Excalidraw vs Penpot
| Tagline | Virtual whiteboard for hand-drawn style diagrams | Open-source design and prototyping platform |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Design | Design |
| Pricing | Open Source | Open Source |
| Upvotes | 0 | 0 |
| Comments | 0 | 0 |
| Page views | 0 | 0 |
| Click-through to site | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Readiness Score | 67/100 | 100/100 |
| Launched | Oct 2, 2026 | Oct 2, 2026 |
| Maker | — | — |
What is Excalidraw?
Excalidraw is an open-source whiteboard for sketching diagrams with a hand-drawn look, with live collaboration and end-to-end encrypted sharing.
What is Penpot?
Penpot is an open-source design tool for interfaces and prototypes that uses web standards like SVG and CSS and can be self-hosted.
Not sold on either? See alternatives to Excalidraw or alternatives to Penpot.
Verdict
Penpot leads on 1 of the measurable metrics above (votes, engagement, click-through and readiness). Choose Excalidraw if you want virtual whiteboard for hand-drawn style diagrams; choose Penpot if you want open-source design and prototyping platform.
Is Excalidraw better than Penpot?
On AskableHQ's community and engagement data, Penpot currently performs better, but the right choice depends on your use case.
Which is cheaper, Excalidraw or Penpot?
Excalidraw is Open Source; Penpot is Open Source. Check each website for current plans.