# Alternatives to Mural

Facilitation-focused canvas.

Mural ranks #3 of 6 in Online whiteboards, with an Alt Score of 68. It is proprietary, freemium from $9.99/month and available on Web, iOS, Android, Windows and macOS. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mural/
Category: Online whiteboards

## Where Mural stands out

- **Templates library** — 3 of 6 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Teams and facilitators running workshops, brainstorms, and strategic planning sessions, especially distributed or hybrid teams in product, sales, marketing, and consulting who need to think and plan together visually.
- **What you get**: An infinite, shared visual canvas where sticky notes, diagrams, and drawings can be created and moved in real time by multiple people at once. It includes pre-built templates for common exercises like brainstorming, retrospectives, and journey mapping, plus facilitation features (timers, voting, cursors, private mode) to guide live or asynchronous sessions. AI features can help generate starter content, cluster sticky notes, and summarize board contents.
- **How it works**: Start from a blank canvas or a template, then invite collaborators to add and arrange content together in real time or asynchronously. A facilitator can structure the session using built-in tools like timers, voting, and grouping, and the resulting board can be exported or shared afterward.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Starts at**: $9.99/month (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-09)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Excalidraw](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/excalidraw.md) | 82 | MIT | ? |
| 2 | [tldraw](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tldraw.md) | 73 | tldraw license (source-available; commercial license required for production) | ? |
| 3 | [FigJam](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/figjam.md) | 64 | ? | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS |
| 4 | [Freeform](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/freeform.md) | 55 | ? | macOS, iOS |
| 5 | [Miro](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/miro.md) | 55 | ? | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Online whiteboards checklist | Mural | Excalidraw | tldraw | FigJam | Freeform | Miro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Free | Freemium |
| Starts at | $9.99/month | $6/user/month | Free | Free | Free | $8/member/month |
| License | Proprietary | MIT | tldraw license (source-available; commercial license required for production) | ? | ? | ? |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS | ? | ? | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | macOS, iOS | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| Infinite canvas | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Real-time collaboration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Templates library | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Diagramming shapes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Video chat built in | No | Partial | No | No | Yes | No |
| Open source | No | Yes | Partial | No | No | No |
| Self-hostable | No | Partial | Yes | No | No | No |
| Free tier limits | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | Yes |
| Hand-drawn style | Partial | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No |
| Embeds in docs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Mural. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Freemium — <https://www.mural.co/pricing> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Free Get your team started fast $0 USD for unlimited members”
- **License**: Proprietary — <https://www.mural.co/about-us> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Cloud SaaS under commercial terms; no open-source license.
  - Quote: “The Mural name and logo are trademarks of Tactivos, Inc. dba Mural.”
- **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS — <https://www.mural.co/apps> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: No Linux; web app at app.mural.co.
  - Quote: “Mural for iOS Mural for Android … Mural for Windows Mural for macOS”
- **Status**: active — <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mural-visual-collaboration/id1156631145> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Version 6.0.1 (released 02/05/2025) features simplified and intuitive UI for Phones”
- **Starts at**: $9.99/month — <https://www.mural.co/pricing> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Team+ ... $ 9 .99 USD per member / month billed annually”
- **Infinite canvas**: Yes — <https://www.mural.co/features> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Infinite & resizable canvas options Choose the right canvas for your collaboration goals — flexibility without limits.”
- **Real-time collaboration**: Yes — <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mural-visual-collaboration/id1156631145> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Work together in real-time or asynchronously with a digital whiteboard and collaboration features”
- **Templates library**: Yes — <https://www.mural.co/pricing> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Premade templates & custom template creation Kickstart collaboration with 250+ expert Mural templates or build your own.”
- **Diagramming shapes**: Yes — <https://www.mural.co/features> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Mapping and diagramming Build quick and easy visualizations of flows, maps, processes, hierarchies, journeys, and more.”
- **Video chat built in**: No — <https://www.mural.co/integrations> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Video via Zoom/Webex/Teams integrations only; no built-in video chat.
  - Quote: “Zoom Add a new dimension of engagement and productivity to Zoom meetings with visual collaboration.”
- **Open source**: No — <https://www.mural.co/about-us> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: GitHub org mural-co returns 404.
  - Quote: “The Mural name and logo are trademarks of Tactivos, Inc. dba Mural. © 2025 Mural. All rights reserved.”
- **Self-hostable**: No — <https://www.mural.co/trust-and-security> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Cloud-only SaaS.
  - Quote: “invest in our infrastructure to enable deployments of Mural to be scaled to thousands of members”
- **Free tier limits**: Yes — <https://www.mural.co/pricing> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Unlimited murals with 3 editable murals at a time Unlimited visitors with view-only rights”
- **Hand-drawn style**: Partial — <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mural-visual-collaboration/id1156631145> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Freehand tool exists but not a hand-drawn aesthetic mode.
  - Quote: “Spark creative thinking with freehand drawing … Map concepts and ideas with your Apple Pencil”
- **Embeds in docs**: Yes — <https://www.mural.co/integrations> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Confluence Now you can link, preview, or embed your mural right on a Confluence page with Mural Smart Links … Google Docs Add viewable murals directly into docs”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/