# excalidraw vs Liwan

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

| | excalidraw | Liwan |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 91/100 ✓ | 49/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 9 in Whiteboarding | #12 of 27 in Analytics |
| GitHub stars | 134 750 ✓ | 218 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +2 008 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 5 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.18.1 · 21 Apr 2026 | liwan-v1.8.1 · 23 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Rust |

## Which one should you pick?

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

Liwan ships more often: 5 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for excalidraw.

If you want the quickest setup, Liwan is easier to run; excalidraw needs more configuration.

excalidraw is growing faster right now (+2 008 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [excalidraw](https://selfhost.directory/project/excalidraw) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/excalidraw.md)
- [Liwan](https://selfhost.directory/project/liwan) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/liwan.md)

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