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Whimsical vs Excalidraw: catalog facts
Whimsical	Excalidraw
Freemium Free to start, with paid plans for more features.	Freemium The editor is free and open source. Excalidraw Plus is a paid subscription.
Web	Web, Self-hosted
Diagrams and wireframes in one tool Real-time editing with comments	The sketchy style keeps diagrams feeling provisional rather than final End-to-end encrypted collaboration rooms, and self-hostable
Boards are stored in Whimsical's cloud Some features are in paid plans	Not built for precise technical diagrams Some team features belong to the paid Excalidraw Plus
Downloadable app, Web application	Web application, Self-hosted
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: MIT
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.