What is the main difference between Affine and Excalidraw?

Affine and Excalidraw are both collaborative workspaces but differ in their approach, features, and target audience. Compare their GitHub stats, technology stack, and community adoption to make the best choice.

Which is better: Affine or Excalidraw?

The choice between Affine and Excalidraw depends on your specific needs, technical requirements, and team preferences. Both are quality open source solutions with active communities.

Can I migrate from Affine to Excalidraw?

Migration between Affine and Excalidraw is possible but requires careful planning. Consider data export/import capabilities, feature parity, and potential workflow changes.

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Affine vs Excalidraw

Learn how Affine and Excalidraw differ in their key features, development activity, technology stack and community adoption, so you can decide which of these collaborative workspaces is best for you.

Affine

An open-source, local-first knowledge base that merges structured docs, infinite whiteboards, databases, and AI into a single workspace for teams and creators.

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74,123stars+920(+1.3%)

Last 30 days

Last commit
17 hours ago
Repository age
4 years
Version
v0.27.4
License
MIT
Self-hosted
Yes
Repository
toeverything/affine

Excalidraw

Virtual whiteboard for sketching diagrams, flowcharts, and wireframes with a distinctive hand-drawn look. Real-time collaboration built in.

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135,054stars+1,601(+1.2%)

Last 30 days

Last commit
14 hours ago
Repository age
7 years
Version
v0.18.1
License
MIT
Self-hosted
Yes
Repository
excalidraw

Detailed Comparison

Excalidraw appears to have several advantages over Affine, particularly in popularity and maturity. Consider your specific needs regarding popularity, growth, activity, technology, maturity, licensing and features when making your decision.

Excalidraw wins

Community & Popularity

Excalidraw leads in popularity with 135,054 stars vs 74,123 stars for Affine. The 82% higher star count indicates stronger community adoption. In terms of developer contributions, Excalidraw has 15,973 forks, indicating strong developer engagement.

Comparable

Growth Momentum

Affine and Excalidraw are moving at much the same rate, adding 920 stars and adding 1,601 stars respectively over the last 30 days (+1.3% vs +1.2%). Neither is pulling away from the other on momentum alone.

Comparable

Development Activity

Both projects show recent activity, with Affine last updated 17 hours ago and Excalidraw 14 hours ago.

Comparable

Technology Stack

Both tools share common technology foundations, being built with JavaScript, CSS, Typescript, JSX. However, they differ in their additional technology choices: Affine uses Bash, Rust, C, Objective-C, Java, Swift, Ruby, Kotlin while Excalidraw leverages Next.js, SCSS.

Excalidraw wins

Project Maturity

Excalidraw has been in development longer, starting 7 years ago, compared to Affine which began 4 years ago. This 2.6-year head start suggests Excalidraw may have more mature features and established processes.

Comparable

Licensing

Both projects use the MIT license, providing identical terms for usage and distribution.

Comparable

Use Cases & Features

Both tools serve similar use cases in Collaborative Workspaces, Whiteboarding. However, they also have distinct specializations: Affine also focuses on Collaborative Notes & Wikis while Excalidraw extends into Online Design.

Comparable

Hosting & Deployment

Both Affine and Excalidraw offer self-hosting capabilities, giving you full control over your data and infrastructure.

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