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BitPaper is a simple shared whiteboard. Pencil Spaces is the virtual classroom that grows with you and grows your business.
10M+ sessions taught
One-click join, no installs
COPPA · FERPA · HIPAA · SOC 2 · GDPR
Last updated June 2026
a classroom
A virtual classroom built around the student, with persistent whiteboards, recordings, teaching apps, AI, and safeguarding.
a whiteboard
A simple collaborative whiteboard that offers shareable "papers" by URL, with a built-in video call.
The short answer
Pencil Spaces is an all-in-one virtual classroom. BitPaper is a collaborative online whiteboard. Both let students join instantly via URL, and both include video, audio, chat, and screenshare. Pencil Spaces offers lesson recording, AI, built-in teaching apps, scheduling, safeguarding, and named compliance.
Pencil Spaces is a classroom, not a canvas. Persistent classrooms and reusable whiteboard templates.
Pencil Spaces records the whole lesson. Video, audio, and board together in a single recording.
Pencil Spaces brings AI in the room. Summaries, a Learning Companion, a Smart Assistant, and an Autograder.
Pencil Spaces is safe by default. Waiting rooms, child-safety features, and access control.
Built for education. COPPA, FERPA, HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR, and ISO-compliant, plus 24/7 live support.
Keeps the simple part. One-click join, nothing to install.
Same effortless join. Two very different experiences.
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A BitPaper whiteboard. An open canvas with a video call, plus pages, pens, and imported PDFs. Clean and quick for a one-to-one whiteboard session.
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A Pencil Space. A persistent classroom with whiteboards, built-in teaching apps, breakout rooms, lesson recording, and students' saved work, all in one tab.
Both run in the browser, and both share a whiteboard over a link. The difference is what each was built to do.
Your question
a classroom
a whiteboard
The basics
Can students join instantly, with nothing to install?
Yes. One click in any browser, no download or account to enter.
Yes. Share a paper's URL to collaborate.
Is it built specifically for teaching?
A purpose-built virtual classroom.
A collaborative whiteboard, used for many things.
Can I run live video, audio, chat and screenshare?
Yes.
Yes.
Is it proven for daily teaching at scale?
Yes. 10M+ sessions and 99.99% uptime, engineered for live teaching.
Yes. A focused, independent product that's trusted by tutors.
The teaching experience
Are students' work saved between lessons?
Yes. The whole Space persists, and you can duplicate it as a template per class.
Yes. Papers are saved and accessible via permanent URLs.
Can I use math tools?
Yes. Multiple equation editors, plus graphing tools, protractors, manipulatives, and more.
TeX equation editor only.
Are teaching apps built into the room?
Yes. Quizlet, IXL, Desmos, Kahoot, Canvas, and more.
No.
Is there AI to summarize lessons and help students?
Yes. AI summaries, a Learning Companion, a Smart Assistant, and an Autograder.
No.
Sessions, recording and safeguarding
Can I record the full session?
Yes. Video, audio, and whiteboard are included in a downloadable cloud recording.
No. You can only export a paper to PDF.
Can I control who is allowed to enter?
Yes. Waiting room, host approval, roles and permissions.
No.
Is it built for K-12 safety and compliance?
Yes. COPPA, FERPA, HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR, and ISO-compliant.
A privacy policy and GDPR as a UK company; no named FERPA, COPPA, HIPAA, or SOC 2 compliance.
Operations, pricing and support
Can I schedule classes, send invites, and track attendance?
Yes. A calendar that syncs with Google, sends invites, and tracks attendance.
No.
Can I run it on my own brand and domain?
Yes. API, white-labeling, and SSO.
Yes. API, white-labeling, and SSO.
Is there 24/7 live support?
Yes, 24/7 live support inside the Space.
No.
Does pricing avoid per-student-seat fees?
Yes. Free to join, from $4/mo, custom for schools. No per-seat fees.
Yes. Free to join, with an Individual and Company subscription.
Comparison reflects publicly available BitPaper documentation as of 2026, and is intended as a fair, factual comparison.
A map of when to reach for which.
All you need is a whiteboard for lessons.
You're happy with external teaching tools.
You mostly teach adults, for whom access control matters less.
You want unlimited pages and storage on a simple subscription.
Lessons need to be recorded and reviewed later.
You teach children and need waiting rooms and real compliance.
You want AI summaries, a Learning Companion, and an Autograder.
You need built-in teaching tools and resources.
A solo tutor can run on just a whiteboard. A tutoring business needs classrooms.
sessions taught on Pencil Spaces
minutes of live learning
uptime, so class is not interrupted
live support inside the Space
See what your tutoring sessions look like inside an all-in-one classroom. Get the same one-click join, with recording, AI, and safeguarding built in.
Built for teaching. Trusted by tutoring teams, schools, and districts.
Moving over from BitPaper only takes an afternoon, so your students won't bear the brunt of the change.
Bring your papers. Export your papers and imported images or PDFs, then drag them onto a Pencil Spaces board.
Make them templates. Turn a Space into a reusable template, and duplicate it per student or class.
Keep sharing simple links. One click, with no downloads or account setup needed. Now inside a room that records and safeguards.
Your papers, now a reusable Space template. Set up once and duplicate for every student.
Start for free in your browser today. No download, no credit card. Same one-click join your students already know, with everything a classroom needs already inside.
