head to head · open source
Excalidraw vs Tldraw
Excalidraw has 135,053 GitHub stars, 15,973 forks, 3,445 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Tldraw has 51,207 stars, 3,597 forks, 649 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Excalidraw leads on adoption by 164% (135,053 vs 51,207 stars). Excalidraw is written in TypeScript under MIT; Tldraw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. Excalidraw has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Tldraw 7%. Tldraw was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (canvas, collaboration, drawing, whiteboard), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | Tldraw | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 135K | ★ 51K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 16K | ⑂ 3.6K |
| 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 Tldraw if
- You want the Tldraw feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Tldraw 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 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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Excalidraw or Tldraw more popular?
Excalidraw has 135,053 GitHub stars and Tldraw has 51,207. Excalidraw has the larger community by that measure.
Are Excalidraw and Tldraw free?
Both are open source. Excalidraw is licensed under MIT, and Tldraw has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Excalidraw and Tldraw?
Excalidraw is written in TypeScript and Tldraw 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 Tldraw?
Choose Excalidraw if you want the larger community (135,053 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Tldraw if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.