head to head · open source
Excalidraw vs CoMaps
Excalidraw has 132,233 GitHub stars, 15,326 forks, 3,445 open issues and last shipped yesterday. CoMaps has 550 stars, 51 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Excalidraw leads on adoption by 23,942% (132,233 vs 550 stars). Excalidraw is written in TypeScript under MIT; CoMaps is written in C++ under Apache-2.0. Excalidraw has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, CoMaps 9%. 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 | CoMaps | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 132K | ★ 550 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 15K | ⑂ 51 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Excalidraw if
- You weight community size — 132K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick CoMaps if
- You want the CoMaps feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and CoMaps fits your workflow better
About Excalidraw
Excalidraw is an open source virtual whiteboard application built in TypeScript, designed for sketching hand drawn style diagrams, wireframes, and freeform ideas. It lives within the web based productivity and design visualization ecosystem, offering a lightweight alternative to commercial tools like Figma, Miro, and Canva. The project includes both a standalone web app at excalidraw.com and an embeddable npm package for integration into third party applications.
read the full Excalidraw overview →
About CoMaps
CoMaps is a community led, free and open source offline maps and navigation app for Android, iOS, macOS and Linux, built on OpenStreetMap data and aimed at people who want turn by turn navigation without tracking, ads or data collection.
read the full CoMaps overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Excalidraw or CoMaps more popular?
Excalidraw has 132,233 GitHub stars and CoMaps has 550. Excalidraw has the larger community by that measure.
Are Excalidraw and CoMaps free?
Both are open source. Excalidraw is licensed under MIT and CoMaps under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Excalidraw and CoMaps?
Excalidraw is written in TypeScript and CoMaps in C++. 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 CoMaps?
Choose Excalidraw if you want the larger community (132,233 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose CoMaps if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.