Happy Valley

Beam vs Miro

Beam and Miro are both personal productivity tools. Beam is aimed at developers and creators, while Miro is aimed at small businesses and enterprise. Miro costs less, from $10/mo versus $12/mo for Beam. Both have a free plan.

Beam

Open individual windows from one Mac as native windows on another

Miro

AI-powered visual collaboration canvas for product and design teams

PricingFreemium · $12Freemium · $10
Starting price$12/mo$10/mo
Free planYesYes
Free trial—14 days
Built forDevelopers, Creators, Freelancers, Small businessesSmall businesses, Enterprise, Agencies, Freelancers
Platformsmacosweb, macos, windows, ios, android
Country—US · 2011
Rating——

Choose Beam if

Developers and creators with two Apple silicon Macs who want a remote app to behave like a local window instead of a full screen share.

  • Uses one remote app without taking over the whole desktop
  • Window traffic goes directly between your Macs, not through Beam's servers
  • Free plan has no card requirement and no limit on host Macs

Look elsewhere if: People who need to reach Windows or Intel machines or control a whole remote desktop across platforms (Jump Desktop, Parsec).

Choose Miro if

Product, design, agile and consulting teams that plan and workshop visually across locations.

  • Most mature, flexible whiteboard canvas on the market
  • Huge template library and 250+ integrations
  • Strong for remote workshops and cross-team planning

Look elsewhere if: Teams that mostly need UI design or simple marketing graphics (Figma, Canva).

Beam vs Miro pricing

Beam

  • Free$0Host unlimited Macs, join share links, 20 minutes a day of use
  • Monthly$12/moUnlimited use on every Mac you own, send share links
  • Yearly$84/yrSame as Monthly; works out to $7/mo billed annually
  • Lifetime$199One-time payment, all future updates, direct connections
  • Team$12/seat/moOr $84/seat/yr; 20% off from 10 seats, one invoice

Miro

  • Free$03 editable boards, 10 AI credits/mo
  • Starter$10/member/mo$8 billed annually; unlimited private boards, 25 AI credits
  • Business$25/member/mo$20 billed annually; SSO, guests, 50 AI credits
  • EnterpriseCustomFrom 30 members; SCIM, audit logs, data residency

Beam · Key features

  • Single windows from another Mac open as native windows with Dock and Command-Tab entries
  • Beam several windows at once or share an entire display
  • Direct typing, shortcuts, two-way resizing, app audio and clipboard sync
  • Works with headless Mac minis and Mac Studios that have no display
  • Encrypted Mac-to-Mac connection on local Wi-Fi or over Tailscale
  • Guest share links open one window in any browser, view-only by default

Cons

  • macOS only, with Apple silicon and Sonoma or later required on both Macs
  • Free use is capped at 20 minutes a day
  • Devices without the Mac app, such as phones, only get browser links

Miro · Key features

  • Infinite canvas with sticky notes, docs, tables, slides and kanban
  • Diagramming library with 4,700+ shapes on Business and above
  • Sidekicks AI agents that use your team's board context
  • Flows for building reusable multi-step AI workflows
  • Workshop tools: timer, voting, Engage activities and templates
  • Two-way Jira, Asana and Azure DevOps integrations

Cons

  • Business plan price rose 25% in 2026
  • Large boards can feel sluggish on weaker hardware
  • AI credits are capped per member per month

Beam vs Miro: FAQ

Which is cheaper, Beam or Miro?

Miro starts at $10/mo and Beam at $12/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.

Do Beam and Miro have a free plan?

Yes, both Beam and Miro have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.

Not sure yet?