excalidrawvsShields
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| excalidraw | Shields | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 91/100 | 80/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 9 in Whiteboarding | #6 of 166 in Developer Tools |
| GitHub stars | 134 768 | 27 331 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 935 | +125 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 0 |
| Latest release | v0.18.1 · 21 Apr 2026 | — |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | JavaScript |
Which one should you pick?
excalidraw scores 91/100 against 80/100 for Shields, so it is the safer default.
excalidraw ships more often: 1 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Shields.
If you want the quickest setup, Shields is easier to run; excalidraw needs more configuration.
excalidraw is growing faster right now (+1 935 stars in 30 days).
excalidraw details →Shields details →
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