#1★ TOP PICK
Excalidraw
Hand-drawn style diagrams, instantly, for nothing.
95
OPEN SOURCEMITSELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
Excalidraw opens in a browser tab with no account and produces diagrams in a deliberate hand-drawn style — which sounds cosmetic and is not. A sketchy diagram signals 'this is a draft, argue with it', where a polished one signals 'this is decided', and for architecture discussions that difference changes how people respond. MIT licensed, self-hostable, with real-time collaboration and end-to-end encryption. Around 100k stars. For engineering diagrams specifically it has quietly become the default, and the reason is that it removes every step between having an idea and drawing it.
Strengths
- +Opens instantly with no account, no loading, no onboarding
- +Hand-drawn style invites argument rather than closing it down
- +MIT and self-hostable, with end-to-end encrypted collaboration
- +Exports cleanly to SVG and PNG, and embeds in most documentation tools
Trade-offs
- −No workshop facilitation tools — no voting, timers or templates
- −Weaker for large structured boards
- −Real-time collaboration needs the hosted service or your own server
- −Not a Miro replacement for cross-business workshops
Free and open source. Excalidraw+ is an optional paid hosted tier. #2
draw.io
Structured diagrams that live as files in your own repository.
94
OPEN SOURCEApache-2.0SELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
draw.io is the precise, structured counterpart to Excalidraw's sketchiness: network topologies, UML, flowcharts, org charts, with extensive shape libraries and stencils for AWS, Azure and GCP. Apache-2.0, runs entirely in the browser or as a desktop application, and stores diagrams as files you keep — in Git, in Drive, wherever. That last point matters more than it sounds: a diagram in your repository is reviewed alongside the code it describes, and a diagram in a SaaS canvas is not.
Strengths
- +Extensive shape libraries including AWS, Azure and GCP stencils
- +Diagrams are files you own — version them in Git
- +Apache-2.0, self-hostable, and works fully offline
- +Best of these for precise structured diagrams
Trade-offs
- −Real-time collaboration is weaker than Miro or Excalidraw
- −Interface is dense and dated
- −No workshop or facilitation features
- −Wrong tool for loose collaborative sketching
Free and open source. Confluence and Jira plugins are paid. #3
AFFiNE
Docs and canvas in one — write a page, flip it to a whiteboard.
91
OPEN SOURCEMPL-2.0SELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
AFFiNE merges the document and the canvas: the same content can be read as a written page or arranged as a whiteboard, switching between the two. That removes a real annoyance — the diagram in Miro and the decision record in Confluence drifting apart until nobody knows which is current. MPL-2.0, self-hostable, local-first, around 50k stars. It is ambitious and still maturing, and the honest caveat is that doing two things well is harder than doing one, which shows in places.
Strengths
- +Document and whiteboard modes over the same content
- +Local-first — works offline and syncs after
- +MPL-2.0, self-hostable, with no enterprise carve-out
- +Removes the drift between a diagram and its written decision
Trade-offs
- −Still maturing; rough edges in both modes
- −Neither mode is quite best-in-class alone
- −Smaller community than the focused tools
- −Self-hosting is more involved than Excalidraw's
Free and open source to self-host. AFFiNE Cloud is a paid hosted option. #4
tldraw
The canvas as an SDK — embed it in your own product.
74
SOURCE-AVAILABLEtldraw licence (custom — free for many uses; read the terms before commercial embedding)SELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
tldraw is an infinite canvas that is also a library: the drawing experience is excellent, and the SDK is designed to be embedded so your own application can have a canvas without building one. That dual nature is what distinguishes it — for most people it is a very good free whiteboard, and for a product team it is a component. Licensing is the thing to check: tldraw uses its own licence rather than a standard OSI one, free for many uses with terms for commercial embedding, so read it against your intended use rather than assuming.
Strengths
- +Best drawing feel of anything in this comparison
- +SDK designed for embedding a canvas in your own product
- +Very actively developed with a strong design sensibility
- +Self-hostable
Trade-offs
- −Custom licence, not OSI open source — read it before commercial use
- −Fewer collaboration features than Miro
- −No workshop facilitation tooling
- −Smaller template ecosystem
Free to use. Commercial embedding has its own licence terms. #5
FigJam
If your designers already pay for Figma, this is included.
30
SOURCE-AVAILABLEProprietary (hosted service)
FigJam is Figma's whiteboard, and for organisations already paying for Figma it is often included or nearly so — which makes buying Miro alongside it a duplicated cost worth noticing. It handles sticky notes, voting, timers and workshops competently, and the ability to pull real design components onto the canvas is something Miro cannot do. Proprietary and hosted. Listed because the most common way to stop paying for Miro is to discover you already own something that does the job.
Strengths
- +Frequently already paid for if your team uses Figma
- +Real workshop tools — voting, timers, templates
- +Design components drop straight onto the canvas
- +Familiar to anyone who already uses Figma
Trade-offs
- −Proprietary and hosted with no self-host path
- −Only compelling if you are already a Figma customer
- −Fewer templates than Miro
- −Another Adobe-owned dependency
Free tier available; included or heavily discounted with existing Figma seats. Checked 2026-08-04.