The best Miro alternatives in 2026: 7 tools compared

Miro alternatives at a glance

Most Miro alternatives offer a free plan with limits on the number of boards or files.

MindMeister is a web-based mind mapping tool by Meister, headquartered in Vienna, Austria. The other 6 tools are whiteboards or diagramming tools, so compare them based on the job you need done. Miro appears as a reference row, so you can see what you'd switch from.

Use the table to shortlist 2 or 3 Miro competitors. Then read the detailed blocks below to see how each tool handles your daily work.

Why teams look for an alternative to Miro

Teams usually switch from Miro when they need a simpler, more focused tool, or when Miro's free plan's 3-board limit gets in the way. Most other reasons come down to cost, scope and timing.

• Free plan limits: Miro Free includes 3 editable boards and 10 AI credits per month

• Cost at scale: Miro charges per member, so costs add up as your team grows

• More than you need: Miro combines an infinite whiteboard with docs, tables, slides and Kanban. For a simple brainstorm or mind map, that can feel like a lot

• Change at Miro: Bending Spoons agreed to acquire Miro on Sept. 10, 2026, and the deal is expected to close in Q4 2026. Some teams review their options during ownership changes

Miro is still a strong choice for many teams. If you run large workshops, do diagram-heavy work or rely on Miro's big template library and 250+ integrations, staying with Miro may make the most sense.

The 7 best Miro alternatives in 2026

Each Miro alternative below wins at a specific job. Pick the one whose "best for" label matches the work you do on your boards most often.

Every tool below uses the same block, so you can compare them side by side.

1. MindMeister: best Miro alternative for mind mapping

MindMeister gives your ideas a clear shape: a central topic with branches and sub-topics that you and your team build together. MindMeister is not a freeform sticky-note whiteboard, so Miro is a better fit for open-ended canvas work.

Best for: mind mapping, brainstorming and structured thinking, alone or as a team

Key features:

• Real-time collaboration with comments

• AI that builds or expands a mind map from a prompt or file (Beta, on all plans)

• Presentation mode and outline mode

• MeisterTask integration to turn topics into tasks

Free plan: Basic includes up to 3 mind maps with AI features. Since June 30, 2026, Basic can't export mind maps.

Why choose it over Miro: MindMeister builds every board as a structured mind map, so ideas stay organized as they grow. MindMeister is also ISO 27001 certified, GDPR compliant and hosted in Germany.

2. Lucidspark: best for structured team brainstorming

Lucidspark is the virtual whiteboard from Lucid, with tools that help a team brainstorm in a structured way. Lucidspark makes sense if your team also creates formal diagrams in Lucidchart.

Best for: structured team brainstorming with voting and timers

Key features:

• Voting, timer and facilitator tools (Team plan)

• Visual Activities

• Presentation mode

• Lucid AI

Free plan: 3 editable boards

Why choose it over Miro: Lucidspark imports Miro boards via copy and paste, vector PDF or CSV. Lucidspark also connects to Lucidchart for formal diagrams.

3. FigJam: best for design teams on Figma

FigJam is the online whiteboard from Figma. If your design team already works in Figma Design, FigJam keeps brainstorms and rough sketches next to your design files.

Best for: design teams that already work in Figma

Key features:

• Stamps and emotes

• Timer and music player

• AI credits

• Copy and paste between FigJam and Figma Design

Free plan: Starter, with unlimited drafts

Why choose it over Miro: Your whiteboard and design files live in 1 place. FigJam also imports Miro boards from a vector PDF export, which requires a paid Miro plan.

4. Mural: best for facilitated workshops

Mural focuses on sessions that a facilitator leads. Mural fits teams that run retrospectives, planning sessions and other structured workshops.

Best for: facilitated workshops and retrospectives

Key features:

• Facilitation tools

• Private mode

• Mural AI

• Templates for retrospectives and workshops

Free plan: 3 editable murals at a time, with unlimited members

Why choose it over Miro: Mural's workshop-first design puts facilitators in charge of the session. The free plan also lets you invite unlimited members to your murals.

5. Apple Freeform: best for teams on Apple devices

Freeform is Apple's whiteboard app for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro. If everyone on your team works on Apple devices, Freeform is already installed and costs nothing to start.

Best for: individuals and teams that work on iPhone, iPad and Mac

Key features:

• Infinite canvas with sticky notes, shapes, photos, PDFs and links

• Real-time collaboration with up to 100 people per board

• Apple Pencil drawing, diagrams and connectors

• Scenes to save and present parts of a board

Free plan: free on Apple devices, with boards stored in the owner's iCloud

Why choose it over Miro: Freeform costs nothing and is already on Apple devices. Everyone who joins a board needs an Apple Account and an Apple device, so mixed teams on Windows or Android are better served by a cross-platform tool.

6. Canva Whiteboards: best for visual content teams

Canva Whiteboards brings an online whiteboard into the Canva design workspace. Canva Whiteboards suits content teams that turn rough ideas into designs and presentations.

Best for: visual content teams that already design in Canva

Key features:

• Whiteboards inside Canva

• Large template library

• Turn whiteboard ideas into designs and presentations in the same workspace

Free plan: whiteboard collaboration included on Canva Free

Why choose it over Miro: Your ideas and finished visuals stay in the same tool. You skip the export step between brainstorming and design.

7. Whimsical: best for flowcharts and wireframes

Whimsical keeps diagrams clean and easy to read. Whimsical suits product teams that map flows, sketch wireframes and write docs side by side.

Best for: flowcharts, wireframes and structured diagrams

Key features:

• Flowcharts, mind maps and wireframes

• AI generation

• Docs and boards together

• Mac and Windows desktop apps

Free plan: unlimited boards, but only 50 board objects and 50 doc blocks per month, with watermarked exports

Why choose it over Miro: Whimsical offers a tidier canvas for structured diagrams. For freeform workshop boards, Miro remains the better fit.

Free Miro alternatives

Canva Whiteboards and Apple Freeform are the easiest free starting points: Canva Free includes whiteboard collaboration, and Freeform is free on Apple devices. MindMeister, Lucidspark, FigJam, Mural and Whimsical all offer free plans with limits.

Free plans work best for trying a tool or for light use. Most cap boards, files or objects, so check the limit against your real workload.

• Canva Whiteboards: whiteboard collaboration on Canva Free

• Apple Freeform: free on iPhone, iPad and Mac

• MindMeister: up to 3 mind maps on Basic, with no export since June 30, 2026

• Lucidspark: 3 editable boards

• FigJam: unlimited drafts on the Starter plan

• Mural: 3 editable murals at a time, with unlimited members

• Whimsical: unlimited boards, 50 board objects and 50 doc blocks per month

• Miro (for reference): 3 editable boards and 10 AI credits per month

MindMeister vs Miro for mind mapping

MindMeister is the better choice for mind mapping and structured brainstorming; Miro is the better choice for large workshops and diagram-heavy whiteboard work.

Miro offers a mind map feature on a freeform canvas. MindMeister focuses only on mind maps, with outline mode, focus mode and MeisterTask integration for next steps. For a side-by-side look at both tools, read the MindMeister vs Miro feature comparison.

How to move your work from Miro to another tool

Yes, you can move your work. Export your Miro boards as PDF, JPG, SVG or CSV, then import them into a tool that accepts those files. Lucidspark and FigJam both document Miro imports.

Plan the move before your team starts on the new tool. Decide which boards you still need, because old boards can often stay as PDF archives.

• Export from Miro: PDF, JPG, SVG and CSV. Free-plan exports are low resolution with a watermark

• Lucidspark: import via copy and paste, vector PDF or CSV

• FigJam: import a vector PDF export, which requires a paid Miro plan

• MindMeister: no Miro import. Rebuild key ideas as a mind map, paste an RTF text outline or import MindManager, XMind and Freemind files

With MindMeister, you can also use the AI mind map generator to create a mind map from a prompt or an uploaded file. That gives you a starting structure to clean up with your team.

Here's a simple example. Your team exports a retro board from Miro as a CSV file. You scan the sticky notes for the top themes, such as "onboarding," "handoffs" and "tooling." Then you rebuild those themes as a few main branches in a new mind map and add the key notes under each branch.

How to choose the right Miro alternative

Choose a Miro alternative based on the main job you do on your boards, the tools your team already uses, and the free-plan limit you can live with.

• If you think in mind maps: Choose MindMeister for structured mind maps, AI and tasks

• If your design team works in Figma: Choose FigJam

• If you run facilitated workshops: Choose Mural

• If your team works on iPhone, iPad and Mac: Choose Apple Freeform

• If you create visual content: Choose Canva Whiteboards

• If you draw flowcharts and wireframes: Choose Whimsical

• If you brainstorm and also use Lucidchart: Choose Lucidspark

• If you run workshops at scale with a large template library: Stay with Miro

Picture 2 teams with different jobs. An educator plans a new unit and breaks the topic into lessons, readings and activities. A MindMeister mind map shows the whole unit at a glance. Students add their own ideas through real-time collaboration.

A design team sketches a new app screen. That team picks FigJam, so the sketches sit right next to the Figma files.

Find the tool that fits how you think

There's no single best alternative to Miro. The right choice depends on your main job, your current tools and the free-plan limit you can accept. Miro itself remains a strong option for large workshops and diagram-heavy work.

If your boards mostly hold ideas that need structure, MindMeister turns them into clear mind maps you can share, present and turn into tasks. Start with the free Basic plan, pick one of the free mind map templates and watch your thinking take shape.