Excalidraw vs AFFiNE
Both are alternatives to Miro. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as AFFiNE vs Excalidraw — same comparison, one verdict.
Excalidraw and AFFiNE are closely matched on ownership (95 vs 91) — this one comes down to pricing and to which trade-offs below you can live with.
Excalidraw
TOP PICKHand-drawn style diagrams, instantly, for nothing.
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.
AFFiNE
Docs and canvas in one — write a page, flip it to a whiteboard.
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.
Side by side
6 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| Excalidraw | AFFiNE | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 95 | 91 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first data | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | MPL-2.0 |
| Pricing | Free and open source. Excalidraw+ is an optional paid hosted tier. | Free and open source to self-host. AFFiNE Cloud is a paid hosted option. |
Excalidraw is Macrostack's recommended Miro alternative, so it's our pick here.
Excalidraw
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
AFFiNE
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
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose Excalidraw
if a lower exit cost matters more to you than any single feature, and opens instantly with no account, no loading, no onboarding.
Choose AFFiNE
if document and whiteboard modes over the same content.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — no workshop facilitation tools — no voting, timers or templates, and still maturing; rough edges in both modes. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
Excalidraw vs AFFiNE — common questions
Is Excalidraw a better fit than AFFiNE for whiteboards & diagramming?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: Excalidraw scores 95 to AFFiNE's 91 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. AFFiNE earns its place on a different axis — document and whiteboard modes over the same content. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
Excalidraw keeps its data local or in open formats, so leaving is an export rather than a negotiation. AFFiNE is still self-hostable, so the files stay on your server either way — but it is not local-first by design, so check what its export produces before you rely on it.
Can I self-host Excalidraw or AFFiNE?
Both can be self-hosted. The difference is what it costs you in time rather than whether it is possible — see the setup and maintenance rows above.
Are Excalidraw and AFFiNE both alternatives to Miro?
Yes — both appear in our Miro comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off Miro and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
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Facts verified 2026-08-04. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.