# 4 Best Alternatives to Mural in 2026

By Noah — last updated & pricing verified October 26, 2026.

> Miro is the best Mural alternative for distributed teams running workshops and planning on one board: Starter costs $8/member/month against Mural Team+'s $9.99, both billed annually, and its iOS app rates 4.7/5 from 5,845 App Store ratings. Excalidraw and tldraw are free for quick sketching, and Figma's FigJam suits teams already designing in Figma.

From our data: All 4 Mural alternatives here have a free tier, and 2 of the 3 with published paid plans start below Mural Team+'s $9.99/member/month billed annually (Excalidraw+ at $6/user/month billed yearly and Miro Starter at $8/member/month billed annually), while a Figma Professional full seat costs $16/month.

## Quick picks

- Best overall: [Miro](https://findalternative.to/miro/about)
- Best free and open source: [Excalidraw](https://findalternative.to/excalidraw/about)
- Best for offline desktop files and AI agents: [tldraw](https://findalternative.to/tldraw/about)
- Best for design teams already on Figma: [Figma](https://findalternative.to/figma/about)

## Mural alternatives at a glance

| Alternative | Best for | Standout | Biggest weakness | Learning curve | Price |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Mural (the incumbent) | running facilitated workshops and design-thinking sessions with large groups, including outside participants who join free as visitors | Facilitation tools on every plan, Free included: summon, timer, anonymous voting, private mode, an outline with hide-and-reveal, laser pointer and facilitator lock, so one facilitator can steer a large live session without add-ons. | The Free plan keeps only 3 murals editable at a time, Business ($17.99/member/month) is billed annually only and is the first plan with SSO and ongoing guest access, and the mobile apps trail the web product, rating 2.3/5 from 73 App Store ratings and 3.1/5 from 559 Google Play reviews. | Moderate | Free tier · paid from $9.99/mo |
| Miro | running live workshops and planning sessions (retros, journey maps, roadmaps) with distributed teams on a shared board | One canvas that holds whiteboarding, diagramming, docs, tables, kanban, slides and AI-generated prototypes, connected to 250+ apps and an MCP server, so a workshop's output can turn into a roadmap or a synced Jira backlog without leaving the board. | Miro charges for every member: on Starter and Business each person added to the workspace takes a paid seat, signed-in guests arrive only on Business ($20/member/month annually, $25 monthly), and the Free plan stops at three editable boards with no guest role, so costs climb quickly for teams that collaborate widely. AI use is metered too, with 25 credits per member per month on Starter, which Miro equates to about 12 document summaries. | Low | Free tier · paid from $8/mo |
| Excalidraw | sketching informal system diagrams and wireframes live with others during a meeting or interview | A free, no-account editor whose hand-drawn style and minimal toolset make it fast to sketch an idea in seconds, with end-to-end encrypted link sharing and the whole editor available as MIT-licensed open source. | The free editor keeps work in your browser, one scene at a time, so saving scenes to the cloud, organizing them in folders, commenting and managing team access all require Excalidraw+ at $6-$7 per user per month; Plus is paid by credit card only, and its terms make all charges non-refundable. | Low | Free tier · paid from $6/mo |
| tldraw | sketching quick diagrams and flows with collaborators on a free shared board | A canvas engine good enough that other companies license it: the SDK that runs tldraw.com also powers ClickUp's whiteboards, Padlet's Sandboxes and Jam's annotations, and tldraw now opens that canvas to AI agents through ChatGPT, Codex, Claude and Cursor integrations. | tldraw.com is the company's free flagship demo, where early SDK versions ship for testing, and tldraw sells no team plan for it, so companies that standardize on it get no published admin, security or support terms. Developers face the opposite trade-off: the SDK is source-available rather than open source, and shipping it in a product requires a commercial license whose price is not published. | Low | Free |
| Figma | design and product teams that need real-time multiplayer editing and a shared design-to-development handoff, from solo freelancers on the free tier up to large enterprises managing design systems across many teams | True real-time multiplayer editing across design, prototyping, whiteboarding (FigJam), and dev handoff (Dev Mode), all in the same browser-based file with no manual save or merge conflicts. | Figma requires an active internet connection for full functionality, and paid tiers are priced per seat by role (full/dev/collab), which reviewers say gets expensive to manage at scale; it also lacks native CMYK color profiles and 300dpi print export, so print-focused design work still requires a separate tool. | Moderate | Free tier · paid from $16/mo |

## 1. Miro — best Mural alternative for running live workshops and planning sessions (retros, journey maps, roadmaps) with distributed teams on a shared board

Miro is the best Mural alternative for teams that want the same workshop board at a lower entry price and with more around it. Miro Starter costs $8/member/month billed annually ($10 monthly) against Mural Team+ at $9.99 ($12 monthly), or $80 against $99.90 a month for 10 members, and Miro Business can also be billed monthly at $25, where Mural Business is annual only. Miro ships 7,000+ templates against Mural's 250+, holds Docs, Tables, Timelines, Kanban and Slides on the same canvas, adds 4,700+ diagram shapes and two-way Jira, Asana and Linear sync on Business, and already runs an MCP server for Claude, Cursor and Copilot while Mural's is still coming soon. Miro's mobile apps rate 4.7/5 from 5,845 App Store ratings and 4.4/5 from 20.2K Google Play reviews, against Mural's 2.3/5 from 73 and 3.1/5 from 559, and Miro's learning curve is rated low against Mural's moderate. Mural is still the better choice for facilitators on a budget and for organizations that need guests. Mural includes summon, a timer, anonymous voting, private mode and facilitator lock even on Free, where Miro's timer and voting start on Starter; Mural Free admits unlimited view-only visitors, where Miro Free has no guest role; and Mural Business costs $17.99/member/month against Miro Business at $20, both billed annually.

Compared to Mural: Starter at $8/member/month vs Mural Team+ at $9.99 with both billed annually, 7,000+ templates vs Mural's 250+, timer and voting only from Starter where Mural includes facilitation tools on Free

- Wins: Starter costs $8/member/month billed annually ($10 monthly) against Mural Team+ at $9.99 ($12 monthly), which is $80 vs $99.90 a month for 10 members · 7,000+ templates against Mural's 250+, Docs, Tables, Timelines, Kanban and Slides on the canvas, and two-way Jira, Asana and Linear sync on Business · Mobile apps rate 4.7/5 from 5,845 App Store ratings and 4.4/5 from 20.2K Google Play reviews against Mural's 2.3/5 and 3.1/5, and Miro's MCP server is live while Mural's is coming soon
- Loses: Timer and voting start on Starter, where Mural includes summon, timer, anonymous voting, private mode and facilitator lock on every plan including Free · Miro Free has no guest role and shows every board to the whole team, where Mural Free admits unlimited view-only visitors · Business costs $20/member/month billed annually against Mural Business at $17.99, and Enterprise requires at least 30 members
- Pros: Free plan with unlimited members, 7,000+ templates and 250+ integrations.; Docs, Tables, Timelines, Kanban and Slides live on the same canvas as the whiteboard.; Visitor editing on Starter lets outsiders edit a public board without signing in.; Native apps for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android; the iOS app rates 4.7/5 from 5,845 App Store ratings.; An MCP server and two-way Jira, Asana, Linear and ClickUp sync (Business) connect board content to AI and delivery tools.
- Cons: The Free plan allows only 3 editable boards, and every board is visible to the whole team.; Each workspace member takes a paid seat; signed-in guests require Business at $20/member/month billed annually.; AI is credit-metered: 25 credits per member per month on Starter and 50 on Business.; Enterprise features such as SCIM and data residency require at least 30 members.
- **Pricing:** Free tier · paid from $8/mo (verified ) — $8/member/month for Miro Starter vs $9.99 for Mural Team+, both billed annually ($80 vs $99.90 a month for 10 members); Miro Business at $20 vs Mural Business at $17.99
- Details: https://findalternative.to/miro/about
- Head-to-head: [Miro vs Mural](https://findalternative.to/compare/miro-vs-mural)
- 6 alternatives to Miro: https://findalternative.to/miro

## 2. Excalidraw — best Mural alternative for sketching informal system diagrams and wireframes live with others during a meeting or interview

Excalidraw is the best Mural alternative for small technical groups that need to sketch together right now, not run a facilitated session. Excalidraw opens at excalidraw.com with no account, anyone with the link can draw on the same scene in real time, shared sessions are end-to-end encrypted, and built-in AI turns text into diagrams, wireframes into code and Mermaid into drawings, with 10 free requests a day. The editor is MIT-licensed open source with 134,000+ GitHub stars, and its learning curve is rated low against Mural's moderate. When a team needs cloud-saved scenes, workspaces, comments and presentations, Excalidraw+ costs $6/user/month billed yearly ($7 monthly), against Mural Team+ at $9.99/member/month billed annually ($12 monthly), or $60 against $99.90 a month for 10 people. Mural is still the better choice for facilitated workshops. Mural includes summon, a timer, anonymous voting, private mode and facilitator lock on every plan, where Excalidraw's session tools are presentations and voice hangouts on Excalidraw+. Mural also ships 250+ templates and apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Surface Hub, where Excalidraw is web-only; Mural Free keeps 3 murals editable at a time, where Excalidraw's free editor keeps one scene in the browser; and Mural offers SSO on Business and data residency on Enterprise.

Compared to Mural: free with no account and end-to-end encrypted link sharing, Excalidraw+ at $6/user/month vs Mural Team+ at $9.99/member/month, presentations and voice hangouts instead of Mural's timer, voting and private mode

- Wins: Free with no account, unlimited collaborators by link and end-to-end encrypted shared sessions · Excalidraw+ costs $6/user/month billed yearly ($7 monthly) against Mural Team+ at $9.99/member/month billed annually ($12 monthly) · MIT-licensed open source with 134,000+ GitHub stars, AI text-to-diagram with 10 free requests a day, and a low learning curve against Mural's moderate
- Loses: Session tools are presentations and voice hangouts on Excalidraw+, where Mural includes summon, timer, anonymous voting, private mode and facilitator lock on every plan · Web-only, where Mural has apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Surface Hub · The free editor keeps 1 scene in the browser, and Excalidraw+ is paid by credit card only with non-refundable charges, where Mural Business also accepts invoices
- Pros: Free and open source (MIT), with no account needed to start drawing.; Link-based real-time collaboration, end-to-end encrypted for free users.; AI text-to-diagram, wireframe-to-code and Mermaid conversion, with 10 free requests a day.; Excalidraw+ costs $6/user/month billed yearly and is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant.; An embeddable npm package and a large open-source community, with 134,000+ GitHub stars.
- Cons: Free scenes live in the browser, one scene on the free plan; cloud saving, folders and comments need Excalidraw+.; Excalidraw+ accepts credit cards only, and charges are non-refundable under its terms.; MCP and REST API access are still in public beta.
- **Pricing:** Free tier · paid from $6/mo (verified ) — $6/user/month for Excalidraw+ billed yearly vs Mural Team+ at $9.99/member/month billed annually ($60 vs $99.90 a month for 10 people)
- Details: https://findalternative.to/excalidraw/about
- 4 alternatives to Excalidraw: https://findalternative.to/excalidraw

## 3. tldraw — best Mural alternative for sketching quick diagrams and flows with collaborators on a free shared board

tldraw is the best Mural alternative for small groups that want a free board today and want AI agents on the canvas. tldraw.com is free with no paid tier, opens instantly in the browser with shapes, arrows, text, sticky notes and frames, and supports live cursors, viewport following and comments, where Mural Free keeps only 3 murals editable at a time and Team+ costs $9.99/member/month billed annually. tldraw offline, a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux launched in July 2026, saves self-contained .tldraw files with no account or server, and added LAN multiplayer in August 2026. AI agents can already read, draw and edit tldraw boards through a plugin for ChatGPT and Codex and an MCP app for Claude and Cursor, while Mural's MCP server is still listed as coming soon. tldraw's learning curve is rated low against Mural's moderate. Mural is still the better choice for facilitated sessions and for organizations. Mural includes summon, a timer, anonymous voting, private mode and facilitator lock on every plan, 250+ templates and iOS, Android and Surface Hub apps, where tldraw offers live cursors, viewport following and comments and lists no mobile apps. Mural holds SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 certifications with SSO on Business, where tldraw sells no team plan for tldraw.com and publishes no admin, security or support terms.

Compared to Mural: free tldraw.com with no paid tier vs 3 editable murals on Mural Free, AI agent access through ChatGPT, Codex, Claude and Cursor today, no team plan and no published admin, security or support terms

- Wins: tldraw.com is free with no paid tier, where Mural Free keeps only 3 murals editable at a time and Team+ costs $9.99/member/month billed annually · tldraw offline saves self-contained .tldraw files on macOS, Windows and Linux with no account or server, where Mural has no Linux app · AI agents work on boards through a plugin for ChatGPT and Codex and an MCP app for Claude and Cursor, while Mural's MCP server is still coming soon
- Loses: tldraw.com offers live cursors, viewport following and comments, where Mural adds summon, timer, anonymous voting, private mode and facilitator lock on every plan · No team plan, so no published admin, security or support terms, where Mural is SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 certified with SSO on Business · No mobile apps or templates listed, where Mural has iOS, Android and Surface Hub apps and 250+ templates
- Pros: tldraw.com is free and opens instantly in the browser, with real-time collaboration, live cursors and comments.; tldraw offline saves self-contained .tldraw files (canvas, images, videos and scripts) on macOS, Windows or Linux with no account or server.; AI agents can create and edit boards, including Mermaid diagrams, through the tldraw plugin for ChatGPT and Codex and an MCP app for Claude and Cursor.; The SDK behind it powers ClickUp's whiteboards, Padlet's Sandboxes and Jam, and its source is public on GitHub with 51,000+ stars.; Developers get a free hobby license and a 100-day free SDK trial with no credit card.
- Cons: No paid team plan for tldraw.com, so organizations get no published admin, security or support terms.; The SDK is not open source; production use requires a commercial license with unpublished, value-based pricing.; Hobby licenses show a tldraw watermark in production.
- **Pricing:** Free (verified ) — tldraw.com free with no paid tier vs Mural Team+ at $9.99/member/month billed annually ($12 monthly)
- Details: https://findalternative.to/tldraw/about
- 4 alternatives to tldraw: https://findalternative.to/tldraw

## 4. Figma — best Mural alternative for design and product teams that need real-time multiplayer editing and a shared design-to-development handoff, from solo freelancers on the free tier up to large enterprises managing design systems across many teams

Figma, through its FigJam whiteboard, is the best Mural alternative for design and product teams whose workshops end in interface work. FigJam sits in the same browser-based platform as Figma's interface design, prototyping, Dev Mode handoff and Figma Slides, so a journey map and the screens it leads to live in one tool. Figma holds 4.7/5 from 874 Capterra reviews, with reviewers consistently praising its real-time multiplayer editing, where Mural has no third-party review score on record and its iOS app rates 2.3/5 from 73 App Store ratings. Figma reports that about 95% of the Fortune 500 use it, and it lists a Linux app, which Mural does not. Mural is still the better choice for facilitated sessions and on price. Mural includes summon, a timer, anonymous voting, private mode and facilitator lock on every plan, visitors join free on every plan, and Team+ costs $9.99/member/month billed annually, against $16/month for a Figma Professional full seat; Figma's listing does not price FigJam on its own. Figma's free Starter plan is limited to 3 collaborative files, Figma needs an internet connection for full editing, it lists no Android app where Mural has one, and its Organization ($55) and Enterprise ($90) full seats are billed annually only.

Compared to Mural: FigJam whiteboards in the same platform as design files, prototypes and Dev Mode, 4.7/5 from 874 Capterra reviews vs Mural's 2.3/5 App Store rating, $16/month per Professional full seat vs Mural Team+ at $9.99/member/month

- Wins: FigJam whiteboards share a platform with Figma's interface design, prototyping, Dev Mode handoff and Slides · 4.7/5 from 874 Capterra reviews, where Mural has no third-party score on record and its iOS app rates 2.3/5 from 73 ratings · Lists a Linux app alongside web, Windows, macOS and iOS, where Mural has no Linux app
- Loses: A Professional full seat costs $16/month against Mural Team+ at $9.99/member/month billed annually, and FigJam is not priced separately in Figma's listing · Mural's facilitation toolkit (summon, timer, anonymous voting, private mode, facilitator lock) and free visitors come on every plan, while Figma's whiteboard is one part of a design platform priced per role-based seat · Requires an internet connection for full editing, lists no Android app, and bills Organization and Enterprise annually only
- Pros: Real-time multiplayer collaboration works reliably even with many simultaneous editors in one file.; Free Starter tier is genuinely usable for solo designers with unlimited drafts and basic AI credits.; Dev Mode gives engineers direct, inspectable access to design specs, reducing handoff friction.; Broad plugin and integration ecosystem plus FigJam and Slides extend it beyond pure UI design.
- Cons: Requires an internet connection for full editing; offline work is limited.; No native CMYK color profile or 300dpi export, so print design work needs a separate tool.; Per-seat, per-role pricing (full/dev/collab) can be confusing and adds up quickly for larger teams.; Organization and Enterprise tiers are annual-billing only, reducing flexibility for smaller teams.
- **Pricing:** Free tier · paid from $16/mo (verified ) — $16/month per Figma Professional full seat vs Mural Team+ at $9.99/member/month billed annually ($160 vs $99.90 a month for 10 people)
- Ratings: Capterra 4.7/5 (874 reviews)
- Details: https://findalternative.to/figma/about
- 5 alternatives to Figma: https://findalternative.to/figma

## Which one fits you?

- You run workshops whose output has to become a roadmap or a synced Jira, Asana or Linear backlog → **Miro**
- Your participants review boards on their phones and you need well-rated mobile apps → **Miro**
- You want a cheaper per-member plan for a 10-person team that runs regular workshops → **Miro**
- You sketch technical diagrams with a few people and want a link nobody has to sign up for → **Excalidraw**
- You want board files on your own disk, including on Linux → **tldraw**
- You want AI agents in ChatGPT, Codex, Claude or Cursor working on a board now rather than when an MCP server ships → **tldraw**
- Your workshops end in interface designs and prototypes → **Figma**

## FAQ

### Is there a free alternative to Mural?

Yes: Excalidraw and tldraw are free browser whiteboards, Excalidraw with no account at all and tldraw.com with no paid tier. Miro Free matches Mural Free with unlimited members and 3 editable boards, and Figma's Starter plan allows 3 collaborative files.

### What is the closest alternative to Mural?

Miro is the closest alternative to Mural: both are freemium workshop whiteboards with unlimited members and 3 editable boards free, per-member paid plans, and apps for the web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. Miro costs less at the entry tier ($8 vs $9.99/member/month, both billed annually) but more on Business ($20 vs $17.99).

### Can Miro replace Mural?

Yes for most teams, since Miro covers the same workshop format with 7,000+ templates, two-way Jira, Asana and Linear sync on Business and a live MCP server. Facilitators who rely on Mural's free-plan facilitation tools or free view-only visitors should check Miro's limits first: Miro's timer and voting start on Starter at $8/member/month billed annually, and Miro Free has no guest role.

### Which Mural alternative is cheapest?

tldraw.com is the cheapest because it is free with no paid tier, and Excalidraw+ at $6/user/month billed yearly is the cheapest paid team plan here, against Mural Team+ at $9.99/member/month billed annually. Miro Starter costs $8/member/month billed annually, and a Figma Professional full seat costs $16/month.

### Which Mural alternative has better mobile apps?

Miro has the better-rated mobile apps: 4.7/5 from 5,845 App Store ratings and 4.4/5 from 20.2K Google Play reviews, against Mural's 2.3/5 from 73 and 3.1/5 from 559. Excalidraw and tldraw list no mobile apps, and Figma lists iOS only.

### Is there an open-source alternative to Mural?

Excalidraw is the open-source alternative to Mural: its editor is MIT-licensed with 134,000+ GitHub stars and needs no account. tldraw publishes its SDK source on GitHub but is not open source, since production use requires a commercial license.

## Related

- [Mural vs Miro](https://findalternative.to/compare/miro-vs-mural)
- [Online whiteboards](https://findalternative.to/categories/whiteboards)

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