Draftboard

Overview

Draftboard maps professional connections to find possible warm routes to people you want to reach. It is best suited to sales, fundraising, recruiting and job-hunting workflows where a personal introduction can help open a conversation. Its free allowance provides a way to start, while paid use is charged for quality paths.

Key features

Draftboard maps a user's first-degree network without requiring contacts to export or upload their networks. It scores routes and gives a rationale based on signals such as shared work or school history, so users can judge why a connection might help. Those signals offer context, but they do not guarantee that an introduction will be suitable or successful.

Users can tailor intro requests and send them by email or direct message. Copilot emails top introduction opportunities 30 minutes before a meeting, which may be useful for people managing a regular schedule of conversations. Adding teammates pools their networks to reveal third-degree paths and identify the teammate with the strongest connection, extending reach beyond one person's contacts.

The team feature has a meaningful trade-off: teammates can see all paths and connections by default. An organization admin can restrict visibility to specific people, but teams should decide whether that default suits their relationships before pooling networks.

The Integration API supports listing and importing targets, retrieving connections and strongest open paths, and managing tags. A Chrome extension detects when a user views a LinkedIn profile and assesses its data to suggest potential matches. Draftboard says it does not sell user data or share contacts or target lists with third parties for their own marketing or promotional purposes. It also describes organizational and technical security measures while cautioning that no internet transmission or storage technology is completely secure.

Pricing

Draftboard is freemium. The Free plan costs nothing, includes network mapping and 50 quality paths, and requires no credit card. That is a practical starting point for individuals assessing whether suggested paths fit their work, though it limits ongoing use to the included paths.

The Quality paths plan costs $0.30, paid once, billed at $0.30 per quality path. Non-quality paths are free, but each target is capped at three credits, or 90 cents, and a team cap applies per teammate. This keeps the charge tied to usable paths rather than every result, but teams pursuing many targets should account for per-target and per-teammate limits.

Platforms

Draftboard is available on the web, through an extension, and via API. The extension supports LinkedIn profile matching, while the API can connect target and path operations to other workflows.

Who it's for

Draftboard fits people who want to turn an existing professional network into introductions for sales prospecting, fundraising, recruiting or job hunting. It is less compelling for users who need broad contact discovery without relying on warm paths, or for teams unwilling to share connection visibility by default.

Pros and cons

• Pros: First-degree mapping does not require contacts to export or upload their networks, lowering friction for network-based discovery.
• Pros: Path scores include a rationale, and team pooling can surface third-degree routes and the strongest teammate connection.
• Pros: The free plan includes 50 quality paths with no credit card, and non-quality paths are free on the paid plan.
• Cons: Quality paths cost $0.30 each, with a maximum of three credits per target and a team cap per teammate.
• Cons: Teammates can see all paths and connections by default, which may not suit organizations with stricter relationship boundaries.
• Cons: The value of a suggested route depends on relationship signals and still requires users to judge whether an introduction makes sense.

Alternatives

For a different approach to relationship intelligence, browse Relationship Intelligence Software. Consider Connect The Dots if its free plan's monthly AI contact searches, ghost emails, lists and summaries better match a capped-search workflow. Happenstance is another freemium option, with unlimited connected accounts, friends and groups on its free plan, alongside usage-limited chat. Introd may suit users who want contact and calendar sync through Outlook or Google add-ons, each priced at $15 a month.

Kumu is an alternative for mapping projects, with a free workspace that includes unlimited public projects, collaborators, maps and views. Polinode may fit users who want network analysis with a defined free tier of one user, five public networks and six basic metrics. The Swarm offers a free tier with 10 connectors and no API access, which may suit users who do not need API functionality. Village provides 100 monthly credits and limited connections on its free plan, alongside browser extension, API and MCP access. ExecAtlas is another option.

Verdict

Draftboard is a strong fit for individuals and teams whose work depends on reaching prospects, investors, founders or candidates through trusted connections. Its scored paths, tailored intro requests and pooled team networks make that workflow concrete, and the free allowance is useful for starting out. Look elsewhere if default team-wide visibility is unacceptable or per-path charges and caps do not fit the volume of targets you pursue.