Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Excalidraw VS Coggle

Compare Excalidraw VS Coggle and see what are their differences

Excalidraw logo Excalidraw

Excalidraw is a whiteboard tool that lets you easily sketch diagrams that have a hand-drawn feel to them.

Coggle logo Coggle

Coggle is a simple, beautiful, powerful way of structuring information.
  • Excalidraw Excalidraw - collaborative whiteboard infinite canvas
    Excalidraw - collaborative whiteboard infinite canvas //
    2024-11-13

Excalidraw is an open-source virtual whiteboard focused on simplicity and collaboration. It provides a hand-drawn, sketch-style interface for brainstorming and visualizing ideas. Ideal for remote teams, educators, and developers, Excalidraw supports real-time collaboration and integrates with other tools through its open API. With a privacy-first design and intuitive layout, it enables users to create and share diagrams, workflows, and visual notes efficiently. Powered by a strong community, Excalidraw is designed to fit into diverse workflows with minimal setup.

  • Coggle Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-15

Excalidraw features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Excalidraw features a simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy for users to create diagrams and sketches without a steep learning curve.
  • Real-Time Collaboration
    Allows multiple users to collaborate on the same canvas in real-time, making it a great tool for team projects and discussions.
  • Free to Use
    Excalidraw is completely free to use, and offers all of its features without a subscription or one-time payment.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, it allows developers to contribute to its codebase, customize it for their needs, and potentially add new features.
  • Offline Capability
    Offers offline support, enabling users to continue working on their diagrams without an internet connection.

Possible disadvantages of Excalidraw

  • Limited Advanced Features
    While perfect for basic sketches and diagrams, Excalidraw lacks some advanced features found in other professional-grade diagramming tools.
  • Basic Styling Options
    The tool offers limited styling options, which may not be sufficient for users looking for more sophisticated design and customization capabilities.
  • No Integration with Other Tools
    Currently, Excalidraw does not offer integration with other popular productivity or design tools, which might be a limitation for some users.
  • Scalability Issues
    As the number of elements on the canvas increases, performance can degrade, potentially making the tool less responsive.
  • Limited Export Options
    Supports limited export formats, which can be inconvenient for users needing to integrate their visuals into other applications or media.

Coggle features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Coggle provides a simple and intuitive drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to create and edit mind maps, suitable for users of all skill levels.
  • Real-time Collaboration
    The platform offers real-time collaboration features, allowing multiple users to work on the same mind map simultaneously, which is great for team projects and brainstorming sessions.
  • Version History
    Coggle automatically saves a version history of your mind maps, enabling users to track changes and revert to previous states if needed.
  • Integrations
    Coggle integrates with popular tools like Google Drive, making it easy to export, share, and import documents and mind maps.
  • Cross-Platform Accessibility
    Available as a web application, Coggle can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, providing flexibility and convenience.

Possible disadvantages of Coggle

  • Limited Free Version
    The free version of Coggle has limitations, such as the number of private diagrams you can create. Upgrading to a paid plan is required for more advanced features.
  • Performance Issues
    With very large or complex mind maps, users may experience performance issues such as lag or slow loading times.
  • Limited Customization
    The customization options for colors, fonts, and styles are somewhat limited compared to other mind mapping tools, which can be a drawback for users seeking highly personalized diagrams.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While the basic features are user-friendly, there is a learning curve for more advanced functionalities, which may require some time and effort to master.
  • Dependency on Internet
    Since Coggle is mainly a web-based application, it requires a stable internet connection to function, limiting offline accessibility.

Analysis of Excalidraw

Overall verdict

  • Excalidraw is an excellent tool, especially for those looking for a straightforward and efficient online whiteboard solution. Its user-friendly design, combined with robust collaboration features, makes it a strong choice for both individuals and teams.

Why this product is good

  • Excalidraw is highly regarded due to its simplicity and effectiveness as a digital whiteboard tool. It offers a clean, intuitive interface that's easy to use for quick sketches and brainstorming sessions. The collaboration features, which allow multiple users to work together in real-time, make it ideal for teams. Its open-source nature also adds a level of flexibility and customization for users with specific needs.

Recommended for

  • Designers needing a quick sketch tool.
  • Teams requiring real-time collaboration on visual ideas.
  • Individuals who appreciate open-source software.
  • Educators and students for simple diagrams or brainstorming.
  • Remote teams looking for a lightweight yet powerful whiteboarding tool.

Analysis of Coggle

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Coggle is generally considered a good tool for creating mind maps and organizing information visually. It is user-friendly and offers collaborative features.

Why this product is good

  • Coggle is appreciated for its simplicity and intuitive design, making it easy to create and share mind maps. The tool's real-time collaboration feature allows multiple users to work on the same diagram simultaneously, which is beneficial for group projects or brainstorming sessions. Additionally, Coggle integrates well with various other tools and platforms, enhancing its usability.

Recommended for

  • Students who need to organize their study notes
  • Teachers creating educational materials
  • Teams looking to brainstorm or plan projects collaboratively
  • Individuals who prefer visual organization tools over traditional note-taking methods

Excalidraw videos

Rapid Mockup Creation Using Excalidraw

Coggle videos

Coggle Review - Coggle Mind Map Tool

More videos:

  • Review - Coggle It Review
  • Review - Coggle Review - Visual Mapping Review Series 2014

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Excalidraw and Coggle)
Digital Whiteboard
65 65%
35% 35
Brainstorming And Ideation
Diagrams
100 100%
0% 0
Idea Management
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Excalidraw and Coggle

Excalidraw Reviews

The 5 Best Open Source Miro Alternatives in 2024
Looking at open source alternatives to Miro will give you powerful and flexible tools that can cater to different collaboration needs without the limitations of propietary software. In 2024,the best open source Miro alternative will be AFFiNE, Obsidian, Excalidraw,Appflowy,and Logseq. Each of these has unique features, community driven improvements, and the ability to...
Source: affine.pro
5 great diagramming tools for enterprise and software architects
As your system evolves, you must update your diagrams to reflect those changes. Because Excalidraw is a browser-based tool, you have to open a browser tab and make changes visually, which can be inconvenient. You also can't easily see your history of changes. While Excalidraw has fans, I prefer a text-based diagram tool.
Source: www.redhat.com

Coggle Reviews

Compare The 10 Best Mind Mapping Software of 2021
Coggleโ€™s useful features include auto-arranging branches, image uploads/attachments, a full change history, and collaborative drawing. You can download your mind maps as PDFs or image files, and you can also export as .mm and text as well as export to Microsoft Visio. Another way to share your mind maps is through embeddable diagrams, meaning that you can display your Coggle...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Excalidraw seems to be a lot more popular than Coggle. While we know about 267 links to Excalidraw, we've tracked only 12 mentions of Coggle. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Excalidraw mentions (267)

  • Your Architecture Diagram Is a Screenshot. Your AI Agent Can't Read It.
    The format idea costs you nothing to adopt today: export from excalidraw.com with "Embed scene" on, commit the .excalidraw.png, reference it as a normal image. It renders everywhere and stays editable. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • The Interview Prep Stack I Used as a Senior Software Engineer Targeting Big Tech
    Category Tool URL How I used it General AI assistant ChatGPT Https://chatgpt.com Breaking down concepts, simulating interviewers, reviewing answers AI writing / reasoning Claude Https://claude.ai Refining behavioral stories and system design explanations Coding practice LeetCode Https://leetcode.com Core DSA practice and timed coding drills Coding explanations NeetCode Https://neetcode.io Pattern-based... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Master the in demand of salary negotiation and system design: What Fails
    Most system design interviews fail because candidates draw perfect whiteboard diagrams but canโ€™t explain the tradeoffs of their choices, or canโ€™t write code to implement a core component. By 2025, 60% of FAANG system design interviews will require live coding of at least one component, per internal hiring data. Instead of practicing whiteboard diagrams with Excalidraw, practice coding core components: rate... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • ๐Ÿ“ Documentation-as-Code Has Silently Won For Tech Content
    Excalidraw โ€” Hand-drawn style diagrams; stores as JSON that AI can read and tweak (still early days). - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • A Map for the First-Time Software Creator
    Excalidraw is free and feels like drawing with a fat marker. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
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Coggle mentions (12)

  • I tried and failed
    I find that reflecting on my experiences and going out of my way to really analyze the pitfalls and things done correctly helps a lot. I normally use coggle.it to mind map the whole experience overview and then which elements of the project seemed to be improvements and which parts where potentially poorly executed. I often find a lot more nuance this way than just scanning over it in my head. Source: about 3 years ago
  • How do I guide the Web dev?
    In any case, any software that can create a visualization of a tree-like diagram will do the job. I'd recommend https://coggle.it/. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Mind Maps
    I have spent more time than I'd like to admit researching the different programs out there. Mindmup , Coggle, and Mindmesiter came the closest, but definitely not perfect. These are some of the features I am looking for:. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Need help reviewing my thought process around organizing my data
    Did it using https://coggle.it .. I have mindmaps self-hosted too but I feel this is much easier on the eye. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Question: is there a comprehensive list of people who are part of the fandom menace?
    Ah, because I found this mapping website called coggle.it and I was just wondering what if we made a map of including all the members of the fandom menace to see how big and how many members or connections they have, that's all really. Source: about 4 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Excalidraw and Coggle, you can also consider the following products

Miro - Join Millions of users that collaborate from all over the planet using Miro. Experience the power of the #1 visual workspace for innovation. More than 100M users and 250,000 companies are collaborating on the canvas.

Xmind - Xmind is a brainstorming and mind mapping application.

draw.io - Online diagramming application

MindMeister - Create, share and collaboratively work on mind maps with MindMeister, the leading online mind mapping software. Includes apps for iPhone, iPad and Android.

xTiles App - A web note-taking app for creative people that combines the best from text editors and whiteboards. Think, write, and organize your thoughts based on cards and tabs. Structure and enrich all of your ideas in one place.

MindManager - With MindManager, flexible mind maps promote freeform thinking and quick organization of ideas, so creativity and productivity can live in harmony.