# Excalidraw

> Open-source whiteboard for hand-drawn style sketches and diagrams

Excalidraw is an open-source virtual whiteboard with a hand-drawn look, used for quick sketches, diagrams and wireframes. The free editor at excalidraw.com needs no account, lets any number of people join through a shared link and lists end-to-end encryption in the browser. Excalidraw+ is the paid workspace that adds cloud-saved scenes, comments, access management, presentations and voice calls.

- **Category:** Whiteboards & Mind Maps
- **Made by:** Excalidraw
- **Website:** https://excalidraw.com
- **Runs on:** Web
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 5, 2026

## Pricing

Excalidraw has a free plan. Paid plans start at $6 per user / month, billed annually.

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** Free editor: full drawing tools on 1 infinite scene, unlimited collaborators, export to PNG, SVG or a file, libraries and limited generative AI. No account and no cloud saving.
- **Free trial:** 14-day free trial of Excalidraw+.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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. |

Read from https://plus.excalidraw.com/pricing on Oct 5, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Excalidraw before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **Save 14% with annual billing** (Annual discount): Excalidraw+ is $6 per user a month when billed annually and $7 when billed monthly. The pricing page states the annual saving as 14%. Source: https://plus.excalidraw.com/pricing
- **Excalidraw+ for $4 a month with a school email** (Education): Students and teachers with an educational email address can get Excalidraw+ for $4 monthly or $36 yearly, shown at checkout or after verification. Source: https://plus.excalidraw.com/education

## Key features

- **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.

## Good for

- 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

## Worth knowing

- 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.

## Works with

Notion, Obsidian

**Tags:** Whiteboard, Diagrams, Open source, Self-hostable, End-to-end encrypted, Real-time collaboration, AI features

## Alternatives

- [tldraw](https://toolgpa.com/tools/tldraw): Free online whiteboard with a local desktop app. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-tldraw)
- [draw.io](https://toolgpa.com/tools/draw-io): Free diagram editor that saves files to storage you choose. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/draw-io-vs-excalidraw)
- [Miro](https://toolgpa.com/tools/miro): Online whiteboard for team brainstorming, diagrams and planning. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-miro)
- [Whimsical](https://toolgpa.com/tools/whimsical): Whiteboard for flowcharts, wireframes, mind maps and docs. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-whimsical)
- [FigJam](https://toolgpa.com/tools/figjam): Online whiteboard from Figma for brainstorms, diagrams and meetings. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-figjam)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 5, 2026:

- https://plus.excalidraw.com/pricing
- https://plus.excalidraw.com/
- https://plus.excalidraw.com/education
- https://plus.excalidraw.com/docs
- https://excalidraw.com

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/excalidraw
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).