# Excalidraw

> Excalidraw is a widely used MIT-licensed whiteboard with a hand-drawn look, shape libraries, PNG/SVG export and an open .excalidraw JSON format. excalidraw.com adds offline PWA use, shareable links and end-to-end encrypted live collaboration. You can self-host the client with an official Docker image, but the docs say self-hosting does not yet support sharing or collaboration. It is a sketching whiteboard, not a template-based or UI design tool. Hardware needs are not documented.

- Repository: https://github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw
- Official docs: https://docs.excalidraw.com
- Checked: 2026-10-15

## What it replaces
- Canva: Online whiteboards (partial). Freeform sketch whiteboard; no Canva-style templates.
- Figma: Whiteboarding (FigJam) (partial). Covers FigJam-style sketching and diagrams; self-hosted builds lack collaboration.
- Miro: Shared whiteboards, Live collaboration (partial). Shared live drawing is available in the hosted app; the documented self-hosted client lacks sharing and collaboration, and Miro workshop facilitation, integrations and enterprise governance are not covered.

## Facts, with sources

| Question | Status | Answer | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on my machine? | Confirmed | Self-hosted client via Docker, offline PWA, or hosted excalidraw.com | https://docs.excalidraw.com/docs/introduction/development#self-hosting | 2026-10-15 |
| Code licence | Confirmed | MIT | https://github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw/blob/master/LICENSE | 2026-10-15 |
| Model weights licence | Confirmed | No separate model weights | https://github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw#readme | 2026-10-15 |
| Commercial use | Confirmed | Yes, MIT | https://github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw/blob/master/LICENSE | 2026-10-15 |
| Paid services needed? | Confirmed | None required | https://github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw#features | 2026-10-15 |
| Hardware | Unknown | Not documented | none found | - |
| Operating systems | Partial | Runs in a web browser (PWA); self-host via Docker; no per-OS support documented | https://github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw#excalidrawcom | 2026-10-15 |
| Setup effort | Confirmed | Easy to use at excalidraw.com; medium to self-host with Docker (no collaboration when self-hosted) | https://docs.excalidraw.com/docs/introduction/development#self-hosting | 2026-10-15 |

GitHub: 133961 stars, 15695 forks, last push 2026-10-15, archived: no.
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Source: RepoQuarry (https://repoquarry.dev/projects/excalidraw). Data licence: CC BY 4.0. Quotes are from project documentation and belong to their authors.