tldraw
By tldraw
tldraw is an open-source, infinite-canvas whiteboard available both as a hosted web app and as a developer SDK/library for embedding a customizable drawing canvas into other applications.
Definition
tldraw is an open-source, infinite-canvas whiteboard available both as a hosted web app and as a developer SDK/library for embedding a customizable drawing canvas into other applications.
Overview
tldraw exists in two closely related forms: a free hosted whiteboard app at tldraw.com for sketching diagrams and ideas, and an open-source React library that developers can use to embed a full-featured drawing canvas directly into their own products. This dual nature sets it apart from whiteboards like Excalidraw or Miro, which are primarily end-user apps rather than developer-facing SDKs, even though Excalidraw's core is also open source and embeddable. As a hosted app, tldraw provides shapes, freehand drawing, arrows, text, and sticky notes on an infinite pannable and zoomable canvas, with support for real-time multiplayer collaboration. As a library, it exposes the same canvas engine with an API for adding custom shapes, tools, and behaviors, which has made it a popular building block for developers creating custom collaborative or AI-assisted drawing tools inside their own applications. Because of its permissive open-source licensing model and focus on developer extensibility, tldraw is often chosen when a team wants whiteboard functionality embedded inside a bespoke product rather than sending users to a separate, general-purpose whiteboard tool. It is often mentioned alongside FigJam in this space.
Key Features
- Open-source infinite-canvas whiteboard engine
- Available both as a hosted app (tldraw.com) and an embeddable developer SDK
- Freehand drawing, shapes, arrows, text, and sticky notes
- Real-time multiplayer collaboration support
- Extensible API for building custom shapes and tools
- Used by developers to add whiteboard functionality to their own products