Boords alternatives for 2026
People looking for a Boords alternative are rarely after the same tool with a different logo — they want a different shape. Storyboarding tool with animatics and client review built in. This page compares features and pricing with sources and shows when switching pays off.
Why look beyond Boords at all?
Boords has clear strengths — anyone switching should know what they are giving up:
- Animatics turn boards into something a client can judge
- Frame-level comments keep approval in one thread
- Drawing skills are not required to produce a usable board
Where teams hit limits
The search for an alternative almost always starts at one of these points:
- The board says nothing about whether the day is shootable
- Schedule and gear live elsewhere
1. TillyBoard — the Boords alternative that starts from the brief
TillyBoard treats the board as one view of the shot list, so a change in one updates the other.
A fit for commercials, brand films, corporate and social work — wherever a brief lands and has to become a plan a crew can shoot from, quickly. Free to start, no credit card.
Boords vs TillyBoard: feature comparison
The table only records what each vendor documents on its own site — "Not stated" means we could not evidence it there, not that it is missing.
| Feature | Boords | TillyBoard |
|---|---|---|
| Shot list | Yes — generated from the storyboard | Yes — runtime per segment |
| Storyboard frames | Yes — drawing tool, uploads, stock library | Yes — AI preview frame per shot |
| AI-generated images | Yes — 250–3,000 images/month by plan | Yes — 10–400 images/month by plan |
| Moodboard / concept board | Not stated | Yes — concept canvas |
| Screenplay writing | Yes — script and two-column AV editor | No — treatment document, no screenplay editor |
| Script breakdown | Partly — script into scenes and frames | No — shots come from brief and concept |
| Shooting schedule | Not stated | Yes — day plan with daylight and weather |
| Call sheets | Not stated | Yes — crew confirms via link, no account |
| Budgeting | Not stated | Partly — Enterprise plan only |
| Video review & approval | Partly — storyboards and animatics, not cuts | Yes — frame-accurate notes, versions |
| Mobile app | Not stated — web app | Yes — iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Free plan | Yes — 5 storyboards, watermarked PDF | Yes — 1 project, 1 GB, no card |
As of October 2026. Source: boords.com · TillyBoard: tillyboard.com
Boords pricing compared
Boords prices are flat per plan with a seat cap rather than per user; Enterprise with SSO is priced on request.
TillyBoard bills per workspace, not per person: the Studio plan covers up to 25 members, and crew and clients confirm and comment via link without an account. All TillyBoard prices exclude VAT.
| Vendor · plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Boords Free | $0 | 5 active storyboards, 8 AI image credits |
| Boords Solo | $39/month or $26 billed yearly | 1 user, 250 AI images/month |
| Boords Pro | $75/month or $50 billed yearly | up to 5 users, 1,000 AI images/month |
| Boords Team | $125/month or $85 billed yearly | up to 10 users, 2,000 AI images/month |
| Boords Agency | $250/month or $165 billed yearly | up to 30 users, 3,000 AI images/month |
| TillyBoard Free | €0 | 1 project, 1 GB, 10 AI images/month |
| TillyBoard Creator | €22/month (€19 billed annually) | unlimited projects, 100 GB |
| TillyBoard Studio | €39/month (€35 billed annually) | 25 workspace members, unlimited projects |
| TillyBoard Team | €109/month (€99 billed annually) | unlimited members, branded exports |
As of October 2026. Prices change — the vendor's pricing page is authoritative: boords.com/pricing
Is Boords free? Free plan and trial
Yes — the free plan includes 5 active storyboards, 3 active scripts and 8 one-off AI image credits; PDF exports carry a Boords watermark. Paid plans can be trialled, but the trial length is not stated.
TillyBoard has a free-forever plan with no credit card: one own project, 1 GB of storage, Tilly AI on the standard quota and 10 AI images a month. That is enough to plan one real job end to end, from brief to call sheet, before deciding on a paid plan.
Who Boords is the better pick for
Put honestly — here Boords is the stronger choice:
- Agencies that pitch and get client sign-off on storyboards and animatics
- Artists who draw frames by hand or need a large stock library
- Teams that need high AI image volumes (up to 3,000 a month) and animatic MP4 export
Who TillyBoard is the better pick for
And here TillyBoard is the stronger choice:
- Teams who need the shoot plan after approval: schedule with daylight and weather, call sheet, packing list
- Crews who want the day plan in an iOS app on set, offline
- Productions that review finished cuts frame-accurately in the same project
Other Boords alternatives
Depending on your bottleneck, these are worth a look — each with a different centre of gravity:
- Storyboarder: Directors and story artists who want to sketch boards for free on a desktop computer.
- Storyboard That: Teachers, schools and business teams who want storyboards without drawing.
- Milanote: The concept phase, before a production system takes over.
- Frame.io: Post-production feedback loops with external stakeholders.
- Assemble: Agency-side teams coordinating several productions at once.
- Setkeeper: Production offices that live in call sheets and distribution lists.
Boords in practice: what to weigh
Not a star rating, but the points that follow from Boords's design, pricing model and documentation and that make the difference on real jobs:
- Flat plans with seat caps are predictable: Pro covers up to 5 people for $75 a month.
- Exports are unusually rich — PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, MP4 — which keeps hand-offs simple.
- Final Draft files cannot be imported directly, according to Boords' own documentation.
- Public API, webhooks and an MCP server are available on all plans.
Switching from Boords to TillyBoard
TillyBoard has no direct import from Boords. The switch runs through an export and a fresh plan — ideally between two jobs, not mid-production:
- Export the approved storyboard from Boords as Excel with thumbnails, or as an image ZIP.
- Create a free TillyBoard account (no card) and a project for the job.
- Put the frames onto the concept canvas as references, then build the shot list — one row per frame, about a minute each — or let Tilly AI draft it from the brief.
- Generate preview frames for the shots, optionally using talent and location photos as reference.
- Build the shoot day and send the call sheet; crew confirm via link.
Frequently asked
What is the best Boords alternative?
It depends on the bottleneck. If the job is turning a brief into a plan that holds, TillyBoard fits; if the job is animation and commercial teams whose approval process runs on boards, Boords itself is often already right.
How much does Boords cost?
Boords costs $39 a month for Solo, $75 for Pro, $125 for Team and $250 for Agency, or $26, $50, $85 and $165 a month billed yearly. TillyBoard starts free; Studio costs €39 a month for up to 25 members, plus VAT.
Is there a free version of Boords?
Yes — the free plan includes 5 active storyboards, 3 active scripts and 8 one-off AI image credits; PDF exports carry a Boords watermark. Paid plans can be trialled, but the trial length is not stated.
Can I bring my data from Boords to TillyBoard?
Boords exports storyboards as PDF, Word, Excel with thumbnails, PowerPoint, image ZIP and animatic MP4. TillyBoard has no direct import; the frames can go onto the concept canvas as references, and the shots are rebuilt in the shot list.
Can I draw storyboards in TillyBoard like in Boords?
No drawing tool is documented for TillyBoard. Each shot gets an AI preview frame generated from its action text, optionally with talent headshots and location photos as reference. If hand-drawn boards matter for the pitch, Boords remains the stronger tool for that stage.