Business Model Canvas — free online maker
Map how a business creates, delivers, and captures value across nine blocks. Guided prompts on every block, autosave in your browser, and one-click PDF export.
30-60 minutes to a first draft9 blocks How to fill it in
Saved to this browser
Tip: drag a note onto another block to move it, press Enter to add, or paste a list to create several notes at once. Everything saves automatically to this browser.
What is the Business Model Canvas?
The Business Model Canvas is a one-page template describing how an organisation creates, delivers, and captures value. Its power comes from the constraint: nine blocks on one page force you to be brief, and brevity exposes contradictions a thirty-page plan can hide.
The nine blocks divide in two. The right-hand side — customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams — is about value and demand. The left-hand side — key resources, key activities, key partners, cost structure — is about efficiency and supply. Value propositions sit in the middle because they are the hinge between the two.
Created by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur and published in Business Model Generation (2010). It is licensed CC BY-SA 3.0, which is why you are free to use, adapt, and print it commercially with attribution.
Use it when…
- Describing how an existing business actually works, not how the strategy deck says it does
- Comparing two versions of a model — subscription versus usage pricing, for example
- Explaining a business end to end to an investor, a new hire, or a board
- Finding the block that quietly breaks the model: a segment with no channel, costs with no matching activity
The 9 blocks, in the order to fill them
- 1
Customer Segments
For whom are we creating value?
Customer segments are the distinct groups of people or organisations you aim to reach and serve. Start here: every other block is an answer to a question this one asks.
How to fill this block - 2
Value Propositions
What value do we deliver, and which problem do we solve?
The value proposition is the bundle of products and services that creates value for a specific segment — the reason customers pick you over the alternative, including the alternative of doing nothing. Strong value propositions are specific and measurable.
How to fill this block - 3
Channels
Through which channels do we reach our customers?
Channels are the touchpoints through which you communicate with and deliver value to customers. Work through all five channel phases — awareness, evaluation, purchase, delivery, and after-sales — because a gap in any one of them breaks the model.
How to fill this block - 4
Customer Relationships
What relationship does each segment expect?
Describe the type of relationship you establish with each segment, and be explicit about which of the three jobs it does: acquisition, retention, or expansion. The relationship model drives your cost structure more than almost anything else — dedicated human support and pure self-service produce completely different businesses..
How to fill this block - 5
Revenue Streams
What are customers really willing to pay for?
Revenue streams are the cash you generate per segment. Separate transaction revenue (one-off payments) from recurring revenue (ongoing delivery), and state the pricing mechanism for each — fixed list price, feature-tiered, volume-dependent, negotiated, auction, or yield managed.
How to fill this block - 6
Key Resources
Which assets does our value proposition require?
Key resources are the assets required to make the model work — the things without which the value proposition cannot be delivered. Sort them into physical, intellectual, human, and financial.
How to fill this block - 7
Key Activities
What must we do exceptionally well?
Key activities are the most important things the company must do to make the model work. Keep the list short — three to five entries.
How to fill this block - 8
Key Partners
Who helps us, and what do they supply?
Key partners are the suppliers and allies who make the model work — usually motivated by optimisation and economies of scale, reduction of risk and uncertainty, or acquisition of resources and activities you would rather not build. For each partner, note what you get and what you give up..
How to fill this block - 9
Cost Structure
What does the model cost to run?
Cost structure captures the most significant costs of operating the model. Decide first whether you are cost-driven (lean structure, low pricing, automation, outsourcing) or value-driven (premium proposition, high-touch service) — the two lead to different decisions everywhere else.
How to fill this block
Worked Business Model Canvas examples
Complete, realistic canvases with an analysis of what each one reveals. Open one on its own page, or load it straight into the editor above.
- SaaS startupProduct-led B2B software sold on recurring subscriptions, with self-serve onboarding and a sales-assisted enterprise tier.
- Two-sided marketplaceA platform matching two interdependent segments, monetised through a commission on each transaction.
- E-commerce / DTC brandA direct-to-consumer product brand selling online, where unit economics turn on contribution margin after acquisition and shipping.
- Freemium mobile appA consumer mobile app given away free, monetised through subscription upgrades, in-app purchases, and advertising.
- Coffee shop / restaurantA location-dependent hospitality business where rent, footfall, and per-cup margin decide viability.
- Consulting / agencyA professional services firm selling expertise and delivery capacity, constrained by billable hours.
- Nonprofit / social enterpriseA mission-driven organisation serving beneficiaries while separately satisfying the funders who pay for that service.
- AirbnbAn asset-light accommodation marketplace matching hosts with guests and taking a commission on each booking.
- NetflixA global subscription streaming service that moved from licensing other people's content to producing its own.
- UberAn on-demand transport marketplace matching drivers with riders in real time, priced dynamically by local supply and demand.
- SpotifyA freemium music streaming service converting ad-supported listeners into paying subscribers, while paying royalties on every stream.
- AmazonA retail, marketplace, logistics, subscription, and cloud business sharing one infrastructure and one customer relationship.
Business Model Canvas FAQs
In what order should I fill in the nine blocks?
Start with customer segments, then value propositions, because every other block is a consequence of who you serve and what you offer them. Then work outward: channels, customer relationships, and revenue streams describe the demand side; key resources, key activities, and key partners describe the supply side; and cost structure comes last, since you cannot cost activities and resources you have not yet defined. The blocks in this tool are numbered in that order.
How long should a Business Model Canvas take to complete?
A useful first draft takes 30 to 60 minutes. Treat it as a thinking tool rather than a document: fill every block quickly, note which entries are assumptions rather than facts, then spend your real effort testing the riskiest assumptions.
Can I use the Business Model Canvas for an existing business?
Yes, and it is often more revealing than using it for a new idea. Map the business as it actually operates today, not as the strategy deck describes it. The gaps between the two are exactly what the canvas is good at exposing.
Do I need to credit Osterwalder or Strategyzer?
The Business Model Canvas is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 licence, so you are free to use and adapt it, including commercially, provided you attribute the original authors and share adaptations under the same licence. This site is an independent tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Strategyzer.