Milanote carved out a niche in the crowded productivity space by focusing on visual thinkers. The whiteboard-style canvas lets you drag images, notes, links, and files into spatial arrangements that mirror how creative projects actually develop. For designers, writers, and anyone who thinks in mood boards rather than lists, it clicks.
But Milanote's visual-first approach isn't universal. Some users find the freeform canvas overwhelming compared to structured note apps. Others need features Milanote doesn't prioritize, like advanced search, robust mobile apps, or deep integrations with other tools. The pricing model also limits how much you can create on the free tier, which frustrates teams trying to scale.
This guide covers the best Milanote alternatives for 2026. We've included options that match Milanote's visual planning strengths while addressing common pain points. Whether you need more structure, better mobile access, or tools that go deeper on specific workflows, these alternatives are worth exploring.
Why Consider Milanote Alternatives?
Common Frustrations with Milanote
Milanote's free tier limits you to 100 notes, images, and files total. For creative projects that involve collecting inspiration, that ceiling hits fast. Once you're over the limit, you're paying $9.99 per month. Some alternatives offer more generous free tiers or different pricing models that work better for individuals or small teams.
The mobile experience is Milanote's weakest link. The apps exist but feel clunky compared to the desktop version. If you work across devices frequently or do a lot of creative thinking on your phone or tablet, the mobile limitations get frustrating. Alternatives with mobile-first design offer better experiences on the go.
Collaboration features in Milanote work but aren't as polished as dedicated team tools. Real-time editing can lag. Commenting and feedback workflows feel basic compared to tools purpose-built for team collaboration. If your creative work involves multiple people working simultaneously, you'll want something more robust.
Search and organization become problems as your Milanote boards grow. Finding specific notes or images across multiple boards takes manual browsing. There's no powerful search, tagging system, or automatic organization. Tools with better information architecture help manage large creative projects more effectively.
Integration options are limited. Milanote connects with some tools but doesn't offer the deep integrations or API access that power users want. If your workflow involves pulling content from multiple sources or pushing Milanote content to other platforms, you'll hit walls quickly.
Some alternatives offer features Milanote simply doesn't have. Bidirectional linking for connecting ideas. Version history for tracking changes. Advanced export options. Custom views for different project phases. Offline access that actually works. Depending on your specific creative workflow, these gaps might matter a lot.
What Makes a Good Milanote Alternative?
Essential Features to Prioritize
Visual organization is the core requirement. Good alternatives let you arrange content spatially, not just in linear lists or folders. Whether that's a whiteboard, canvas, or flexible layout system, the tool needs to support visual thinking and planning.
Flexibility in content types matters. Milanote handles images, notes, links, and files well. The best alternatives match or exceed this, letting you mix media types freely. Some add video embeds, code snippets, or other specialized content that Milanote doesn't support.
Mobile experience separates great alternatives from adequate ones. If you gather inspiration on your phone, sketch ideas on a tablet, or review work during commutes, the mobile apps need to be first-class, not afterthoughts. Test the mobile experience before committing.
Collaboration features determine whether an alternative works for teams. Real-time editing, commenting, version history, permissions, and feedback workflows all matter for creative collaboration. Individual users can skip this, but teams need to evaluate it carefully.
Pricing models vary significantly across alternatives. Some charge per user. Others charge for storage or features. Free tiers differ wildly in generosity. Calculate your actual costs based on your team size and usage patterns, not just the advertised price.
Organization and search capabilities become critical as projects grow. Can you find content easily? Tag and categorize items? Create different views of the same information? Link related ideas? Tools with strong information architecture scale better than purely visual canvases.
Export and portability protect your work. Make sure you can get your content out in usable formats. Proprietary tools that lock your data in are risky for long-term creative projects. Check export options before investing heavily in any platform.
Lastly, consider your specific creative workflow. Are you mood boarding for design projects? Planning content calendars? Organizing research? Developing brand identities? Different creative disciplines have different needs. The best Milanote alternative depends on what kind of creative work you actually do.
Miro
Best for Team Collaboration
Miro is probably the most powerful alternative if you focus on collaborative whiteboarding. It's built for teams working together in real-time, especially remote and hybrid teams who need shared visual workspaces.
The canvas is infinite, which feels liberating after Milanote's board-based structure. You can zoom out to see entire projects or zoom in to work on details. The spatial freedom lets you organize information however makes sense for your project without artificial constraints.
Miro's template library is massive. Hundreds of pre-built templates for brainstorming, planning, design sprints, customer journey mapping, and more. This jumpstarts projects and provides structure when you need it. Milanote offers templates too, but Miro's collection is significantly larger.
Collaboration features are where Miro pulls way ahead. Real-time cursors show what teammates are doing. Video chat integrates directly into boards. Voting, timers, and facilitation tools support structured workshops and meetings. If Milanote's collaboration feels basic, Miro feels purpose-built for team creativity.
Integrations are extensive. Connect to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Asana, Google Drive, and dozens of other tools. You can embed Miro boards in other apps or pull content from external sources. This integration depth makes Miro a hub for team collaboration, not an isolated tool.
Pricing starts at $8 per user per month for the Starter plan, comparable to Milanote. The free tier is generous with three editable boards and unlimited team members, though you'll want paid plans for serious use. For teams, the per-user pricing scales similarly to Milanote.
The learning curve is steeper than Milanote. Miro has more features and capabilities, which means more complexity. New users need time to explore and understand what's possible. Milanote's simplicity is easier to pick up immediately.
Mobile apps work but favor consumption over creation. You can view and comment on boards easily, but creating and organizing content on mobile feels clunky. This mirrors Milanote's mobile limitations rather than solving them.
Best for teams doing collaborative visual work, especially remote teams running workshops, design sprints, or planning sessions. If you loved Milanote's visual approach but need better real-time collaboration, Miro delivers. Less ideal for solo creatives who found Milanote's simplicity appealing.
Mural
Best for Facilitated Sessions
Mural competes directly with Miro in the collaborative whiteboard space. The core capabilities are similar, but Mural emphasizes facilitation and structured collaboration more than freeform creativity.
The interface feels cleaner and more focused than Miro. While Miro can feel overwhelming with options, Mural presents a simpler set of tools upfront. This makes it easier to onboard teams who aren't used to digital whiteboarding. Think of it as the more opinionated, less chaotic alternative.
Facilitation features distinguish Mural. Tools for running workshops, design thinking sessions, and structured collaboration are first-class. Timers, voting, ice breakers, and private mode (where participants can't see each other's work until reveal) support specific facilitation techniques. If you run workshops or strategic sessions, these matter.
Templates focus on business processes and methodologies. Design thinking, agile ceremonies, strategic planning, and similar structured frameworks get excellent template support. Mural positions itself for business teams doing collaborative planning, whereas Miro casts a wider net.
Integrations cover the major productivity and collaboration tools. Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, Jira, and others connect smoothly. The integration list isn't as extensive as Miro's but covers most common needs for business teams.
Pricing starts free for individual use with unlimited boards, which is generous. Team plans run $9.99 per user per month, nearly identical to Miro and Milanote. The free tier is more useful than Miro's for solo users experimenting.
The community and resources around Mural emphasize facilitation skills and workshop design. If you're learning to run better collaborative sessions, Mural's educational content and best practices help. This positions it as a facilitation platform, not just a whiteboard tool.
Mobile experience is adequate but not exceptional. Like Miro and Milanote, the mobile apps work better for viewing and light editing than for creating complex visual layouts. Serious work happens on desktop.
Best for teams running structured workshops, design sprints, or strategic planning sessions. If you need a whiteboard tool that supports facilitation techniques and methodology templates, Mural fits better than Miro's freeform approach. Solo creatives might find it too business-focused.
Notion
Best for Structured Creative Projects
Notion takes a completely different approach from Milanote's visual canvas. It's a structured workspace where you build systems using databases, pages, and templates. For creative projects that need more organization than Milanote provides, Notion offers powerful information architecture.
Notion's flexibility is its killer feature. You can create project wikis, content calendars, design systems documentation, client databases, and basically any structure you need. Milanote gives you a canvas; Notion gives you building blocks to construct custom workflows.
The gallery view in Notion mimics Milanote's visual organization somewhat. You can display database items as cards with cover images, creating mood board-like layouts. It's not as freeform as Milanote's canvas but provides visual organization within a structured system.
Notion's database capabilities handle complexity that Milanote can't. Relate projects to clients, tag content by type or status, filter views by criteria, and create different perspectives on the same information. This organizational power matters for large creative projects with lots of moving pieces.
Collaboration works smoothly. Real-time editing, comments, page permissions, and team workspaces all function well. Multiple people can work simultaneously without the lag that sometimes hits Milanote. For team-based creative work, Notion feels more reliable.
The learning curve is significant. Notion's flexibility means you need to design your own systems. New users often feel overwhelmed. Milanote provides guardrails; Notion provides infinite possibilities, which is simultaneously empowering and paralyzing.
Mobile apps are genuinely good. Notion's mobile experience works well for capturing ideas, reviewing content, and light editing. It's not perfect for complex database work, but it's significantly better than Milanote's mobile apps.
Pricing includes a generous free tier for individuals. The Plus plan at $10 per user per month adds unlimited file uploads and guests, useful for client collaboration. For teams already using Notion, adding creative project management costs nothing extra.
Notion lacks Milanote's freeform spatial canvas. You can't drag items freely in 2D space. Everything lives in pages and databases with defined structures. If you specifically love Milanote's unrestricted canvas, Notion feels too rigid.
Best for creatives who need structure and organization alongside visual planning. If your projects involve client management, content calendars, documentation, and other systematic work, Notion handles complexity better than Milanote. Not ideal if you want pure freeform visual thinking.
FigJam
Best for Design Teams
FigJam (Figma's whiteboarding tool) serves designers specifically. If your Milanote use cases revolve around design work, FigJam integrates directly with your design files and workflow in ways Milanote can't.
The integration with Figma design files is seamless. Embed design components, link to prototypes, and keep planning and execution in the same ecosystem. For designers, this connection between ideation and execution matters enormously.
FigJam's whiteboarding features focus on design thinking and collaboration. Sticky notes, diagrams, flowcharts, and wireframing tools support early-stage design work. The tool understands design workflows and provides relevant capabilities.
Real-time collaboration is excellent. Multiple designers can brainstorm simultaneously with smooth performance. Audio chat, reactions, and cursor presence make remote design collaboration feel natural. Coming from Milanote, the collaborative experience feels significantly more polished.
Templates cover design-specific workflows. User journey mapping, design critiques, brainstorming sessions, and similar design activities get purpose-built templates. This beats adapting generic templates from other whiteboard tools.
Pricing for FigJam is free for individuals and small teams (up to 3 files). Professional plans run $3 per editor per month when bundled with Figma, or $5 for FigJam alone. This is cheaper than Milanote for design teams already using Figma.
The limitation is that FigJam is design-focused. If you use Milanote for writing projects, content planning, or non-design creative work, FigJam doesn't fit. It's built for designers collaborating on design work, full stop.
FigJam lacks some of Milanote's content management features. It's a whiteboard for ideation, not a repository for organizing project assets. You'll brainstorm in FigJam but manage final assets elsewhere.
Best for design teams who want whiteboarding integrated with their design tools. If you're already in the Figma ecosystem, FigJam provides better design-specific features than Milanote. Not suitable for non-design creative work.
Obsidian
Best for Knowledge Management
Obsidian serves a completely different user. If Milanote felt too loose and you want your creative notes to connect into a knowledge system, Obsidian builds that.
Obsidian's core is bidirectional linking between notes. Create connections between ideas, see what links to what, and build a web of knowledge over time. For research-heavy creative work, this beats Milanote's isolated boards.
The Canvas plugin adds visual spatial organization to Obsidian. You can arrange notes, images, and links on a 2D canvas similar to Milanote's boards. This combines Milanote's visual approach with Obsidian's linking and knowledge management.
Obsidian stores everything in plain markdown files on your device. You own your data completely. No cloud lock-in, no proprietary formats, no storage limits. For long-term creative projects, this data ownership is reassuring. Milanote keeps everything in their cloud.
Customization through plugins is extensive. The community has built hundreds of plugins for different workflows. Want better task management? Calendar views? Advanced search? Publishing workflows? Plugins exist. This flexibility far exceeds Milanote's fixed feature set.
Obsidian is free for personal use. Sync across devices costs $8 per month, and publishing costs $8 per month, but the core app costs nothing. For solo creatives watching budgets, this beats Milanote's $9.99 monthly fee.
The learning curve is steep. Obsidian rewards investment but requires it too. You'll spend time learning markdown, setting up your vault, configuring plugins, and developing workflows. Milanote is far more approachable for new users.
Mobile apps work well once configured. Obsidian mobile matches the desktop functionality better than most alternatives. You can do real work on mobile, not just view content.
Collaboration is Obsidian's weakness. It's built for individual knowledge management. Teams need workarounds like shared Dropbox folders or Git repos. If you need team collaboration like Milanote offers, Obsidian doesn't fit.
Best for individual creatives building long-term knowledge systems. If your creative work involves research, connecting ideas over time, and building a personal knowledge base, Obsidian excels. Not suitable for teams or users wanting simple, immediate visual planning.
Xtiles
Best Direct Milanote Alternative
Xtiles might be the most direct Milanote alternative. It offers visual, tile-based organization that feels familiar to Milanote users while adding features Milanote lacks.
The interface uses tiles (cards) that you arrange spatially on pages. This mirrors Milanote's approach closely. You drag, resize, and organize content visually. The learning curve from Milanote to Xtiles is minimal.
Xtiles adds structure that Milanote doesn't have. Pages nest inside projects with hierarchical organization. This helps manage larger creative efforts where Milanote's flat board structure becomes unwieldy. You get visual freedom with organizational depth.
Content types are flexible. Notes, tasks, images, links, embeds, and files all work as tiles. Xtiles also adds web clipper functionality for capturing inspiration from around the internet directly into your projects. This capture workflow is smoother than Milanote's.
Mobile apps are genuinely good. Xtiles prioritizes mobile experience more than most visual planning tools. You can create and organize on mobile without frustration. This addresses one of Milanote's biggest weaknesses.
The free tier is generous. Unlimited pages, projects, and content with some limitations on file uploads and team features. For individual users, you can use Xtiles extensively without paying. Milanote's 100-item limit feels restrictive in comparison.
Paid plans start at $5 per month for individuals, cheaper than Milanote's $9.99. Team pricing runs $8 per user monthly. For similar functionality at lower cost, Xtiles delivers solid value.
Collaboration features work but aren't as polished as dedicated team tools like Miro. Real-time editing exists. Sharing and permissions work. It's adequate for small teams but won't replace specialized collaboration platforms.
The tool is newer and less established than alternatives. The company and community are smaller. This means fewer templates, less educational content, and some uncertainty about long-term development. Early adopters face this tradeoff in exchange for modern features.
Best for individual creatives or small teams wanting Milanote's visual approach with better mobile apps and organization. If you like Milanote but hit its limitations, Xtiles offers a similar experience with improvements. Less proven for large teams or mission-critical work.
How to Switch from Milanote
Export and Transition Strategy
Switching from Milanote requires exporting your boards and recreating structure in your new tool. Milanote doesn't offer seamless migration paths to alternatives, so plan for manual work.
Start by auditing your Milanote boards. Which are active projects? Which are reference libraries? Which can be archived or deleted? Focus migration effort on boards you actually use rather than recreating everything blindly.
Milanote's export options are limited. You can export individual boards as PDFs or images, but these are static snapshots, not editable formats. For migrating to another tool, you'll mostly recreate boards manually. Frustrating, but unavoidable.
For image-heavy boards, download your images before canceling Milanote. Milanote doesn't export images in bulk easily, so you might need to save images individually. This is tedious but necessary to preserve your visual assets.
Text content can be copied and pasted, though you'll lose formatting. Notes from Milanote paste as plain text into most alternatives. This works fine for simple notes but breaks complex formatting or embedded content.
Recreate board structure in your new tool before migrating content. Set up projects, pages, or workspaces that mirror your Milanote organization. Having the skeleton ready makes the actual content migration smoother.
Consider this an opportunity to reorganize. Don't blindly recreate Milanote's structure. Think about what worked and what didn't. Your new tool might enable better organization that wasn't possible in Milanote.
Migrate one project at a time. Tackle your most important or active project first. Get comfortable with the new tool on real work before migrating everything. This reduces the overwhelm of switching entirely at once.
Run both tools in parallel initially. Keep Milanote active for reference while building in your new tool. This safety net lets you verify you haven't lost anything critical during migration.
For team migrations, communicate changes clearly. Explain why you're switching, what's better in the new tool, and what support is available for learning. Resistance comes from uncertainty, so over-communicate the plan.
Milanote Alternatives FAQ
Common Migration Questions
What's the closest free alternative to Milanote?
Xtiles offers the most similar experience with a generous free tier. You get unlimited pages and projects without hitting Milanote's 100-item limit. The visual tile-based interface feels familiar. Obsidian is also free for personal use and adds the Canvas feature for spatial organization, though it requires more setup than Milanote's immediate usability.
Which alternative has the best mobile apps?
Notion and Xtiles both offer significantly better mobile experiences than Milanote. Notion's mobile apps handle most tasks smoothly. Xtiles prioritizes mobile usability more than most visual planning tools. If mobile access matters a lot, test both before deciding. Obsidian's mobile app is also solid once you get past the initial setup.
Do any alternatives support offline access better than Milanote?
Obsidian wins here. Everything is stored locally by default, so offline access is built-in. You work without internet and sync changes when connected. Notion has offline mode but it's not as reliable as Obsidian's local-first approach. Milanote requires internet for most functions.
Which tool is best for team collaboration on creative projects?
Miro for real-time whiteboarding and workshops. Notion for structured project management with visual elements. Miro handles synchronous collaboration better. Notion works well for asynchronous team workflows. Both exceed Milanote's collaboration capabilities significantly.
Can I export my Milanote boards to other tools?
Not easily. Milanote exports boards as PDFs or images, which are static. There's no export format that other tools import directly. You'll recreate boards manually in your new tool. Download your images first and plan for manual migration work.
What if I specifically love Milanote's visual canvas approach?
Miro and Mural offer infinite canvas whiteboarding that's even more flexible than Milanote's board-based approach. Xtiles provides tile-based visual organization similar to Milanote. Obsidian's Canvas plugin adds spatial organization to a note-taking app. FigJam works for design-specific visual collaboration. The alternatives vary in structure, but all support visual thinking.
Which Milanote Alternative Should You Choose?
Final Recommendations
The best alternative depends on why Milanote isn't working for you and what type of creative work you do.
If you need better team collaboration, Miro or Mural deliver real-time whiteboarding that far exceeds Milanote's capabilities. Miro for broader creative work, Mural for facilitated business sessions.
If you want more structure and organization, Notion provides powerful databases and views while still supporting visual layouts. It handles complexity that Milanote can't but requires more setup investment.
If you're a designer, FigJam integrates with your design workflow in ways generic visual planning tools can't. The design-specific features justify the switch if you're already in Figma.
If you're building long-term knowledge and want to connect ideas over time, Obsidian offers capabilities Milanote doesn't have. The Canvas plugin preserves visual organization while adding powerful linking and knowledge management.
If you want something close to Milanote but better, Xtiles improves on mobile apps, pricing, and organization while keeping the familiar visual interface. It's the most direct upgrade path.
Honestly, Milanote does visual planning well for solo creatives who don't need complexity. If it's working for you, there's no urgency to switch. But if you've hit limitations around collaboration, mobile access, organization, or pricing, these alternatives address those specific gaps.
Most alternatives offer free trials or tiers. Test a couple with actual projects before committing. What looks good in demos might not fit your real workflow.