head to head · open source
Excalidraw vs Chalk.ist
Excalidraw has 135,053 GitHub stars, 15,973 forks, 3,445 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Chalk.ist has 1,845 stars, 148 forks, 22 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. Excalidraw leads on adoption by 7,220% (135,053 vs 1,845 stars). Excalidraw is written in TypeScript under MIT; Chalk.ist is written in Vue under MIT. Excalidraw has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Chalk.ist 8%. Excalidraw was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Excalidraw | Chalk.ist | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 135K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Vue |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-01-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 16K | ⑂ 148 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Excalidraw if
- You weight community size — 135K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Chalk.ist if
- You want the Chalk.ist feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Vue
- You evaluated both and Chalk.ist fits your workflow better
About Excalidraw
Excalidraw Editor Blog Documentation Excalidraw+ An open source virtual hand drawn style whiteboard. Collaborative and end to end encrypted. Create beautiful hand drawn like diagrams, wireframes, or whatever you like. Features The Excalidraw editor (npm package) supports: 💯 Free & open source. 🎨 Infinite, canvas based whiteboard. ✍️ Hand drawn like style. 🌓 Dark mode. 🏗️ Customizable. 📷 Image support. 😀 Shape libraries support. 🌐 Localization (i18n) support. 🖼️ Export to PNG, SVG & clipboard. 💾 Open format export drawings as an .excalidraw json file. ⚒️ Wide range of tools rectangle, circle, diamond…
read the full Excalidraw overview →
About Chalk.ist
Chalk.ist Create beautiful images of your source code Go to App Development License MIT Kasper Mikiewicz 2022
read the full Chalk.ist overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Excalidraw or Chalk.ist more popular?
Excalidraw has 135,053 GitHub stars and Chalk.ist has 1,845. Excalidraw has the larger community by that measure.
Are Excalidraw and Chalk.ist free?
Both are open source. Excalidraw is licensed under MIT and Chalk.ist under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Excalidraw and Chalk.ist?
Excalidraw is written in TypeScript and Chalk.ist in Vue. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Excalidraw or Chalk.ist?
Choose Excalidraw if you want the larger community (135,053 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Chalk.ist if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.