vs
Excalidraw vs tldraw
Two open, fast infinite canvases. Excalidraw has the hand-drawn look, an MIT licence and AI drawing from a prompt; tldraw is a clean canvas with desktop apps, a source-available licence and an SDK for building canvases into products.
Which one to pick
Pick Excalidraw if
SketchWords
- You like the sketchy hand-drawn style
- You want AI to draw a diagram from a prompt (10 requests a day free)
- A permissive open-source licence matters (MIT)
Pick tldraw if
Sketch
- You want desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux
- You're building a canvas into your own product (tldraw SDK)
- You don't need AI drawing inside the app
Where they differ most
Ways to draw
- Excalidraw
- Sketch, Words
- tldraw
- Sketch
Free for work use
- Excalidraw
- YesYes
- tldraw
- Not statedNot stated
Cheapest paid plan
- Excalidraw
- $6/month, Plus (billed yearly)
- tldraw
- No paid plan stated
Free version
- Excalidraw
- Free and open source
- tldraw
- Free plan
AI from a text prompt
- Excalidraw
- YesYes
- tldraw
- Not statedNot stated
Open source
- Excalidraw
- YesYes
- tldraw
- PartlyPartly
Every fact, side by side
Highlighted rows differ. Rows with an info mark open a note.
ExcalidrawtldrawHow you make a diagram
Ways to draw (differs)Sketch, WordsSketch
Free plan and prices
Cheapest paid plan (differs)$6/month, Plus (billed yearly)No paid plan stated
What you get out
PNG YesYesYesYes
Where it runs and where files live
Apps (differs)WebWeb, Windows, Mac, Linux
Who you're trusting
Company (differs)Excalidraw s.r.o.tldraw Inc.
