Best Open-Source Whiteboards 2026: 6 Options Compared

Open-source whiteboards fall into three groups. Browser tools you can use or host quickly include Excalidraw, a polished MIT-licensed canvas with real-time collaboration, and WBO, an AGPL-3.0 board where everyone with the link draws and the server saves each board as an SVG file. Draw.io is a structured diagramming tool that works as a whiteboard when you want shapes snapped to a grid. Teams already on Nextcloud can add Nextcloud Whiteboard, which is built on Excalidraw but needs a separate WebSocket server for live collaboration. Rnote is a desktop app for handwritten notes and sketching with a pen or tablet, and OpenBoard is a GPL-3.0 interactive whiteboard made for classrooms. To choose, consider the setting. For remote team sessions, Excalidraw is the closest to commercial apps, though you will rely on its hosted version or host it yourself. For teaching on a touchscreen or projector, OpenBoard is built for that. For handwritten notes, Rnote is the better fit. The trade-off is features: open-source boards rarely include timers, voting or workshop templates, so they suit sketching and explaining more than facilitated sessions.

Excalidraw

MIT-licensed web whiteboard with real-time collaboration and end-to-end encryption. Free; Excalidraw+ is a paid hosted workspace.

Price: Free (Free web app with real-time collaboration and end-to-end encryption); paid from $6 per user/month, Excalidraw+ (Excalidraw pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web. MIT (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 134.7k GitHub stars · latest release v0.18.1 (Apr 21, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026

Best for: Remote team sketching.

Worth knowing: Excalidraw+ has a 14-day trial; annual billing saves 14%. Hand-drawn look, not a formal-shape library.

draw.io (diagrams.net)

Apache-2.0 diagram editor, free with no sign-up, on web and desktop. Better for structured diagrams than free drawing.

Price: Free (Free with no sign-up; open files from local storage or your own cloud account) (draw.io (diagrams.net) pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux. Apache-2.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 9k GitHub stars · latest release v32.6.1 (Oct 23, 2026) · last commit Oct 23, 2026

Best for: Structured diagrams on a board.

Compare: draw.io (diagrams.net) alternatives

WBO

AGPL-3.0 simple collaborative whiteboard, self-hosted with Docker or Node.js 22+, with a public instance. Boards are saved as SVG.

Price: Free (Simple, free collaborative whiteboard; self-host with Docker or Node.js 22+, public instance at wbo.ophir.dev) (WBO pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted (Docker, Node.js). AGPL-3.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 2.7k GitHub stars · latest release v2.18.2 (Oct 17, 2026) · last commit Oct 24, 2026

Best for: Instant no-account shared drawing.

Worth knowing: Boards are saved server-side as SVG files.

Nextcloud Whiteboard

AGPL-3.0 app built on Excalidraw for Nextcloud servers. Basic use works without extra services; live collaboration needs a WebSocket server.

Price: Free (Free app for a Nextcloud server; live collaboration needs a separate WebSocket server) (Nextcloud Whiteboard pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Self-hosted (Nextcloud app). AGPL-3.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 231 GitHub stars · latest release v2.1.2 (Oct 23, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026

Best for: Teams already running Nextcloud.

Worth knowing: Built on Excalidraw.

Rnote

GPL-3.0-or-later drawing app for Linux, macOS and Windows aimed at handwritten notes and annotating documents.

Price: Free (Free open-source drawing app; no price stated) (Rnote pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Linux, macOS, Windows. GPL-3.0-or-later (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 11.8k GitHub stars · latest release v0.14.2 (May 1, 2026) · last commit Oct 26, 2026

Best for: Pen and tablet note-taking.

Worth knowing: Flatpak on Linux; separately maintained macOS bundle; Windows installer and Winget.

OpenBoard

GPL-3.0 interactive whiteboard for Windows, macOS and Linux, aimed at schools and universities, with no registration.

Price: Free (Free and open source, no registration needed, per the site (German)) (OpenBoard pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux. GPL-3.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 3.1k GitHub stars · latest release v1.7.7 (Mar 30, 2026) · last commit Oct 26, 2026

Best for: Classroom and projector teaching.

Worth knowing: Aimed at classrooms.

Which one to pick

• You run remote team sessions: Excalidraw
• You teach with a touchscreen or projector: OpenBoard
• You already host Nextcloud: Nextcloud Whiteboard
• You take handwritten notes: Rnote