# Deft vs excalidraw

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Deft | excalidraw |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 49/100 | 91/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #17 of 30 in Collaboration | #1 of 9 in Whiteboarding |
| GitHub stars | 731 | 134 745 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +2 003 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 1 ✓ |
| Latest release | — | v0.18.1 · 21 Apr 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Typescript | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

excalidraw scores 91/100 against 49/100 for Deft, so it is the safer default.

excalidraw ships more often: 1 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Deft.

excalidraw is growing faster right now (+2 003 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Deft](https://selfhost.directory/project/deft) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/deft.md)
- [excalidraw](https://selfhost.directory/project/excalidraw) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/excalidraw.md)

---
Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/deft-vs-excalidraw