Pick Miro if your team needs a polished, shared whiteboard fast. Its paid plans start at $8 per member per month when billed yearly, while Business is listed at $16 per member per month [source: Miro]. That is fair for busy teams. It may feel heavy for small groups that only need sticky notes, flowcharts, and a few workshops each month.
TLDR: Miro is the safest all-round pick for brainstorming, process mapping, and remote workshops. But FigJam, Mural, Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite, and Creately can be cheaper or simpler for some teams. For example, a 12-person team on Miro Starter may pay about $96 per month on annual billing. If that team only runs two workshops a month, a lighter tool may make more sense.
1. Miro: Best for big visual work
Miro is the big name for a reason. It feels smooth. It has templates for almost everything. Brainstorming. Agile boards. User journeys. Mind maps. Retros. Strategy sessions. You can start with a blank board or grab a ready-made setup.
Best for: teams that run workshops often.
- Free plan: good for testing and tiny projects.
- Starter: better for small teams that need private boards.
- Business: better for companies that need more control and guest access.
- Enterprise: for large firms with admin, security, and support needs.
The catch is tool sprawl. Miro can do so much that boards get messy fast. A simple process map can turn into a colorful museum of arrows. Fun at first. Painful later.
Use Miro when: you need one tool for many workshop types. Choose it if your team works across product, design, ops, and leadership.
2. FigJam: Best for design-friendly brainstorming
FigJam is Figma’s whiteboard tool. It is playful. It has stamps, stickers, timers, votes, and simple shapes. It feels less serious than Miro, in a good way.
Best for: product teams, UX teams, and design workshops.
- Great for quick ideation.
- Easy if your team already uses Figma.
- Nice for wireframe chats and feedback sessions.
- Less scary for first-time users.
Honestly, it feels like FigJam was made for people who hate training videos. You click. You type. You drag sticky notes around. Done.
It is not always the best pick for deep process maps. You can build them, sure. But Lucid or Creately may feel cleaner for formal diagrams. FigJam shines when the work is loose, social, and creative.
3. Mural: Best for guided workshops
Mural is built for facilitation. That is its superpower. If you run remote workshops with clients or large teams, Mural feels calm and organized. It helps people follow the plan.
Best for: consultants, facilitators, trainers, and HR teams.
- Strong workshop templates.
- Good facilitation controls.
- Useful timers and voting tools.
- Great for structured group sessions.
Mural is less about wild sketching. It is more about getting a group from point A to point B without chaos. That matters when 20 people join a call and half of them are “just listening.”
It drives me a little nuts when tools make facilitation feel like babysitting. Mural helps reduce that. You can guide people, lock parts of the board, and keep the session moving.
Use Mural when: the workshop itself is the product. Think training, client discovery, team planning, or strategy days.
4. Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite: Best for process maps
Lucid is a strong pick when your brain thinks in boxes, arrows, and systems. It includes tools like Lucidchart and Lucidspark. That makes it useful for both diagrams and whiteboarding.
Best for: operations, IT, engineering, and business process teams.
- Excellent for flowcharts.
- Strong for org charts and system maps.
- Good for technical diagrams.
- Better structure than many open whiteboards.
If Miro is a big creative studio, Lucid is more like a clean planning room. It is less goofy. That can be a plus. Especially when you need diagrams that people will trust later.
Use Lucid when: your board must become a process document. It is great for “how work actually happens” maps.
5. Creately: Best for simple diagrams on a budget
Creately is a practical option. It gives you whiteboards, diagrams, flowcharts, mind maps, and visual project planning. It may not feel as slick as Miro. But it covers a lot of ground.
Best for: small teams that want visual planning without a big bill.
- Good for process maps.
- Useful for org charts.
- Works for brainstorming and planning.
- Often easier to justify for smaller teams.
Expect a bit less sparkle. That is fine. Not every team needs confetti, stickers, and ten ways to vote on a sticky note. Sometimes you just need a clear diagram and a shared space.
Quick pick guide
- Choose Miro for the best all-round visual workspace.
- Choose FigJam for creative team brainstorms.
- Choose Mural for planned workshops with many people.
- Choose Lucid for formal process mapping.
- Choose Creately for simple diagrams and lower-cost planning.
Final call: Miro is the premium default. It is powerful and friendly. But do not pay for power you will not use. If your team mostly needs fast idea sessions, try FigJam. If you run workshops, test Mural. If you map systems, pick Lucid. If budget is tight, Creately deserves a look.
