Excalidraw vs Lura

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?
FeatureExcalidrawLura
CategoryDeveloper Tools & GitDeveloper Tools & Git
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptGo
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdockerbare-metal
GitHub stars★ 129,145★ 6,786
First released20202025
ReplacesMiro

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 Lura if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • Mature project with 6.8k GitHub stars
  • Written in Go
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Lura details

Frequently asked questions

Is Excalidraw or Lura better?

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

Are Excalidraw and Lura free and open-source?

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

Can I run Excalidraw and Lura with Docker?

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

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