Self-host drafft-ink
High-performance WebGPU whiteboard with live collaboration
- Stars
- 569
- Port
- 3030 (WebSocket collaboration server)
What is drafft-ink?
Drafft.ink is an infinite canvas whiteboard application built with Rust and WebGPU that runs cross-platform on Linux, Windows, macOS, browsers, and mobile devices. It provides real-time collaboration through CRDTs (Conflict-free Replicated Data Types) via a WebSocket server, requiring no user accounts. The application supports shapes, freehand drawing with pressure sensitivity, text with multiple fonts and inline LaTeX math, image embedding, and exports to PNG or JSON. It is distributed as a single binary with no external dependencies or configuration files. The collaboration server listens on port 3030. The project is licensed under AGPLv3 with no telemetry, subscriptions, or paid tiers.
Should you self-host drafft-ink?
drafft-ink scores 47/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #6 of 9 in Whiteboarding. It has 569 GitHub stars.
There was no stable release in the past 12 months, so check the repository's recent activity before you rely on it.
Setup is moderate: expect some configuration beyond a single command. It is AGPL-3.0-licensed and written mostly in Rust.
Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is excalidraw (91/100, 134 733 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See drafft-ink vs excalidraw side by side.
Features
- Image embedding
- Infinite canvas
- No Account Required
- No telemetry
- Open format export/import
- Real-Time Collaboration
- Rich text with LaTeX
- Shapes and drawing tools
- Sketch style rendering
- Smart guides
- Touch Support
drafft-ink README
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