head to head · open source
open-design vs draw.io
open-design has 96,938 GitHub stars, 11,262 forks, 1,090 open issues and last shipped yesterday. draw.io has 8,209 stars, 1,246 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. open-design leads on adoption by 1,081% (96,938 vs 8,209 stars). open-design is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; draw.io is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. open-design has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, draw.io 15%. open-design 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
| open-design | draw.io | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 97K | ★ 8.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick open-design if
- You weight community size — 97K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick draw.io if
- You want the draw.io feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and draw.io fits your workflow better
About open-design
OpenDesign is an open source, local first desktop design application for macOS and Windows that turns the coding agent already installed on a developer's machine into the design engine, producing prototypes, dashboards, decks, images, and motion graphics as real files exported to HTML, PDF, PPTX, and MP4.
read the full open-design overview →
About draw.io
draw.io is a configurable, client side JavaScript diagramming and whiteboarding application, jointly owned and developed by draw.io Ltd (previously JGraph) and draw.io AG, intended for anyone who needs to draw diagrams and whiteboards in a browser or on the desktop without a login.
read the full draw.io overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is open-design or draw.io more popular?
open-design has 96,938 GitHub stars and draw.io has 8,209. open-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are open-design and draw.io free?
Both are open source. open-design is licensed under Apache-2.0 and draw.io under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between open-design and draw.io?
open-design is written in TypeScript and draw.io in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, open-design or draw.io?
Choose open-design if you want the larger community (96,938 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose draw.io if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.