Creately
Diagramming & visual collaboration for flowcharts, org charts, and whiteboards
Open-Source Projects
Discover top open-source software, updated regularly with real-world adoption signals.
Discover top open-source software, updated regularly with real-world adoption signals.
Virtual whiteboard for hand-drawn style diagrams and collaboration
Infinite canvas whiteboard with hand-drawn aesthetics. Create diagrams, wireframes, and sketches with real-time collaboration and end-to-end encryption.
Excalidraw is a virtual whiteboard tool that brings the natural feel of hand-drawn sketches to digital diagramming. Built for designers, developers, educators, and teams who value visual thinking, it combines an infinite canvas with a distinctive sketchy aesthetic that makes technical diagrams feel approachable and creative.
The editor offers a comprehensive drawing toolkit including shapes (rectangles, circles, diamonds), arrows with binding and labels, free-draw capabilities, and image support. Export your work to PNG, SVG, or the open .excalidraw JSON format. The interface supports dark mode, localization in multiple languages, and full customization when embedded via the npm package.
Available as both a hosted web app at excalidraw.com and an npm package (@excalidraw/excalidraw) for embedding into React applications. The hosted version includes real-time collaboration with end-to-end encryption, PWA offline support, and local-first autosaving. Organizations like Google Cloud, Meta, Notion, and Obsidian have integrated Excalidraw into their workflows. The MIT license and TypeScript codebase make it accessible for custom deployments and extensions.
When teams consider Excalidraw, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
Remote team brainstorming
Distributed teams collaborate in real-time on system architecture sketches with encrypted sessions, exporting diagrams directly to documentation
Embedded product whiteboarding
SaaS platforms integrate Excalidraw via npm to offer users in-app diagramming without building custom drawing tools
Educational concept mapping
Instructors create approachable visual explanations that feel hand-drawn, reducing intimidation for complex technical topics
Design wireframing and mockups
Product designers rapidly sketch low-fidelity wireframes with a natural aesthetic that signals early-stage iteration
Yes, the repository includes the full source code for the excalidraw.com app. You can deploy it yourself, though collaboration features require additional setup.
Currently, real-time collaboration and end-to-end encryption are available in the hosted app. These features are planned as drop-in plugins for the npm package in the future.
The npm package is built for React applications. Integration with other frameworks requires custom wrapping or using the hosted version via iframe.
Yes, collaborative sessions use end-to-end encryption. The app is local-first with autosaving to your browser, and you control when to share via readonly links.
Yes, export to PNG and SVG for universal compatibility, or use the open `.excalidraw` JSON format for re-editing and programmatic access.
Project at a glance
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