A Milanote Alternative Built for Production Teams

Where Clusters is different

Both tools are beautiful, board-based, and made for creative work. Clusters leans harder into real-time team production: a live multiplayer canvas with cursors and presence, auto-tagging that files your references for you, a relationship graph that connects a whole project, and 100GB of storage for any file type on Creator. If you are organizing a shoot or a campaign with a team, that is the difference.

• Live multiplayer canvas with cursors and presence
• Auto-tagging files dropped references for you
• A relationship graph connects the whole project

A free Milanote alternative without the per-person bill

Milanote’s free plan caps the total number of items you can add — around a hundred notes, images, and links across everything — which tends to run out right in the middle of a real project. And its paid plans are priced per person. Clusters’ free Demo tier is a generous sandbox with no time limit, and Creator is a flat $25/mo for unlimited cards, 100GB of storage, and any file type — not a price that multiplies with every teammate you bring in.

• No trial clock on the free Demo tier
• Flat $25/mo Creator — not per-person pricing
• Unlimited cards and 100GB on Creator

For filmmakers: from mood board to shot list

Milanote markets itself to filmmakers, and its planning templates are genuinely pleasant. Where Clusters pulls ahead is when pre-production gets real: the mood board, the storyboard grid, the visual shot list, and the schedule are linked boards in one project, with screenplay mode built in for writing beside the imagery. Your DP and AD edit the same boards live, and the whole pre-pro package shares with one link the producer can open without an account.

• Mood board, storyboard, and shot list as connected boards
• Screenplay mode and docs beside the imagery
• The whole crew on the same boards, live

Honest about what Milanote does well

Milanote has a polished template library and a long track record, and its writing-and-planning flow is genuinely nice for solo ideation. If you mostly work alone on lightweight planning boards, it is a strong tool. Clusters earns its place when the work is visual, media-heavy, and collaborative — and when you do not want per-person pricing getting in the way.

Switching is painless

Start a board, drag your references in, and share a link — there is nothing to install and nothing to migrate up front. Your Demo boards are free, and you only move to Creator when you want unlimited cards and 100GB.

Clusters vs Milanote

How the two compare on the things production teams care about:

Made with Clusters

Real boards published from the canvas — open one and explore it live.

• Japandi Living Room
• Neon Noir Look Book
• Screenplay Beat Sheet

Frequently asked questions

Is Soleil Clusters a good Milanote alternative?

Yes, especially for teams doing visual, media-heavy, collaborative work. Clusters adds a real-time multiplayer canvas, auto-tagging, a relationship graph, and 100GB storage for any file type on Creator.

How is Clusters different from Milanote?

Clusters focuses on live team production — multiplayer editing with cursors and presence, automatic organization of dropped files, and connecting a whole project through a relationship graph — rather than solo planning boards.

Does Clusters have a free tier like Milanote?

Yes. The Demo tier is free with no credit card. Creator is $25/mo for unlimited cards, 100GB storage, and any file type.

Can I move my Milanote boards over?

You can drag your images, links, and files straight into a new Clusters board and share it — there is no complex migration to do first.

Does Milanote limit how many items I can add?

Yes — Milanote’s free plan caps the total number of items across your boards, and separately allows 10 file uploads, ever. Clusters’ free Demo tier also caps cards, but never meters uploads and has no time limit; Creator ($25/mo) removes the card cap and adds 100GB of storage.

Is Clusters cheaper than Milanote for a team?

Usually, because Clusters is flat-priced: Creator is $25/mo rather than a per-person subscription, and anyone you share a board with can view it free with one link.

Is there a free Milanote alternative without item caps?

Both free tiers cap items, so the honest answer is what the cap is made of. Milanote’s free plan also spends a budget of 10 file uploads that never resets; Soleil Clusters has no separate upload budget, has no trial clock, and Creator ($25/mo, flat) removes the card cap entirely. If you need genuinely uncapped, Obsidian Canvas keeps boards as local files.

What do filmmakers use instead of Milanote?

Many use Clusters, because pre-production is connected there: the mood board links to the storyboard, the shot list, and the schedule as one project, with screenplay mode built in — and the whole crew edits the same boards in real time.

Milanote vs Canva — and where does Clusters fit?

Canva is a template-driven graphics editor, strongest when the goal is a finished design. Milanote is a board app for planning and collecting ideas. Clusters covers that planning ground for production teams — a real-time multiplayer canvas that never meters uploads, where the finished board shares with one link a client can open without an account.

Can I drive it from an AI assistant?

Clusters connects to Claude and any other MCP client with a single URL, so you can ask an assistant to build a board, import references and arrange them. No Milanote server is listed in the official Model Context Protocol registry at the time of writing. Clusters works with the images you already have — it does not generate them.