head to head · open source
Tldraw vs Chalk.ist
Tldraw has 51,207 GitHub stars, 3,597 forks, 649 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Chalk.ist has 1,845 stars, 148 forks, 22 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. Tldraw leads on adoption by 2,675% (51,207 vs 1,845 stars). Tldraw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Chalk.ist is written in Vue under MIT. Tldraw has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Chalk.ist 8%. Tldraw 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
| Tldraw | Chalk.ist | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 51K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Vue |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-01-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 148 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Tldraw if
- You weight community size — 51K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Chalk.ist if
- You want the Chalk.ist feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Vue
- You evaluated both and Chalk.ist fits your workflow better
About Tldraw
Build infinite canvas apps in React with the tldraw SDK. Docs · Examples · Starter kits Feature highlights tldraw provides a feature complete infinite canvas engine designed to be the foundation for any canvas app. Create custom shapes, tools, bindings and UI components for a custom experience. Use the default whiteboarding tool set or use the library's primitives to build entirely new shapes and interactions. Multiplayer — self hostable real time collaboration with @tldraw/sync Drawing and diagramming — pressure sensitive drawing, geometric shapes, rich text, arrows, snapping to shapes, edge scrolling, image…
read the full Tldraw overview →
About Chalk.ist
Chalk.ist Create beautiful images of your source code Go to App Development License MIT Kasper Mikiewicz 2022
read the full Chalk.ist overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Tldraw or Chalk.ist more popular?
Tldraw has 51,207 GitHub stars and Chalk.ist has 1,845. Tldraw has the larger community by that measure.
Are Tldraw and Chalk.ist free?
Both are open source. Tldraw has no licence declared in this registry, and Chalk.ist is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Tldraw and Chalk.ist?
Tldraw is written in TypeScript and Chalk.ist in Vue. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Tldraw or Chalk.ist?
Choose Tldraw if you want the larger community (51,207 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Chalk.ist if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.