Excalidraw vs cgit

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureExcalidrawcgit
CategoryDeveloper Tools & GitDeveloper Tools & Git
LicenseMITGPL-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptC
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB64 MB
Deploymentdockerbare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 129,145★ 800
First released20202006
ReplacesMiroGitHub

Why pick each one

Choose Excalidraw if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 129.1k GitHub stars
Excalidraw details

Choose cgit if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Written in C
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
cgit details

Frequently asked questions

Is Excalidraw or cgit better?

Excalidraw is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider cgit if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Excalidraw and cgit free and open-source?

Yes. Excalidraw is licensed under MIT and cgit under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Excalidraw and cgit with Docker?

Excalidraw: yes. cgit: check the project docs for container support.

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