Boords is a preproduction sign-off tool that keeps scripts, storyboards, animatics, and client approvals in one place for creative directors, heads of production, and agencies running video at volume. It was founded in London in 2015 by James Chambers and is still independent.
The alternative Boords replaces is not another app. It is the folder of PDFs called Final_v3_REAL, the approval buried in a Slack thread, and the reshoot bill that follows.
What Boords does
Storyboards
Build boards from your own artwork, uploaded images, or AI-generated frames with consistent characters. Every frame carries its own notes, shot type, and duration, so the board reads as a plan rather than a picture gallery. Boards stay consistent across projects without rebuilding a template each time.
Script editor
Write free-form, audio/visual, or screenplay-format scripts inside the same project as the board. A script can be broken into frames in one step, and script and board stay linked as the idea changes. The script editor means the brief, the words, and the pictures live together.
Animatics
Turn any storyboard into a timed animatic with voiceover or music, then adjust pacing frame by frame. Teams use it to settle timing and sequencing while a change still costs minutes rather than a day on set. See how the animatic workflow fits in.
Client review and sign-off
Send one link. Clients comment on individual frames and approve or request changes without creating an account. Feedback stays attached to the frame it refers to instead of arriving as a numbered list in an email.
Versions and the activity trail
Every version, comment, and approval is timestamped and attributed. When someone asks which board the client signed off last Tuesday, the answer is one click away rather than a search through inboxes.
Shot lists and exports
Frame fields roll up into a shot list for the crew. Boards export as PDF or image, and animatics export as MP4, so the approved plan travels to the shoot and the edit in whatever format the next team needs.
What makes Boords different
Storyboards, animatics, and client sign-off in one tool
Storyboard tools stop at the frame. Review tools such as Frame.io start once the video is finished. Boords runs the full preproduction arc, from script to board to animatic to sign-off, in one product, which is why many customers use Boords and Frame.io together rather than choosing between them.
Clients review without a login
Figma is the most capable do-it-yourself alternative, and a client needs a Figma account before they can comment on the work. Boords review links open in a browser with no signup, and comments and approvals work straight away. That single difference is usually where an approval loop speeds up or dies.
The paper trail is built in, not bolted on
Email, Slack, and shared drives hold feedback, but none of them can tell you who approved which version and when. In Boords the version history and sign-off record are the structure of the app. Over 12 million frame-level comments have been captured this way.
Built for preproduction, not the shoot day
StudioBinder connects storyboards to call sheets, breakdowns, and shooting schedules. Boords deliberately does not. It concentrates on the stage before the camera rolls, where the scene model, shot fields, animatic timeline, and client review are all designed for planning rather than logistics. Our Boords vs StudioBinder comparison sets out where each tool fits.
Independent since 2015
Boords has been built and run by the same small, founder-led team for 11 years. There is no venture-backed roadmap pulling the product towards enterprise film pipelines or generic project management. Priorities are set by what agencies and brand video teams ask for.
Free to start, no annual lock-in
There is a free plan with no credit card required, and paid plans bill monthly or yearly. You can downgrade or cancel from your subscription page and keep access until the end of the period you have paid for. StudioBinder also offers a free tier, limited to one project and ten storyboards.
Who uses Boords
Boords is designed for teams where paid video is business-critical and sign-off crosses an organisational boundary.
- Video and advertising agencies with 5 to 50 people running five or more concurrent video projects
- Creative directors who own concept quality and client sign-off
- Heads of production and production managers responsible for getting projects through on time
- Agency founders and partners who wear both of those hats
- Senior in-house brand and creative marketing leads at mid-market companies who present to internal stakeholders
- Animation studios and explainer video producers who share boards with clients for approval
Freelancers, students, and small YouTube channels also use Boords, and the free plan exists for them. The product roadmap is set by the teams above.
The team behind Boords
James Chambers, founder
Before Boords, James co-founded Animade, an animation studio in London. The studio built storyboards in Photoshop, Google Slides, and InDesign, tracked versions by filename, and kept client notes in email threads. In 2015 he built the first version of Boords to fix that for his own team, and it has been his full-time job since. You can find him on LinkedIn.
The company
Boords is made by Presentable Software Limited, a privately held company registered in England and Wales and headquartered in London. The team is small and has stayed that way on purpose. Over 11 years the product has been used to create more than 2 million storyboards, share over 1 million of them with clients for sign-off, and capture more than 12 million comments. You can read the founder's account of why Boords exists in the founder letter and hear from customers on the customer stories page.
How Boords works
Getting started
Sign up at app.boords.com and start on the free plan. No credit card is needed, and the free plan includes five active storyboards for up to five team members. Most teams create a project, add a script or a first board, and share a review link with a client within the first session.
Support
Support is handled by the Boords team through in-app chat and by email at hello@boords.com. Higher plans include priority support. Self-serve answers live in the help docs, which cover every feature in the product.
Billing
Plans are billed monthly or yearly through Stripe. Boords never holds card details directly. You can change or cancel your plan from your account at any time, and access continues until the end of the current billing period.
Larger teams and procurement
Agencies and brand teams with procurement requirements can request a custom enterprise quote. Security documentation, a data processing agreement, vendor information, and sub-processor details are published on the security page. Data is hosted primarily in the EU (Ireland).
Key facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Company name | Boords (legal entity: Presentable Software Limited) |
| Type | Independent, privately held software company |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Founder | James Chambers |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Website | boords.com |
| Core offering | The sign-off layer for video preproduction: storyboards, scripts, animatics, and client sign-off in one tool |
| Pricing | Free plan; paid plans from $39 per month (Solo), then Pro $75, Team $125, and Agency $250 per month, with lower yearly rates; enterprise pricing on request |
| Contract terms | Monthly or yearly subscription; downgrade or cancel from your subscription page; no mandatory annual contract |
| Services | Self-serve software; enterprise quotes, data processing agreement, and security documentation on request |
| Communication | In-app chat, hello@boords.com, and public help docs |
| Notable clients | Framestore, Moving Brands, Partizan, Vidico, Digital Brew, Gramm, Idea Machine, Planet Nutshell, Polarfux, Soja, ENTHRAL, Yard B, Goldener Westen, Umault, Paradigm, Storm & Shelter |
| Customers served | Over 1 million registered users since 2015 |
| Projects delivered | More than 2 million storyboards created; over 1 million shared with clients for sign-off; over 12 million comments captured |
| Competitors | The email, Slack, and PDF workflow; Figma used as a DIY storyboard; StudioBinder; Milanote; Wonder Unit Storyboarder. Frame.io and Vimeo Review sit downstream and are used alongside Boords |
| Social | LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, G2 reviews |
Frequently asked questions
Is Boords just storyboarding software?
Storyboarding is one feature. The job Boords does is getting the idea approved before anyone shoots, which means the script, the board, the animatic, and the client's sign-off all live in the same place. That is why we describe it as the sign-off layer for video preproduction.
We already use Frame.io. Why would we need Boords?
Frame.io reviews the finished video. Boords approves the plan before the video exists. Most of our customers who use Frame.io use both, one for preproduction and one for post.
Can't we do this in Figma or Google Slides?
You can make something that looks like a storyboard in either. Neither has scenes, shot fields, an animatic timeline, MP4 export, or client review without a login. The board is the easy part; the approval loop is what those tools cannot run.
Who founded Boords and when?
James Chambers founded Boords in London in 2015 after co-founding the animation studio Animade. The company is still independent and founder-led.
How much does Boords cost?
There is a free plan with five active storyboards and up to five team members. Paid plans start at $39 per month for Solo and go up to $250 per month for Agency, with lower rates on yearly billing. Current prices are always on the pricing page.
Where is my data stored?
Boords runs on AWS and Heroku, primarily in the EU (Ireland), with backups encrypted to the same standard as live data. The security page lists the sub-processors, the data processing agreement, and the controls procurement teams usually ask about.
Does Boords use AI?
Yes, as a supporting tool. AI generates storyboard frames from a text prompt with character consistency and turns scripts into structured boards. You can ignore it entirely and upload your own artwork; the review and sign-off workflow is the same either way.