Best Open-Source Whiteboard Projects in 2026
A comparison of the top open-source collaborative whiteboards — what each is good at, who it's for, and how to pick.
What makes a great open-source whiteboard
The best open-source whiteboards share three traits: real-time multiplayer collaboration, an active community keeping the project healthy, and a license that lets you self-host without surprises. Beyond that, the choice comes down to whether you want infinite canvas sketching or structured diagramming.
Sketch-first: Excalidraw and tldraw
Excalidraw is the de-facto choice for hand-drawn-style whiteboarding: instant, browser-based, and excellent for quick architecture sketches. tldraw is its closest peer with a more modern canvas API and developer-friendly SDK for embedding.
Both are MIT-licensed, actively maintained, and score highly on the recommendation score because they combine popularity with frequent updates.
Structured diagramming
If your whiteboard needs to produce precise, shareable diagrams, look toward tools built on structured shapes and connectors rather than freehand strokes. DiGitHub's recommendation score helps here: filter by the 'diagram' or 'drawing' topic and sort by activity to find the live options.
How to decide
List your constraints first — team size, self-hosting requirement, export needs — then run a search like 'collaborative whiteboard self-hosted' and compare the top results on the four scoring dimensions rather than stars alone.