Mind-mapping app with a two-way Markdown editor that saves maps to a private GitHub, Gitea or GitLab repository
- Deploy
- CLI
- License
- MIT
- GitHub stars
- 151 stars
- Last commit
Self-hosted alternatives to MindMeister
MindMeister is a hosted mind mapping tool for building, sharing and presenting mind maps in the browser and on mobile. One listed app does its main job and runs in your own Cloudflare account.
Each answer comes from the app’s README and source code, compared with the features MindMeister describes on its own site.
MindMeister features, app by app
| Feature | MindSpark |
|---|---|
| Drag and drop mind map editing with collapsible branches | Yes |
| Notes, links, icons and images on topics | Partly |
| Layouts and themes, including org chart and outline views | Yes |
| Real-time collaboration with link sharing and comments | Partly |
| Presentation mode | Yes |
| Export to PDF, Word and PowerPoint | Partly |
| AI mind map generation from prompts or files | Partly |
| Access on web, tablet and mobile | Partly |
Mind-mapping app with a two-way Markdown editor that saves maps to a private GitHub, Gitea or GitLab repository
- What a MindMeister user would miss
- It has no PowerPoint export, no built-in AI map generation, no comments and no native apps, and live collaboration needs a second Worker and GitHub sign-in.
- What it adds
- Maps are saved as JSON files in the user's own private GitHub, Gitea, Forgejo or GitLab repository (or in SQLite when run with node server.js) instead of on a vendor server, Markdown is a native two-way format, and MindMeister .mind files can be imported.
- Yes Drag and drop mind map editing with collapsible branches. Infinite canvas with keyboard-first editing, drag-and-drop reordering and nesting, and incremental collapse and expand.
- Partly Notes, links, icons and images on topics. Nodes hold notes, links, images and citations plus 12 marker badges; no icon or emoji library found.
- Yes Layouts and themes, including org chart and outline views. Balanced, Right, Left and Down (org-chart style) layouts, 10 color themes and a two-way Markdown outline editor.
- Partly Real-time collaboration with link sharing and comments. Live merge, editor and viewer roles and share links exist, but they need the separate optional collaboration Worker and GitHub sign-in; no comment feature found.
- Yes Presentation mode. Presentation mode is listed in the README.
- Partly Export to PDF, Word and PowerPoint. Exports to PNG, PDF, JSON, Markdown, Word (.doc) and Mermaid; no PowerPoint export found.
- Partly AI mind map generation from prompts or files. No prompt-to-map feature in the app; a separate Custom GPT and an MCP server create maps outside it, and branches can be compiled into prompts.
- Partly Access on web, tablet and mobile. Browser app with touch support for phones and tablets; no native apps.
Sources:github.com/prasadpatil25/mindspark#featureswww.mindmeister.com