Excalidraw
Focalboard
| Feature | Excalidraw | Focalboard |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $7/mo | Free only |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.7 / 5 | 4 / 5 |
| Best For | developers, product-teams, educators, brainstorming-sessions | self-hosters, mattermost-users, small-teams, open-source-advocates |
| Founded | 2020 | 2021 |
| Freehand Drawing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Real Time Collaboration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Component Library | ✓ | ✗ |
| Export Options | ✓ | ✗ |
| End To End Encryption | ✓ | ✗ |
| Embeddable | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shapes And Arrows | ✓ | ✗ |
| Kanban Boards | ✗ | ✓ |
| Table View | ✗ | ✓ |
| Calendar View | ✗ | ✓ |
| Templates | ✗ | ✓ |
| Filters | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hosting | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Excalidraw Pros
- Beautiful hand-drawn sketch aesthetic
- Completely free and open source core
- Real-time collaboration with shared links
- Library of reusable components and templates
- Embeddable in other applications
✗ Excalidraw Cons
- Limited formatting compared to structured diagramming tools
- No presentation mode built-in
- File management basic without Excalidraw+
✓ Focalboard Pros
- Completely free and open-source
- Self-hostable for data control
- Multiple view types (board, table, gallery)
- Integrates with Mattermost
✗ Focalboard Cons
- Limited to basic project tracking
- No built-in time tracking
- Smaller community than alternatives
The Verdict
Excalidraw is built for developers and product teams, with a focus on freehand-drawing and real-time-collaboration. Focalboard targets self hosters and mattermost users and leads with kanban-boards and table-view.
Focalboard uses custom enterprise pricing, while Excalidraw starts at $7/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Excalidraw edges out on user ratings (4.7 vs 4). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Feature-wise, Excalidraw offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Focalboard takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Bottom line: Excalidraw has a slight overall edge — but if completely free and open-source matters most to you, Focalboard may still be the right call.