Doory – Open-Source Canva

See it in action  ·  Features  ·  Templates  ·  Doory vs Canva  ·  Self-host  ·  FAQ

Doory is a full design editor that runs in your browser. Make posters, social posts, stories, slides, invitations, resumes, thumbnails and business cards: start from a template or a blank page, edit everything, and export to PNG, JPG, SVG, PDF, MP4 or GIF. Every feature is free, nobody needs an account to start, and you can run the whole thing on your own server.

A real, unedited recording: pick a template, rename the band, recolour the dates, add a star, export.

🆓 Free, for real

No Pro plan, no locked templates, no watermarks, no ads. Every tool in the editor is there for everyone, from background removal to video export.

⚡ Start in one click

Open the editor and design. Guests' work is saved in the browser; create an account only when you want your designs in the cloud, and they move over in one step.

🏠 Yours to host

One docker compose up runs the app, the API, the database and live collaboration on your own server. Every design and upload stays under your control.

🛠️ A real editor

Layers, groups, masks, filters, curved text, snapping, rulers, multi-page designs, animation, audio, presenting, comments and real-time co-editing.

🎨 Everything you need to design

Edit anything

Click any text, shape or photo to change it. Fonts, colours, sizes, alignment and effects are one click away in the toolbar above the page.

Bring it to life

27 enter and exit animations, 12 emphasis effects and 16 page transitions, with music and sound effects from a built-in library. Present it, or export it as a video.

Stay organised

Every object is a layer you can rename, lock, hide, reorder by dragging, group, or right-click to copy, duplicate, delete and arrange.

Export anywhere

PNG with transparency, JPG, SVG and PDF, plus MP4, WebM and animated GIF, all made in your browser. Need print? Get a print-ready PDF with bleed and crop marks.

See the full feature list

Text Headings, curved text, text effects, font pairings, bulleted and numbered lists, an open-licensed font catalogue and your own uploaded fonts

Elements Shapes, lines and arrows, about 25,000 icons, emoji and illustrations, stickers, QR codes

Photos Upload, crop, masks and filters, one-click background removal (the model runs in your browser), stock photo search with an Unsplash or Pexels key

Layout Layers with lock and hide, groups, alignment guides, snapping, rulers, multi-page designs with pages of different sizes, magic resize

Motion 27 enter and exit animations, 12 emphasis animations and 16 page transitions on a timeline

Sound A built-in library of 24 music loops and 88 sound effects (CC0), uploads, voiceover recording, trims and fades

Present Present mode with speaker notes, timing, auto-advance, a laser pointer and a second presenter window

Together Share links that can view, comment or edit (optionally password protected), pinned comments, version history and real-time co-editing with live cursors

Brand Brand kits with your colours, fonts and logos, one click away in every design

Export PNG, JPG, SVG and PDF, MP4, WebM and animated GIF, all made in the browser, plus print-ready PDF with bleed and crop marks

🖼️ Templates that look good from the start

Ten starter templates ship with Doory, each with its own palette, set in open-licensed fonts and fully editable: 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. Add your own in the admin, and browse them all by category, size and orientation.

Canva is a great product. Doory is for people who want the same kind of tool, but free, open and in their own hands.

cp .env.example .env # set DJANGO_SECRET_KEY (openssl rand -base64 48) and POSTGRES_PASSWORD docker compose up -d --build docker compose exec api python manage.py createsuperuser

Open http://localhost:8080 and start designing. The web container serves the app and forwards /api and /ws to the backend, so the browser only ever talks to one address.

A new site starts empty. Add whatever you want once it is running:

docker compose exec api python manage.py seed_gallery # template categories docker compose exec api python manage.py sync_fonts --popular 100 docker compose exec api python manage.py seed_templates # the starter templates (add --update to refresh them) docker compose exec api python manage.py seed_elements # shapes and graphics docker compose exec api python manage.py sync_element_packs # icons, emoji and illustrations (download) docker compose exec api python manage.py sync_models # background removal model docker compose exec api python manage.py sync_audio # music and sound effects

Settings worth knowing (.env)

Setting What it does

SITE_URL The public address of the site, e.g. https://doory.example.com (no trailing slash)

DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS The host names the site answers to, comma separated

SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT, SECURE_COOKIES true behind HTTPS, false for plain http://

EMAIL_URL, DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL SMTP, e.g. smtp+tls://user:password@smtp.example.com:587 (without it, emails are printed to the API log)

WEB_PORT, WEB_BIND Where the site is published (default 0.0.0.0:8080)

INSTALL_CHROMIUM false skips the headless browser that server-side PDF export needs

GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID Turns on "Sign in with Google"

UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY, PEXELS_API_KEY Turn on stock photo search

USE_S3 and AWS_* Store uploads in S3-compatible storage instead of a local volume

Develop locally

make setup # virtualenv, dependencies, local database make dev-api # API on http://localhost:8000 make dev-web # app on http://localhost:5173 (second terminal)

make help lists the other targets (tests, lint, content).

Is it really free?

Yes. There are no plans, no paywalls and no ads in Doory. Every feature is available to everyone.

Do I need an account?

No. Guests design straight away and their work is saved in the browser. An account keeps designs in the cloud, lets you share them and use brand kits; signing up moves your guest designs over in one step.

Can I use it for my business or host it for my users?

Yes, as long as you credit the author as the licence asks: keep the licence and NOTICE with it and show the credit in the running app. See License and credit.

Where are my designs stored?

Guest designs and their images live in the browser on that device. Signed-in designs are stored on the server that runs Doory: yours, if you self-host. Uploads can go to a local volume or to S3-compatible storage.

🧱 Built with

React 19, TypeScript, Vite, Fabric.js, Yjs and Zustand in the browser; Django 5, Django REST Framework, Channels and PostgreSQL on the server; Docker Compose with nginx, optional Redis and S3-compatible storage.

Bug reports, ideas and pull requests are welcome. Open an issue to report a bug or suggest a feature. For a security problem, please report it privately through the repository's Security tab instead.

If Doory is useful to you, a ⭐ helps other people find it.

Doory is released under the Attribution Assurance License. You may use, change and redistribute it, including commercially, but you must credit the author: keep the licence and NOTICE with it, and display this credit prominently in the running app:

Doory by Siam, creator and maintainer of Doory — https://github.com/shaongitbd/doory

Third-party software, fonts and content keep their own licences; see THIRD_PARTY.md.