services in private subnets, a PostgreSQL primary with a read replica, Redis, a queue, and object storage. Claude Whiteboards drew a clean block diagram: rounded boxes, cylinders, three sections, and arrows without labels. Through Archboard’s MCP server, the same assistant placed typed nodes for the region, VPC, subnets, CDN, load balancer, Redis, PostgreSQL, queue, and object storage, with edges labelled HTTPS, cache, read / write, replication, and jobs. Both pictures were correct. The difference is what you keep afterward: a board of shapes, or a typed diagram with a JSON document, vector export, and nodes that carry meaning.

Price, independently checked in 2026 against public pages: Claude Whiteboards is included in paid Claude plans and is not on the Free plan. Claude Pro lists $17 per month billed annually or $20 monthly; Team Standard lists $20 per seat per month billed annually or $25 monthly (claude.com/pricing). On Enterprise plans the feature stays off until an admin turns it on. Archboard Free is $0 for one seat with every built-in pack, three diagrams, and 15 diagram nodes plus 150 notes, text, stickers, and mind map topics per diagram. Archboard Pro is $10 per seat per month or $96 per year for one to five seats. Archboard Enterprise is $24 per seat per month or $230 per year for six or more seats, with SLA and dedicated support. A Claude subscription buys an assistant with a board inside it. An Archboard seat buys a diagram workspace that any MCP-capable agent can edit.

Archboard fits when the output is a Kubernetes, C4, cloud, or network diagram that has to stay accurate next quarter, start from real infrastructure files, live in a README, or leave as vector and JSON. A board for a planning call, with a timer and votes, is a different job.

Archboard wins when the diagram is a record of the system, not a picture of a conversation. Kubernetes, C4, cloud, and network packs are typed nodes with ports. Importers start from the real YAML, Compose file, or Terraform file. The document is structured JSON with a public schema, and export is SVG, PNG, JPEG, or PDF that matches the canvas.

Claude Whiteboards is a general-purpose board inside one assistant, in beta, with a shared timer and vote stickers. Archboard is a hosted diagram workspace that people and AI agents edit live through MCP, with organizations, seats, and a Free plan. If the job is a living Kubernetes, C4, cloud, or network map, Archboard fits.