head to head · open source

Tldraw vs Ray.so

Tldraw has 50,422 GitHub stars, 3,517 forks, 649 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Ray.so has 2,360 stars, 348 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Tldraw leads on adoption by 2,037% (50,422 vs 2,360 stars). Tldraw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Ray.so is written in TypeScript under MIT. Tldraw has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Ray.so 15%. 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.

Tldraw ★ 50K Ray.so ★ 2.4K category Productivity & Utilities

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Side by side

Tldraw Ray.so
GitHub stars ★ 50K ★ 2.4K
License Custom / other MIT
Written in TypeScript TypeScript
Last push 2026-09-17 2026-09-15
Forks ⑂ 3.5K ⑂ 348
Self-hosting Yes Yes
Data ownership Your server Your server

pick Tldraw if

  • You weight community size — 50K stars and counting
  • You want the Custom / other license terms
  • Your stack matches TypeScript
  • You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance

full Tldraw profile →

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

full Ray.so profile →

About Tldraw

Tldraw is a free, open source TypeScript and React SDK for building infinite canvas applications — the engine behind tldraw.com — aimed at developers who need whiteboarding, diagramming, or real time canvas collaboration embedded inside their own product rather than hosted as a separate destination site.

read the full Tldraw overview →

About Ray.so

Ray.so is the open source codebase behind ray.so, a collection of small web tools built by Raycast. The repository holds the source for a Next.js application that ships seven separate utilities under one roof: Code Images for turning source code into shareable pictures, Icon Maker for producing icons for Raycast Extensions, and five explorer tools that let visitors browse and import AI Prompts, AI Presets, Quicklinks, Snippets, and Themes. The project is written in TypeScript and released under the MIT license, and it lives in the JavaScript and React ecosystem, built on top of the Next.js framework.…

read the full Ray.so overview →

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More Design & Visualization projects

Compare either of these against the rest of the Design & Visualization field.

Tldraw vs Excalidraw Tldraw vs Affine Tldraw vs Penpot Tldraw vs Graphite Tldraw vs Chalk.ist

Frequently asked questions

Is Tldraw or Ray.so more popular?

Tldraw has 50,422 GitHub stars and Ray.so has 2,360. Tldraw has the larger community by that measure.

Are Tldraw and Ray.so free?

Both are open source. Tldraw has no licence declared in this registry, and Ray.so is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.

What is the difference between Tldraw and Ray.so?

Tldraw 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, Tldraw or Ray.so?

Choose Tldraw if you want the larger community (50,422 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Ray.so if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.