Excalidraw

✓ Verified FOSSMIT

Top open-source alternative to Miro

Excalidraw is the iconic open-source virtual whiteboard for sketching architecture diagrams, wireframes, and system workflows with end-to-end encrypted real-time collaboration and local-first storage.

Tech StackTypeScript, React, HTML5 Canvas, Docker

Self-Host DifficultyEasy

License ModelMIT

GitHub Repositoryexcalidraw/excalidraw

Recommended VPS & Hardware Sizing

Estimated Hosting: $4 - $6/mo (e.g. Hetzner CX22 or DigitalOcean)

Min RAM:1 GB

Rec RAM:2 GB

Compute:1 vCPU

Disk Space:10 GB SSD

Excalidraw vs Miro Comparison Matrix

Evaluation Criteria	Excalidraw (Open Source)	Miro (Proprietary)
Subscription Model	100% Free Self-Hosted (Unlimited Users)	Miro Per-Seat / Usage Billing
Data Sovereignty	100% On-Premise / Your Own VPS	Stored on Miro Proprietary Cloud
Source Code Audit	Open-Source (MIT)	Closed-Source Proprietary Blackbox

INTERACTIVE TCO MODELEstimated Rate: $12/user/mo

Financial Impact: Migrating from Miro to Self-Hosted Excalidraw

Detailed Stack Calculator →

Active Team Members / Seats: 25 Users

5 Users (Early Startup)50 Users (Scaleup)200 Users (Enterprise Org)

Miro (Cloud SaaS)Per-Seat Tax

$3,600per year ($300/mo)

3-Year Spend:$10,800

* Excludes enterprise SSO add-ons & usage overages

Excalidraw (Self-Hosted)Zero Per-Seat Fee

$120per year ($10/mo Linux VPS)

3-Year Compute:$360

* Commodity Hetzner / DigitalOcean compute instance

Cumulative 3-Year ROI+$10,440Net savings across 36 months (97% reduction)

Annual Free Cash:+$3,480/yr

Need C-Level Buy-In? Generate an instant ROI proposal memo to present to your CTO or CFO.

HEAD-TO-HEAD BATTLES // SIDE-BY-SIDE AUDIT

Compare Excalidraw Head-to-Head

Custom Comparison Engine →

★ PRIMARY REPLACEMENTFOSS vs SaaS

Excalidrawvs

Miro

Comprehensive benchmark comparing Excalidraw against proprietary Miro licensing and features.

View Full Battle Report→

DesignPEER BENCHMARK

Penpotvs

Figma

Open SVG & CSS Standards vs Proprietary Closed Design Tool

Hand-Drawn Sketch Aesthetic vs Modern Infinite Whiteboard Canvas

Inspect Comparison→

Core Capabilities & Features

✓Infinite Hand-Drawn Canvas

✓End-to-End Encrypted Live Collaboration

✓Mermaid-to-Diagram Code Generation

✓Offline SVG / PNG / JSON Export

Self-Host Excalidraw with Docker Compose

Tweak configuration ports, secrets, and volumes live. Download or copy your ready-to-run container file:

1-Click Docker Compose Generator

Generate production-ready container definitions with customizable ports and volumes.

Select Open-Source Project:

ExcalidrawMIT

Virtual collaborative whiteboard for sketching hand-drawn diagrams

Difficulty: Easy133,744 ⭐

Configure Parameters

Host Port (PORT)

Public Base URL (APP_URL)

Application Secret Key (SECRET_KEY)

docker-compose.excalidraw.yml

version: "3.8"
services:
  excalidraw:
    image: excalidraw/excalidraw:latest
    container_name: excalidraw
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "${PORT:-5000}:5000"
    environment:
      APP_URL: "${APP_URL:-http://localhost:5000}"
      SECRET_KEY: "${SECRET_KEY:-ossmatrix_prod_secret_2026}"
    volumes:
      - excalidraw_data:/data

volumes:
  excalidraw_data:

Frequently Asked Questions: Self-Hosting Excalidraw

How do I self-host Excalidraw using Docker Compose?

You can deploy Excalidraw (excalidraw/excalidraw) on any Linux server by copying the docker-compose.yml template on this page, configuring your desired host port and persistent volume directory, and running 'docker compose up -d'.

How does Excalidraw compare to Miro?

Excalidraw is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to Miro built with TypeScript, React, HTML5 Canvas, Docker. Unlike Miro ($8 - $16 / member / month), Excalidraw has zero per-user licensing fees and keeps 100% of your data on your own infrastructure.

What are the minimum VPS RAM and CPU requirements for Excalidraw?

For production self-hosting (Easy difficulty tier), we recommend at least 2 GB RAM (minimum 1 GB), 1 vCPU, and 10 GB SSD storage, which typically costs $4 - $6/mo (e.g. Hetzner CX22 or DigitalOcean).

Is Excalidraw free for commercial business use under the MIT license?

Yes. Distributed under the MIT license, Excalidraw can be self-hosted internally by businesses and engineering teams of any size without per-seat royalties.

README INTEGRATION // REPO EMBED

Embed Official Excalidraw Badge in GitHub README

Served locally from OSSMatrix with Cloudflare global edge caching. Real-time verified alternative status, zero third-party dependencies, sub-5ms load time.

Live Preview:

Markdown Embed (GitHub / GitLab)

[![OSSMatrix Alternative](https://ossmatrix.com/api/badge/excalidraw)](https://ossmatrix.com/project/excalidraw)

HTML Embed (Docs / Landing Pages)

<a href="https://ossmatrix.com/project/excalidraw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://ossmatrix.com/api/badge/excalidraw" alt="Excalidraw on OSSMatrix" /></a>

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