Excalidraw
Kong
| Feature | Excalidraw | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $7/mo | Free / from $0.05/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.7 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | developers, product-teams, educators, brainstorming-sessions | platform-engineers, microservices-teams, api-gateway-users, devops-teams |
| Founded | 2020 | 2010 |
| Freehand Drawing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Real Time Collaboration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Component Library | ✓ | ✗ |
| Export Options | ✓ | ✗ |
| End To End Encryption | ✓ | ✗ |
| Embeddable | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shapes And Arrows | ✓ | ✗ |
| Api Gateway | ✗ | ✓ |
| Service Mesh | ✗ | ✓ |
| Load Balancing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Authentication | ✗ | ✓ |
| Rate Limiting | ✗ | ✓ |
| Plugins | ✗ | ✓ |
| Observability | ✗ | ✓ |
| Kubernetes Ingress | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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+
✓ Kong Pros
- Open-source core with large plugin ecosystem
- Sub-millisecond latency for API requests
- Platform-agnostic deployment (cloud, on-prem, hybrid)
- Strong Kubernetes-native support
✗ Kong Cons
- Enterprise features require paid license
- Configuration complexity for advanced setups
- Documentation could be more beginner-friendly
The Verdict
Excalidraw is built for developers and product teams, with a focus on freehand-drawing and real-time-collaboration. Kong targets platform engineers and microservices teams and leads with api-gateway and service-mesh.
On pricing, Kong is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $0.05/mo compared to $7/mo for Excalidraw. That $6.95/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
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 4.3). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Feature-wise, Kong offers broader built-in capabilities (8 features vs 7), while Excalidraw takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Bottom line: Excalidraw has a slight overall edge — but if open-source core with large plugin ecosystem matters most to you, Kong may still be the right call.