European Alternatives to Miro
Looking for a European alternative to Miro? Miro is run by RealtimeBoard Inc. in San Francisco, and its terms are governed by California law, with disputes heard in San Francisco.
Twelve European tools cover the job: seven shared whiteboards from Germany, Switzerland, France, Finland, the Czech Republic and the UK, a free open-source diagram editor, and four mind map tools, each with its hosting location checked.
How we rank these tools — 4-step process
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1
European ownership, verified
The company is headquartered and incorporated in the EU, EEA or Switzerland, and processes customer data in Europe. A US parent company disqualifies a tool from this page regardless of where its servers are.
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2
Category fit and hands-on review
What the tool actually does, who it suits, and where it falls short — checked against the vendor’s own documentation, changelog and pricing page rather than its marketing copy.
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3
Compliance and pricing check
GDPR posture, hosting location and the prices quoted on this page are verified against the vendor’s public pricing before publication, and re-checked when we revisit the category.
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4
Position on this page
Placement on this page can be paid, and that can affect which tools appear here and the order they appear in. It never buys a good review: a tool that fails the checks above is not here at any price, and payment does not change the shortcomings we write about. A vendor can ask us to correct a factual error — not to remove a criticism.
Vendors can pay for visibility on this page. It never changes what an entry says about a product, including the criticism, and we earn nothing when you click through to a vendor. Paid placement can affect which tools appear here and the order they appear in. Editorial policy
12 European Alternatives to Miro
Conceptboard
German whiteboard with ISO/IEC 27001 certification, hosted in Frankfurt on IONOS and AWS
Collaboard
Swiss whiteboard hosted in the Netherlands, Germany or Switzerland, or air-gapped on-premises
Draft.io
French visual workspace hosted in France by OVH, free for up to 500 objects
DEON
Berlin visual workspace with a TISAX assessment, desktop clients and an on-premises option
Sketchboard
Finnish sketch-style whiteboard with flat team pricing, hosted in Belgium and Ireland
Spreo
The former Metro Retro: a London whiteboard for agile meetings, hosted in Amsterdam
Excalidraw
MIT-licensed hand-drawn whiteboard from a Czech company; Excalidraw+ servers are in the US
draw.io
Free open-source diagram editor where you keep files in your own storage, from draw.io Ltd and draw.io AG
MindMeister
Mind maps from MeisterLabs GmbH, with unlimited collaborators on the free plan
Mindomo
Romanian mind and concept maps with outlining and Gantt views
Coggle
Simple UK mind maps and flowcharts, hosted on AWS in Ireland
Ayoa
Welsh mind map, whiteboard and task app; its security page states US servers
Key takeaways
- Miro is run by RealtimeBoard Inc. dba Miro, with California law and San Francisco courts in its terms.
- Seven European tools are true shared whiteboards: Conceptboard (Germany), Collaboard (Switzerland), Draft.io (France), DEON (Germany), Sketchboard (Finland), Spreo (United Kingdom) and Excalidraw (Czech Republic).
- Conceptboard is ISO/IEC 27001 certified and hosted in Frankfurt; DEON has a TISAX assessment; Collaboard and Conceptboard offer on-premises installs.
- draw.io is free forever and open source under Apache 2.0, but it is a diagram editor, not a facilitation canvas.
- MindMeister, Mindomo, Coggle and Ayoa make mind maps, not free-form boards, and Ayoa says its servers are in the United States.
- Excalidraw+ servers are in the United States according to its privacy policy, although the company is Czech and the open-source editor can be self-hosted.
Why people leave Miro
Miro is the online whiteboard that most teams reach for first: an endless canvas with sticky notes, shapes, templates, diagrams and live cursors, used for workshops, retrospectives, roadmaps and customer journeys. That breadth is why it is hard to replace, and why a straight swap is rarely the right question.
It is also a US company. The Miro Terms of Service are an agreement with RealtimeBoard Inc. dba Miro (or a Miro affiliate named in your order), governed by the laws of California and the United States, with disputes heard in San Francisco. For a European team that puts workshop boards, product plans and customer research under US law and a US-run service.
There are twelve European options here, from companies in Germany, Switzerland, France, Finland, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Austria and Romania. Seven are true shared whiteboards. The other five cover a slice of what Miro does: draw.io for diagrams, and MindMeister, Mindomo, Coggle and Ayoa for mind maps, which are not free canvases.
- Your boards sit under US law Miro's terms are governed by California and US law, with San Francisco courts, and the contracting party is RealtimeBoard Inc. dba Miro unless an affiliate is named on your order. What a workshop board contains (strategy, org changes, customer quotes) is exactly the content some European organisations prefer to keep with a European operator.
- Where the board is hosted is a separate question A European company is not the same as European hosting. Conceptboard runs on IONOS and AWS in Frankfurt, Draft.io on OVH in France, DEON on Azure West Europe, Collaboard on Azure in the Netherlands by default, Spreo on DigitalOcean in Amsterdam and Sketchboard on Google Cloud in Belgium and AWS in Ireland. Excalidraw+ and Ayoa are the exceptions: their own pages put servers in the United States, so check that before you treat them as an answer to the jurisdiction question.
- You may not need a full canvas Many teams use Miro for one job, such as retrospectives, diagrams or mind maps. Spreo is built for agile meetings, draw.io for diagrams and Coggle, MindMeister, Mindomo and Ayoa for mind maps. Naming the one job you actually do narrows twelve options to two or three.
- Price and free plans differ more than you would expect Conceptboard starts at EUR 5 per user per month and has a free plan with three boards. Collaboard starts at USD 6, Draft.io has a free plan up to 500 objects, DEON Premium is EUR 10 per month, Sketchboard prices per team and Spreo has no permanent free plan, only a 30-day trial. Excalidraw and draw.io are free to use. We did not check Miro's own prices, so compare against its current price page.
What you have to replace, not just match
Start from the job, not the feature list. For workshops with sticky notes, voting and templates, trial Conceptboard, Collaboard, Draft.io and DEON on the same real board. For agile ceremonies, Spreo. For diagrams, draw.io. For brainstorming that should end as a tree, a mind map tool will do.
Plan the move around the boards you still need. Miro boards do not convert automatically, so keep the old workspace read-only for a quarter, export key boards as images or PDF, and rebuild the few live templates in the new tool. Then run one real session with colleagues who are not enthusiasts before you cancel.
The alternatives compared
| Position | Tool | Headquarters | Pricing | Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Conceptboard | Halle (Saale), Germany | Starter EUR 5 per user per month; Advanced from EUR 10 per user per month (12-month contract for 10 or more users); Corporate & Government from EUR 14 per user per month (24-month contract for 100 or more users); dedicated single-tenant and on-premises hosting on request. All prices are subject to VAT. | EU (Germany) |
| #2 | Collaboard | Bonstetten, Switzerland | Basic USD 6 per user per month billed yearly (USD 7.50 billed monthly); Advanced USD 11.50 per user per month billed yearly (USD 14 billed monthly); Enterprise with self-hosting at a custom price. The pricing page also offers EUR and CHF as currencies. | Switzerland (outside the EU, covered by an EU adequacy decision) |
| #3 | Draft.io | La Chevroliere, France | Pro EUR 10 per member per month billed monthly or EUR 100 per year (from 2 members); Team EUR 100 per member per year for 1-50 members (from 10 members); Business EUR 130 per member per year for 1-50 members (from 50 members), with lower rates above 50 and 200 members; Enterprise at a tailor-made price. | EU (France) |
| #4 | DEON | Berlin, Germany | Premium EUR 10 per month; Corporate with cloud or on-premise deployment at a price on request. All prices exclude statutory VAT. | EU (Germany) |
| #5 | Sketchboard | Espoo, Finland | Starter USD 6 per month or USD 60 per year (1 editor); Team USD 20 per month or USD 200 per year (5 editors); Business USD 39 per month or USD 390 per year (10 editors); extra editors USD 5 to 6 per month. | EU (Finland) |
| #6 | Spreo | London, United Kingdom | Starter USD 4 per member per month billed annually; Business USD 6 per member per month billed annually; both from 2 members. Enterprise for 100 or more members at a custom price. | United Kingdom (outside the EU, covered by an EU adequacy decision) |
| #7 | Excalidraw | Brno, Czech Republic | The editor is free; Excalidraw+ costs USD 6 per user per month, with a 14% saving on annual billing. | EU (Czech Republic) |
How each alternative compares to Miro
- Which law reaches it. EU (Germany). Miro is run from the United States, so the CLOUD Act obliges the provider to hand over data on a valid order regardless of which country the servers are in.
- Where the data sits. IONOS and Amazon Web Services in Frankfurt, Germany, unless otherwise agreed; IONOS or StackIT hosting selectable at extra cost; on-premises on request.
- Source code. Closed source, as Miro is.
- Independently checked. ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO/IEC 27017:2015 and ISO/IEC 27018:2019.
Best for: Teams in regulated industries and public bodies that want a shared canvas with certification
Conceptboard is run by Conceptboard Cloud Service GmbH in Halle (Saale), Germany, registered at Amtsgericht Stendal under HRB 29184. It launched in 2010, and its security page lists ISO/IEC 27001:2022, 27017 and 27018. Boards run on IONOS and Amazon Web Services in Frankfurt unless agreed otherwise, with IONOS or StackIT hosting selectable at extra cost.
It is browser based, with guests invited by link, visual tasks, Kanban structures, timelines and integrations with Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Webex and Confluence. A free plan has 3 active boards, 250 MB of storage and 100 objects per board; Starter is EUR 5 per user per month and Advanced from EUR 10, with Corporate & Government from EUR 14 and dedicated or on-premises hosting on request.
What Conceptboard does better than Miro
- German company under EU law, where Miro is under California law
- ISO/IEC 27001, 27017 and 27018 certification published on its security page
- Selectable IONOS or StackIT hosting, and on-premises on request
- Starts at EUR 5 per user per month, with a free plan
Where Conceptboard is a step down from Miro
- Smaller template and integration catalogue than Miro
- Free plan is limited to 3 boards and 100 objects per board
- Advanced plan needs a 12-month contract for 10 or more users
- Prices are shown excluding VAT
Standout against Miro. It is the only whiteboard here that publishes ISO/IEC 27001, 27017 and 27018 certification and offers a choice of German hosting providers.
- Which law reaches it. Switzerland (outside the EU, covered by an EU adequacy decision). Miro is run from the United States, so the CLOUD Act obliges the provider to hand over data on a valid order regardless of which country the servers are in.
- Where the data sits. Microsoft Azure in the Netherlands by default; Microsoft Azure Switzerland or Open Telekom Cloud in Germany on the Advanced plan (Germany at an additional charge); on-premises, private cloud and air-gapped installs on Enterprise.
- Source code. Closed source, as Miro is.
Best for: Organisations that need on-premises or a choice of Swiss, German or Dutch hosting
Collaboard is operated by IBV Informatik, Beratungs und Vertriebs AG in Bonstetten, Switzerland, a family-owned software company working since 1981, with a German office in Loerrach. Swiss law applies to the contract. Switzerland is outside the EU but covered by an EU adequacy decision.
The default hosting is Microsoft Azure in the Netherlands, with Azure Switzerland or Open Telekom Cloud in Germany on the Advanced plan, and on-premises, private cloud and air-gapped installs on Enterprise. The free plan allows 3 whiteboards with 5 participants per board and no credit card; Basic is USD 6 per user per month billed yearly and Advanced USD 11.50.
What Collaboard does better than Miro
- Swiss company under Swiss law, with no US parent
- Hosting choice: Azure Netherlands, Azure Switzerland or Open Telekom Cloud Germany
- Air-gapped and on-premises installs on Enterprise
- Free plan with no credit card
Where Collaboard is a step down from Miro
- Swiss, not EU, so it relies on the EU adequacy decision
- Default hosting is on Microsoft Azure, a US cloud provider
- Free plan is small: 3 whiteboards and 5 participants
- German hosting costs extra and is only on Advanced
Standout against Miro. It is the only whiteboard here that offers air-gapped installs and a choice between Swiss, German and Dutch hosting.
- Which law reaches it. EU (France). Miro is run from the United States, so the CLOUD Act obliges the provider to hand over data on a valid order regardless of which country the servers are in.
- Where the data sits. Hosted in France by OVH; a dedicated server or on-premise instance is offered on the Enterprise plan.
- Source code. Closed source, as Miro is.
Best for: Teams that want French hosting and a generous free tier
Draft.io is run by Draft SAS in La Chevroliere, France. It is hosted in France by OVH, with a dedicated server or on-premises instance offered on Enterprise. The free plan is described as free forever and is limited to 500 objects across all drafts.
Paid plans are Pro at EUR 10 per member per month, or EUR 100 per year, from 2 members; Team at EUR 100 per member per year; and Business at EUR 130 per member per year, with SAML SSO on Business. Jira integration is included on the free plan.
What Draft.io does better than Miro
- French company hosted by OVH, a European cloud provider
- Free plan with no time limit, and Jira integration on it
- Yearly prices from EUR 100 per member
- Dedicated or on-premises deployment on Enterprise
Where Draft.io is a step down from Miro
- Free plan is capped at 500 objects across all drafts
- Team plan needs 10 members and Business needs 50
- Smaller ecosystem than Miro
- SAML SSO only from the Business plan
Standout against Miro. It is the only option here hosted in France on OVH, with a permanent free plan that includes Jira integration.
- Which law reaches it. EU (Germany). Miro is run from the United States, so the CLOUD Act obliges the provider to hand over data on a valid order regardless of which country the servers are in.
- Where the data sits. Microsoft Azure West Europe (EU/EEA), operated through Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd.; dedicated cloud or a fully isolated on-premises installation on the Corporate plan.
- Source code. Closed source, as Miro is.
- Independently checked. TISAX assessment according to the VDA ISA catalogue.
Best for: Automotive and industrial teams that need TISAX and optional on-premises
DEON is operated by DEON GmbH & Co. KG in Berlin. The cloud runs on Microsoft Azure West Europe, operated through Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd, and a dedicated cloud or fully isolated on-premises installation is offered on the Corporate plan. It has a TISAX assessment according to the VDA ISA catalogue.
There are desktop clients for Windows, macOS and iOS. The free plan allows 2 own projects with 100 elements per project; Premium is EUR 10 per month excluding VAT, and Corporate is on request.
What DEON does better than Miro
- German company with a TISAX assessment, relevant for automotive supply chains
- Isolated on-premises installation on Corporate
- Native desktop clients as well as the browser
- Free plan available
Where DEON is a step down from Miro
- Hosted on Microsoft Azure, a US cloud provider, even if in West Europe
- Free plan is limited to 2 projects and 100 elements per project
- Smaller user base and fewer templates than Miro
- Corporate pricing is not published
Standout against Miro. It is the only option here with a published TISAX assessment, which matters in automotive supply chains.
- Which law reaches it. EU (Finland). Miro is run from the United States, so the CLOUD Act obliges the provider to hand over data on a valid order regardless of which country the servers are in.
- Where the data sits. Google Cloud Platform in Belgium and Amazon Web Services in Ireland.
- Source code. Closed source, as Miro is.
Best for: Small teams who want a fixed price per team rather than per seat
Sketchboard, formerly 7scales Oy, is based in Espoo, Finland. Boards are hosted on Google Cloud Platform in Belgium and Amazon Web Services in Ireland. The free plan has 3 boards and up to 5 users.
Paid plans are priced per team: Starter is USD 6 per month for one editor, Team USD 20 per month for five editors and Business USD 39 per month for ten, with extra editors at USD 5 to 6 per month. Its hand-drawn look is aimed at sketching diagrams and workshops.
What Sketchboard does better than Miro
- Finnish company hosting in Belgium and Ireland, inside the EU
- Flat team pricing, USD 20 per month for five editors
- Free plan with 3 boards and up to 5 users
- Over 1,000 shapes on paid plans
Where Sketchboard is a step down from Miro
- Hosted on Google Cloud and AWS, both US providers
- Priced in US dollars
- Fewer facilitation features than Miro
- Free plan is limited to 3 boards
Standout against Miro. It is the only whiteboard here that prices per team of editors instead of per user.
- Which law reaches it. United Kingdom (outside the EU, covered by an EU adequacy decision). Miro is run from the United States, so the CLOUD Act obliges the provider to hand over data on a valid order regardless of which country the servers are in.
- Where the data sits. DigitalOcean in Amsterdam (AMS3), Netherlands.
- Source code. Closed source, as Miro is.
Best for: Agile teams that mostly use Miro for retrospectives and planning
Spreo, formerly Metro Retro, is run by Deqo Software Limited in London. It is therefore a UK company, outside the EU and covered by the EU adequacy decision. The service is deployed on DigitalOcean in Amsterdam (AMS3).
It is built around retrospectives and planning poker, with SSO and Jira on Business. Starter is USD 4 per member per month billed annually and Business USD 6, both from 2 members, with Enterprise at a custom price for 100 or more. It offers a 30-day trial and no permanent free plan.
What Spreo does better than Miro
- Cheapest paid plan here at USD 4 per member per month on annual billing
- Built for retrospectives and planning poker out of the box
- Hosted in Amsterdam
- Business plan adds SSO and Jira
Where Spreo is a step down from Miro
- UK, not EU, so it relies on the adequacy decision
- No permanent free plan, only a 30-day trial
- Narrower than Miro: it is not a general-purpose canvas
- Hosted on DigitalOcean, a US provider
Standout against Miro. It is the only option here built around agile retrospectives and planning poker rather than a general canvas.
- Which law reaches it. EU (Czech Republic). Miro is run from the United States, so the CLOUD Act obliges the provider to hand over data on a valid order regardless of which country the servers are in.
- Where the data sits. Excalidraw+ servers are located in the United States according to the privacy policy; the open-source editor can be self-hosted from the official Docker image.
- Source code. Open source, where Miro is not: you can read what it does rather than take the description on trust.
- Independently checked. SOC 2 (badge shown on the Excalidraw+ site).
Best for: Technical teams who sketch diagrams and are happy to self-host
Excalidraw is run by Excalidraw s.r.o. in Brno, Czech Republic. The editor is open source under the MIT licence, includes end-to-end encrypted live sessions, and can be self-hosted from the official Docker image. The free plan includes the full editor with unlimited collaborators.
Excalidraw+ costs USD 6 per user per month, with a 14-day trial, and adds persistent workspaces. Its privacy policy places the Excalidraw+ servers in the United States, so the paid tier is not the answer to a data-location question unless you self-host the editor.
What Excalidraw does better than Miro
- Free, MIT licensed and self-hostable
- Czech company, inside the EU
- End-to-end encrypted free sessions
- Simple, fast hand-drawn style for diagrams
Where Excalidraw is a step down from Miro
- Excalidraw+ servers are in the United States
- Fewer facilitation features such as voting or templates than Miro
- Free plan has one scene
- Excalidraw+ is priced in US dollars
Standout against Miro. It is the only option here that is both free to use and MIT licensed, with a Docker image you can host yourself.
draw.io
free open-source diagrams, where your data stays with you
Best for: Teams whose Miro use is mostly flowcharts, architecture and process diagrams
draw.io is described in its README as jointly owned and developed by draw.io Ltd (previously JGraph) and draw.io AG, and the site footer names the same two companies. We could not read an address or registration number for either entity on its pages. It has existed since 2005, is open source under Apache 2.0 and its site says it is free forever with no sign-up.
The model is different from Miro. You bring your own storage or save locally with the desktop app, and the site says it cannot access your data. That makes it strong on privacy, and weaker on live, multi-person facilitation: it is a diagram editor first, even though the project also calls itself a whiteboarding application.
What draw.io does better than Miro
- Free forever, no sign-up, open source under Apache 2.0
- Your data stays in your own storage or on your device
- Desktop app that works offline
- Diagram files from 2005 still load, according to the site
Where draw.io is a step down from Miro
- Not a workshop canvas: no sticky notes, voting or facilitation tools to speak of
- Real-time collaboration depends on the storage you connect
- We could not verify the registered address of draw.io Ltd or draw.io AG
- No hosted team workspace like Miro's
Standout against Miro. It is the only option here where the vendor says it cannot access your diagrams at all, because you keep them in your own storage.
MindMeister
German-Austrian mind maps with unlimited collaborators on the free plan
Best for: Teams who use Miro for brainstorming and structure ideas as maps
MindMeister is part of Meister, which says it was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Vienna, Austria. The contracting entity in its imprint and terms is MeisterLabs GmbH, Vaterstetten, Germany (Amtsgericht Munich HRB 161267). Verdane Capital led a 2021 funding round.
It is a mind map tool, not a free canvas. The free plan gives 3 mind maps with unlimited collaborators, presentations and a MeisterTask integration. Personal is EUR 6 per user per month, Pro EUR 10 and Business EUR 15 as displayed on its pricing page, with SAML SSO and compliance exports on Business.
What MindMeister does better than Miro
- Free plan with unlimited collaborators and 3 mind maps
- EU legal entity with a published imprint and registry number
- Links ideas to tasks through MeisterTask
- Business plan offers SAML SSO and backups to your own servers
Where MindMeister is a step down from Miro
- Branch-based mind maps, not a free-form canvas
- Free plan allows only 3 maps
- No hosting location confirmed in the pages we read
- Prices are shown without clarifying yearly or monthly billing
Standout against Miro. It is the only mind map tool here with unlimited collaborators on the free plan and a task manager from the same company.
Mindomo
Romanian mind and concept maps with Gantt and outlining
Best for: Students, teachers and teams who structure ideas as maps, outlines or concept maps
Mindomo is owned by Expert Software Applications srl, a Romanian company, and its terms of use are governed by Romanian law with venue in Timisoara. It is a mind and concept map tool with outlining and Gantt views, not a free-form whiteboard.
The free plan has 3 diagrams with unlimited collaborators and sharing. Premium is shown from EUR 6 per month on its pricing page, and it adds unlimited diagrams, 50 AI credits per month and desktop and mobile apps. We found no statement of its hosting location.
What Mindomo does better than Miro
- Romanian company under EU law, where Miro is under California law
- Free plan with unlimited collaborators
- Outlining and Gantt views alongside mind maps
- Desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux
Where Mindomo is a step down from Miro
- Not a free-form canvas for workshops
- Hosting location not found on its site
- Free plan allows only 3 diagrams
- Terms last updated in April 2024
Standout against Miro. It is the only option here that combines mind maps, concept maps, outlines and Gantt charts in one tool.
Coggle
a simple UK mind map tool with Irish hosting
Best for: People who want quick shareable mind maps and flowcharts without setup
Coggle is operated by CoggleIt Limited, registered in England and Wales under number 9030487, so it is a UK company with English courts. It is hosted on Amazon Web Services in Ireland, with a backup copy in AWS London.
The free plan has 3 private diagrams, unlimited public diagrams and real-time collaboration. Awesome is USD 5 per month for unlimited private diagrams, and Organisation is USD 8 per member per month with SAML single sign-on. It does mind maps and flowcharts, not an open canvas.
What Coggle does better than Miro
- Hosting stated plainly: AWS Ireland with a London backup
- Real-time collaboration on the free plan
- Cheap paid tiers at USD 5 and USD 8
- Share by link or QR code with no login
Where Coggle is a step down from Miro
- UK, not EU, so it relies on the adequacy decision
- Mind maps and flowcharts only, not a whiteboard
- Free plan has 3 private diagrams
- Hosted on AWS, a US provider
Standout against Miro. It is the only option here that lets people edit a diagram through a secret link with no login.
Ayoa
a Welsh mind map and task tool, with US servers
Best for: Creative teams who want mind maps with whiteboards and tasks in one app, and accept US hosting
Ayoa is operated by OpenGenius Limited, registered in England and Wales under number 05653541 with a registered office in Penarth, Wales. It is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified. It combines mind maps, whiteboards and task management.
Its own security page says its servers are hosted in the United States on Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. A 7-day trial of Ayoa Ultimate is followed by a free plan for basic mind mapping. Its prices are rendered by script on the pricing page, so we do not quote a figure.
What Ayoa does better than Miro
- ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification stated on its security page
- Mind maps, whiteboards and tasks in one product
- UK company, outside US law for the contract
- Free plan for basic mind mapping after the trial
Where Ayoa is a step down from Miro
- Servers hosted in the United States on AWS and Google Cloud
- UK, not EU, so it relies on the adequacy decision
- Paid prices could not be verified
- Mind map first, so less of a free canvas than the whiteboards
Standout against Miro. It is the only tool here that combines mind maps, whiteboards and tasks, and the only one that states US hosting in its own security page.
What actually breaks when you switch
The hard part of leaving Miro is not the tool but the habit: templates, shared links and the muscle memory of a particular toolbar. Expect a short dip in speed the first time your team runs a workshop on a new board.
Boards do not convert automatically. Export the ones that matter as images or PDF, rebuild the templates you reuse, and give guests a new link, since the old one will not carry over.
Check what your plan includes before you invite the whole company. Several of these tools cap free boards or objects, and some features such as SSO sit on the higher plans.
Is there a European tool that works exactly like Miro?
Not exactly, and the closest are the whiteboards: Conceptboard, Collaboard, Draft.io and DEON all offer a shared canvas with sticky notes, boards for workshops and guest access. None publishes the same template library, app marketplace or user base as Miro.
Expect to trade some breadth for jurisdiction and, in several cases, a more predictable hosting location. Trial each shortlisted tool on one real session before deciding.
Which of these are real whiteboards and which are not?
Conceptboard, Collaboard, Draft.io, DEON, Sketchboard, Spreo and Excalidraw are real-time whiteboards where several people work on the same canvas. draw.io is a diagram editor that also describes itself as a whiteboarding application. MindMeister, Mindomo, Coggle and Ayoa are mind map tools, so they structure ideas as branches rather than letting you place anything anywhere.
If your use of Miro is mostly retrospectives, workshops and journey maps, stay with the first group. If it is mostly brainstorming and note structuring, the mind map tools are cheaper and simpler.
Where is the data stored?
It varies and is worth reading on each vendor's security page. Conceptboard says IONOS and AWS in Frankfurt, Draft.io OVH in France, DEON Azure West Europe, Collaboard Azure in the Netherlands (Germany or Switzerland on the Advanced plan), Spreo DigitalOcean in Amsterdam, Sketchboard Google Cloud in Belgium and AWS in Ireland, and Coggle AWS in Ireland with a backup in London.
Two are different. Excalidraw+ servers are in the United States according to its privacy policy, and Ayoa states that its servers are in the United States on AWS and Google Cloud. We could not find a hosting location on Mindomo's pages, and draw.io says it cannot access your data because you bring your own storage or save locally.
Can I self-host a European Miro alternative?
Yes, in a few cases. Excalidraw is MIT licensed with an official Docker image, and draw.io is open source under Apache 2.0 and runs as a desktop app or on your own storage. Conceptboard and Collaboard offer on-premises installs on request or on enterprise plans, and DEON offers an isolated on-premises installation on its Corporate plan.
Self-hosting buys control but also work: you own updates, backups and access control. For most teams a European-operated cloud with a known hosting location is the sensible middle.
Which one to pick
If you want the closest swap in shape, shortlist Conceptboard, Collaboard, Draft.io and DEON, run the same real workshop in each, and choose on hosting location, certification and price. Conceptboard has the broadest certification list, Collaboard the most deployment choice, DEON the TISAX assessment and Draft.io the French hosting.
If agile retrospectives are most of your Miro use, Spreo is built for them. If you mostly draw diagrams, draw.io is free and your data stays yours. If you brainstorm in branches, MindMeister, Mindomo or Coggle will do it cheaply, and Ayoa adds tasks but states US hosting.
Be realistic about the gap. Miro is a mature product with a large template library and app marketplace, and none of these twelve reproduces all of it. Switch if US jurisdiction over your boards is the problem, and keep Miro if the breadth is what you pay for.
Frequently Asked Questions
For most teams, Conceptboard is the safest start: a German company with ISO/IEC 27001 certification, Frankfurt hosting and a free plan. Collaboard suits teams that want Swiss or German hosting or an air-gapped install, Draft.io is the French option with OVH hosting, and DEON fits teams that care about TISAX. No tool is a drop-in copy of Miro.
Yes. Its Terms of Service are an agreement with RealtimeBoard Inc. dba Miro, or the Miro affiliate named in your order, and they are governed by the laws of California and the United States, with venue in San Francisco.
Several have free plans. Conceptboard allows 3 active boards, Collaboard 3 whiteboards with 5 participants, Draft.io 500 objects across all drafts, DEON 2 projects, Sketchboard 3 boards, and Excalidraw is free. draw.io is free forever, and MindMeister, Mindomo and Coggle each have a free tier limited to three maps or diagrams (Coggle: three private diagrams). Spreo has no permanent free plan, only a 30-day trial.
Spreo, which was formerly called Metro Retro and is built for retrospectives and planning poker. It is run by Deqo Software Limited in London and hosted on DigitalOcean in Amsterdam, and it has no free plan, only a 30-day trial.
The company named in its materials is Excalidraw s.r.o. in Brno, Czech Republic, and the editor is open source under the MIT licence. Excalidraw+ servers, however, are in the United States according to its privacy policy, so it is not fully European in data location. You can self-host the editor.
Its README says draw.io is jointly owned and developed by draw.io Ltd (previously JGraph) and draw.io AG, and the site footer names the same two companies. We could not read the registered address or registration number of either entity on its pages, so we describe it by its names, a UK company and a Swiss company, and recommend you confirm the contracting entity before buying a support plan. The editor itself is open source under Apache 2.0.
Yes. MindMeister is part of Meister. The legal entity in its imprint and terms is MeisterLabs GmbH, Vaterstetten, Germany, registered at the Amtsgericht Munich under HRB 161267. Its About page gives Vienna, Austria as headquarters. It has a free plan with three mind maps and paid plans at EUR 6, 10 and 15 per user per month as listed on its pricing page.
Mindomo has a free plan with three diagrams and a Premium plan from EUR 6 per month as displayed on its pricing page. Coggle has a free plan, Awesome at USD 5 per month and Organisation at USD 8 per member per month. Ayoa offers a 7-day trial of Ayoa Ultimate and then a free plan for basic mind mapping, and we could not verify its paid prices.
Not according to its own security page, which says its servers are hosted in the United States on Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. The company is OpenGenius Limited in Penarth, Wales, and is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified, so it is a UK company with US hosting.
Not automatically. Miro boards can be exported as images or PDF, and we did not check whether any tool here imports Miro boards. Plan to rebuild your live templates in the new tool and keep the Miro workspace read-only while you check that the new one works for your meetings.
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