Excalidraw

A browser whiteboard for sketching diagrams that look hand-drawn.

Instead of Miro, Lucidchart, Microsoft Whiteboard

excalidraw.com

Screenshot from excalidraw.com, taken 2026-10-23, shown to help you recognise the tool. It belongs to its maker. Ask us to remove it.

Everyone has sat in a meeting where an idea got sketched on a whiteboard and the wobbly lines helped, because a wobbly line says this is a draft and you are allowed to argue with it. Excalidraw puts that wobble in a browser: diagrams that look hand-drawn, on a page you open and start drawing on, with nothing to sign up for, your work saved in the browser, and a live link you can share so others draw with you.

Collaboration is end-to-end encrypted, so the server only relays scrambled data, and the code is MIT licensed with what you need to host your own copy in the repository. Excalidraw scores a 5 on footprint, self-direction and delivery and a 4 on lock-in, power and longevity. Files are open, and Lock-in is a 4.

A paid version, Excalidraw+, funds the project and adds team features, so the free tool has a business beside it.

In practice it is a blank page you reach for in the middle of a meeting: open it, draw, send the link, and keep the drawing in your browser or as a file in an open format.

What stands out

• Open the page and sketch, with nothing to sign up for
• Live collaboration is end-to-end encrypted
• MIT licensed, with what you need to host your own copy

For comparison, we also reviewed Pinterest (13/30) as a benchmark.