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Technology · head to head

Excalidraw vs Mural

Excalidraw logo

Excalidraw

Technology

Virtual whiteboard for sketching hand-drawn like diagrams

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Mural logo

Mural

Remote Work

The digital workspace for visual collaboration

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Excalidraw advanced features (unlimited private scenes/folders, cloud storage, access management, presentations, extended AI, team management) are gated behind Excalidraw+; Mural the free plan allows 3 editable murals at a time, so working on a fourth means archiving one
  • They diverge on capability: Excalidraw covers Hand-drawn style diagrams, Mural covers Sticky notes.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Excalidraw and Mural actually diverge.

Attributes where Excalidraw and Mural differ
AttributeExcalidrawMural
Pricing modelUnknownsubscription
PlatformsWebWeb, Ios, Android
CategoryTechnologyRemote Work
Founded20202011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Excalidraw

  • Hand-drawn style diagrams
  • Shape libraries
  • Text support
  • Image import
  • Export options
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • GitHub
  • Notion

Only in Mural

  • Sticky notes
  • Shapes & connectors
  • Image uploads
  • Templates
  • Voting & feedback
  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Jira

Both cover

  • Real-time collaboration
  • Infinite canvas
  • Cloud deployment
  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Excalidraw

  • Wireframing and diagrammingnot Mural
  • Real-time collaborative whiteboardingnot Mural
  • Hand-drawn-style illustrations for docs and decksnot Mural
  • Embedding a whiteboard into third-party apps via the npm packagenot Mural
  • Visual planning and note-takingnot Mural

Mural

  • Running collaborative workshops and retrospectives on a shared whiteboardnot Excalidraw
  • Mapping journeys and diagrams with a distributed teamnot Excalidraw

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Excalidraw

  • Advanced features (unlimited private scenes/folders, cloud storage, access management, presentations, extended AI, team management) are gated behind Excalidraw+
  • Free hosted version persists via scene links/local storage rather than a managed multi-scene workspace
  • Self-hosting the full collaborative stack requires standing up a websocket server and storage beyond the npm editor package
  • No official native desktop or app-store mobile apps - web/PWA only

Mural

  • The free plan allows 3 editable murals at a time, so working on a fourth means archiving one
  • Mural AI and the Zoom and Webex integrations require Team+ at $9.99 per member per month billed annually
  • SSO and the Okta, Azure and GitHub integrations are Business only at $17.99 per member per month
  • Multiple workspaces, SCIM, audit logs and enforced 2FA are Enterprise only with no published price

Pricing, plan by plan

Excalidraw

Free
  • Excalidraw+$6/month
    • Unlimited private scenes and folders
    • Cloud storage
    • Access management

Mural

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 mural
    • Basic shapes
    • File uploads
  • Team$16/month
    • Unlimited murals
    • Advanced templates
    • Team collaboration

Which should you pick?

Choose Excalidraw if

  • You need hand-drawn style diagrams.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want shape libraries.
Excalidraw review

Choose Mural if

  • You need sticky notes.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want shapes & connectors.
Mural review

Questions people ask

Is Excalidraw or Mural better?
Neither clearly leads. Excalidraw starts at Free and Mural at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Excalidraw or Mural?
Excalidraw starts at Free and Mural at Free.
Does Excalidraw or Mural run on more platforms?
Excalidraw runs on Web. Mural runs on Web, Ios, Android.
Can I use Excalidraw for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Excalidraw best used for?
Excalidraw is most often used for wireframing and diagramming, real-time collaborative whiteboarding, hand-drawn-style illustrations for docs and decks, embedding a whiteboard into third-party apps via the npm package. Of those, wireframing and diagramming and real-time collaborative whiteboarding are not what Mural is typically brought in for.
What can Excalidraw do that Mural cannot?
Excalidraw covers Hand-drawn style diagrams, Shape libraries, Text support, Image import. Mural covers Sticky notes, Shapes & connectors, Image uploads, Templates. Both handle Real-time collaboration, Infinite canvas, Cloud deployment, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Excalidraw: Is Excalidraw free?

Excalidraw appears to be a free drawing application available at no cost to users. The website does not display information about pricing tiers or premium features, suggesting it is offered as a free service.

Source
Mural: How much does Mural cost?

Mural Team+ is $9.99 per member per month billed annually, or $12 billed monthly. Business is $17.99 per member per month billed annually. Enterprise is quoted by sales.

Source
Excalidraw: Does Excalidraw offer paid plans?

No pricing tiers or paid upgrade options are mentioned on the Excalidraw website, which indicates the service is available entirely free without commercial pricing models.

Source
Mural: What does the free Mural plan limit?

The free plan allows unlimited murals in total but only 3 that can be edited at a time, and it is restricted to a single workspace with open rooms only.

Source
Mural: Which Mural plan includes single sign-on?

SSO via SAML 2.0 starts on the Business plan at $17.99 per member per month, which also adds unlimited external guests and advanced integrations.

Source
Mural: When do I need Mural Enterprise?

Enterprise adds multiple workspaces, SCIM user and group management and data residency options. Team+ and Business are both limited to a single workspace.

Source
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