Is OpenBoard Free and Open Source?

Yes. OpenBoard is free to download and is released as open-source software under the GPLv3 License. The project is maintained by the community on GitHub, with institutional backing from the Education Department (DIP) of the canton of Geneva, Switzerland, and a logistical and financial contribution from the University of Lausanne.

What "free and open source" means here

Two separate things are true at once, and it helps to keep them apart:

• No cost to get started. The site states you can "Get OpenBoard for free" for Windows, macOS and Linux, with easy installation and no registration required. You download it and start using it.
• Open source under GPLv3. The source code is published and licensed under GPLv3, and the project is maintained by the community on GitHub. That means the code can be inspected, and the license governs how it can be reused and redistributed.

The site does not mention paid tiers, subscriptions, or payment platforms, so there is no indication of a commercial edition being sold on the site itself.

Who stands behind it

OpenBoard is not an anonymous hobby project. According to the site:

• It is currently maintained by the Education Department (DIP) of the canton of Geneva, Switzerland.
• The University of Lausanne, which developed the original Uniboard software in 2003, contributes logistically and financially.
• An association project was planned for 2019, and a June 2016 meeting brought together representatives from the universities of Lausanne, Neuchâtel, Fribourg and Geneva, the education departments of the cantons of Geneva and Jura, and institutions from the canton of Vaud.

This matters if you are choosing software for an institution: the project has a public-sector and academic lineage rather than a single vendor.

Where it came from

OpenBoard was forked from Open-Sankoré 2.0, which was itself based on Uniboard. The stated reason for the fork was to refocus the software on its original core purpose — a teacher's work in a classroom — and to prioritise ease of use. Future development is meant to follow those same principles.

Practical implications for your decision

If your requirement is a no-cost, cross-platform whiteboard application that you can install without creating an account, OpenBoard meets it on the evidence above. If your requirement is a specific support contract or a vendor SLA, the site does not describe one — the maintenance model described is community and institutional rather than commercial.