Free alternatives to Miro

An integrated canvas, docs, databases, and planning workspace for teams willing to accept a younger product and real self-hosting chores.

Versus paying: AFFiNE has far fewer workshop templates, facilitation controls, integrations, embedded app connectors, and enterprise administration features than Miro.

Setup: Hosted signup or desktop app; Docker Compose for self-hosting

Watch for: The hosted/desktop app installs cleanly; self-hosting is a multi-service Docker deployment that needs a domain, TLS, secrets, storage, backups, and AI-provider keys for AI features

71,300 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

Encrypted collaborative whiteboards with persistent folders, permissions, and sharing; fewer templates, far better data boundaries.

Versus paying: CryptPad's encrypted whiteboard is much plainer and lacks Miro's facilitation toolkit, templates, integrations, voting, timers, and app marketplace.

Setup: Use a public CryptPad instance, or self-host the Node.js service behind a reverse proxy

Watch for: Public hosting is immediate; self-hosting requires two domains or subdomains, HTTPS, strict security headers, Node.js configuration, persistent storage, and careful upgrades/backups

7,825 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

The best simple escape hatch for collaborative diagrams, workshops, and planning: fast, free, local-first, and pleasantly uninterested in becoming Salesforce.

Versus paying: Excalidraw covers diagrams and simple workshops but not Miro's vast template, integration, facilitation, planning, and enterprise-governance ecosystem.

Setup: Open the hosted web app/PWA, or deploy the static app and optional collaboration server

Watch for: None for the hosted app; the trade-off appears later because durable workspace organization, centralized team administration, and managed version history are deliberately minimal

124,000 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

A polished instant multiplayer canvas with sharing and no account requirement; lighter on facilitation, integrations, and admin.

Versus paying: tldraw is frictionless but has far fewer templates, integrations, planning widgets, facilitation features, and team administration controls than Miro.

Setup: Open tldraw.com in a browser; no account is required for a quick canvas

A tiny, durable collaborative board with persistent rooms and a free hosted instance; useful precisely because it does not try to run the company.

Versus paying: WBO provides only the basic shared canvas and omits nearly all of Miro's workshop structure, integrations, templates, planning tools, and administration.

Setup: Use the free hosted instance, or run the Docker image/Node.js server

Watch for: None for the public instance; self-hosting needs Docker or Node.js, a persistent writable volume with the expected user ownership, backups, and a public URL/TLS

2,600 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)