Excalidraw vs Kinopio

Excalidraw

• Quick architecture sketches, wireframes and diagrams
• Ad hoc sessions where guests join by link with no account
• Developers who want an open-source editor to embed or self-host
• Students and teachers, who get a reduced Excalidraw+ price

Kinopio

• People who think by arranging notes in space rather than in lists
• Moodboards and research boards that mix images, links and PDFs
• Buyers who would rather pay once: there is a lifetime plan
• Anyone who wants a canvas without AI features or ads

Excalidraw

• The free editor has 1 scene and no accounts or cloud saving; anything else has to be exported or saved to a file.
• Unlimited scenes, comments, access management, presentations and voice hangouts all need Excalidraw+.
• The vendor's pages list no desktop or mobile apps; Excalidraw runs in a web browser.
• Excalidraw+ bills every seat in every workspace, accepts credit cards only, and its terms make charges non-refundable.

Kinopio

• The free tier stops at 100 cards and a 5 MB upload file size, and only upgraded users can create groups.
• There is no native Android app; the vendor suggests adding the site to an Android home screen instead.
• Data is not end-to-end encrypted, and the app cannot yet be opened while offline, though edits made after a connection drops are synced later.
• Upgrading inside the iOS app costs more than on the website, which the vendor attributes to Apple's fees.

Excalidraw

Hand-drawn style canvas

An infinite canvas with elementary drawing tools and a sketched, hand-drawn look. Keyboard shortcuts and a command palette speed up drawing.

Collaboration by link

Sharing a link starts a live session that anyone can join without an account. Excalidraw+ adds read-only links, edit or view rights, comments and embeds.

Libraries

Public libraries supply ready-made sketches to drop into a scene. A personal library is kept in the browser on the free editor and on the server with Excalidraw+.

Generative AI

Text to diagram builds and edits diagrams from a prompt, and wireframe to code turns a sketch into an interactive mockup. AI use is limited on Free and extended on Plus.

Excalidraw+ workspace

Scenes sync to the cloud and are organized into collections, with user accounts, team management and access control. An MCP server lets AI agents draw into a workspace.

Presentations and voice

With Plus, frames become slides for live presentations, scenes export to PDF and PPTX, and collaborators can talk over voice hangouts with screen sharing.

Kinopio

Cards and connections

Clicking anywhere and typing creates a card. Cards hold text, links, images, PDFs and code blocks, and dragging from a card's connector draws a line to a related one.

Boxes, lists and paint select

Boxes keep related items together and lists stack cards vertically, which suits kanban-style boards. Painting over several items selects them all for a bulk edit.

Real-time collaboration and groups

Invited collaborators see each other's cursors and edits live. A space can be private, public read-only or open to comments, and groups share a set of spaces with a team.

Backlinked tags and linked spaces

Double-bracket tags connect a theme across every space it appears in, and a card can link straight to another space, so related boards stay reachable.

Todos, mentions and due dates

A card or box can be turned into a checkable todo, assigned to a collaborator with an @mention and given a due date.

Import, export and public API

Spaces import and export in several formats, including open JSON Canvas files, and can be saved as PDF. A public API supports custom integrations and tooling.

Excalidraw

• Free$0

  Full editor with 1 infinite scene, unlimited collaborators by link, PNG and SVG export, libraries, and end-to-end encryption in the browser.

• Plus$6

  per user / month, billed annually ($7 billed monthly)

  Unlimited scenes and folders saved to the cloud, edit or view-only sharing, comments, team management, presentations, voice hangouts and extended AI.

Kinopio

• Free$0

  All features, limited to 100 cards and 5 MB uploads. Cards added to a space created by an upgraded user do not count.

• Monthly$8

  per month

  Unlimited cards and uploads, billed monthly. Upgraded users can also create groups.

• Yearly$80

  per year

  The same unlimited cards and uploads, billed once a year.

• Lifetime$250

  one-time

  Unlimited cards and uploads for a single payment, with no subscription.

Excalidraw

• Annual discount

  Save 14% with annual billing

  Excalidraw+ is $6 per user a month when billed annually and $7 when billed monthly. The pricing page states the annual saving as 14%.

• Education

  Excalidraw+ for $4 a month with a school email

  Students and teachers with an educational email address can get Excalidraw+ for $4 monthly or $36 yearly, shown at checkout or after verification.

Kinopio

• Annual discount

  About 17% less on the yearly plan

  The yearly plan is $80 against $8 a month. Twelve monthly payments come to $96, so paying yearly works out about 17% cheaper.

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime plan for $250

  A single payment of $250 gives unlimited cards and uploads with no subscription. The vendor says it added the plan in response to demand.

• Education

  Discount for students and financial need

  Students, and people who cannot afford the price because of where they live or other circumstances, can email the maker for a discount on subscription and lifetime plans.