You’re in a video call with your team and everyone is talking over each other. Ideas are flying around, but nobody remembers what was said once the meeting is over. Miro solves that problem by providing an infinite digital whiteboard where you can work visually together. It’s a platform where you collect ideas, map out workflows, and create designs – all in real-time with your team.
Who is behind Miro?
Miro was developed by the company of the same name Miro, founded in 2011 by Andrey Khusid and Oleg Shardin. The company started as RealtimeBoard and initially focused on online collaboration for developers. In 2019, the tool got its current name and grew into a visual collaboration platform for all types of teams.
The headquarters is in San Francisco, but Miro has a global team of more than 1800 people spread across different countries. The tool is used by more than 60 million people worldwide, from small startups to large companies like Netflix, Ikea, and Volkswagen. The core function remains the same: helping teams to collaborate visually, regardless of where they are located.
Who is Miro for?
Miro is built for teams that want to collaborate visually. Agile teams use it for sprint planning and retrospectives. UX and UI designers sketch wireframes and user journeys. Product managers create roadmaps and prioritize features. Remote teams find a digital workplace where everyone can work simultaneously.
The tool is a good fit for organizations that regularly brainstorm, organize workshops, or need to visualize complex processes. If your team is used to working with post-its and whiteboards, then Miro is the digital version of that. It works especially well when multiple people need to provide input at the same time.
Miro is less suitable if you primarily work offline. The tool requires an internet connection and has no full offline mode. It’s also overkill for simple to-do lists. There are simpler tools that are a better fit for that. If you only want to make a quick note occasionally, Miro is too elaborate.
What can Miro do?
Miro revolves around an infinite canvas where you can put almost anything. You start with a blank board and fill it with sticky notes, shapes, drawings, images, and much more. The tool offers a substantial set of features that help you organize and visualize ideas.
- Infinite canvas – Your board has no boundaries. Zoom out for the big picture, zoom in for details. You never have to grab a new sheet because you’ve run out of space.
- 2500+ templates – From Kanban boards to customer journey maps. For almost any imaginable project, you’ll find a ready-made template that you can use and customize immediately.
- Sticky notes and shapes – The foundation of every whiteboard. Put virtual post-its on your board, group them, connect them with arrows, and organize your thoughts visually.
- Voting and timer – Ideal for workshops. Let team members vote on ideas and use the built-in timer to keep discussions focused.
- Video chat and Talktracks – Communicate directly in Miro without having to switch to another tool. Talktracks let you leave audio commentary on specific parts of your board.
- Miro Assist (AI) – The AI feature helps you generate ideas, summarize content, and organize sticky notes into themes.
- Integrations – Connect Miro to Jira for project management, Slack for notifications, Microsoft Teams for collaboration, and dozens of other tools.
The interface works with drag-and-drop. You grab elements and drag them where you want. Multiple people can work on the same board simultaneously and you see each other’s cursors moving in real-time. That gives a feeling of real collaboration, even if your team is spread across different locations.
You can add multimedia: images, videos, documents, and even embeds from other tools. That makes Miro a central place where all information comes together. Presentation mode lets you navigate through your board as if it’s a slideshow, useful for sharing results with stakeholders.
What does Miro cost?
Miro has a free plan that lets you get started. You get access to 3 editable boards, which is enough to try out the tool or for small projects. The downside is that you don’t have private boards – everything is visible to your team members. You also lack advanced export options.
The Starter plan costs $ 10 per month if you pay monthly, or $ 8 per month with an annual subscription (total $ 96 per year). This gives you unlimited boards, private boards and better export options. This plan is a good fit for small teams who want to get serious with Miro.
For larger organizations, there’s the Business plan for $ 20 per month (monthly) or $ 16 per month (annually, total $ 192 per year). This plan adds features like advanced security options, more integrations and priority support. There’s also an Enterprise plan with custom pricing for companies with specific requirements around security and compliance.
All paid plans come with a free 14-day trial period. So you can test first whether the extra features are worth the investment for your team. Note that prices are per user – so for a team of 10 people you pay 10 times the monthly amount.
What should you watch out for?
Miro can become slow when your boards fill up with content. Users regularly report lag and delays with complex boards containing many elements. This is especially annoying during live workshops when speed is important. You can partially solve this by splitting up boards, but that’s not always practical.
The mobile app is a weak point. Many users complain that the app crashes, lacks features or simply works awkwardly on a small screen. Miro is clearly built for desktop use. If you want to work on the go regularly, you’ll run into limitations.
For small teams and startups, Miro can turn out pricey. Costs stack up when your team grows. It’s also not always clear how guest users count toward your licenses. Some organizations are surprised by higher costs than expected.
Export options are limited in the cheaper plans. You can’t export all content in the format you want. This becomes a problem if you need to share results with people outside Miro or if you want to maintain an archive.
There is no full offline mode. You always need an internet connection. For teams that regularly work in locations without good wifi, this is a dealbreaker. Also, the learning curve gets steeper as Miro adds more features – new users can get overwhelmed by all the options.
Miro reviews
I’ve looked at a number of Miro reviews to see what users experience in practice. Here’s what reviewers say about the tool.
1. Speak About Digital
Speak About Digital is hugely enthusiastic about Miro and calls it an essential tool for teams who want to collaborate visually. The reviewer emphasizes especially how Miro helps to turn the chaos in your head into an organized visual overview. The tool is described as an infinite canvas where you can collect and structure all ideas, plans and thoughts.
What this reviewer values most is the real-time collaboration where multiple team members can work on the same board simultaneously. The integrations with tools like Jira, Slack and Google Drive make Miro a central hub for all your work processes. The free plan gets special attention – with three full-featured boards and access to most core features, according to the reviewer it’s fantastic for personal projects and small teams. The paid plans start at just $ 8 per month for unlimited boards.
Pros
- Excellent free plan with three full-featured boards
- Real-time collaboration where you see each other’s cursors moving live
- Huge library with time-saving templates for every imaginable project
- Very user-friendly – you’ll learn the basic features in just a few minutes
Cons
- Free plan limited to three boards, which can quickly become insufficient
- No specific downsides mentioned in this very positive review
Miro alternatives
Miro is not the only player in the market for visual collaboration. Depending on your specific needs, other tools may fit better with your workflow.
- Mural – Choose Mural if you primarily facilitate workshops and organize structured sessions. Mural has more focus on facilitation tools and gives you better control over the workshop process.
- FigJam – Does your team already work in Figma for design work? Then FigJam is a logical choice. It’s simpler than Miro and integrates perfectly with Figma, making the transition from brainstorm to design smooth.
- Lucidspark – For teams that create a lot of technical diagrams and process visualizations, Lucidspark is stronger. It has better tools for creating flowcharts, network diagrams, and other structured visualizations.
Frequently asked questions
Here you’ll find answers to the most frequently asked questions about Miro.
Does Miro have an offline mode?
No, Miro is a cloud-based tool and requires an internet connection to work. You can’t work on your boards offline. This can be a problem if you work in locations without stable wifi or while traveling without internet.
Are my boards private in the free plan?
No, in the free plan all boards are visible to all members of your team. You can’t create private boards. If you want private boards, you need at least the Starter plan.
Where is my data stored?
Miro offers data storage in both the EU and the US. EU customers are hosted in the EU by default. You can see where your data is stored in your account settings and adjust this if necessary.
Conclusion
Miro is a powerful tool for teams that want to collaborate visually. The enormous template library and unlimited canvas make it suitable for all kinds of projects, from brainstorming sessions to agile workflows. The free plan gives you a good impression of what’s possible, although you’ll quickly hit the limit of three boards.
The tool works best for remote teams that need to collaborate regularly on complex projects. If your team is used to physical whiteboards and post-its, Miro offers a digital alternative that has even more possibilities. However, watch out for performance issues with large boards and the weak mobile app. For small teams, the price can also be a barrier, especially as your team grows. Do you mainly work offline or are you looking for a simple tool for quick notes? Then you’re better off looking at alternatives.
