Technology · head to head
Height vs Excalidraw
Excalidraw
Technology
Virtual whiteboard for sketching hand-drawn like diagrams
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Height height shut down on September 24, 2025, ending the service and making it unavailable to existing users; Excalidraw advanced features (unlimited private scenes/folders, cloud storage, access management, presentations, extended AI, team management) are gated behind Excalidraw+
- They diverge on capability: Height covers AI-powered automation, Excalidraw covers Hand-drawn style diagrams.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Height and Excalidraw actually diverge.
| Attribute | Height | Excalidraw |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2018 | 2020 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Unknown), 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 Height
- AI-powered automation
- Smart task management
- Custom workflows
- Spreadsheet view
- Kanban boards
- Chat integration
- Mobile apps
- Slack
Only in Excalidraw
- Hand-drawn style diagrams
- Infinite canvas
- Shape libraries
- Text support
- Image import
- Export options
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Obsidian
Both cover
- Real-time collaboration
- GitHub
- Notion
- Cloud deployment
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Height
- Product developmentnot Excalidraw
- Sprint managementnot Excalidraw
- Bug trackingnot Excalidraw
- Design projectsnot Excalidraw
- Team coordinationnot Excalidraw
Excalidraw
- Wireframing and diagrammingnot Height
- Real-time collaborative whiteboardingnot Height
- Hand-drawn-style illustrations for docs and decksnot Height
- Embedding a whiteboard into third-party apps via the npm packagenot Height
- Visual planning and note-takingnot Height
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Height
- Height shut down on September 24, 2025, ending the service and making it unavailable to existing users
- Service is no longer active as of 2025; not a viable option for new customers
- No data migration tools provided to export projects and data after shutdown announcement
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
Pricing, plan by plan
Height
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Height review.
Excalidraw
Free- Excalidraw+$6/month
- Unlimited private scenes and folders
- Cloud storage
- Access management
Which should you pick?
Choose Height if
- You need ai-powered automation.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want smart task management.
Choose Excalidraw if
- You need hand-drawn style diagrams.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want infinite canvas.
Questions people ask
- Is Height or Excalidraw better?
- Neither clearly leads. Height starts at Free and Excalidraw at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Height or Excalidraw?
- Height starts at Free and Excalidraw at Free.
- Does Height or Excalidraw run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Height for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Height best used for?
- Height is most often used for product development, sprint management, bug tracking, design projects. Of those, product development and sprint management are not what Excalidraw is typically brought in for.
- What can Height do that Excalidraw cannot?
- Height covers AI-powered automation, Smart task management, Custom workflows, Spreadsheet view. Excalidraw covers Hand-drawn style diagrams, Infinite canvas, Shape libraries, Text support. Both handle Real-time collaboration, GitHub, Notion, Cloud deployment.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Height: What integrations did Height support?
Height integrated with Slack, Discord, Notion, Slab, GitHub, GitLab, Sentry, Figma, Google Sheets, and Fivetran.
Source