tldraw
Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent.
An infinite canvas and whiteboard, and a library for putting one inside your own product. Free to use; the paid part is the licence to embed it without branding.
Use the library. The paid part is a licence, not code. BE CLEAR ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE BUYING - tldraw is free to use. The fee removes branding when you embed it commercially - Writing your own canvas to avoid that fee is a bad trade IF YOU WANT A MINIMAL CANVAS ANYWAY STACK - One HTML canvas element, plain TypeScript, no framework THE MODEL - Shapes as plain objects with an id, a type, a transform and style - The document is an ordered list; z-order is list order WHAT WILL TAKE THE LONGEST - Undo and redo as an inverse-operation stack, not as document snapshots - Hit testing, snapping and multi-select - Text editing on a canvas, which is genuinely unpleasant PERSISTENCE - Save the shape list as JSON; render a PNG preview for the library view Include the shape model, the undo stack and the save format.
What you lose
- A canvas engine with selection, snapping, undo and multiplayer already solved, which is years of work
- A licence to ship it inside a commercial product without the watermark
- Continued development as browsers change
If you would rather not build
- tldraw itself, free unless you embed commercially
The escape hatch
open source · no votes, no paid placement
Excalidraw
$0MIT-licensed canvas editor with no commercial embedding restriction.
excalidraw/excalidrawfree · open source
Why this verdict
our own opinion · changed only by a person
80/100
Verdict yes at 80 in the narrow sense that you can avoid the licence by embedding it differently. Writing a canvas engine to save the fee is the wrong build.
History
tracked since 10 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten
Questions about tldraw
answered from the record above
Is tldraw free?
No — the plan we track is $6 a month. The editor is free to use; the commercial licence for embedding it without a watermark is quoted per company rather than per month.
Can you replace tldraw by building your own?
YES. Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent. Replacement score 80 out of 100, build time one session. Read what you lose before you decide.
How much does tldraw cost?
$6 a month on Business licence — $72 a year. Recorded 10 Aug 2026.
What do you lose by replacing tldraw?
A canvas engine with selection, snapping, undo and multiplayer already solved, which is years of work; A licence to ship it inside a commercial product without the watermark; Continued development as browsers change. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to tldraw?
Yes: Excalidraw, Konva. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.
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