Excalidraw vs Sketch
Both are alternatives to Figma. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Sketch vs Excalidraw — same comparison, one verdict.
Excalidraw
Diagrams and whiteboarding, done better than Figma does them.
Excalidraw is a hand-drawn-style whiteboard for diagrams, architecture sketches and wireframes. It is not an interface design tool and does not pretend to be — but for the specific job of getting an idea onto a shared canvas fast, it beats Figma comfortably. MIT, roughly 129k stars, and it runs entirely in the browser with optional end-to-end encrypted collaboration. Included because a large share of what teams actually use Figma for is diagramming, and paying editor seats for that is expensive.
Sketch
The incumbent Figma displaced — still excellent, still Mac-only.
Sketch was the tool Figma took the market from, and it is still a first-class native macOS design application with a strong plugin ecosystem and a one-time-purchase option alongside subscriptions. Being native means it is fast in ways a browser tool is not. The constraints are the ones that cost it the market: macOS only, and collaboration that was retrofitted rather than designed in. Listed because for a solo designer on a Mac who resents subscriptions, it remains a rational choice.
Side by side
| Excalidraw | Sketch | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 95 | 38 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | Proprietary |
| Pricing | Free and open source. Excalidraw+ is an optional paid hosted tier. | Around $12 per editor per month, or a one-time licence with a year of updates. |
Excalidraw edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
Excalidraw
Strengths
- +Fastest tool here from blank canvas to a diagram someone understands
- +MIT, self-hostable, works offline in the browser
- +End-to-end encrypted collaboration on the hosted version
- +Enormous adoption — 129k stars and used across the industry
Trade-offs
- −Not an interface design tool — no components or auto-layout
- −No developer handoff surface
- −Deliberately limited: the sketch aesthetic is the product
- −Wrong choice if you are designing screens rather than explaining systems
Sketch
Strengths
- +Native macOS performance — noticeably faster than browser tools
- +One-time purchase option, which is rare in this category now
- +Mature plugin ecosystem built over a decade
- +Files are local by default
Trade-offs
- −macOS only — excludes most teams outright
- −Collaboration is bolted on rather than native
- −Proprietary format with the same lock-in as Figma's
- −Losing ecosystem momentum to Figma and Penpot
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-08-07. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.