What is Drawnix used for?

Drawnix is an open-source, browser-based whiteboard that combines mind maps, flowcharts and freehand drawing on one infinite canvas, for people who sketch ideas visually. It is a good fit for brainstorming with mind maps, drawing quick flowcharts from Mermaid code, and freeform sketching and annotation.

Is Drawnix open source?

Yes. Drawnix is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at plait-board/drawnix and is written mainly in TypeScript.

Yes. Drawnix is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.

Can I self-host Drawnix?

Yes. Drawnix can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Drawnix an alternative to?

Drawnix is an open-source alternative to Miro, Whimsical, Xmind and Lucidchart. Other open-source alternatives to Miro include Excalidraw, tldraw and AFFiNE.

Is Drawnix actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Drawnix was on 8 September 2026, and the latest release is v0.4.0, published on 19 April 2026. The project has 15k stars on GitHub.

Drawnix: open-source alternative to Miro, Whimsical, Xmind

About Drawnix

Drawnix is a free, open-source whiteboard that brings mind maps, flowcharts and freehand drawing together in a single workspace. Instead of switching between separate diagramming apps, you can sketch ideas, structure them into diagrams and annotate everything on one infinite canvas that you can zoom and scroll freely.

The editor supports inserting images, undo and redo, copy and paste, light and dark themes, and a layout that adapts to mobile devices. Mermaid syntax can be converted into flowcharts and Markdown text into mind maps, while work is saved automatically in the browser and can be exported as PNG images or as .drawnix JSON files for later reuse.

Drawnix is released under the MIT licence and is built on Plait, an open-source drawing framework from the PingCode team, using a plugin architecture that can work with different UI frameworks. The hosted app at drawnix.com is a minimal version, and the repository includes Docker instructions for people who prefer to run their own copy.

Key features

Mind maps and flowcharts on one canvas
Freehand drawing with brush tools
Mermaid syntax converted into flowcharts
Markdown text converted into mind maps
Export to PNG or .drawnix JSON
Automatic saving in the browser
Infinite canvas with zoom and scrolling
Plugin architecture supporting multiple UI frameworks

Good fit for

→Brainstorming with mind maps
→Drawing quick flowcharts from Mermaid code
→Freeform sketching and annotation

Built with: TypeScript
Tags: whiteboard; mind-map; flowchart; diagramming; freehand; infinite-canvas; open-source; typescript

Drawnix: questions and answers

What is Drawnix used for?: Drawnix is an open-source, browser-based whiteboard that combines mind maps, flowcharts and freehand drawing on one infinite canvas, for people who sketch ideas visually. It is a good fit for brainstorming with mind maps, drawing quick flowcharts from Mermaid code, and freeform sketching and annotation.
Is Drawnix open source?: Yes. Drawnix is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at plait-board/drawnix and is written mainly in TypeScript.
Is Drawnix free?: Yes. Drawnix is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.
Can I self-host Drawnix?: Yes. Drawnix can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Drawnix an alternative to?: Drawnix is an open-source alternative to Miro, Whimsical, Xmind and Lucidchart. Other open-source alternatives to Miro include Excalidraw, tldraw and AFFiNE.
Is Drawnix actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Drawnix was on 8 September 2026, and the latest release is v0.4.0, published on 19 April 2026. The project has 15k stars on GitHub.