Is there a Miro alternative for developers?

Nimbalyst is an open-source workspace with an Excalidraw canvas and Mermaid diagrams built in, connected to your coding agents, sessions, tasks, and code.

Does Nimbalyst have a whiteboard?

Yes. Nimbalyst includes an Excalidraw canvas, plus Mermaid diagrams, data models, and mindmaps.

Can AI agents create diagrams?

Yes. Claude Code and Codex can generate and update Excalidraw and Mermaid diagrams in your workspace.

Is Nimbalyst open source?

Yes. The desktop and iOS apps are MIT licensed, and the Excalidraw and Mermaid editors are built in.

Does Nimbalyst replace Miro?

For architecture, data models, and dev diagrams, yes. Many teams keep Miro for open-ended workshops and use Nimbalyst for the diagramming their agents produce and read.

Comparison

Best Miro Alternative for Developers

Looking for a Miro alternative for engineering teams? Miro is a general-purpose online whiteboard. Nimbalyst is the open-source visual workspace for building with Codex, Claude Code, and more, where the canvas is native to your coding agents. It gives you Excalidraw and Mermaid built in, connected to your sessions, tasks, and code, so agents can draw, read, and act on diagrams in the same workspace.

Download Nimbalyst

Free for individuals. Works with your existing Claude Code or Codex subscription or API key.

Other downloads: Apple Silicon Mac Intel Mac Windows Linux

Overview

Two tools, different approaches

Nimbalyst

Nimbalyst is an open-source visual workspace that runs Claude Code and OpenAI Codex side by side. It gives you an Excalidraw canvas, Mermaid diagrams, data models, and mindmaps built in, all living next to sessions, tasks, and code. Agents can generate and edit diagrams, and the desktop and iOS apps are MIT licensed.

Miro

Miro is a general-purpose online whiteboard for brainstorming, workshops, and cross-functional collaboration. It has a huge template library and strong real-time multiplayer, but the canvas is a standalone surface, disconnected from your repository and your coding agents.

Feature Comparison

Side-by-side breakdown

Feature

Nimbalyst

Miro

Whiteboard canvas

Excalidraw canvas built in

Miro infinite canvas

Diagrams as code

Mermaid built in, versionable and git-friendly

Manual shapes on the canvas

AI agents draw and read diagrams

Claude Code and Codex generate and update them

No coding-agent integration

Lives with the code

Diagrams beside sessions, tasks, and code

Separate tool from your repository

Data models

Visual schema editor agents can implement

Generic shapes

Real-time collaboration

Multiplayer canvas, docs, and trackers

Strong real-time whiteboard at scale

Templates and workshop tools

Developer-focused artifacts

Large general template library

Open source

MIT for desktop and iOS apps (github.com/Nimbalyst/nimbalyst)

Closed source

Coding agent integration

Claude Code, Codex, and other agents read and act on everything you create

No coding-agent integration

Markdown, mockups, diagrams, code, and data

All of them in one workspace, not separate apps

Whiteboard and sticky notes only

Local for you, collaborative for teams

Local-first and MIT for individuals, real-time collaboration for teams

Cloud service with paid team seats

Nimbalyst Advantages

Where Nimbalyst shines

Excalidraw, native to your agents

The Excalidraw canvas is built in, not a separate tab. Agents can generate and edit it, and it lives next to the sessions and code it belongs to.

Diagrams as code with Mermaid

Mermaid is built in, so agents write and update architecture and flow diagrams straight from the codebase, and the diagrams review like code.

Diagrams connected to the work

A diagram sits next to the session and tracker item it belongs to, instead of on a whiteboard the agents and the repo never see.

Your coding agents, integrated

Claude Code, Codex, and other supported agents work directly with the files, plans, tasks, and visual artifacts in the workspace.

Every artifact in one workspace

Edit markdown, mockups, diagrams, code, and CSV data together, with the same project context available to people and agents.

Local for individuals, collaborative for teams

Work locally in the MIT-licensed desktop app, or collaborate in real time on shared docs, diagrams, mockups, and trackers.

Honest Assessment

Where Miro is stronger

Best-in-class whiteboard

Miro is excellent for open-ended workshops, brainstorming, and cross-functional collaboration on an infinite canvas.

Huge template library

Miro has a large library of templates and integrations for teams well beyond engineering.

Polished multiplayer

Real-time collaboration on Miro is mature and scales to large groups.

Recommendation

Who should use which

Choose Nimbalyst if…

Choose Nimbalyst when diagrams and whiteboards are part of building software: architecture, data models, and sketches your coding agents can draw, read, and act on, next to sessions and code.

Choose Miro if…

Choose Miro for open-ended workshops, brainstorming, and cross-functional collaboration where a general whiteboard matters more than coding-agent integration.

Excalidraw and Mermaid come built in, so the diagramming your agents actually use lives in the same workspace as the code.

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