In short
If you already work with PCS symbols, or need interactive activities, Boardmaker is the right tool. If you want to make visual supports in minutes, with the child’s own things as symbols, and show the same visual support on paper and screen, Áigi is built for that.
Side by side
| Áigi Plan | Boardmaker 7 | |
|---|---|---|
| Symbols | Thousands in one style, searchable in Swedish and English. Nine characters | Over 74,000 PCS symbols, according to Tobii Dynavox |
| Start | Describe it in your own words and let the AI build it, or pick a template | Ready-made material and templates |
| Use | Print on A4, show on the child’s screen, share a link to the paper | Material for print and interactive activities |
| Runs on | The browser on a computer, tablet and phone | Software for Windows, Mac and Chromebook |
| Purchase | Free to try, then Standard or Pro | One-time purchase (Standard) or subscription, see tobiidynavox.com |
What is Boardmaker?
Boardmaker is made by Tobii Dynavox. According to Tobii Dynavox’s website, Boardmaker 7 gives access to over 74,000 PCS symbols (Picture Communication Symbols), ready-made material and templates for print and interactive activities. Boardmaker 7 works on computers with Windows, Mac and Chromebook and comes as a one-time purchase (Standard) or as a subscription. In Boardmaker Community, users share ready-made material with each other.
How you make visual supports in Áigi
You start with AI or a template. Describe, for example, a morning routine in six steps, and the AI builds a paper from the library’s symbols. Or pick a template and use it as it is, or let the AI fill it in for your everyday life.
Then you edit: click a text and retype it, swap a symbol, drag a step to a new place, add times. With Change with AI you ask for another step, times or a different theme, and with Create matching you make the next paper in the same style. You print the paper, put it on the child’s screen or send it as a link to the other adults.
Where Áigi wins
- Create with AI. Describe what you need, and Áigi builds a proposal from the library’s symbols, which you edit until it fits.
- Your photos become symbols. With Photo to symbol, a photo of the child’s backpack or your bathroom becomes a symbol in the same style as the rest of the library.
- The main character can look like the child. Many symbols in Áigi are drawn with nine main characters, and you choose who the child in the picture is.
- Paper and screen in one. The same visual support prints on A4 and shows on the child’s tablet or the classroom computer, through a link that stays. You change what it shows from your phone.
- In the browser, on your phone too. Nothing to install. Áigi Plan runs on a computer, tablet and phone.
- Free to try. You create an account with email or Google and start right away.
Where Boardmaker still wins
- Over 74,000 PCS symbols and ready-made material, according to Tobii Dynavox.
- Interactive activities, not just material for print.
- Boardmaker Community, where users share ready-made material with each other.
- Can be bought once (Standard), not only as a subscription.
How to choose
If the PCS symbols are what the child recognises, or the interactive activities are the point, stay with Boardmaker. If the visual support should be made quickly, built by an AI and changed in the browser from your phone, Áigi does it better. Boardmaker has the symbols. Áigi has the symbols and the AI that builds the visual support.
Common questions about Boardmaker and Áigi
Is Áigi an alternative to Boardmaker?
For visual supports on paper and the child’s screen, yes. In Áigi you describe what you need and get a proposal built from the library’s symbols, which you edit in the browser. If you need interactive activities, or the PCS symbols are what the child recognises, Boardmaker fits better.
Can I use PCS symbols in Áigi?
You can upload your own images and use them in the cards. Check first what your Boardmaker licence allows.
Do I need to install Áigi?
No. Áigi Plan runs in the browser on a computer, tablet and phone, so you can change a visual support from your phone. You create an account with email or Google and can try it for free.
How does the visual support get to the child’s tablet?
With Screen. You open the screen’s link once on the child’s device, and it stays. Then you choose from your own phone what it shows, straight away with Show now or scheduled for certain days and times.
Sources
- Tobii Dynavox: Boardmaker 7, read Friday, 25 September 2026.
- Tobii Dynavox: Boardmaker 7 Standard, read Friday, 25 September 2026.
