Excalidraw vs Zoekt

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

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FeatureExcalidrawZoekt
CategoryDeveloper Tools & GitDeveloper Tools & Git
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptGo
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdockerbinary, docker, source
GitHub stars★ 129,145★ 1,814
First released20202016
ReplacesMiroGitHub Code Search

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 Zoekt if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Go
Zoekt details

Frequently asked questions

Is Excalidraw or Zoekt better?

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

Are Excalidraw and Zoekt free and open-source?

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

Can I run Excalidraw and Zoekt with Docker?

Excalidraw: yes. Zoekt: yes.

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