excalidrawvspenpot
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| excalidraw | penpot | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 91/100 | 84/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 9 in Whiteboarding | #1 of 30 in Collaboration |
| GitHub stars | 134 750 | 61 801 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +2 008 | +1 489 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 12 |
| Latest release | v0.18.1 · 21 Apr 2026 | 2.18.5 · 26 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | MPL-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Clojure |
Which one should you pick?
excalidraw scores 91/100 against 84/100 for penpot, so it is the safer default.
penpot ships more often: 12 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for excalidraw.
If you want the quickest setup, excalidraw is easier to run; penpot needs more configuration.
excalidraw details →penpot details →
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