Surfboard vs Boardvantage

Finding the right board management platform can not only make your job easier, but also help you unlock more value from your board and investors. But not all platforms offer the same benefits.

Surfboard and Boardvantage each have strengths and drawbacks, which we’ve outlined below to help you decide which one is right for your team.

Key Takeaways

Surfboard vs Boardvantage: Main feature comparison

The main differences between Surfboard and Boardvantage are the pricing, interface, and suite of tools. While Boardvantage offers corporate compliance and reporting tools for enterprise companies, Surfboard's dynamic workflows and suite of collaborative tools enable seamless stakeholder engagement, offering a more approachable alternative to Boardvantage's enterprise-focused solutions.

Here’s an overview of the two apps’ features, side by side.

		Boardvantage
Dynamic interface
X	X
Dynamic interface	X	X
Engagement analytics
X
Engagement analytics	X
Customizable dashboard
	X
Customizable dashboard		X
Digital board book
X	X
Digital board book	X	X
Meeting agenda templates
X	X
Meeting agenda templates	X	X
Autogenerated slides
X
Autogenerated slides	X
Custom meeting branding
X
Custom meeting branding	X
Integrate with Zoom and Microsoft Teams
	X
Integrate with Zoom and Microsoft Teams		X
In-app virtual conferencing
X
In-app virtual conferencing	X
Meeting minutes templates
X	X
Meeting minutes templates	X	X
AI-generated minutes
X
AI-generated minutes	X
Legal votes and approvals
X	X
Legal votes and approvals	X	X
E-signatures
X	X
E-signatures	X	X
Questionnaires and assessments
X	X
Questionnaires and assessments	X	X
ESG reporting tools
	X
ESG reporting tools		X
Board and investor update templates
X
Board and investor update templates	X
Sync LinkedIn connections
X
Sync LinkedIn connections	X
Company objective tracking
X
Company objective tracking	X
Task management tools
X	X
Task management tools	X	X
Annotations
	X
Annotations		X
Private messaging
X	X
Private messaging	X	X
Secure file storage
X	X
Secure file storage	X	X
Granular sharing permissions
X	X
Granular sharing permissions	X	X
Saas option
X	X
Saas option	X	X
On-premise option
	X
On-premise option		X
Customer support
X	X
Customer support	X	X
Free trial
X
Free trial	X
Affordable plans for smaller orgs.
X
Affordable plans for smaller orgs.	X

For a more detailed comparison of Surfboard vs Boardvantage, keep reading.

Boardvantage is designed for large corporations, while Surfboard has better options for smaller companies

Boardvantage is designed specifically for large-scale private, public, and pre-IPO organizations. Overall, their tools are geared more towards corporate governance and oversight, optimizing for data collection, reporting, and risk management. Surfboard’s tools are more focused on communication and collaboration, making it easy for smaller companies—including Series A startups and small nonprofits—to work closely with their stakeholders

Boardvantage is more focused on corporate oversight and reporting, while Surfboard offers more dynamic tools for growing companies

Boardvantage offers many tools for corporate oversight and regulatory compliance, including ESG reporting. Their platform makes it easy to navigate ESG frameworks and deliver data to rating agencies, auditors, investors, and stakeholders.

While Surfboard does ensure good governance, making it easy to navigate year-end audits and fundraising diligence, compliance isn’t its main focus. Instead, Surfboard offers a more flexible suite of tools to help growing companies unlock value and access resources. For example, Surfboard provides built-in workflows for activating your board and investors by requesting help. Surfboard also offers tools for expanding your network and making connections with potential customers or investors.

Surfboard offers in-app video conferencing and AI meeting minutes, while Boardvantage integrates with Zoom and Microsoft Teams

While Boardvantage integrates with Zoom and Microsoft Teams for video calls, Surfboard manages the entire meeting experience. In-app video conferencing makes it easy to run your meetings directly in Surfboard, while taking advantage of additional features like auto-generated meeting transcripts and AI-generated minutes and meeting summaries.

Surfboard provides more self-guided support options, while Boardvantage offers 24/7 support by phone

Surfboard has an in-depth help center and how-to videos where users can find many answers without having to contact support. Boardvantage mainly provides support over the phone, which is accessible 24/7. Both companies offer support via email and virtual chat, plus personalized training by request.

Both companies offer all-inclusive pricing, but Surfboard’s plans are more affordable and include a free trial

Both Surfboard and Boardvantage have all-inclusive pricing, meaning you don’t need to pay extra for premium features. However, because Boardvantage is designed for larger companies, even entry-level plans come at a premium price tag. Surfboard offers much more affordable plans for companies and nonprofits with smaller budgets. Surfboard also offers a free trial, where Boardvantage doesn’t.

Surfboard or Boardvantage: Which should you choose?

Both Surfboard and Boardvantage offer useful governance tools, but Boardvantage is better for large-scale companies looking for corporate oversight, compliance and reporting tools, while Surfboard is more accessible to smaller companies who want to increase board engagement and unlock more value from their stakeholders.