draw.io vs tldraw
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Where they differ
- draw.io is free. tldraw is free.
- draw.io is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- draw.io also covers templates.
- tldraw also covers whiteboard.
In commonFree planWebmacOSWindowsLinuxWorks offlineAI featuresReal-time collaborationDiagrams
At a glance
| draw.io | tldraw | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | The online editor, the desktop apps and self-hosted deployment are free with no account and no paid tier. The apps for Confluence and Jira are licensed separately through the Atlassian Marketplace. | The tldraw.com whiteboard, a tldraw.com account and the tldraw offline desktop app are all free. The tldraw SDK for building canvas products is licensed separately. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | draw.io Ltd | tldraw |
| Price read from | drawio.com | tldraw.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
draw.io
- UML, ERD, network and flowchart diagrams at no cost
- Teams whose data rules require files to stay in their own storage
- Diagramming offline on Windows, macOS or Linux
- Documentation kept in Confluence, Google Drive or GitHub
tldraw
- Quick sketches and diagrams without creating an account
- People who want whiteboard files kept locally on their computer
- Working on a canvas alongside coding agents such as Codex or Claude Code
- Developers evaluating the tldraw SDK for their own product
Worth knowing
draw.io
- There is no hosted workspace or account: every diagram is a file kept in the storage you pick, so sharing depends on that storage.
- Real-time co-editing needs the file to be in Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox, or the diagram to be in draw.io for Confluence.
- No native mobile apps are listed; the docs suggest adding the web editor to a phone's home screen instead.
- Using draw.io inside Confluence or Jira needs the vendor's Atlassian Marketplace apps, which are licensed separately from the free editor.
tldraw
- The vendor describes tldraw.com as the flagship demo of its SDK and ships early SDK versions there for testing and evaluation.
- Sharing a board from tldraw.com requires signing in to an account.
- No native iOS or Android apps are listed; on phones and tablets tldraw runs in the browser.
- tldraw is not open source: the SDK is source-available, and using it in a product needs a commercial license whose price is not published.
Key features
draw.io
- Shape libraries for technical diagrams
- Libraries and templates cover process flows, org charts, floor plans, network infrastructure, UML, entity relationship models, circuit and rack diagrams, and infographics.
- Storage you choose
- Diagrams are saved to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, GitHub, GitLab, the browser or the local device. The online editor does not store diagram data on the vendor's servers.
- Offline desktop app and self-hosting
- A stand-alone desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux works with no internet connection, and the editor can be deployed in a self-hosted Docker container.
- Co-editing with shared cursors
- People editing the same diagram see each other's changes in real time when the file is stored in Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox, or in draw.io for Confluence.
- Diagrams generated from text
- The editor builds diagrams from Mermaid code, CSV spreadsheet data or SQL code, and an AI tool can generate a diagram from a written description.
- Import, export and embedding
- Files from other diagramming tools can be dropped in and edited, and diagrams export to SVG, PNG or PDF or embed as interactive viewers in docs, wikis and web pages.
tldraw
- Infinite canvas drawing tools
- Draw freehand, add shapes, arrows and text with rich formatting, and drop in images and bookmarks. The site says it works in browsers on phones, tablets and desktops.
- Accounts and cloud files
- The app works without logging in. Signing in to a free account saves files to the cloud, syncs them between devices and lists them in a sidebar.
- Sharing and multiplayer
- A signed-in owner can invite guests as editors or viewers with a link, keep a file private, or publish a snapshot that can be updated later without a new link.
- tldraw offline
- A desktop app with no accounts and no server. Boards are saved as self-contained .tldraw files, and others on the same local network can join a file.
- Canvas for AI agents
- A plugin for ChatGPT and Codex and an MCP App for Cursor let agents draw on a board, and tldraw offline lets local agents such as Claude Code edit and script files.
Plans
draw.io
Free$0
The full editor online at app.diagrams.net, as a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, or self-hosted in a container. No sign-up is needed.
tldraw
Free$0
The whiteboard at tldraw.com, with or without an account, and the tldraw offline desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux.
Ways to pay less
draw.io
- Nonprofit
Free Confluence and Jira Cloud license for charities
draw.io's licensing docs say charitable organizations and partners are eligible for a free license for its Confluence or Jira Cloud apps.
tldraw
No public discounts listed.
