head to head · open source
Excalidraw vs RustDesk
Excalidraw has 132,233 GitHub stars, 15,326 forks, 3,445 open issues and last shipped yesterday. RustDesk has 123,854 stars, 19,128 forks, 147 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Excalidraw leads on adoption by 7% (132,233 vs 123,854 stars). Excalidraw is written in TypeScript under MIT; RustDesk is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. Excalidraw has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, RustDesk 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 | RustDesk | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 132K | ★ 124K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 15K | ⑂ 19K |
| 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 RustDesk if
- You want the RustDesk feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and RustDesk 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 RustDesk
RustDesk is an open source remote desktop application written in Rust, designed for self hosting as a privacy focused alternative to proprietary solutions like TeamViewer. It enables remote control of machines across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS platforms using a peer to peer (P2P) architecture by default, with optional relay and rendezvous servers for NAT traversal. The project lives in the remote access and productivity ecosystem, targeting users who require full control over their infrastructure and data.
read the full RustDesk overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Excalidraw or RustDesk more popular?
Excalidraw has 132,233 GitHub stars and RustDesk has 123,854. Excalidraw has the larger community by that measure.
Are Excalidraw and RustDesk free?
Both are open source. Excalidraw is licensed under MIT and RustDesk under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Excalidraw and RustDesk?
Excalidraw is written in TypeScript and RustDesk in Rust. 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 RustDesk?
Choose Excalidraw if you want the larger community (132,233 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose RustDesk if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.