head to head · open source
cobalt vs drawnix
cobalt has 43,316 GitHub stars, 3,798 forks, 269 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. drawnix has 14,721 stars, 1,264 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. cobalt leads on adoption by 194% (43,316 vs 14,721 stars). cobalt is written in Svelte under AGPL-3.0; drawnix is written in TypeScript under MIT. cobalt has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, drawnix 9%. drawnix was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (collaboration), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| cobalt | drawnix | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 43K | ★ 15K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Svelte | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-04-06 | 2026-09-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick cobalt if
- You weight community size — 43K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Svelte
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick drawnix if
- You want the drawnix feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and drawnix fits your workflow better
About cobalt
cobalt is a media downloader built around a single promise: paste a link, get the file, move on. It is a monorepo containing the source for an API, a web frontend, and related packages, written primarily in Svelte and TypeScript. The project lives in the modern web and JavaScript ecosystem, and its public surface is hosted at cobalt.tools, while the full codebase is published under the AGPL 3.0 license.
read the full cobalt overview →
About drawnix
Drawnix is a free, MIT licensed, all in one open source whiteboard tool written in TypeScript that combines mind mapping, flowcharts, and freehand drawing on a single infinite canvas, built for individuals and teams who want a self hostable or browser based alternative to commercial whiteboard SaaS.
read the full drawnix overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is cobalt or drawnix more popular?
cobalt has 43,316 GitHub stars and drawnix has 14,721. cobalt has the larger community by that measure.
Are cobalt and drawnix free?
Both are open source. cobalt is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and drawnix under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between cobalt and drawnix?
cobalt is written in Svelte and drawnix in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, cobalt or drawnix?
Choose cobalt if you want the larger community (43,316 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose drawnix if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.