6 Miro alternatives
A canvas for workshops, diagrams or everyday project work.
Choose a whiteboard for your team’s workshops, everyday diagrams or own infrastructure. Compare ready-made tools with developer SDKs, including our own product.
Editorial update: 19 October 2026
What should your next tool do better?
A self-hosted Miro alternative needs more than an editor on your own domain. Check where boards, uploads and collaboration services run, and who maintains them.
This guide compares workshop apps, diagram editors and a canvas SDK. Hosting, licensing and collaboration are separate decisions. Polybase is our product; its entry includes the same limitations as the others.
A different tool for a different need
Start with your requirements, then compare the trade-offs.
Compare at a glance
| Explore the options | Best for | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| FigJam | Product and design teams already working in Figma who want brainstorms next to their design files. | No self-hosting today, and the value assumes you live in Figma's ecosystem — it is sold as part of Figma's seat model, and outside a design org its Figma tie-ins matter much less. |
| Mural | Facilitators, consultancies and enterprises that run structured workshops as a core activity. | Cloud-only today, with a per-member pricing model much like Miro's — and if your team mostly needs quick sketches rather than facilitated workshops, you may be paying for machinery you won't use. |
| Excalidraw | Developers and teams that want fast, free, beautiful sketches — hosted or on their own servers. | The self-hosted Docker client does not include sharing or collaboration. A team deployment needs additional work; it is not a complete workspace. |
| draw.io | Flowcharts, architecture and process diagrams on any budget — including air-gapped environments. | Collaboration is available through supported storage and integrations, including Google Drive and OneDrive. Check your chosen deployment; a local offline file is not a shared session. |
| PolybaseOur product | Teams that sketch as part of everyday project work, and organisations that want the whiteboard on infrastructure they control. | No template or widget marketplace, and no facilitation toolkit — voting, timers and estimation games are Miro and Mural territory. |
| tldraw | Developers building a canvas into an application and able to manage its deployment. | An SDK requires development and operations work. Production collaboration needs a sync backend; it is not a ready-made team workspace. |
The six contenders.
- Product website
FigJam
Figma's whiteboard for design teams
FigJam is Figma's whiteboard, connected to the design files your product team uses. Stickies, stamps, voting and audio chat support design reviews, retrospectives and brainstorming. Teams already using Figma will recognise its interface.
- Best for
- Product and design teams already working in Figma who want brainstorms next to their design files.
- Hosting model
- Figma cloud only.
- What to check
- No self-hosting today, and the value assumes you live in Figma's ecosystem — it is sold as part of Figma's seat model, and outside a design org its Figma tie-ins matter much less.
- Product website
Mural
Facilitation-first workshops at enterprise scale
Mural is built around facilitation: timers, voting sessions, private mode, celebrations and a deep template library give workshop leaders real superpowers. Consultancies and enterprise transformation teams that run structured sessions for a living are its home turf.
- Best for
- Facilitators, consultancies and enterprises that run structured workshops as a core activity.
- Hosting model
- SaaS only.
- What to check
- Cloud-only today, with a per-member pricing model much like Miro's — and if your team mostly needs quick sketches rather than facilitated workshops, you may be paying for machinery you won't use.
- Product website
Excalidraw
The open-source whiteboard with hand-drawn charm
Excalidraw is the open-source whiteboard that made diagrams feel human again: the hand-drawn style keeps sketches looking like sketches, the editor opens instantly at excalidraw.com with no account, and the whole thing is MIT-licensed and self-hostable. For a free tool, the drawing experience is genuinely excellent.
- Best for
- Developers and teams that want fast, free, beautiful sketches — hosted or on their own servers.
- Hosting model
- Free web app, or self-hosted (open source).
- What to check
- The self-hosted Docker client does not include sharing or collaboration. A team deployment needs additional work; it is not a complete workspace.
- Product website
draw.io
Free, open-source diagramming — even fully offline
draw.io (diagrams.net) is the veteran of free diagramming: flowcharts, architecture diagrams and org charts in the browser with no account, or in desktop apps that run fully offline. It is open source, and your files stay wherever you put them — local disk, Git, your own drive. For pure diagramming at zero cost, it is very hard to beat.
- Best for
- Flowcharts, architecture and process diagrams on any budget — including air-gapped environments.
- Hosting model
- Free web app, offline desktop apps, self-hostable (open source).
- What to check
- Collaboration is available through supported storage and integrations, including Google Drive and OneDrive. Check your chosen deployment; a local offline file is not a shared session.
- Product website
Polybase
Our productThe sovereign team workspace
Polybase Canvas is an infinite canvas that lives inside the team workspace, next to chat, tasks and docs — you sketch in the channel where the project already lives, with live cursors, follow/"spotlight me", connectors, templates, a minimap and version history. It imports draw.io files, exports canvases, and because tasks are one module over, workshop outcomes become tracked tasks instead of screenshots. Self-hosting goes all the way to air-gapped deployments.
Full disclosure: Polybase is our product. Read this entry as the maker's perspective — the caveat below is as real as everyone else's.
- Best for
- Teams that sketch as part of everyday project work, and organisations that want the whiteboard on infrastructure they control.
- Hosting model
- EU cloud, private VPC, or self-hosted / air-gapped.
- What to check
- No template or widget marketplace, and no facilitation toolkit — voting, timers and estimation games are Miro and Mural territory.
- Product website
tldraw
A source-available canvas SDK
tldraw offers a web whiteboard and an SDK for embedding a canvas into your own product. The SDK is source-available under the tldraw licence, not open source. Production use requires a trial, commercial or hobby licence and a valid key.
- Best for
- Developers building a canvas into an application and able to manage its deployment.
- Hosting model
- Hosted web app; the SDK and sync backend can run on your infrastructure.
- What to check
- An SDK requires development and operations work. Production collaboration needs a sync backend; it is not a ready-made team workspace.
Five questions worth asking before you switch.
- 01
Another tab, or part of the workspace?
A standalone whiteboard means links, exports and context switches. A canvas inside the workspace starts in the channel where the project already lives.
- 02
Can you run it on your own servers?
Check the editor, collaboration server, uploads and external dependencies. A self-hosted client alone does not guarantee a self-hosted team session.
- 03
What happens after the session?
A brilliant workshop that ends as a screenshot was a poster, not a plan. Check how sticky notes and diagrams become tracked work.
- 04
Workshops or everyday sketching?
Facilitated workshops with voting and timers, and a quick architecture sketch during a call, are different jobs. Pick for the sessions you actually run.
- 05
What does the bill reward?
Per-member pricing can charge for occasional contributors, not just active facilitators. Check what happens to the invoice when the whole team joins the board.
Start with your requirements, then compare the trade-offs.
Which Miro alternatives can you self-host?
Polybase offers a commercial workspace deployment on your infrastructure. Excalidraw and draw.io provide open-source editors, while tldraw is a developer SDK you deploy under its licence. These are different products, not interchangeable installations.
Excalidraw’s published client image does not include sharing or collaboration. tldraw sync needs a backend for production. draw.io supports collaboration through specific storage platforms and integrations. Test the exact deployment with your team before switching.
Check licences and migration before choosing
Excalidraw and draw.io are the two open-source options on this list. The tldraw SDK is source-available, not open source; production use needs an appropriate licence and key. Self-hosting Polybase also does not make it open source.
Try a real board with images, connectors and a second editor. Check guest access, export and restoration. Polybase imports draw.io files, but has no automated Miro importer; migration assistance is available during onboarding.
Where Polybase fits
You are reading this list on our site, so here is the part vendors usually skip.
When it fits
The canvas lives where the project lives
Canvases sit inside the workspace, next to chat, tasks and docs — you sketch in the channel where the discussion already is, not in another tab with another login.
Sketches become tracked work
Because tasks live one module over, workshop outcomes turn into tracked tasks with assignees and due dates — not a screenshot pasted into Slack.
A whiteboard you can self-host
EU-region cloud, your own VPC, or air-gapped self-host. Miro, FigJam and Mural are cloud-only today; Polybase Canvas runs on infrastructure you control.
Real multiplayer, with history
Live cursors, follow controls, connectors, templates and a minimap support shared work. Version history lets you review earlier canvas revisions; maintain backups separately for recovery.
draw.io import and plain pricing
Existing draw.io diagrams import directly. Canvas is a €5 per user/month add-on on Core (€10 per user/month) — no separate whiteboard vendor, no separate bill.
What to check
Template and widget marketplace
Polybase ships canvas templates, but there is no marketplace of community templates and widgets — Miro's ecosystem is years ahead there, and we won't pretend otherwise.
Facilitation toolkit
No voting sessions, timers or estimation games on the canvas today. If you facilitate structured workshops for a living, Miro or Mural serve that better right now.
Certifications
Not certified yet — SOC 2 and ISO 27001 are on our roadmap. We answer security questionnaires and architecture questions today.
Enterprise sign-on
Tenant administrators can configure OIDC SSO providers and SCIM 2.0 provisioning. Test provider setup, verified-domain account mapping and sign-in policies in your deployment. Native SAML support is not included.
Choosing a Miro alternative.
What is the best Miro alternative in 2026?
It depends on your binding constraint. Free and open source with a lovely drawing feel: Excalidraw. Embedding a canvas into your own product: tldraw. Pure diagramming, even offline: draw.io. Design teams in Figma: FigJam. Facilitated enterprise workshops: Mural. A whiteboard inside the workspace, next to chat, tasks and docs: that is the case Polybase is built for — we're biased, so read the side-by-side comparison too.
Which Miro alternatives are free or open source?
Excalidraw and draw.io are the two open-source options listed. The tldraw SDK is source-available and needs a production licence. A free hosted app, an open-source licence and permission to self-host are separate things.
Which Miro alternatives can be self-hosted?
Polybase, Excalidraw and draw.io offer self-hosting paths. tldraw lets developers deploy a canvas and sync backend under its licence. Check the full setup: Excalidraw’s client image alone does not include sharing or collaboration.
Can Polybase import my existing Miro boards?
There is no automated Miro importer today — we won't pretend otherwise. Polybase Canvas does import draw.io files directly, and we provide migration assistance during onboarding; automated importers are on the roadmap.
Does Polybase have templates and workshop tools like Miro?
Canvas ships templates, live cursors, follow/"spotlight me", connectors, a minimap, export and version history. What it does not have: a community template and widget marketplace, or facilitation tools like voting and timers. For everyday project sketching the essentials are there; for facilitated workshops, Miro and Mural remain ahead.
What does Polybase cost compared to Miro?
Canvas is a €5 per user/month add-on on Polybase Core (€10 per user/month), which includes chat, tasks, drive, calls and automation. Miro charges per member for the whiteboard alone. Whether Polybase beats your Miro bill depends on what else it replaces — a demo walks through your actual stack.
Documentation and primary sources
Hosting and licence details checked on 14 October 2026. Verify the edition and terms before deploying.
- tldraw SDK licence
- tldraw production collaboration
- Excalidraw self-hosting
- Excalidraw source and MIT licence
- draw.io collaboration
- draw.io source and licence
Product names identify the tools being compared. No endorsement is implied.
See Polybase next to Miro, feature by feature.
Book a 30-minute demo and we'll show a canvas sketched in a channel, ending in tracked tasks — or start with the detailed side-by-side comparison.
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