A detailed comparison of Excalidraw and draw.io to help you choose the right tool for your needs.
Virtual whiteboard for sketching hand-drawn like diagrams with collaboration
Free, open-source diagramming tool for flowcharts, network diagrams, and more
| Plan | Excalidraw | draw.io |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | ✓ Completely free | ✓ Completely free |
| Lowest Paid | Free | Free |
| Enterprise | Free (self-hosted option) | Free (self-hosted option) |
| Feature | Excalidraw | draw.io |
|---|---|---|
| Hand-drawn style | ✓ | — |
| Real-time collaboration | ✓ | — |
| Library of elements | ✓ | — |
| Export options | ✓ | — |
| Self-hosting | ✓ | ✓ |
| End-to-end encryption | ✓ | — |
| Custom libraries | ✓ | — |
| Keyboard shortcuts | ✓ | — |
| Dark mode | ✓ | — |
| Embeddable | ✓ | — |
| Flowcharts | — | ✓ |
| Network diagrams | — | ✓ |
| UML diagrams | — | ✓ |
| Entity relationship | — | ✓ |
| Wireframes | — | ✓ |
| Offline mode | — | ✓ |
| Google Drive integration | — | ✓ |
| GitHub integration | — | ✓ |
| Confluence integration | — | ✓ |
| Open Source | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rating | ⭐ 4.4 | ⭐ 4.3 |
Choose Excalidraw if: You need developers and teams wanting simple, hand-drawn style diagrams with collaboration. Excalidraw excels with its completely free and open source.
Choose draw.io if: You need users wanting a free, powerful diagramming tool with self-hosting options. draw.io stands out with its completely free and open source.
Best free option: Both Excalidraw and draw.io offer free tiers. Excalidraw offers "Completely free" while draw.io offers "Completely free".
It depends on your needs. Excalidraw is better for developers and teams wanting simple, hand-drawn style diagrams with collaboration, while draw.io is better for users wanting a free, powerful diagramming tool with self-hosting options. Both are excellent tools rated 4.4 and 4.3 respectively.
Excalidraw starts at Free while draw.io starts at Free. Both offer free tiers.
Most tools offer import/export features to help you migrate. We recommend trying draw.io's free tier before fully committing to a switch.
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