Milanote

Milanote is a visual workspace for gathering references and shaping creative projects on flexible boards. It suits creative professionals and teams who plan through images, notes and shared feedback. Its breadth is useful, but phone users cannot edit tables and organizations with strict audit or healthcare requirements may need another tool.

Overview

Milanote brings notes, images, video, sketches and other material together on an infinite canvas. Its uses span moodboards, brainstorming, storyboarding, creative writing, visual project management, whiteboarding, mind mapping and remote work. Presentation mode, diagramming tools and workshop templates extend boards beyond collecting inspiration into explaining and structuring work.

Collaborators can edit or comment on boards, and read-only sharing lets recipients view a board without creating a Milanote login. That makes it practical both for ongoing teamwork and for presenting work to people outside a project. The maker, Milanote, was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

Key features

Gathering and presenting references

The Web Clipper saves text, images, links and video, with downloads for Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge; Opera users can get it via Chrome. Link cards can display material from services including YouTube, Vimeo, SoundCloud, Google Maps, CodePen, Instagram, Dribbble, Slideshare, Prezi, Marvel and Airtable. Boards can also embed YouTube or Vimeo video and audio from Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube Music, Bandcamp, Mixcloud and Apple Music shared links. This makes Milanote a useful home for mixed-source reference material rather than a board limited to static images.

Collaboration, security and support

Google and Apple OAuth are supported, but Active Directory, SAML and WS-Fed are not. Milanote says customer data is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS 1.2 or greater. That is a stated baseline, not a substitute for compliance evidence: the company does not provide SOC 2 reports or other individual audits and is not HIPAA-compliant. Organizations that require those assurances should look elsewhere. Support is available by in-app live chat and email, with replies normally within 24 hours.

Pricing

Milanote is freemium, with no free trial. The free plan costs nothing and allows 100 notes, images or links, 10 file uploads and unlimited shared boards. It is a sensible way to try the board workflow or maintain a small collection, but the item and upload caps constrain larger projects.

Pay per person costs $9.99 a month billed annually, or $12.50 billed monthly. It removes those caps with unlimited notes, images or links, unlimited file uploads and unlimited shared boards. It fits an individual or collaborators billed by person who need room to grow; choosing monthly billing costs more than the annual rate.

Team costs $49 a month billed annually and includes the same unlimited notes, uploads and shared boards, for up to a selected number of people. Upgrade your team is also $49 a month billed annually, for up to [Select] people, with the same allowances. These team options suit groups needing shared capacity, but the seat count should be checked against the team before choosing. Custom pricing applies where no published price is given.

Platforms

Milanote is available on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows and the web, with a browser extension. The mobile apps require an internet connection to view and edit boards. They can display tables but cannot edit them, so table-heavy work needs a desktop or tablet; that is a meaningful limitation for people who expect full board editing on a phone.

Who it's for

Milanote is aimed at filmmakers, writers, designers, photographers, marketers and content creators, as well as teams working remotely. It is the stronger fit when a project mixes visual references with notes, planning and feedback. It is a weaker choice for organizations that require HIPAA compliance or audit reports, and for phone-first workflows that depend on changing tables.

Pros and cons

• Pros: The infinite canvas and broad mix of notes, media, diagramming and templates serve several creative workflows in one place.
• Pros: Editing, commenting and login-free read-only sharing support both team feedback and external presentation.
• Pros: The free tier includes unlimited shared boards, making collaboration possible before upgrading, even though content and upload counts are capped.
• Cons: The free plan's 100-item and 10-upload limits can quickly restrict substantial collections.
• Cons: Mobile table editing is unavailable, and mobile viewing and editing require an internet connection.
• Cons: Missing SOC 2 or individual audit reports, HIPAA compliance and enterprise identity options can rule it out for some organizations.

Alternatives

For a narrower moodboarding choice, compare Moodis, which has a free plan for local mood boards and unlimited boards for personal, non-commercial use. PureRef is another freemium option. Consider Rayon instead when its free plan's full editing experience and limited PDF and DWG exports better suit the work. Kanvaz is free, MIT licensed and has no feature paywall.

Mattoboard offers a free tier with capped AI credits, images per board and uploaded materials; it may suit readers whose needs fit within those allowances. Moodboard has a free web plan with images, notes, links, tasks and files on an evolving spatial board. mood.site is worth considering for its iOS and web availability and one-time Premium board option. HomeBoard is another option for iOS, Android and macOS.

For category browsing, see Mood Board Software, Online Whiteboard Tools, Design Collaboration Software and Note-taking apps.

Verdict

Choose Milanote if your creative work benefits from one shared visual space for references, planning and feedback, and its free caps or paid unlimited plans fit your collection. Look elsewhere if mobile table editing, formal audit reports or HIPAA compliance is essential.