Excalidraw Whiteboard Office vs tldraw
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted office suites options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
tldraw
Infinite canvas SDK for collaborative whiteboards
| Feature | Excalidraw Whiteboard Office | tldraw |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 56 · Fair | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | Office Suites | Office Suites |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 39 | ★ 50,538 |
| First released | 2021 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Miro, FigJam | Miro, FigJam |
What are Excalidraw Whiteboard Office and tldraw?
Excalidraw Whiteboard Office
This open-source workspace combines collaborative diagrams, sticky notes, and documents on an infinite canvas. Teams brainstorm and plan together in real time on a self-hosted server.
- Infinite canvas
- Collaborative diagrams
- Sticky notes
- Real-time editing
tldraw
tldraw is an open-source infinite canvas SDK in TypeScript for building whiteboard experiences. It can be embedded in web apps and self-hosted with a sync backend for real-time multiplayer collaboration.
- Infinite canvas SDK
- Real-time multiplayer sync
- Embeddable whiteboard
- Extensible shapes and tools
Excalidraw Whiteboard Office vs tldraw: key differences
Both projects are written in TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Excalidraw Whiteboard Office versus Apache-2.0 for tldraw. Tldraw has the considerably larger community, at 50,538 GitHub stars versus 39.
Why pick each one
Choose Excalidraw Whiteboard Office if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in TypeScript
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose tldraw if…
- Polished canvas experience
- Embeddable SDK
- Real-time sync support
Watch out for
- SDK, not standalone app
- Watermark without license key
Frequently asked questions
Is Excalidraw Whiteboard Office or tldraw better?
Neither is universally better. tldraw has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Excalidraw Whiteboard Office and tldraw free and open-source?
Yes. Excalidraw Whiteboard Office is licensed under MIT and tldraw under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Excalidraw Whiteboard Office and tldraw with Docker?
Excalidraw Whiteboard Office: yes. tldraw: yes.