Excalidraw vs tldraw (2026)
By Noahlast updated
Excalidraw
ExcalidrawFree, open-source online whiteboard for sketching hand-drawn-style diagrams and wireframes together, with Excalidraw+ team workspaces from $6/user/month.
- Pricing
- Free tier · paid from $6/mo
- License
- Open core
Best for sketching informal system diagrams and wireframes live with others during a meeting or interview
tldraw
tldrawFree browser whiteboard for quick collaborative sketches and diagrams, from the company behind the commercially licensed tldraw infinite-canvas SDK for developers.
- Pricing
- Free
- License
- Freemium
Best for sketching quick diagrams and flows with collaborators on a free shared board
Which should you choose?
Choose Excalidraw if…
wins 2/5 use cases
- You want to start drawing straight from excalidraw.com with no account at all
- You want to embed a whiteboard in your own product at no license cost, using Excalidraw's MIT-licensed npm package
- You need a paid team plan with cloud folders, access control, comments and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, which Excalidraw+ offers at $6/user/month billed yearly
- You want built-in AI that turns text into diagrams, wireframes into code and Mermaid into editable drawings, with 10 free requests a day
- You want shared sessions end-to-end encrypted on the free plan
Choose tldraw if…
wins 2/5 use cases
- You want boards saved as files in workspaces on a free account, rather than Excalidraw's one free scene stored in the browser
- You want a desktop app: tldraw offline runs on macOS, Windows and Linux and saves self-contained .tldraw files with no account or server
- You want AI agents to read, draw and edit boards through tldraw's plugin for ChatGPT and Codex or its MCP app for Claude and Cursor
- You want comments, live cursors and viewport following without paying for a team plan
- You are building a canvas product and want the engine behind ClickUp's whiteboards, Padlet's Sandboxes and Jam, with a 100-day free SDK trial
Excalidraw vs tldraw: feature comparison
| Feature | Excalidraw | tldraw |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Yesfree plan; Excalidraw+ from $6/user/month (billed yearly) | Yesfree (tldraw.com); no paid team plan |
| Free tier | Yesfull editor, no account needed, 1 scene stored in the browser | Yestldraw.com in the browser, free account for workspaces |
| Saving and organizing boards | Partial1 browser scene free; cloud scenes and folders from $6/user/month (Excalidraw+) | Yesboards kept as files in workspaces with a free account |
| Platforms | Partialweb only | Yesweb, plus a desktop app for macOS, Windows, Linux |
| License | YesMIT open source editor; Excalidraw+ is paid | Partialsource-available SDK, commercial license for production |
| Real-time collaboration | Yeslink sharing, end-to-end encrypted | Yeslive cursors and viewport following |
| Comments | Yesfrom $6/user/month (Excalidraw+) | Yesfree |
| Offline and local files | Partialbrowser-stored scene, .excalidraw file export | Yestldraw offline desktop app, self-contained .tldraw files |
| Built-in AI generation | Yestext-to-diagram, wireframe-to-code, Mermaid; 10/day free, 100/day on Excalidraw+ | Unknown |
| AI agent access | PartialMCP and REST API in public beta (Excalidraw+) | YesChatGPT and Codex plugin, MCP app for Claude and Cursor |
| Export formats | YesPNG, SVG, .excalidraw free; PDF, PPTX on Excalidraw+ | Unknown |
| Team workspaces and access control | Yesfrom $6/user/month (Excalidraw+) | Partialfree workspaces, no team plan or published admin terms |
| Security compliance | YesSOC 2 Type 2 (Excalidraw+) | Nono published security terms for tldraw.com |
| Embedding in your own app | YesMIT-licensed npm package, free | Partialfree hobby license (watermark); commercial license price unpublished |
| GitHub stars | Yes134,000+ | Yes51,000+ |
| Learning curve | Yeslow | Yeslow |
Excalidraw vs tldraw: pricing
Every tier both tools publish, as we last checked them — not just the entry price.
Excalidraw
- FreeFull editor, 1 infinite scene stored in the browser, unlimited collaborators by link, 10 AI requests a day, PNG/SVG/file export, libraries, end-to-end encrypted sharing; no account needed.Free
- PlusPer user, billed yearly ($7 billed monthly), 14-day free trial: unlimited cloud-saved scenes and folders, team workspaces and access control, comments, presentations, voice hangouts and screensharing, PDF/PPTX export, 100 AI requests a day or your own key, MCP and REST API (public beta).$6/mo
tldraw
- tldraw.comFree collaborative whiteboard in the browser; a free account keeps boards as files in workspaces.Free
- SDK hobby licenseFree license for non-commercial hobby projects; shows a tldraw watermark in production.Free
- SDK commercial licenseAnnual license for production use with value-based pricing, full SDK access and multiplayer sync included; 100-day free trial with no credit card, discounted pricing for early-stage startups.Custom
Excalidraw vs tldraw pricing: which costs less?
Excalidraw and tldraw are both free whiteboards, but only Excalidraw sells a team plan, Excalidraw+ at $6/user/month billed yearly ($7 monthly), while tldraw charges instead for commercial use of its SDK.
Excalidraw's free plan includes the full editor, one infinite scene stored in the browser, unlimited collaborators by link and 10 AI requests a day. Excalidraw+ adds unlimited cloud-saved scenes and folders, team workspaces, comments, presentations, PDF and PPTX export and 100 AI requests a day after a 14-day trial; Excalidraw+ accepts credit cards only, and charges are non-refundable. tldraw.com is free, with boards kept in workspaces on a free account. For developers, Excalidraw's MIT-licensed npm package costs nothing, while the tldraw SDK needs an annual commercial license with value-based, unpublished pricing after a 100-day free trial.
Which is better for developers embedding a canvas, Excalidraw or tldraw?
Excalidraw is the cheaper and more open option because its editor is MIT-licensed open source on npm, while tldraw's SDK is source-available and needs a commercial license in production, though the tldraw SDK already powers ClickUp's whiteboards, Padlet's Sandboxes and Jam.
Excalidraw's project has 134,000+ GitHub stars, and its editor ships as an npm package that developers embed in their own apps under MIT terms. The tldraw SDK is the React canvas engine that runs tldraw.com, with 51,000+ GitHub stars. The tldraw hobby license is free for non-commercial projects but shows a tldraw watermark in production, and the commercial license is annual, includes multiplayer sync, starts with a 100-day free trial with no credit card and offers discounted pricing for early-stage startups. A team that needs zero license cost picks Excalidraw; a team that wants a licensed vendor and an engine proven in other products can trial tldraw.
Which works better offline, Excalidraw or tldraw?
tldraw works better offline, because tldraw offline is a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux that saves self-contained .tldraw files with no account or server, while Excalidraw is a web app that keeps free scenes in the browser.
tldraw offline launched in July 2026 and added LAN multiplayer in August 2026. Its .tldraw files hold the canvas, images, videos and scripts, and coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex can write those scripts. Excalidraw is listed for the web only; its free plan stores one scene in the browser, scenes export to PNG, SVG or a .excalidraw file, and cloud-saved scenes and folders need Excalidraw+.
Which is better for team use, Excalidraw or tldraw?
Excalidraw is better for teams that need admin and compliance, because Excalidraw+ adds team workspaces, view and edit permissions and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance at $6/user/month billed yearly, while tldraw sells no team plan and publishes no admin, security or support terms for tldraw.com.
Excalidraw+ also adds read-only links and embeds, comments, live presentations, voice hangouts with screensharing, and a REST API and MCP access in public beta. tldraw.com gives everyone live cursors, viewport following and comments for free, and early tldraw SDK versions ship to tldraw.com for testing. A small group that only needs a shared board gets more collaboration features free from tldraw, while an organization that must pass a vendor security review has a documented path only with Excalidraw+.
Strengths and weaknesses
Excalidraw
Pros
- Free and open source (MIT), with no account needed to start drawing.
- Link-based real-time collaboration, end-to-end encrypted for free users.
- AI text-to-diagram, wireframe-to-code and Mermaid conversion, with 10 free requests a day.
- Excalidraw+ costs $6/user/month billed yearly and is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant.
- An embeddable npm package and a large open-source community, with 134,000+ GitHub stars.
Cons
- Free scenes live in the browser, one scene on the free plan; cloud saving, folders and comments need Excalidraw+.
- Excalidraw+ accepts credit cards only, and charges are non-refundable under its terms.
- MCP and REST API access are still in public beta.
tldraw
Pros
- tldraw.com is free and opens instantly in the browser, with real-time collaboration, live cursors and comments.
- tldraw offline saves self-contained .tldraw files (canvas, images, videos and scripts) on macOS, Windows or Linux with no account or server.
- AI agents can create and edit boards, including Mermaid diagrams, through the tldraw plugin for ChatGPT and Codex and an MCP app for Claude and Cursor.
- The SDK behind it powers ClickUp's whiteboards, Padlet's Sandboxes and Jam, and its source is public on GitHub with 51,000+ stars.
- Developers get a free hobby license and a 100-day free SDK trial with no credit card.
Cons
- No paid team plan for tldraw.com, so organizations get no published admin, security or support terms.
- The SDK is not open source; production use requires a commercial license with unpublished, value-based pricing.
- Hobby licenses show a tldraw watermark in production.
Which fits your use case?
| Use case | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Engineer sketching a quick system diagram during a meeting or interview | Tie | Excalidraw and tldraw both open in the browser with real-time collaboration and a low learning curve; Excalidraw adds end-to-end encrypted link sharing, and tldraw adds live cursors and free comments. |
| Startup embedding a whiteboard in its product with no license cost | Excalidraw | Excalidraw's editor is an MIT-licensed npm package, while tldraw's SDK needs a commercial license with unpublished pricing for production use. |
| Company that wants a licensed canvas engine already used in commercial products | tldraw | The tldraw SDK powers ClickUp's whiteboards, Padlet's Sandboxes and Jam, and its commercial license includes multiplayer sync after a 100-day free trial. |
| Team that needs cloud folders, permissions and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance | Excalidraw | Excalidraw+ adds team workspaces, access control and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance at $6/user/month billed yearly; tldraw sells no team plan for tldraw.com. |
| Developer working offline alongside AI coding agents | tldraw | tldraw offline runs on macOS, Windows and Linux with no account and saves .tldraw files that can carry scripts written by Claude Code or Codex. |
Neither a match?
Both lists carry verified pricing and honest weaknesses for every option.
Popular comparisons
Excalidraw vs tldraw: migration FAQ
Should I use Excalidraw or tldraw?
- Use Excalidraw if you want a no-account, hand-drawn-style whiteboard with built-in AI and an optional $6/user/month team plan with SOC 2 Type 2; use tldraw if you want free saved workspaces, free comments, a desktop app and boards AI agents can edit. Developers embedding a canvas should weigh Excalidraw's MIT license against tldraw's commercial SDK license.
Is Excalidraw cheaper than tldraw?
- Neither is cheaper for basic use, because Excalidraw and tldraw are both free whiteboards. Excalidraw charges $6/user/month billed yearly for Excalidraw+ team features, which tldraw does not sell, and tldraw charges an unpublished annual fee for commercial SDK use, which Excalidraw's MIT-licensed editor does not need.
Can tldraw replace Excalidraw?
- Yes for quick collaborative sketching, where tldraw.com is free, opens instantly and includes comments. tldraw has no team plan with permissions or SOC 2 Type 2 compliance like Excalidraw+, and the tldraw SDK is not open source.
Is tldraw open source?
- No — the tldraw SDK's source is public on GitHub with 51,000+ stars, but it is source-available, and production use requires a commercial license. Excalidraw's editor, by contrast, is MIT-licensed open source with 134,000+ GitHub stars.
Does Excalidraw need an account?
- No — Excalidraw's full editor works at excalidraw.com with no account and stores one free scene in the browser. tldraw.com also opens instantly in the browser, and a free tldraw account keeps boards as files in workspaces.