Excalidraw review: a private browser whiteboard

Excalidraw is a free open-source whiteboard for diagrams and sketches with a hand-drawn look.¹ You can open it in a browser and start drawing with no account.⁴ On the public site the drawing stays in that browser until you share it, and a shared scene is end-to-end encrypted: it is locked before it is sent, and the key travels in the link.⁴⁵

Last checked October 28, 2026.

At a glance

What it is: A free open-source whiteboard for hand-drawn diagrams and sketches.¹

Works on: The website at excalidraw.com, including offline as a progressive web app (a site the browser can keep using without a connection).¹

Price: Free, with no account. Excalidraw+ is $6 per user a month in US dollars, and yearly billing saves 14%.⁴⁷

Licence: MIT, a short open-source licence that allows use, changes and sharing.²

Best for: Quick private sketches and live diagrams you share with a link.

Official site: excalidraw.com¹

What Excalidraw does (and how it protects your privacy)

Excalidraw is an infinite canvas with a hand-drawn style, so the board extends as you pan and zoom.¹ The editor includes shapes, arrows that stick to other shapes, freehand ink, images, shape libraries, dark mode, undo and zoom, and it can be translated.¹

The app at excalidraw.com is the project’s own hosted whiteboard. It autosaves in the browser, supports real-time collaboration, can export a read-only link, and can work offline as a progressive web app.¹ On the free site you can invite as many people as you want and draw with them live, still with no account.⁴

A drawing on excalidraw.com is stored in local storage, a small save area inside the browser on that device.⁴ A project write-up published on 21 March 2020 says that, by default, nothing you draw is sent to a server. When you share, the scene is encrypted first, the server stores that locked copy, and the key is placed after the # in the link. A browser does not send that part of the address to the server.⁵ The current how-to page still says a shared drawing is end-to-end encrypted, so only people you share it with can see it.⁴

Key features of Excalidraw

Files you can keep: PNG, SVG, clipboard, or an .excalidraw file (a text file the editor can open again).¹
Libraries and pictures: Images and ready-made sketches. The free plan keeps the personal library in the browser.¹⁴⁷
Live collaboration: A Share button in the top right, and you can invite as many people as you want.⁴
Offline use: The hosted app can work offline and autosaves in the browser.¹
Optional cloud workspace: Excalidraw+ is a cloud workspace with an account. Image uploads are listed as compressed on the free column and up to 4k on Plus.⁴⁷

Excalidraw pros and cons

Pros

The editor is free and open source, and the public site needs no account.¹⁴
Until you share, the drawing stays in the browser, and a shared scene is end-to-end encrypted.⁴⁵
The licence is MIT, and editor package 0.18.1 was published on 21 April 2026 as a security patch.²³
A self-hosted Docker image is available, and the docs say it contains no analytics or other tracking libraries. Docker is a way to run a program in its own container on a computer you control.⁸

Cons

A scene saved only in the browser lives in that browser’s local storage.⁴ Export a file when you want a copy you can move.
The decryption key sits in the share link, so anyone with the full link can open the drawing.⁵
The self-hosted image does not include sharing or live collaboration.⁸
Excalidraw+ is $6 per user a month, paid by card. Plus data is described as AES-256 at rest (a lock on stored data) and TLS in transit (a lock on the connection), which differs from the free site’s end-to-end links.⁶⁷
The company says it uses SimpleAnalytics for tracking and self-hosted Umami for in-app usage.⁶
If you open an Excalidraw+ workspace, the how-to page says scenes from excalidraw.com are usually imported into that workspace automatically.⁴

Is Excalidraw safe and private?

The security page states the same split: free users’ data are stored locally, and shared data are protected by end-to-end encryption.⁶ Because the key is inside the link, treat that full link as private.⁵

Excalidraw+ is the paid cloud workspace.⁴⁷ The company says Plus customer data uses AES-256 encryption at rest and TLS in transit, and that tokens and keys are encrypted again before they go into the database.⁶ Payments go through Stripe, and the company says it does not keep card details.⁶ It says Excalidraw is SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 compliant, with the report in its Trust Center, and that it runs penetration testing yearly. SOC 2 is an outside check of how a company handles customer data. A penetration test is a hired attempt to find weaknesses.⁶

The same page says the company uses GDPR-compliant SimpleAnalytics for tracking and self-hosted Umami for in-app usage. GDPR is the European privacy law.⁶ A Docker image of the editor is published without analytics or other tracking libraries, and without sharing or collaboration. The docs say a fuller self-hosted setup is still being worked on.⁸ The MIT licence names Excalidraw as the copyright holder in 2020.²

How to get started with Excalidraw

Open excalidraw.com. No account is required. If the site sends you into an Excalidraw+ workspace, the how-to page says you can open excalidraw.com/#noredirect or turn off auto-redirect in preferences.⁴
Draw. Press R for a rectangle, Enter to type, and Esc when the text is finished. The same page lists more shortcuts under the question-mark key.⁴
The hosted app autosaves in the browser and can work offline as a progressive web app.¹
Export a PNG, an SVG, or an .excalidraw file so you have a copy outside that browser.¹
To invite someone, use the Share button. The free site lets you invite as many people as you want.⁴ Send the full link only to people who should see the drawing, because the key is part of the link.⁵
Choose Excalidraw+ if you want an account and a cloud workspace. The price is $6 per user a month, yearly billing saves 14%, and the how-to page offers a 14-day trial. Payment is by card.⁴⁷

Who should use Excalidraw (and who might prefer something else)

Excalidraw fits someone who wants a sketch in the next minute: a floor plan, a flowchart, a rough screen, or a picture to talk through with another person. Export the .excalidraw file when the drawing is worth keeping.¹

A finished illustration is a different job. Inkscape is for drawings you keep editing as precise shapes. A full interface design, shared among a team, is what Penpot is built for. Handwriting on a PDF or a page of study notes is the strength of Xournal++. To run the whiteboard on a computer you control, use the project’s Docker image, and plan on drawing there without the live share feature.⁸

Frequently asked questions

Is Excalidraw free?

Yes. The editor is free and open source, and excalidraw.com needs no account.¹⁴ Excalidraw+ is optional, at $6 per user a month, with 14% off for yearly billing. The free column is marked free forever.⁷

Is Excalidraw safe?

Shared scenes on the free site are end-to-end encrypted, and the key is in the link.⁴⁵ For Excalidraw+, the company says data is AES-256 encrypted at rest and TLS encrypted in transit, and that it is SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 compliant.⁶

Does Excalidraw work offline?

Yes. The hosted app has progressive web app support, so it can work offline, and it autosaves in the browser.¹

Does Excalidraw work on iPhone?

Open excalidraw.com in the phone’s browser. The hosted app is a website with offline support, and the free editor does not ask for an account.¹⁴