Compared
HandsOnTop and Boardmaker, compared honestly
Teachers searching for a Boardmaker alternative usually want one of two things: a faster way to make the one-off visual support a student needs this week, or a resource that looks like that student rather than like every other classroom’s. HandsOnTop is built for both. Boardmaker remains the better fit for some jobs, and this page says which.
30 free credits — no card needed
What each one is
Boardmaker is Tobii Dynavox’s symbol-based software, built on the Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) library. Schools use it to make communication boards, visual schedules and classroom activities from a very large set of consistent symbols, and it sits alongside AAC devices that use the same symbols.
HandsOnTop is an AI resource maker for primary teachers, built especially for teachers of autistic and neurodivergent students. You describe the student and the moment; it writes and draws a personalised, illustrated resource — a social story, a visual schedule, a first-then board, picture cards or a worksheet re-drawn around the student’s interest — ready to print in minutes.
Side by side
| HandsOnTop | Boardmaker | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | Illustrated resources drawn around one student: social stories, visual schedules, first-then boards, picture cards, interest-based worksheets, lesson plans with adjustments. | Boards, schedules and activities assembled from the Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) library and templates; AAC and communication-system support. |
| Personalisation | The student’s name, their look (hair, skin tone, style) and the things they love, with the same character on every page or card. | Standardised symbols you choose and arrange; consistent across classrooms and devices. |
| Time to a printable resource | About two minutes for a social story; a few minutes for a visual schedule or board. | Depends on the template and how much you assemble by hand. |
| Pictures | AI-drawn illustrations in the style you pick (cartoon, stick figure, and more). | A large, consistent symbol library recognised across schools and AAC devices. |
| Pricing | Free credits to start, then pay-as-you-go from A$5 (credits never expire) or Pro at A$15 a month; pay in your own currency. | Subscription; see its website for current prices. |
| Where it runs | In the browser, on any device, nothing to install. Works for any country. | Browser-based editor with apps for some platforms. |
| Best for | One student, one routine, this week — personalised and printable fast. | Communication systems and whole-school symbol consistency. |
When Boardmaker is the better fit
- The student uses an AAC device or communication book with PCS symbols, and their classroom supports need to match those symbols exactly.
- Your school wants one symbol set everywhere — every classroom, every year — so a symbol means the same thing in Kindergarten and Year 6.
- You already hold a licence and need a large library of ready-made boards and activities.
- You are building a communication system rather than a resource for one moment.
When HandsOnTop is the better fit
- You need a social story for a specific moment — the fire drill on Thursday, a new relief teacher, the dentist — written for one student, with their name and the thing they love, illustrated and printed today.
- The visual schedule or first-then board should look like this child, so they see themselves in it.
- You want the same student’s needs carried into the worksheet (re-drawn around their interest) and the lesson plan (adjustments built in), not just the visual.
- You want to pay for what you make — a story is 12 credits, a card 3 — rather than a yearly licence.
Common questions
Is HandsOnTop a Boardmaker alternative?
For personalised visual supports and social stories, yes: it makes a visual schedule, first-then board, picture cards or an illustrated social story for one student in minutes, drawn around that student rather than assembled from a shared symbol set. It is not a replacement for Boardmaker as an AAC or communication-system tool, where a standardised symbol library is the point.
What is the main difference?
Boardmaker builds resources from a large library of standardised symbols, so every "wash hands" looks the same in every classroom and on a student’s communication device. HandsOnTop draws each resource with AI around the specific student and routine — the same illustrated character on every page or card, their name and their interests — so the resource looks like them.
How does the pricing compare?
HandsOnTop is pay-as-you-go: a free account starts with 30 credits (about 2 social stories or 10 visual cards), credits start at A$5 for 50 and never expire, and Pro is A$15 a month. You pay in your own currency at checkout. Boardmaker is sold as a subscription; its current prices are on its own website and we don’t quote them here.
Can I use both?
Many classrooms do. Keep the symbol set the student already knows for their communication system, and use HandsOnTop for the one-off, personalised supports — the social story for next week’s excursion, the first-then board for a new routine, the worksheet re-drawn around their interest.
Try it with one student’s next routine
New accounts start with 30 free credits — about 2 social stories or 10 visual cards. No card needed.
Make a visual schedule freeBoardmaker and Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) are trademarks of Tobii Dynavox. HandsOnTop is not affiliated with or endorsed by Tobii Dynavox. Product descriptions reflect publicly available information at the time of writing; check each product’s own site for current details.