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Technology · head to head

Excalidraw vs Whimsical

Excalidraw logo

Excalidraw

Technology

Virtual whiteboard for sketching hand-drawn like diagrams

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Whimsical logo

Whimsical

Technology

Where great ideas take shape

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+; Whimsical the free plan is capped at 3 team boards, 3 teams and 10 guest seats
  • They diverge on capability: Excalidraw covers Hand-drawn style diagrams, Whimsical covers Flowcharts.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Excalidraw and Whimsical actually diverge.

Attributes where Excalidraw and Whimsical differ
AttributeExcalidrawWhimsical
Pricing modelUnknownsubscription
Founded20202017

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

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
  • Obsidian
  • Roam Research

Only in Whimsical

  • Flowcharts
  • Wireframes
  • Mind maps
  • Sticky notes
  • Docs
  • Templates
  • Slack
  • Figma

Both cover

  • Real-time collaboration
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • GitHub
  • Notion
  • Cloud deployment

What people use each for

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

Excalidraw

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

Whimsical

  • Product planningnot Excalidraw
  • UI/UX designnot Excalidraw
  • Brainstormingnot Excalidraw
  • Process documentationnot Excalidraw
  • Project visualizationnot 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

Whimsical

  • The free plan is capped at 3 team boards, 3 teams and 10 guest seats
  • File uploads are limited to 5MB per file and 1GB in total on the free plan
  • Version history on the free plan goes back 7 days
  • Voting, the timer, private teams, the GitHub integration, password-protected files and watermark removal all need Pro at $10 per editor per month
  • SSO and SAML are Business tier only at $20 per editor per month

Pricing, plan by plan

Excalidraw

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

Whimsical

Free
  • StarterFree
    • Up to 4 boards
    • Unlimited viewers
    • 7-day version history
  • Pro$10/month
    • Unlimited boards
    • Unlimited version history
    • Advanced permissions
  • Org$20/month
    • Everything in Pro
    • SSO
    • User management

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 Whimsical if

  • You need flowcharts.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want wireframes.
Whimsical review

Questions people ask

Is Excalidraw or Whimsical better?
Neither clearly leads. Excalidraw starts at Free and Whimsical at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Excalidraw or Whimsical?
Excalidraw starts at Free and Whimsical at Free.
Does Excalidraw or Whimsical run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 Whimsical is typically brought in for.
What can Excalidraw do that Whimsical cannot?
Excalidraw covers Hand-drawn style diagrams, Infinite canvas, Shape libraries, Text support. Whimsical covers Flowcharts, Wireframes, Mind maps, Sticky notes. Both handle Real-time collaboration, Keyboard shortcuts, GitHub, Notion.

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
Whimsical: What are Whimsical's pricing tiers?

Whimsical offers three plans: Free at 0 dollars per month per editor, Pro at 10 dollars per month per editor, and Business at 20 dollars per month per editor.

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
Whimsical: What is included in the Free plan?

The Free plan allows creation of up to 50 board objects and 50 doc blocks per month, includes watermarked exports, and provides 7-day version history. Storage is limited to 1GB.

Source
Whimsical: What features unlock in the Pro plan?

The Pro plan removes the object creation limits, provides unlimited board objects and doc blocks, removes watermarks from exports, extends version history to 90 days, and offers 100GB of storage.

Source
Whimsical: What security and team features come with Business?

The Business plan adds private teams, SAML single sign-on, SCIM and advanced security controls, unlimited version history, priority support, and a dedicated success manager. Storage starts at 2TB.

Source
Whimsical: Do discounts apply for annual billing?

Yes, annual billing offers a 17 percent discount compared to monthly rates. Additionally, nonprofits receive a 20 percent discount and students and teachers get full access.

Source
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