head to head · open source
Excalidraw vs Mole
Excalidraw has 135,053 GitHub stars, 15,973 forks, 3,445 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Mole has 73,641 stars, 2,611 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Excalidraw leads on adoption by 83% (135,053 vs 73,641 stars). Excalidraw is written in TypeScript under MIT; Mole is written in Shell under GPL-3.0. Excalidraw has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Mole 4%. Mole 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 | Mole | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 135K | ★ 74K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 16K | ⑂ 2.6K |
| 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 Mole if
- You want the Mole feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and Mole 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 Mole
Mole 🐹 Clean, uninstall, analyze, optimize, and monitor your Mac. Free open source CLI, plus a native Mac app. 💡 Prefer a native app? Mole for Mac brings cleanup, app management, maintenance, disk maps, and live status into one lightweight, VoiceOver ready app. One license covers 2 Macs with lifetime updates and a 14 day refund. The CLI stays free and open source. Features All in one toolkit : Combines CleanMyMac, AppCleaner, DaisyDisk, and iStat Menus in a single binary Deep cleaning : Removes caches, logs, leftovers, and orphaned app data to reclaim gigabytes of space Smart uninstaller : Removes apps plus…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Excalidraw or Mole more popular?
Excalidraw has 135,053 GitHub stars and Mole has 73,641. Excalidraw has the larger community by that measure.
Are Excalidraw and Mole free?
Both are open source. Excalidraw is licensed under MIT and Mole under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Excalidraw and Mole?
Excalidraw is written in TypeScript and Mole in Shell. 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 Mole?
Choose Excalidraw if you want the larger community (135,053 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Mole if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.