Excalidraw vs Penpot
Self-host pick — both replace Figma (Design / collaborative vector editor).
Both Excalidraw and Penpot self-host as a replacement for Figma (Design / collaborative vector editor). Pick Excalidraw if you want a MIT-licensed codebase (MIT); pick Penpot for MPL (MPL-2.0). Both run in roughly the same cost bracket — $5 vps for the collab/sync backend vs $10 vps for a small team — penpot uses postgres + redis + a few worker images.
| Excalidrawopen-source | Penpotopen-source | |
|---|---|---|
| License | MIT | MPL-2.0 |
| Setup time | 10min (static site + optional collab server) | 20min docker-compose |
| Monthly cost | $5 VPS for the collab/sync backend. | $10 VPS for a small team — Penpot uses Postgres + Redis + a few worker images. |
| GitHub | excalidraw/excalidraw | penpot/penpot |
| Replaces | Figma + 1 other | Figma |
Good fit for
Penpot
Design teams that want full Figma-style multi-user editing on their own infra.
Weak at:Plugin ecosystem is much smaller than Figma's.
In a terminal? npx -y github:SolvoHQ/os-alt-cli figma prints Figma's self-host options including both —
how the CLI works →
FAQ
Which is easier to self-host, Excalidraw or Penpot?
Excalidraw: 10min (static site + optional collab server). Penpot: 20min docker-compose.
What does each cost to run?
Excalidraw: $5 VPS for the collab/sync backend.. Penpot: $10 VPS for a small team — Penpot uses Postgres + Redis + a few worker images.. Both projects are free and open source.
Do Excalidraw and Penpot replace the same SaaS?
Yes — both are open-source alternatives to Figma.