Milanote Review: Overview, Features, Pricing & Alternatives in 2025

Stuck organizing creative ideas in boring documents?

If you’re juggling images, notes, and tasks across scattered tools, you know how quickly creative projects get messy and disconnected.

From my evaluation, research insight: creative work loses momentum in rigid tools that force you into linear thinking and endless app-switching.

What I found is that Milanote flips the script by giving you an infinite visual workspace—so you can arrange inspiration, notes, files, and checklists side by side, exactly how your mind works.

In this review, I’ll show you how Milanote actually fixes scattered creative workflows and makes project organization feel natural for visual thinkers.

You’ll see a detailed Milanote review covering its core features, recent updates, pricing, plus my benchmark comparison to popular alternatives in 2025.

You’ll get the insights and features you need to confidently decide if Milanote’s approach fits your creative or team workflow.

Let’s dive into the analysis.

Milanote Overview

Milanote started in 2016, based in Melbourne, Australia. My research shows their mission is providing a flexible, visual workspace designed specifically for creative professionals.

They focus on individuals, freelancers, and small agencies in creative fields. What stood out to me is how they’ve created the essential tool for creatives to organize messy ideas before they become structured projects.

The big move was their 2021 acquisition by Canva, which provides significant resources. This is a key factor to consider in this Milanote review.

Unlike Notion’s databases or Trello’s columns, Milanote’s value is its unstructured, free-form creative canvas. From my evaluation, this feels like it was built by creatives who understand the process.

You’ll find them used by marketing teams, designers, writers, and content creators who need to escape the limits of linear documents and rigid spreadsheets.

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What impressed me is their commitment to the early-stage ideation process. Their strategic priority is owning the brainstorming and moodboarding space, which other tools often treat as an afterthought.

Let’s dive into their features.

Milanote Features

Unleash your ideas without rigid boundaries.

Milanote features offer a truly visual workspace, transforming how you brainstorm and organize creative projects. Here are the five main Milanote features that can free your team’s creative potential.

1. The Infinite Visual Canvas

Feeling boxed in by linear documents?

Rigid document formats often stifle the free-form thinking essential for creative projects. This can limit how you connect diverse ideas.

The Infinite Visual Canvas offers a limitless drag-and-drop surface for all your content, eliminating those restrictive boundaries. What I found is this feature truly shines for visual mapping, letting you pan and zoom infinitely. You can place anything—notes, images, files—anywhere, creating dedicated visual spaces for different project phases.

This means you can visually connect thoughts and materials, fostering a more natural and fluid creative process for your entire team.

2. Integrated Notes & To-Do Lists

Tired of switching between endless apps?

Juggling separate tools for notes, tasks, and visual inspiration creates unnecessary friction. This breaks your focus and wastes valuable time.

Milanote eliminates this by letting you create text cards and checklists directly on your boards, keeping everything in context. From my testing, these elements are incredibly versatile, allowing you to drag, resize, and stack them next to related visuals. This feature integrates your written ideas and actionable tasks seamlessly with your creative assets.

The result is a unified workspace where strategy, execution, and inspiration are visually linked, improving clarity and efficiency.

3. Web Clipper & File Uploads

Is gathering research a messy chore?

Collecting content from various online sources often leads to scattered files and disorganized links. This makes it hard to find what you need.

The Web Clipper (browser extension) centralizes web content, images, and links directly onto your board with one click. What impressed me most is how you can also drag and drop nearly any file type, making it a central repository. This feature simplifies gathering research and inspiration, ensuring all your assets are in one place.

This means you can build comprehensive visual libraries and project archives in a fraction of the time, streamlining your research workflow.

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4. Moodboarding & Image Layouts

Struggling to create compelling visual boards?

Creating aesthetically pleasing image collections in standard software can be clumsy and time-consuming. This hinders visual communication.

Milanote provides purpose-built tools for mood boards, offering smart alignment guides and effortless layout options for images. Here’s what I found: the ability to extract colors from an image for an instant palette is a massive time-saver. This feature transforms how you compile and present visual concepts, making it intuitive and precise.

This means you can easily create professional, visually impactful mood boards that effectively convey your creative vision to clients or team members.

5. Real-Time Collaboration & Commenting

Slowed down by scattered feedback loops?

Inefficient email chains and fragmented discussions on creative work lead to delays and miscommunications. This impacts project timelines.

Milanote brings the conversation directly to your work by allowing real-time collaboration with shared boards. Your team can see changes instantly, add comments to any card, and @mention specific people for direct feedback. This feature centralizes discussions, ensuring everyone is on the same page.

This means you can streamline feedback, accelerate approval cycles, and ensure clearer communication on every creative project.

What I love about these Milanote features is how they work together to create a holistic creative workspace that adapts to your thinking style.

Milanote Pricing

Milanote pricing is refreshingly straightforward.

What I found regarding Milanote pricing is its transparent, tiered structure. You can easily scale from a generous free tier to flexible plans for individuals and teams, making your budgeting predictable.

Plan	Price & Features
Free Plan	$0 • 100 notes, images, or links • 10 file uploads • Unlimited shared boards
Pay per person	$9.99 per person/month (billed annually) • Unlimited notes, images, links • Unlimited file uploads • Search within boards • Priority support
Team Plan	Starts at $49 per month for 10 users (billed annually) • Consolidated team billing • Team management features • Ability to create team-only templates • Everything in “Pay per person”

1. Value Assessment

Clear value for your budget.

From my cost analysis, Milanote’s ‘Pay per person’ plan offers exceptional value. You get unlimited features for a competitive monthly fee. What I found is this pricing strategy avoids feature limitations common in similar tools, keeping your budget predictable.

This means you can confidently scale your usage without unexpected costs. Your creative work stays unconstrained by budget worries as your projects grow.

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2. Trial/Demo Options

Evaluate before you commit.

Milanote doesn’t offer a traditional free trial for paid plans; its generous Free Plan serves this purpose perfectly. You experience core functionality with 100 items, letting you understand its value before any financial commitment. This approach helps you test its fit for your workflow.

So, you can thoroughly explore the platform and decide if the Milanote pricing justifies an upgrade to unlimited features.

3. Plan Comparison

Choose the perfect plan.

The Free Plan is good for initial exploration, but serious creative work quickly needs the ‘Pay per person’ plan due to item limits. For teams, the ‘Team Plan’ offers valuable consolidated billing and management. Budget-wise, the annual pricing offers savings compared to monthly.

This tiered Milanote pricing helps you align your investment with actual usage, ensuring your budget supports creative output effectively.

My Take: Milanote’s pricing is commendably transparent and scales linearly. It’s ideal for individual creatives and SMBs seeking a predictable, powerful visual workspace without enterprise complexities.

Overall, Milanote pricing reflects a clear commitment to user-friendly accessibility and predictable costs. You can easily find a plan that fits your budget, offering excellent value for visual organization without hidden fees.

Milanote Reviews

Milanote feedback tells a compelling story.

Delving into Milanote reviews, I’ve analyzed user feedback across major platforms to give you a clear picture. This section translates raw data into practical insights, helping you understand real-world experiences with the software.

1. Overall User Satisfaction

Users consistently find Milanote valuable.

From my review analysis, Milanote consistently earns high marks, averaging around 4.7/5 stars on platforms like G2 and Capterra. What I found in user feedback is a strong appreciation for its creative-centric design, making it feel intuitive. Users often praise its uncluttered interface. These Milanote reviews reveal a largely satisfied user base.

This high satisfaction stems from its simplicity, flexibility, and aesthetic appeal, making visual organization effortless for creative minds.

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2. Common Praise Points

Creative professionals love its visual flow.

What stands out in customer feedback is the consistent praise for Milanote’s visual organization. Users frequently highlight its intuitive drag-and-drop canvas, which lets ideas flow freely without rigid structures. Its ability to centralize visual research is also a key benefit. Review-wise, this unique approach strongly resonates with creatives.

This means you can expect an uncluttered space that genuinely supports brainstorming and visual project development, simplifying complex ideas.

3. Frequent Complaints

Mobile app usability concerns emerge.

However, my review analysis also surfaced consistent complaints, primarily regarding the mobile application. Users describe it as clunky and more of a ‘viewer’ than a fully functional editor on the go. Performance issues on very large boards also appear. What you should know is these Milanote reviews often contrast desktop fluidity with mobile limitations.

While not deal-breakers for all, these issues suggest the desktop experience is superior, impacting mobile-first workflows significantly for your needs.

Overall, Milanote reviews reveal a highly effective tool for visual organization, despite some mobile app limitations. What I found in user feedback confirms its niche strength. The analysis confirms Milanote delivers on its core promise.

Best Milanote Alternatives

Navigating creative tool options can be tricky.

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Milanote excels for visual ideation, but the best Milanote alternatives offer distinct strengths for different workflows. I’ve analyzed the competitive landscape to help you find your ideal match.

1. Miro

For robust enterprise collaboration and workshops.

Miro is a powerful online whiteboard perfect for large-scale, real-time workshops, agile ceremonies, and complex diagramming with big teams. From my competitive analysis, Miro offers more extensive templates and tools, making it a more structured alternative for corporate environments needing deep collaboration features.

You should choose Miro when your priority is facilitated, structured team collaboration and complex visual mapping.

2. Notion

Prioritizing structured data and an all-in-one workspace?

Notion provides an interconnected system of pages and databases, making it less of a free-form canvas and more of a powerful knowledge base. What I found comparing options is that Notion excels with database-driven organization and documentation, ideal for consolidating various work streams.

This alternative is best when you need robust databases, structured documentation, and an an all-in-one solution.

3. Trello

For clear, linear task and workflow management.

Trello visualizes workflows using Kanban boards, perfect for tracking tasks through defined stages like “To Do” or “Done.” Alternative-wise, Trello provides dedicated task tracking and assignments, making it ideal for managing processes after ideation is complete, unlike Milanote’s unstructured approach.

Your situation calls for Trello when you need a dedicated tool for tracking defined workflows and managing task assignments.

Ultimately, the best Milanote alternatives depend on your specific project needs and preferred work style, not just feature lists. Consider if you prioritize structure, collaboration scale, or task management.

Setup & Implementation

Implementing Milanote is surprisingly simple.

A Milanote review reveals a remarkably straightforward deployment. This cloud-based tool minimizes technical hurdles, making setup and adoption accessible for businesses of all sizes, often within minutes.

1. Setup Complexity & Timeline

Forget lengthy, complex software rollouts.

Milanote implementation is incredibly simple as a cloud-based SaaS, requiring no software installation. Your setup involves just creating an account and a quick interactive tutorial. From my implementation analysis, initial onboarding takes mere minutes, letting you create boards almost instantly.

You can expect to be productive within your first session, so extensive project planning isn’t necessary here.

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2. Technical Requirements & Integration

Minimal technical hurdles to overcome.

Your technical requirements are refreshingly basic: just a modern web browser and a stable internet connection. What I found about deployment is that Milanote works with your existing setup, avoiding any need for new hardware or complex IT infrastructure changes.

Prepare your team for the critical lack of an offline mode, ensuring consistent internet access for all users.

3. Training & Change Management

User adoption comes remarkably easy.

User adoption with Milanote is exceptionally natural due to its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and visual canvas. From my analysis, the learning curve is truly minimal, meaning most users feel proficient within their first session without formal training.

Leverage the comprehensive help center and interactive tutorials to reinforce the tool’s intuitive nature.

4. Support & Success Factors

Support enhances a smooth adoption.

Milanote offers direct email support for paid users, which is generally reported as responsive and helpful during implementation questions. Implementation-wise, its visual approach fosters success by aligning with how creative brains organize ideas, reducing friction significantly.

Focus on Milanote’s strength in visual organization and its clean design to drive user enthusiasm and continuous engagement.

Overall, Milanote implementation focuses on quick startup and organic adoption, making it an incredibly accessible tool for individual creatives and small teams seeking visual organization without complex setup.

Who’s Milanote For

Milanote suits a very specific creative mindset.

This Milanote review section cuts through the noise, helping you identify if its unique visual workspace truly aligns with your business profile. We’ll analyze ideal users, team sizes, and core use cases for a perfect fit.

1. Ideal User Profile

Designed for the visually-driven creative mind.

Milanote primarily serves creatives like graphic designers, illustrators, writers, and filmmakers who require visual brainstorming. From my user analysis, solopreneurs and small creative teams needing a flexible hub for ideas, research, and client notes will find it ideal for diverse projects.

You’ll see success if your process involves early-stage ideation, moodboarding, or storyboarding. Value visual freedom over rigid task management for projects.

2. Business Size & Scale

Best for individuals and smaller teams.

Milanote is most effective for individuals, freelancers, and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), particularly within creative agencies. What I found about target users is that teams up to 20-30 members benefit from its collaborative visual canvas without needing enterprise-level complexity or extensive user management.

Your business is a good fit if you prioritize intuitive visual collaboration, not enterprise integrations or complex permission structures.

3. Use Case Scenarios

Visual ideation and creative project planning.

Milanote excels in early-stage ideation, brainstorming sessions, and visual research for new projects, providing an infinite canvas for exploration. From my analysis, it’s a core strength for moodboarding and establishing a project’s visual direction. It also supports narrative planning and content calendar development for strategists.

You’ll find Milanote indispensable if your workflows involve gathering inspiration, storyboarding narratives, or organizing diverse media for content creation and campaign planning, prioritizing visual freedom.

4. Who Should Look Elsewhere

Not for structured project management.

Milanote is not an all-in-one solution for robust task management, structured databases, or enterprise-level collaboration. User-wise, businesses needing Gantt charts or complex integrations will find its features insufficient for large-scale, intricate project tracking and dependencies.

Consider dedicated project management software or structured databases if your core need is rigid task tracking, advanced reporting, or robust workflow automation.

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Ultimately, this Milanote review reveals the software’s clear strength lies in visual ideation for creatives. Assess your priority for visual freedom to determine if Milanote truly fits your needs.

Bottom Line

Is Milanote the right fit for your creative projects?

My comprehensive Milanote review leads to a clear final assessment of its strengths, limitations, and ideal use cases. Here’s my decisive recommendation.

1. Overall Strengths

Milanote genuinely empowers creative professionals.

Its infinite canvas and intuitive drag-and-drop interface make visual organization exceptionally easy, fostering a calm, uncluttered space for ideas. From my comprehensive analysis, the seamless visual organization is unparalleled for creative brainstorming and project planning, truly acting as the ‘Evernote for creatives’.

These capabilities accelerate idea generation and project clarity, directly enhancing your team’s creative output and overall productivity.

2. Key Limitations

Key limitations warrant careful consideration.

While powerful on desktop, the mobile application consistently disappoints, serving more as a viewer than an editor. Additionally, large, complex boards can experience performance dips affecting navigation speed. It also lacks advanced project management features like Gantt charts.

These trade-offs are important for you to weigh; they might not be deal-breakers depending on your primary use cases.

3. Final Recommendation

So, should Milanote be your creative hub?

My recommendation is strong for individual creatives, freelancers, and small agencies prioritizing visual brainstorming and idea organization. Based on this review, it excels for visual thinkers needing flexibility rather than rigid project management tools or heavy mobile editing capabilities.

Your decision hinges on these priorities; Milanote will truly shine for visual project ideation and concept development.

This Milanote review confirms its value for visual creative work, providing a highly confident recommendation for its target audience.