head to head · open source
Excalidraw vs Ray.so
Excalidraw has 135,053 GitHub stars, 15,973 forks, 3,445 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Ray.so has 2,371 stars, 352 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Excalidraw leads on adoption by 5,596% (135,053 vs 2,371 stars). Excalidraw is written in TypeScript under MIT; Ray.so is written in TypeScript under MIT. Excalidraw has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Ray.so 15%. 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 | Ray.so | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 135K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 16K | ⑂ 352 |
| 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 Ray.so if
- You want the Ray.so feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Ray.so 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 Ray.so
ray.so Built by Raycast Create code snippets, browse AI prompts, create extension icons and more. About This repository contains the source code for ray.so, a collection of tools built by Raycast. It includes: Code Images : Create beautiful images of your code. Icon Maker : Create beautiful icons for Raycast Extensions. Prompt Explorer : Explore AI Prompts for Raycast. Preset Explorer : Explore AI Presets for Raycast. Quicklink Explorer : Browse and import Raycast Quicklinks. Snippet Explorer : Browse and import Raycast Snippets. Theme Explorer : Browse and import Raycast Themes. Setup This is a Next.js project…
read the full Ray.so overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Excalidraw or Ray.so more popular?
Excalidraw has 135,053 GitHub stars and Ray.so has 2,371. Excalidraw has the larger community by that measure.
Are Excalidraw and Ray.so free?
Both are open source. Excalidraw is licensed under MIT and Ray.so under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Excalidraw and Ray.so?
Excalidraw is written in TypeScript and Ray.so 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, Excalidraw or Ray.so?
Choose Excalidraw if you want the larger community (135,053 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Ray.so if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.