Doory, a free open-source design editor, offers a self-hosted alternative to Canva

Doory is a free, open-source design editor that runs in the browser. It is pitched as an alternative to Canva for people who want a similar tool they can control themselves.

You can use it to make posters, social posts, stories, slides, invitations, resumes, thumbnails and business cards. You start from a template or a blank page. Designs can be exported as PNG, JPG, SVG, PDF, MP4 or GIF.

The project says every feature is free. It lists no Pro plan, no locked templates, no watermarks and no ads. Nobody needs an account to start. Guests' work is saved in the browser, and an account is only needed to keep designs in the cloud, share them or use brand kits. Signing up moves guest designs over in one step.

The editor has layers, groups, masks, filters, curved text, snapping, rulers and multi-page designs. It also supports animation, audio, presenting, comments and real-time co-editing. Background removal runs in the browser.

Doory can also be self-hosted, meaning you run it on your own server instead of using someone else's service. According to the project, one docker compose up command starts the app, the API, the database and live collaboration. Uploads can go to a local volume or to S3-compatible storage. Signed-in designs are stored on the server that runs Doory, so if you host it yourself, your files stay with you.

Ten starter templates ship with it: a gig poster, a wedding invitation, an event story, a sale post, a café flyer, a quote card, a resume, a YouTube thumbnail, a pitch deck and a business card. Each is fully editable and uses open-licensed fonts. Admins can add their own templates.

The project's own comparison with Canva is worth reading with that in mind, since it comes from Doory's makers. It says Canva has a free plan plus paid Pro and Teams plans, and a very large template library. Doory, by contrast, is open source and self-hostable, and works without an account. Both offer real-time co-editing, comments, and animation, video and GIF export.

Businesses can use Doory or host it for their own users. The condition is credit to the author: keep the licence and NOTICE file, and show the credit in the running app. The project's License and credit section has the details.