Question 1

Excalidraw vs. Lucidchart:

Accepted Answer

Lucidchart is a traditional, highly rigid diagramming tool. It excels at strict UML, automated org charts, and precise pixel measurements. However, its diagrams often look sterile and corporate. Lucidchart forces you into a grid; Excalidraw frees you from it. You choose Lucidchart for an official compliance document going to a regulatory board. You choose Excalidraw for the engineering wiki or a brainstorming session where you want to encourage iteration. Excalidraw vs. Figma (and FigJam): Figma is the undisputed king of high-fidelity UI/UX design. Excalidraw cannot compete with Figma for final screen designs. However, Figma's whiteboard tool, FigJam, is a direct competitor. FigJam offers a cleaner, more "bubbly" aesthetic compared to Excalidraw's messy, hand-drawn look. FigJam is deeply integrated into the Figma ecosystem, making it ideal for design teams. Excalidraw remains the favorite for software engineers and developers due to its open-source nature, local-first file handling, and seamless integration with markdown-based note-taking tools.

Question 2

Is Excalidraw truly free and open-source?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the core Excalidraw project is entirely free and open-source under the MIT License. The source code is publicly available on GitHub, meaning any developer can inspect it, modify it, or host their own private instance of the application. The creators do offer a paid tier called Excalidraw+, which provides cloud hosting, team workspaces, and advanced role-based access control, but the standalone whiteboard tool available at excalidraw.com remains free with no feature paywalls for individual diagramming.

Question 3

How secure is the live collaboration feature?

Accepted Answer

Excalidraw employs robust End-to-End Encryption (E2EE) for its live collaboration sessions. When you generate a shareable link, the URL contains a cryptographic key (the portion after the # symbol). This key is never sent to Excalidraw's servers; it remains locally in your browser and the browsers of the people you share the link with. The server merely relays encrypted gibberish between the clients. This means that even if Excalidraw's database were compromised, the attackers could not view the contents of your live collaborative drawings.

Question 4

Can I import data or existing images into Excalidraw?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. Excalidraw supports the importation of standard raster image formats like PNG, JPEG, and SVG. You can simply drag and drop an image from your computer directly onto the infinite canvas, where it will be treated as an object that can be resized, rotated, and drawn over. Furthermore, Excalidraw has a powerful feature that allows you to paste tabular data (like a spreadsheet from Excel) directly onto the canvas, and it will automatically generate a visual chart or a formatted table based on that data.

Question 5

What is the best format for exporting my diagrams?

Accepted Answer

The optimal export format depends entirely on your intended use case. If you are embedding the diagram into a web page, a GitHub README, or a digital document where you want the highest possible quality at any zoom level, you should export as an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphic). If you need to paste the diagram into a PowerPoint presentation, a Slack message, or an email where vector support is inconsistent, you should export as a PNG. When exporting as a PNG, always utilize the "Scale" option to export at 2x or 3x resolution to ensure the text remains crisp on high-definition displays.

Question 6

Does Excalidraw work without an internet connection?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Excalidraw functions exceptionally well as an offline application. Because it is built as a Progressive Web App (PWA), once you have loaded the site in your browser, the core application logic is cached locally. If you lose your internet connection, you can continue drawing, modifying, and exporting your diagrams without interruption. The only features that require an active internet connection are live multi-player collaboration and browsing the online component library. You can even install it as a standalone app on your desktop or mobile device via your browser's PWA installation prompt.

Question 7

How can I recover a diagram if I accidentally close the browser tab?

Accepted Answer

Excalidraw continuously saves your current workspace state to your browser's localStorage. If you accidentally close the tab, experience a browser crash, or restart your computer, simply navigating back to excalidraw.com will automatically reload your exact previous state. However, this local storage is tied to that specific browser and device. For permanent storage, you must manually save the file to your hard drive as an .excalidraw file, which you can then open on any device or share with colleagues.

Excalidraw Whiteboard

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