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Technology · head to head

Excalidraw vs Penpot

Excalidraw logo

Excalidraw

Technology

Virtual whiteboard for sketching hand-drawn like diagrams

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Penpot logo

Penpot

Developer Tools

Open source design and prototyping platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
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+; Penpot smaller user base and community compared to Figma means fewer templates and resources
  • They diverge on capability: Excalidraw covers Hand-drawn style diagrams, Penpot covers Vector editing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Excalidraw and Penpot actually diverge.

Attributes where Excalidraw and Penpot differ
AttributeExcalidrawPenpot
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux
CategoryTechnologyDeveloper Tools
Founded20202021

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Unknown), 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
  • Infinite canvas
  • Shape libraries
  • Text support
  • Image import
  • Export options
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • GitHub

Only in Penpot

  • Vector editing
  • Interactive prototyping
  • Design systems
  • Components & libraries
  • SVG support
  • CSS Grid & Flexbox
  • Code export
  • Figma import

Both cover

  • Real-time collaboration
  • Cloud deployment
  • Self-hosted deployment
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Excalidraw

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

Penpot

  • UI/UX designnot Excalidraw
  • Prototypingnot Excalidraw
  • Design systemsnot Excalidraw
  • Developer handoffnot Excalidraw
  • Open source projectsnot 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

Penpot

  • Smaller user base and community compared to Figma means fewer templates and resources
  • Self-hosting requires Linux server and Docker knowledge for technical setup
  • Real-time collaboration features may have performance issues with very large design files

Pricing, plan by plan

Excalidraw

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

Penpot

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Cloud-based design
    • Real-time collaboration
    • Components and variants
  • Unlimited$7/month
    • All free features
    • Priority support
    • Advanced cloud features
  • Enterprise$950/month
    • Custom enterprise features
    • Dedicated support
    • Advanced security

Which should you pick?

Choose Excalidraw if

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

Choose Penpot if

  • You need vector editing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want interactive prototyping.
Penpot review

Questions people ask

Is Excalidraw or Penpot better?
Neither clearly leads. Excalidraw starts at Free and Penpot at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Excalidraw or Penpot?
Excalidraw starts at Free and Penpot at Free.
Does Excalidraw or Penpot run on more platforms?
Excalidraw runs on Web. Penpot runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
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 Penpot is typically brought in for.
What can Excalidraw do that Penpot cannot?
Excalidraw covers Hand-drawn style diagrams, Infinite canvas, Shape libraries, Text support. Penpot covers Vector editing, Interactive prototyping, Design systems, Components & libraries. Both handle Real-time collaboration, Cloud deployment, Self-hosted 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
Penpot: Is Penpot really free?

Yes. Penpot is completely free with no feature gates. The open-source version can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure for zero cost beyond server expenses.

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
Penpot: Can I self-host Penpot?

Yes. Penpot can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure with no licensing costs. Organizations with specific privacy or governance needs can run Penpot on their own servers.

Source
Penpot: What are the paid plans if I use Penpot cloud?

Penpot's cloud service offers a free tier, Unlimited plan at $7 per user per month for professionals and medium teams, and Enterprise starting at $950 per month for larger organizations.

Source
Penpot: What platforms does Penpot support?

Penpot runs in the browser, so it works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and any OS with a web browser. No platform-specific downloads required.

Source
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