Open-source Eraser alternatives

Excalidraw is a browser-based whiteboard that renders shapes, arrows and text in a deliberately hand-drawn style, which makes diagrams feel like quick sketches rather than polished slides. It is used for architecture diagrams, wireframes, brainstorming and teaching, and works on an infinite canvas with zoom and pan.

The editor offers rectangles, circles, diamonds, arrows, lines, free-draw and an eraser, along with labeled arrows that stay bound to shapes, image support, shape libraries, dark mode and undo and redo. Drawings export to PNG, SVG or the clipboard, or to an open JSON-based .excalidraw file. The hosted app adds real-time collaboration with end-to-end encryption, offline use as a progressive web app, autosave in the browser and shareable read-only links.

The editor is also published as an npm package under the MIT license, so developers can embed it in their own products and customize it. A separate paid plan, Excalidraw+, is linked from the project for people who want a hosted workspace.

draw.io is a diagramming and whiteboarding application, with many configuration options, written in JavaScript and running entirely in the browser. It is co-owned and built by draw.io Ltd (formerly JGraph) and draw.io AG, and the same code powers the production deployment at app.diagrams.net.

The repository's source code uses the Apache License 2.0, while the icon sets, stencil libraries and diagram templates come with extra terms, including a restriction on using them in Atlassian products or marketplace plugins without written permission, although diagrams you create are unaffected and the project makes no copyright claim on them. The scope is diagramming and whiteboarding, not SVG editing, and this version does not offer real-time collaborative editing.

The team does not accept pull requests; development is done entirely by the core team. Because the editor is client-side, it can be embedded or hosted on your own infrastructure, and the hosted app is free to use in a browser. It suits anyone drawing flowcharts, architecture diagrams, network maps or UML.