head to head · open source
Tldraw vs vectorcraft
Tldraw has 50,843 GitHub stars, 3,561 forks, 649 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. vectorcraft has 6,960 stars, 3,087 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Tldraw leads on adoption by 631% (50,843 vs 6,960 stars). Tldraw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; vectorcraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Tldraw has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, vectorcraft 44%. vectorcraft 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 | vectorcraft | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 51K | ★ 7.0K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-10 | 2026-10-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| 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 vectorcraft if
- You want the vectorcraft feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and vectorcraft fits your workflow better
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 vectorcraft
VectorCraft is an open source, clean room reimplementation of Adobe Illustrator written in pure Rust, aimed at illustrators and designers who want the Illustrator workflow without a proprietary licence.
read the full vectorcraft overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Tldraw or vectorcraft more popular?
Tldraw has 50,843 GitHub stars and vectorcraft has 6,960. Tldraw has the larger community by that measure.
Are Tldraw and vectorcraft free?
Both are open source. Tldraw has no licence declared in this registry, and vectorcraft is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Tldraw and vectorcraft?
Tldraw is written in TypeScript and vectorcraft 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, Tldraw or vectorcraft?
Choose Tldraw if you want the larger community (50,843 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose vectorcraft if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.